Page 21 of Trapped

Chapter Five

Cash heard somebody across the room cough.

Then a Colonel Edwards who looked to be in his fifties, with a lined face but a trim body answered. “Freeze dried.”

“Um. I hope we don’t run out,” Cash answered.

One of the enlisted men laughed. “Yeah.”

“We’re well supplied,” Colonel Edwards advised.

Cash stood with his tray, looking around, feeling like a character who had stepped into a play—without knowing his lines. Or knowing the stage directions.

One of the men noticed him standing there and motioned him over. “There’s a seat over here.”

“Thanks.”

He sat down across from two lieutenants, Faraday and Olson, and took a bite of eggs. They didn’t taste freeze dried, but he wasn’t going to challenge the colonel.

“How you doin’?” Faraday asked, like they knew each other and had talked yesterday.

“Okay.” He took a bite of bacon, wondering how much he would give away by asking questions. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Is there any way to get news in here from outside.”

“I’m afraid we’re restricted here,” Olson said. “The communications equipment was old—and broken.”

Cash considered that inconvenient turn of events. “Then how will we know when it’s safe to come out?”

“I assume they’ll come and get us,” Faraday said.

“Yeah,” Olson chimed in, then looked at his watch. “I’ve got to leave soon. I have an appointment with Montgomery.”

Cash shifted in his seat. “How come?”

“I’ve got some trouble coping with the stress of getting into this place.”

“You mean you didn’t like shooting those civilians who were trying to keep us from escaping?” Olson asked.

“Not much.”

Cash nodded. He didn’t like it either. If it was true. Before he’d walked in, he’d been ready to believe Sophia’s story—that nefarious forces were holding him captive in an underground bunker.

Now he wasn’t as sure.

“Are you on medication?” he asked Olson.

The man looked startled. His gaze darted across the room. When nobody came to his aid, he cleared his throat. “I don’t like to talk about that,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Cash agreed. He could understand that.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only guy who was under stress because of the circumstances. Or was this all a setup?

Under the table, he clenched his fist, wishing he knew which way to jump

###

Dr. Carlton Montgomery muttered an oath under his breath. But he was a highly disciplined man, so he gave himself thirty seconds to deal with his anger, then rearranged his features and pressed one of the buttons on his phone. Moments later, Lieutenant Tobias knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

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