“I’m fine,” Rex said when she took a breath, wanting to stop her from worrying.
“But you could’ve died,” she said quietly.
“And I probably would’ve if you hadn’t been there,” Rex told her honestly.
They stared at each other for a long moment until she said, “Just like I would’ve in that cave if you hadn’t gotten there.”
Rex shook his head. “Nope. You were almost out by the time we got there. You would’ve dug yourself out in another day or so. My time was up, though. I was stuck on that branch. Phantom couldn’t get to me. If you had let go of that tree and gone downstream, it would’ve been a very different outcome. I haven’t thanked you yet…so thank you, Avery.”
“Yeah, Rex is a bastard sometimes, but he’s like my brother. I wouldn’t want to think about what the team would do without him. You definitely have my thanks as well.”
Avery looked uncomfortable with the praise, which didn’t surprise Rex in the least. Having pity on her, he reached over and picked up her coffee, handing it to her. “We need to talk about what happened to you,” he said quietly.
She took the coffee and sighed.
“I know it’s probably not high on the list of things you want to do, but, Avery, you have to know that the tenacity these guys are showing about finding you isn’t normal. Especially when they already had their chance to kill you, but didn’t.”
“The two army privates are dead, aren’t they?” she asked.
Rex pressed his lips together and nodded.
“I figured as much.”
“Did any of your captors speak English?” Phantom asked, sitting on the ground nearby.
“Yeah,” Avery said after a moment. “Although I only saw him twice.”
Rex leaned forward. “Where? Did he say anything to you?”
She turned to him, her eyes huge in her face. The sun had set and it was getting darker by the second. Soon he wouldn’t be able to see anything other than her silhouette from the light of the moon.
Her next words changed everything about their mission—and made Rex realize that she was in much more danger than they’d suspected.
Chapter Six
Avery stared at Cole and really thought about her situation for the first time in over two weeks. She’d been too worried about what was happening to her—about trying to function through the pain coursing through her body than on getting out of the cave—than to think too much about the hows and whys.
Did the Afghani man say anything to her? Yeah. He had. She’d never forget the venom in his tone.
“I was in the clinic in town, talking with a group of women. I was going over prenatal nutrition and the basics of childbirth and the necessity to keep everything sterile. I happened to look up, and I saw an American dressed in the traditional khet partug…you know, the loose linen top and pants. He caught my attention because we aren’t allowed off base, not without being in uniform. He was talking with an Afghani in the shadows between two buildings. It looked completely shady. They shook hands, and then went their separate ways, but he turned and caught me watching him before he left.”
Avery could tell Cole had a million questions, but he kept quiet, letting her speak.
“The Afghani man hung out around the clinic for a while, and when we went on break, he was giving my students a hard time. I told him he needed to move on, that he was making my students nervous. He turned to me, sneered, and told me that I was interfering with the Afghani way of life. That women belonged in the home, and no way would anyone dare allow one of my students to doctor their women.”
“What did the American look like?” Phantom asked.
“Dark hair, medium build. About my height,” Avery said. Then grimaced. “I know, that’s not much help, but I was more concerned about getting my students back inside and protecting them from the vitriol the man was spewing at them.”
“You said you saw the Afghani man twice. When was the second time?” Cole asked.
This part was harder. It forced her to remember what had happened the day the convoy had been attacked. “I was at the clinic, and the convoy had just started going through. We all heard shouts and gunfire. My students immediately ran for the door at the back of the clinic to escape and disappear into the chaos. I went for the front door, thinking maybe I could do something.
“One second the house was intact, and the next it was falling down around me. Something hit my head, knocking me to the ground. I knew I was bleeding, but managed to stand up and get out of the house before it collapsed.
“I walked straight into hell. The insurgents were in an all-out battle with the soldiers over the trucks. The same Afghani man who I’d seen the day before was there, almost like he’d been waiting. Well…I guess he was. He bum-rushed me and put a gun to my head. I thought he was going to kill me right then and there. Instead, he smiled and said, ‘I’m supposed to kill you, to make it look like you died in this firefight, but that’s not what I’m gonna do. Instead, you’re going to wish I’d shot you—and you’ll enjoy a long, slow death.’
“I asked him why, and he shrugged and gave me a horrible grin and said, ‘Because you shouldn’t be educating our women. They’ve got their place, and no American should be trying to change that.’ Then he shoved me toward a group of insurgents and barked something at them in their own language. I was thrown into the back of one of the trucks filled with weapons and ammunition and we roared off toward the caves.”
Telling the story out loud made it sound so dramatic, Avery was almost embarrassed. But every word was true.
“What happened in the caves, Avery?” Cole asked. He’d moved closer, and while she couldn’t see him well anymore, she felt him there next to her. His knee touched her calf, and knowing she wasn’t alone anymore was a huge relief. She’d spent too many hours in the dark by herself. She had a feeling she’d never be able to sleep in the pitch dark again. She was going to have to have a nightlight or leave a light on in the bathroom like she was four years old and afraid of the boogeyman.
But now she knew that boogeymen were real.
“I already told you,” she said flatly. “They beat on me, and let the men who came for weapons beat on me as well.”
“How many?” Phantom asked.
“How many men came to the cave?” Avery asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure. I was chained up in a back portion. I didn’t have a direct line of sight to the front. But it was a lot. Dozens at least.”
“Was the American there at any point?” Phantom asked.
“Not that I ever saw.”
“Were you raped?” Cole asked.
The question was so blunt. So abrupt. Avery couldn’t answer for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and said, “No.”
She felt Cole take her hand in his. “If you were, it’s not your fault,” he said quietly. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s their shame, not yours.”
Avery appreciated his words. “I know, but I’m not lying. They beat on me and taunted me…not that I could understand them, but I could tell by their tone they were telling me all sorts of terrible things. They brought moldy bread and threw it at me, laughing when I picked it up out of the dirt and ate it without a second thought. I guess they didn’t know or were too stupid to think about the water running down the side of the rocks near me, because they’d bring water and throw it in my face, delighting when I gave them a show by kneeling in the dirt and pretending to lick it up. I knew I couldn’t let them find out I was drinking at night until my belly hurt.”