Captured 3 by Lorhainne Eckhart Page B

positions. “Roadrunner, here,” he said. “The neighbors are still asleep.”
    Eric knew now that whatever happened would be fast and quick, and he swore under his breath, pleading that by some miracle they could get in, find Joe, and get out without having this entire militia after them.
    It was all quiet on the headset. He could hear them moving, their breathing, and he waited. They had one small window. He checked his watch from where he crouched in the dark. One hour was all they had, and then the chopper would be there. It wouldn’t touch down, but it would come in fast, not stopping long enough to leave tracks. Nothing could go wrong or they’d be screwed.
    “Echo Team, Echo Team, this is base camp.” It was DeLaurie calling in. Eric thought he heard the master chief swear in the background.
    “Roadrunner here,” Eric said. He was the only man on the ground who could talk.
    “Airstrike has been ordered. I repeat, airstrike has been ordered. Get out of there now.”
    “Are you kidding me, DeLaurie? You were supposed to hold them off for another hour. Damn you!” Eric said, but he stopped talking when he heard the unmistakable sound of jets, an airstrike that would be right on top of them.
    ****
    Joe was escorted back to his room after all those teens, many of them only speaking English, had been assigned to a team leader and then a group, then been assigned bunks. It was an organized approach, as if they’d done this before many times. The Westerners were led over to a series of tents the soldiers slept in, and it was then that Joe stepped back into his room and discovered Grieger had been returned.
    She was chained to the wall, the same spot where she’d been the first time. Her face was bruised and swollen, and she had marks all over her body. She was naked and huddled against the wall, her back to him. It sickened him to see her like this, and he stopped himself from going over to her when he realized he wasn’t alone.
    He turned to one of the soldiers in the room and stared at him a moment, then said, “If you don’t mind, I would rather not have an audience.”
    The man appeared amused. So he understood English. He stepped out of the room and shut the door. Joe didn’t know if he was being watched or if there was surveillance in the room, but he also needed to somehow let Grieger know she was safe—for the moment, anyway. He started toward her, and he could hear her whimpering. She was trembling, from cold or fear or both. He undid his shirt and slid it off. Wearing only his T-shirt, he went to put it around her, but he worried she would start screaming.
    “Grieger, it’s Lieutenant Commander Reed. I’m just going to put my shirt on your shoulders to cover you.”
    Would she freak out? He knew enough about rape victims to know some couldn’t stand to be touched by a man, by anyone—and those were women who hadn’t been passed around by an entire army.
    He felt her stiffen and sob, her body jerking with grief. Joe squatted down beside her and tried to look at her face, but she refused to look up at him. “I need you to hear me,” he said. “I’m going to get you out of here. I promise you I’m going to do everything I can to make sure they don’t touch you. I need you to listen to me. Nod if you understand what I’m saying.”
    She was still whimpering. She jerked her head, nodding.
    “Good. Right now you’ve been given to me, and I need you to go along with whatever I say. I won’t hurt you, I promise, but I can’t get you out of here unless you follow what I tell you to do. Can you do that for me? Just nod once.”
    She was still crying, but he could tell she’d heard him. She jerked her head roughly. He wanted to reach out and touch her shoulder to reassure her, and maybe she knew, as she pulled away, shrinking closer to the wall. He had stood up and was looking around for a blanket when he heard gunfire and commotion. His door burst open, and he saw the gun first, then the