Page 10 of Kidnapped By a SEAL

Jessica coughed and moaned in pain, clutching her ribs. She’d have a bruise there after getting hit with the butt of the rifle or whatever weapon that asshole had been carrying. She hadn’t been able to tell in the dark.

They’d hit her in the head with something too, she realized, feeling the small lump on her forehead. Something sticky coated her fingers.

Blood.

She blinked, realizing they’d stashed her in a room that was completely dark. Was she still in that small little storage building? Or had they hauled her off somewhere else after she’d been knocked unconscious?

What had happened to the teenager?

“Hello,” she croaked, knowing without waiting for an answer that nobody was here.

Her mind whirled, and she wondered how long she’d been out. Hours? Days?

There were no windows. No lights.

Nothing.

A string of voices muttering in Arabic came from the other side of the wall, but they got softer, as if whoever had been talking was moving further away. Leaving her alone to lie here in pain.

She heard a loud crash in the distance but closed her eyes, rolling over on the floor. If her head would just stop pounding….

She submitted to the darkness.

Chapter 6

Ryker spat on the ground and walked into the command center of the forward operating base in Afghanistan. Sweat dripped down his face, and he swiped it off, gripping his weapon in one hand. His heavy gear was hell to haul across the desert—not that they hadn’t done it a million times before.

Kevlar vests, helmets, combat boots, weapons—they were fully armed, ready to take on whatever enemy they encountered. And he had one mother-fucking terrorist asshole he’d like to shoot right between the eyes.

Damn him for thinking he could kidnap and harm an innocent woman.

He rested his assault rifle against the table and took a swig of water from his canteen. His combat boots scuffed against the gritty ground, sand damn near everywhere in this place. He’d probably be scrubbing it off his skin for a week after he got back—that stuff always got in all his clothes and belongings.

It sure made a man miss the salty ocean air.

“The Coronado team will be landing at twenty-two hundred local time,” Hunter said, his voice gruff as the men gathered around him. “They’ve received the updated aerial imagery and know their approach when we move in. They’ll land at the airstrip and come straight here on the helos. We’ll briefly meet and then it’s go time.”

Ryker nodded, his gaze narrowing. “Tell us the plan.”

Hunter laid a map of the compound on the wooden table, pointing at it as he spoke. “Raptor’s team will be breaching the south side of the compound. Ryker and Noah will be surveilling the perimeter from the east, providing cover as necessary. The helos will be landing on the west, which is where I’ll move in with the other men.”

“And the mountains?” Jacob asked.

“We don’t believe any of the insurgents will exit that way as the terrain is rough. In all likelihood, they’ll be heading straight toward Ryker and Noah.”

“And we’ll be fucking ready for them,” Ryker smirked.

Hunter nodded. “The goal is to move in, get the girl, and move out. We’ll fly back to base and then get Emily whatever medical attention is needed.”

“What about the infrared scans? Do we have an idea of where exactly she’s being held?” Ryker asked. His gut churned, not liking that they were still taking a shot in the dark at where specifically the woman was being held. What if the kidnappers escaped with her, and she slipped right through their fingers one more time?

He didn’t think he could stomach letting a helpless woman fall prey to enemy hands once more.

“Negative,” Hunter said with a frown. “There are multiple women and children living at the compound—we have no idea which building Emily is being held in because there are just too many bodies. We want to avoid civilian casualties, so we’re going to have to search every damn one.”

“Understood,” Mason said. “And we’re just leaving the other women and children behind?”

“Not much we can do,” Colton said with a frown. “They’re not American citizens. We’ll have to move them into one secure location as we conduct our search, but they’re not our mission.”

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