The Pirate by Katherine Garbera

has the right idea. We should wait this out and get a good gauge of the men who are holding us. Right now they have locked us away, which tells me they don’t want to have to kill us,” Rudy said.
    â€œI agree,” Bob said. “These men aren’t really killers unless forced to it.”
    â€œSo we have no choice but just to wait,” Daphne said.
    â€œDefinitely. We are going to have to just wait and see what they do next. I think we should all be on our guard,” Bob said.
    â€œI have some training in hand-to-hand combat,” Rudy said. “And I am damned good with a weapon but we don’t have any.”
    â€œNo, we don’t,” Bob said. “Maybe we should scavenge around this area and see if we can find anything we could use as a weapon.”
    â€œGood idea,” Daphne said. “I’ll do that.”
    Jerry laughed. “What’s up with you?”
    â€œI just can’t sit still. If I do I’ll think about all I have to lose and just make a long list of regrets about coming on this trip,” Daphne said.
    â€œMe too,” Rudy said. “I have enough regrets to live with already. I’ll go with Daphne and see what we can find.”
    â€œShould we involve the crew?” Jerry asked.
    â€œI’ll let them know what we’re doing. If they want to be a part of it, then they can participate.”
    Bob moved off to talk to the others but before any of them could move the door opened and three pirates stood there.
    Daphne caught her breath as she looked at the skinny men with mean intent in their eyes. Each of them wore a bandolier with bullets in it and carried two semiautomatic rifles. And though she’d always been a big Second Amendment proponent at home, she’d gladly give up the right to bear arms if it meant she didn’t have to face an armed man now.
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    Laz didn’t like the tension in the room. He knew he’d upset Daphne. He wished he could reassure her and her group, but he couldn’t take a chance on letting anyone know what the real agenda was here.
    When the door opened and three of the pirates stood watching them, Laz had a bad feeling. The kind of feeling he’d had before Armand had been killed. Armand had been their seventh man and the team still felt his loss. This feeling was the harbinger of something bad.
    Two of the men kept their guns trained on the groups of crew and doctors, who stood in separate areas about fifteen feet apart. The other man approached him and Hamm.
    â€œCome with us, Captain.”
    â€œSure.”
    He looked at Hamm, who nodded at him. Hamm knew he would let Savage and the rest of their team know what was going on, but unfortunately they’d been locked in the hold where radio communications weren’t clear. Laz also knew that Hamm would protect the crew and the doctors while he was gone. And since they had gone into this mission with a no-collateral-damage policy that was very important.
    The men all spoke Portuguese—something that he’d heard the pirates did to throw off the crews from guessing where they were from. Laz knew, however, that there was no way anyone could mistake the gaunt lost soldiers holding them hostage as Portuguese, mainly because Portugal wasn’t the mess that Somalia was.
    These pirates looked like they had nothing to lose, and they feared nothing, because death was an everyday reality for them.
    Laz’s hands were bound behind his back as soon as they were out of the storage area. Laz could fight with his hands behind his back. He hoped that Savage had the team nearby and knew that Mann would be in position as a sniper to protect him. But he couldn’t count on that.
    He always counted on himself, and then if someone else came to the rescue he was grateful. He’d not only learned early on to look after himself, but also those he cared about. His sister Maureen had been one of the chosen few people that he actually