Page 50 of A Soldier's Temptation
“No. I need her alive for now.” Saved by the voice of doom from the phone. Wonderful.
“You son of a bitch,” Shira yelled.
As Ari watched in horror, dirtbag asshole number one kicked Shira’s chair. She screamed as she landed on the floor with a loud thud. “That’s what you get for interfering, bitch.”
Then he turned back to Ari. “Ms. Nelson, do you want to be the reason your friend dies today?”
No, she didn’t, but she had to find a way to stall for as long as possible to give John a chance to get there. She could see five dirtbags but there might be more. Without knowing how long she’d been unconscious there was no way of knowing when the SEALs would bust in to save them.
“The micro SD card is in my purse. You don’t have to hurt her, I brought what you asked for.”
“You mean this one?” He held a small memory card in front of her face.
“Maybe? They all look the same and I didn’t see where you got that one.” Her answer earned her a slap from the voice of doom, and dirtbag one used a bat on Shira’s left leg. Her screams echoed through the loft. Ari gagged. She was helpless to do anything while they beat Shira. Praying that John would get there soon, she didn’t know what else to do.
“I got this from your purse but it’s not the card Chen gave you. Don’t even try to lie to me, we know what was on there. He’d already showed us. We need that card.”
“My bad.”
He didn’t like her response and it earned her a punch in the stomach from dirtbag asshole one. It took her breath away and she gasped in pain. Thank God they hadn’t hurt Shira that time. Her bravery was wearing thin, and she didn’t know how much longer she could maintain it.
“I don’t think you understand the severity of your situation, Ms. Nelson. No one knows where you are, and they’ll never find you unless you give me the memory card.”
“And then what? You’ll kill me quickly?”
“Yes, and leave your body in one piece so they can identify you.” That didn’t sound all that wonderful, but the first option scared the crap out of her. She definitely couldn’t handle torture. Why hadn’t John gotten there yet? Was it possible that they’d been caught and were dead?
Shira was whimpering in pain and Ari didn’t know how to help her. She didn’t have the damn micro SD card and didn’t have the first clue where Paul had put it. After yesterday, it’s not like she could ask him either.
“Are you going to cooperate?”
“I don’t have the card. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Paul never gave me anything. If I knew where it was I’d give it to you.”
“That’s not good enough.” Voice of doom said in a voice dripping with ice.
Knowing it was coming didn’t help. It only made her tighten up in anticipation. This punch was harder than the last one and it knocked her chair backward and her head connected with the concrete floor and then everything turned black.
Ice water revived her. How long had she been unconscious? What was it with these guys? Did they really think she was holding back when they had her tied to a chair and beat the crap out of her?
“I don’t have it,” Ari said through chattering teeth. Shock was setting in. She’d read about it and at this point, her body couldn’t deal with much more. From her position, she couldn’t see Shira. The only proof her friend was still alive was her soft moans.
It was starting to look like there was a good chance she was going to die and never see him or Mr. Darcy again. A tear mingled with the remnants of the water they’d poured over her and dripped down her face. The tears weren’t for her, they were for Shira, Mr. Darcy and John. All of this was because of Paul. Everyone she loved was suffering because of him. Why did he have to pick her?
Anger burned hot inside her shivering frame, she needed to hold on they had to pay for what they’d done.
Chapter 14
Planning the rescue was nothing new for SEAL Team Charlie. They gathered around John’s truck and discussed the intel they had. Their earlier plan had Ari being rescued as soon as her tracker went steady. The fact that Colin didn’t give the go order infuriated John. This was his woman, and who knew what the motherfuckers were doing to her.
Elwood mapped out the plan, they didn’t have their full gear but did have their IR goggles and were armed with their knives and sidearms. There would be hell to pay unless they could prove self-defense, but each team member agreed to the risk of operating on American soil.
Gus, Disco, and Shaggy headed over to the roof of the adjacent building. From there they’d repel through the top floor windows. Colin shared the information he’d gotten from a drone IR scan and it would have to be sufficient.
“This scan was done ten minutes ago, it’s the most up-to-date intel we have. It looks like the women are located on the third floor in the rear right quadrant,” Colin said as he read the information from his phone.
“How many targets?”
“There are six heat signatures besides the women. It looks like there are two on the first floor and two on the second. The other two are near the hostages.”
