SEALs of Honor: Cooper Read Free Page A

for his efforts? Or an innocent bystander?
    Their kidnappers had shot the two men so fast, maybe they hadn’t cared who they killed. They were all about fear, terror, pain, maximum damage.
    She deliberately avoided looking at the gunmen. She didn’t want to draw any attention her way. For the same reason she rested her head on her folded arm and kept her free arm on Ron. Keeping pressure on his wound, keeping him calm was all she could do.
    Did anyone even know they’d been kidnapped? And if so how long before they were rescued? Or were they just going to be another casualty of war. A statistic. A number the world would glance past not really understanding what it meant. Who it hurt. There was no sense to it. She’d been shocked to see the size of the refugee camp. The sheer number of physical ailments and the injuries needing treatment.
    She’d left behind four pregnant women due to give birth in the next week. She had managed to get one little girl’s dislocated shoulder fixed before she’d been hauled out to attend to Yalta. She’d left behind a little boy with a broken leg. She hoped he got that leg set properly.
    Ron’s harsh breathing slowed. She eyed him carefully. At sixty-one, he’d been doing this type of work for over twenty years. How sad that there was twenty years of strife somewhere in the world that required his skill set. Now he was going to die for his efforts. She hated that. He’d done so much good in the world. He deserved to be treated better.
    She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Almost impossible to do with panic sitting just below the surface and her nerves, raw, screaming. But sleep was the only thing that would make time pass and even that was going to be painful. Her body ached after the long truck ride, and now they were sitting on the hard wooden floor. They hadn’t had any food or water since leaving the camp either. Her throat was parched and the ocean breeze was making it worse.
    The last thing she wanted was to dwell on their possible future. Yet it was hard not to after all the horrible videos that had been splashed over the Internet. Countries would only offer aid if it was safe for their people. Killing her group would send a strong message to deter more from coming. And that was too bad.
    She’d heard about the videos of hangings, mass burnings, people being put into cages and drowned. What made these terrorists so angry, so full of hate? How could they do this to their fellow man? No respect for life. They didn’t see their victims as people, only as bugs to be squashed.
    A sudden spat in a language she didn’t recognize between two guards made her peer through her hair to see what was going on. Two men raced to the door. Two others raced toward her yelling at them to stand up.
    Bending over Ron, she tried to help him to his feet, but he was barely conscious and she couldn’t hold his weight. David stepped in to help when a rifle butt hit him up the side of the head. David lost his grip and Ron collapsed to the ground.
    He never made a sound. She cried out but Theresa held her back from going to him. The gunmen separated them from him and moved the group to the doorway and outside. The moon was high and shone bright overhead. She tried hard to look around. She wanted to leave a trail, a sign for someone that they’d been here. That they needed help.
    The gunmen didn’t give her a chance.
    She cast one last look at Ron before she was pushed out of his sight. He needed medical attention, and if he didn’t survive he deserved a proper burial. He was a hero. And should be remembered as such.
    At gunpoint they were moved down to the edge of the dock where a motorboat waited. She tried to take stock of their location in case she could send aid back for Ron. The building smelled like an old fish cannery. But it was too small.
    The woods were dark. Shadows moved in the darkness. She caught the slight movement out of the corner of her eye. It was to be expected that they’d