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escaped Lena’s lips. Her eyes widened with fear, sweat rolling down the sides of her face. Then the militant moved his wrist. The movement was so slight as to be almost imperceptible, but he was ready for it.
    Jesse did not hesitate to pull the trigger. He took the head shot. The entire tragic ordeal was over in a matter of seconds.
    Slumping to the ground, the knife slipped from the man’s lifeless fingers. Jesse sprinted toward Lena who’d also collapsed to the floor in the aftermath of the shot.
    Dropping to his knees, he reached for her. His hands swiftly skimmed her face and neck to see if she’d somehow been injured in the shooting, checking for a heartbeat. His eyes closed in relief when he felt the persistent thudding of her pulse against his fingertips.
    Slipping a hand underneath her head, he touched her shortened locks. Those assholes had apparently chopped off her hair. Luckily, she hadn’t been harmed by his shot. She was drenched in the blood and brain matter of her captor, but she didn’t have any visible bullet wounds or lacerations. She still lay unresponsive, but she had probably fainted from the stress of the situation.
    “Jesse, we have got to hustle, man,” Luke intoned quietly from somewhere behind him. “We’ve got about seven minutes to make it back to surface and to the boat.”
    Glancing at the tall, shadowy figures behind him, Jesse saw that his teammates were now posted like sentries just outside of the door. They were attentively monitoring the area, ensuring that no AnSawar members could get the jump on them.
    Carefully reaching his hands under her legs and waist, Jesse began to lift Lena’s body up into his arms. And then, her eyes flickered open. Her mouth dropped open in a silent, startled gasp. Those freshly opened eyes expanded in alarm as she took in his ninja-like garb.
    “It’s okay,” he reassured her, holding out the palms of his hands in an appeasing motion. “It’s okay. We’re U.S. Navy SEALs, ma’am. We’re here to bring you home.”
    Jesse watched as her eyes watered, brimming with unshed tears. And then something he wasn’t expecting happened. She hugged him. As weak as she had to have been, she buried her face in the side of his neck and held on to him like she would never let him go.
    “Thank you. Thank you,” she softly sobbed against his skin, the hot tears now leaking out between her closed eyelids.
    “Shh. It’s okay now, sweetheart. I’ve got you,” he murmured, gently hugging her back before lifting her up into his arms. Her arms stayed firmly wrapped around him as he carried her from that dark lair and out into the light.
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER
THREE
     
     
     
    One Day Later
    U.S.S. Conroy
    Indian Ocean
     
     
     
    C old air wafted down from the overhead ventilation units causing gooseflesh to arise on Lena’s skin. She barely registered them though. Her full concentration was on the barrage of questions that the men surrounding her in the room were sending her way.
    As soon as she’d arrived on the ship, she’d been given access to a small bedroom suite with an attached bathroom. She’d taken advantage of the accommodations by taking a much needed shower. She’d been given a pair of green military fatigues to wear, which happened to be about two sizes too large. Now, she was seated at one end of an octahedral metal and glass table in one of the rooms that were used for conferencing.
    “Are you certain that you have never met any of these men before?”
    The incessant whirring from the overhead vents were almost as unnerving as the hard glares she was receiving from the other eyes in the room.
    “Yes, of course I’m sure. I’m positive. I would remember if I had seen any of them.” Lena sat across from two naval officers and a FBI agent in a small conference room that had a sterile vibe to it. The commander of the SEAL Team that rescued her, Mark something or other, had taken over the questioning session a few minutes