Swift Strike (SEAL Team 14 Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

here. Not now. Not like this .
    “Sit! There!” the man holding her ordered. She stopped right in her tracks, shakily lowering herself to the ground, fully expecting to fall. The man’s punishing grip bruised her arm. She was caught off guard when she felt a chair slide underneath her before her bottom touched the floor.
    Much to Lena’s relief, the sound of booted footsteps moved away from her. She counted twelve steps before she heard the door close with a creak and a bang , and then...silence. She sat there for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes.
    They had transferred her to a different room. This new room lacked the rancid stench of long-standing urine, feces, and other unfortunate bodily fluids that’d escaped some of the captives whom had been denied bathroom access by their captors. None of the hostages, Lena included, had been allowed the personal dignity of taking a bath. Needless to say, the reek of body odor added to the nausea-inducing environment of her former accommodations.
    Besides the lack of that particular malodorous fragrance, it was also a lot quieter here. The hostages who’d been sitting on the ground alongside her in the first room had all been in varying degrees of distress. Some of the men had pleaded with their captors for release. Others had murmured quiet prayers to a seemingly deaf God. But now, it was as dissonantly silent as the Roman catacombs she had visited one summer with her boarding school class.
    But why would they move her? Why separate her from the others? What did they want from her? Whatever the reason, it could not be good. But then again, maybe the reason why she was moved did not matter. What was most important was figuring out a way out of here and helping the others. There had to be a way out of this mess.
    They had bound her hands together at her wrists with a nylon cord, which wrapped all the way around her back. Her feet were also bound at the calves. Every step she had taken was stymied. The blindfold was securely placed over her eyes, no light peeked through. But at least they had not taped her mouth shut. Thank God for small miracles.
    She spent the next few precious minutes trying to loosen the ties on her wrists with her teeth. If she could just get enough space between her hands, she might be able to pull the rope off. And if she could get her hands free, she could untie her legs and maybe finally find a way out of this hellhole. Her plan for escape included a lot of “ifs,” but if was all she had right now.
    Hands . Two hands suddenly grabbed Lena’s head from behind and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t heard the door open again. She hadn’t even heard any footsteps this time. Trying to move into a defensive position, she kicked out her legs and pushed out her bound hands to block her face. But given her restraints, her movements were about as effective as the flailing of a fish out of water.
    For her efforts, the man rewarded her with a swift fist to the head. Not hard enough to knock her out, but hard enough to momentarily stun her. When she finally stopped struggling with him, he ripped off her blindfold.
    Her breath came in labored pants as she quickly blinked her eyes open. It took a moment before the room came into focus.
    It was dark outside. Only a pale sliver of moonlight shining through the window lit up the room. The two lamps that sat on a table near her had long been extinguished.
    The room was of average size. No furniture cluttered the floor, except for the chair she was sitting on and one other wooden, straight back chair directly in front of her. If she had to hazard a guess, she would say that she was now sitting in one of the utility rooms across from the section of chemical processors.
    “I appreciate your patience.”
    Sharply swiveling her head to the right, she watched as a tall, lanky man entered the room. He was not wearing a face mask. A light film of sweat was present on his swarthy brown