Page 54 of SEAL's Spitfire
“You’re going to get us killed.”
“Be quiet, if she wants to try, I say let her,” Charlie said.
At first, there was no response, and she wondered if they might not leave any guards. It’s not like they could break out, there wasn’t even a keypad inside the cell, they might as well be in a cement box with a metal lid. She was about to give up when a small window opened in the door. She hadn’t noticed that before.
“You can pound all you want. It will change nothing.” Maybe not, but she got a response and that was something.
“I want my pack. I had it when I was brought here.”
“You are in no place to make demands. You should be happy you’re still breathing.” The guard’s accent was British and something else which made him easier to understand than any of the others.
“I am a journalist. I came from America to meet with Azfaar. To tell his story to the world.” If they didn’t know who she was they would as soon as they went through her pack. She didn’t think it would matter if they had more information.
“Azfaar doesn’t deal with women,” the man said and slid the metal plate closed.
The guard may not have realized it, but he gave Meghan a lot of information. Azfaar was the local Taliban leader in Bamyan, that the guard knew who he was meant she was in his territory.
“Well that did you a lot of good, didn’t it?”
“You know, if you don’t stuff it, I may have to come over there and kick you.” The guy was on her last nerve. Instead of being happy to see someone who was there to help he was being a pain in the ass.
“Meggy, please. Everyone is on edge.”
“I’m not the one starting it.” Yeah, she was being ornery but dammit the guy could be a little nicer, he was a missionary. Where was his brotherly love?
“I’m so glad I found you,” she said as she held onto Charlie’s hand, afraid to let him go now that she’d found him.
“I am too. I just hate that you put yourself in danger like this.”
“I told Lizzie I’d find you. We kept it from Mom. Trying to explain it would have been hard. She’s gotten a lot worse over the past couple of months.”
“I’m sorry I put the family through all of this. But it’s my calling. I’d do it again even knowing the consequences.”
“I know. But can you go to someplace a little safer next time?”
Charlie chuckled. “Let’s get out of this mess first. Okay?”
“Amen to that. I wonder what is going to happen next. Do they have a schedule where they feed you or anything?”
“Not really. It’s like when they remember they give us some bottles of water and some bread.”
“I guess we just wait and see.”
* * *
About an hourlater they found out what was coming next. Hearing the beep of the numbers on the keypad, Meghan moved to the other side of the cell putting as much distance as she could from Charlie. As the door opened, they all tensed. Meghan wished she had something to use as a weapon so she could try to break them out of there, but there was nothing.
“You, come with us.”
“Why, where are you taking me?”
“No questions. Come.” This guy sounded like one of the guys in the desert. What was it with these asshats? Then Tex’s voice echoed in her head. “Women have no worth there, except for cooking, keeping house and making babies. You need to remember that.”
Meghan looked over at Charlie as one of the gun-toting guards stepped into the cell to grab her. She silently pleaded that he wouldn’t do anything to stop them from taking her, there was no doubt in her mind that they’d use that information against them.
After they dragged her from the cell, she prayed that they were taking her to see Azfaar after all. The guards surrounded her, one in front and two behind. The two in back had their guns trained on her, leaving her no hope in hell that she’d be able to get away. It was ironic since they believed that women were nothing, yet they needed three guards for her. Maybe they were told that American women were more dangerous.
The dungeon looking area was left behind, and the stark cement walls and floors changed to murals, oriental carpets and antique furniture. It was like they were in two different buildings. It gave her hope that they were bringing her to Azfaar. Taking her all this way just to kill her seemed kind of crazy, but then she was dealing with the Taliban.
