She didn’t want to understand.
“Questioning me about you guys?”
“Abby, honey, whoever organized your abduction targeted you because of us, because Eric is your brother, because you and I dated, they took you because of us,” Ryder finished, his face tortured.
Someone had taken her because of her association with the SEAL team?
They’d obviously wanted information on the team that she hadn’t been able to provide which meant that Ryder, and her brother, and the others were in danger because they were the real targets.
And she still couldn’t remember a thing about her abduction.
12:43 P.M.
Spider watched the color drain from Abigail’s face as the ramifications of what they’d just told her sunk in.
There was disbelief, then shock, then horror, then finally guilt.
“I don’t remember, you guys are in danger and I can’t remember,” she said dismally, and he could see the panic building in her eyes.
Pulling her against him he held her tight. “It’s not us we’re worried about, we can take anyone who comes for us, it’s you we’re concerned about, Abs.”
“But if they took me to try to get to you then I have to remember or you won’t be safe,” she continued, clearly not paying attention to what he’d just said. Before Spider could try to reassure her again, Shark stepped in.
“Abby, you’re not going to remember if you work yourself into hysterics,” Shark said calmly. The man was unflappable. Spider didn’t think he’d ever seen the man get worked up, angry, or emotional. It didn’t matter what situations they found themselves in, what the odds against them were, how many guns were being fired at them, Shark just calmly went about doing what had to be done with that blank look in his eyes, just like his namesake.
Now, however, his friend’s words earned him a scowl, Abigail was already upset about her breakdown in front of everyone yesterday, she didn’t need Shark throwing around the word hysterics like that.
Shark simply ignored the glower. “If you want to remember then you need to calm down and focus,” he continued.
Abigail nodded and drew in a long, slow breath like she was counting in her head, then she nodded at Shark.
Shark nodded back approvingly. “We’re not going to focus on the things you’ve already told us instead I want you to look at your hand.” He waited until Abigail had lifted her left hand and then continued, “I want you to relax your body and your mind, just like if Spider here was giving you a massage.” Shark winked at him and Abigail gave a small laugh, while Night frowned; nobody wanted to picture their little sister with a man.
Abigail relaxed back against the armchair but clutched Ryder’s hand with her right one, and he let his thumb brush backward and forward across her knuckles to help calm her.
“Once you feel relaxed I want you to look at your hand, but not try to force your memories to come back,” Shark instructed. “It’s okay if it takes a few minutes, or longer, we’re not in any hurry here. The more you try to force it the less likely your memories are to return.”
“When did you get to be such a shrink?” Abigail asked as she did as Shark directed.
“Mom was a shrink,” Shark replied, and while no emotion flickered on his face, and his tone didn’t change, Spider sensed there was a story there if anyone was able to drag it out of him. Which he suspected no one could. Shark held his cards close to his chest, and of all the men on his team, Spider felt like he knew Shark the least.
Instead of keeping the pressure on Abigail with them all sitting watching her waiting to see if she could remember what had happened to her, Shark started a conversation with Fox, and soon all the guys were chattering away quietly.
Spider kept his focus on Abigail, she was still tense despite her attempts to relax, and he could see on her face that she was still trying too hard to remember. Prying his hand out of hers, when Abby shot him a panicked look he kissed her temple. “Not going anywhere, babe, just going to give you that massage Shark was talking about.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Shark threw them a grin. “I knew Spider there had magic hands.”
Night made a low growling noise, and the other guys laughed as Spider angled Abigail in her chair so he could rub her shoulders. Starting at the base of her neck he worked her tight muscles, kneading them until he felt her start to relax.
Several minutes passed while he massaged and the others talked, then all of a sudden, Abigail gasped.
“I-I didn’t wake up in th-the cage,” she stammered, her panicked face turning to meet his.
“Where did you wake up?” Shark asked before he could offer reassurances.
Turning her attention to Shark she said, “In a room. It was dark, there weren’t any windows, I was in a chair, my arms were tied to the arms of the chair with rope, I remember it cutting into my skin when I tried to pull against it. My legs were tied to the chair too, and …” All the color drained from her face, and Spider felt his gut churning with anxiety.
“And what, honey?” he prompted, keeping his hands on her shoulders, lightly working her muscles.
“And I was naked,” she finished.
That shouldn’t have surprised him, she was naked when he found her, but her being naked and alone in a cage was one thing, her being naked and tied to a chair in a room with other people was quite another.
“Did they touch you, Abby?” Shark asked, his voice gentle.
“I don’t think so, I don’t remember. I remember a man, I can’t see his face but he’s standing in front of me, and he’s asking me questions about you guys. He’s asking where you are and what you’re doing, and when I tell him I don’t know and that I haven’t seen any of you in months he gets angry.”
“What does he do when he gets angry?” Shark asked, and Spider had to fight against his instincts to tell his friend to shut up and not put Abigail through this.
His protective instincts to shield her from pain had to be pushed aside because as long as her abductor was out there then she wasn’t safe. They had to find out all they could about her kidnapping so that she would be safe.
“He tells one of the other men there to hit me,” Abigail answered.
“Where did he hit you?” Shark asked.
One of her hands lifted to touch her face. “My cheeks, my head, my jaw. I remember telling him that even if I knew where you guys were I wouldn’t tell him anyway. He got mad, he told one of the men to take my hand and when he asked me if I had changed my mind and I said no, he told his man to break my finger. I remember the pain,” she said, her voice hitching, “I think I might have thrown up.”
“Shark,” Spider started, this was enough. She’d confirmed that she’d been tortured and that whoever had taken her had really been after them. There was no point in putting her through this any longer if she didn’t know who had taken her.
Shark just waved him off. “What happened next, Abby?”
“I remember the men were still there when I woke up, I remember him laughing at me, calling me a little girl, saying I wasn’t strong enough to survive what he would do, that sooner or later I would crack, that I would still serve my purpose even when I broke.”