Still Mine by Mary Wine Read Free Book Online Page B

him with any information. He had loaded her into that Hummer without so much as an introduction. The least she could do was return the favor and leave him guessing what she was thinking too.
    One eyebrow rose slightly in response to her set features.
    “How’s the shoulder?”
    Her eyes narrowed. “Great. I think you pulling on my arm is quite helpful. The stitches need to come out sometime, right?”
    Her sarcasm gained her immediate release. The man aimed a hard look at her before he turned to address a nearby man. Now that there was plenty of light, little details snared her attention. Jolene looked at the ankle-high boots laced over the bottom of these men’s pants. While they were wearing only nondescript black clothing, the personnel surrounding them wore green and brown fatigues. The generic plates on the Hummers caught her eye as she scanned the area for more. A neat row of cars two hundred feet in front of her were marked with the same plates. There wasn’t a sign in sight with any words, only numbers with hyphens and punctuation marks that didn’t make sense to her.
    All the trappings of some sort of military base. Jo considered the few men moving around and their sharp attention to their tasks. A row of huge white hangars stood across the street. The doors were closed, concealing whatever aircraft they housed.
    But it was the field of helicopters that drove home the fact that she was in a restricted area. Stretching out in front of the Hummer that had brought her was a blacktop divided into landing pads with wide circles painted in reflective white paint. There were multiple aircraft sitting at rest. Several different models of helicopters in every shape and size.
    “This way.”
    He extended a hand and part of her rebelled, but her shoulder protested that impulse. Getting pulled along again by his larger hands wasn’t something she was eager for.
    So she kept pace with him as he walked towards a long building. Doors were set every ten feet like a motel, but there were no windows. He gave a doorknob a twist and pushed it inward.
    “We’re taking a few hours downtime.”
    He pointed to the open door, clearly expecting her to walk across the threshold. Movement caught her eye and she turned as two men snapped salutes and stood at attention.
    “Your doormen. Behave yourself.”
    The pair of soldiers considered her. Her attention shifted to the guns holstered on their hips and the high-power rifles slung over their shoulders. They carried the deadly firepower with a normalcy that was eerie. At least it was for her civilian eyes.
    The major cleared his voice. “I hope they meet with your approval. In.”
    She stepped forward because there didn’t seem like any other option. Frustration kept her teeth clenched. Her captor reached in and punched a light switch. He caught the doorknob and pulled the door closed leaving her inside.
    Turning around, Jo surveyed her cell. It was a step up from a prison, but only one. The right side of the room was occupied by a double bed. A chair sat next to it. The lamp was an overhead one. To her left was a doorway without a door. It led to a bathroom that was so small she could touch both walls at the same time by reaching her hands out. A single bar of soap lay on the tile next to the sink along with a plastic disposable cup. Unwilling to relax enough to take her clothes off, she wandered back into the outer room.
    Her mind worked at a steady pace, turning the events over and over, but without any new insights. She sat on the bed, her body far from relaxed enough to sleep.
    But she needed to.
    The first rule of surviving any abduction was to make the most of the resources at hand. Sleep was one of those things that you needed if you were going to be sharp enough to help yourself escape.
    She lifted her feet to unlace her boots, then lined them up next to the wall. She settled back onto the bed, closed her eyes and ordered her brain to shut off.
    It took a very long time