Page 12 of Protection for Asher (Safeguarded By The SEAL #4)

Asher hated herself for not fighting more.

What could she do? She had no opportunity to escape.

It was a gilded prison that was bound to kill her.

Sure, the man who was holding her wasn’t too terrible and the compound where he kept her was nice with beautiful furnishings and gardens, but she didn’t want to be his prisoner.

The days and nights had bled together since being deposited at the jerk’s doorstep. He kept her busy, gave her just enough food to survive, and let her sleep a few hours every day. There’d been no beatings, but she hated him.

She was supposed to call him Benji, but he didn't look like a Benji. He looked like an asshole. So far the sex had been mostly vanilla, with a few odd requests that required little from her. It wasn’t as terrible as she’d been led to believe it would be, but still awful because she was his prisoner and didn’t want to be with him.

Benji decided she behaved well enough to travel.

Since she was a novelty, he wanted to show her off, but because he said he couldn’t trust her, she had a muzzle over her mouth, keeping her quiet.

Her wrists were bound in front of her, and her ankles had leather straps around them with a chain hobbling her.

She could walk, but she had to take short little steps.

Degrading and humiliating didn't even begin to describe how she felt.

The clothes, or lack thereof, barely covered her.

She was on display for all the men to see.

Her role this weekend was easy to understand.

She would be a toy for the men to play with.

Gone was her humanity and her dignity. She was a glorified sex doll, and anything she wanted or needed was second thought.

The first night, she was displayed like a piece of art. Before she was allowed to go to sleep, Benji came to her and described the things she would have to do the next day. He seemed excited at the prospect of what would happen to her when the other men took their turn with her.

Anger rose, but she held it in. She wanted to fight this bastard, but she was either under guard or bound, so she couldn't make a move. It was impossible to find any striking point, and if she did strike, they would knock her down so fast it might just kill her.

She slept okay and woke to find the plans had changed from what he'd told her the night before. They were headed to another compound, something outside of the city. Her natural curiosity had been squelched by the torture, so she didn't ask any questions as they loaded into cars and left the city. Because they blindfolded her when she was outside, she wasn't sure which city they were in or which country, for that matter. She figured it was somewhere in the Middle East, but she wasn't positive. Because she didn’t know where she was, if she found an escape, she would take it. She couldn’t trust life wouldn’t be worse outside Benji’s compound.

One thing she’d learned from this whole thing was life could always get worse.

They drove for a few hours and Benji finally pulled off her blindfold. They were in an arid area and she could see mountains. Eventually the car slowed, and they drove toward a heavily guarded gate. Though the place looked nice, it was still a prison for her.

Squat saw the first of the vehicles pulling into the compound below. He’d been in the mountains for a few days just waiting for something to happen. They’d known the group would arrive at some point this week. He just hoped all the players were there so they could take them down.

Doing a strike on the compound would wipe out everyone in attendance, but the CIA wanted to have a chat with a couple of the people inside.

If it were up to him, he would wipe them off the face of the earth and then use their email and texts to piece together their plans.

But he was more smash-and-grab and less undercover operative.

Sharp had done some undercover work, but Squat wasn't sure he could.

They waited until nightfall to move. The moon being dark this week would help them immensely.

Moving in the pitch black of night sometimes gave him goosebumps.

He loved sneaking around like this, entering places he wasn’t expected.

When it was a hit on a terrorist organization, it gave him even more pleasure.

He was almost at the compound when Sharp told them to hold up. He paused, pissed that they weren’t moving forward. He wanted to make those guys pay.

“What’s up?” Apple asked.

“Overwatch has one more vehicle coming up the road.”

The information from overwatch didn’t really change the game, just gave them another target. He was glad Rider and his team were back home in Coronado looking out for them. He trusted Rider to keep them safe. If Rider said there was a car headed in, it was best to listen to him.

Squat watched as the car sped to the gates and entered, not seeing them at all. Of course, they were masters of shadows. They knew how to hide well and stay hidden. Few knew their tricks, and they sure as hell weren't going to tell anyone.

After the car stopped and the passengers got out, they were on the move again, heading to the property.

He pushed away all emotions, even the anger, and focused on the mission.

His job was to go in and neutralize the threats.

This was the dangerous part. They would experience resistance.

He’d done enough raids to know they would find someone with a gun and little sense.

He was at the door, which was unlocked like their inside man said it would be. When they had someone on the inside, they didn't know if they could trust them. But this group was destabilizing the region and the world. Their informant understood how bad it was for this group to go unchecked.

Once inside, Squat went to the left and headed down the hall to a door that was shut. This was where things would get interesting. Once that door opened, pandemonium would erupt. He couldn’t wait to take some people down and inflict pain on these bastards.

Asher hated the way the place felt. Everything was off from the weirdness that made her spine tingle, to the strange vibes she was getting from Benji.

He seemed jumpy, like he was ready at any moment to flee.

The other men in the group also seemed touchy, like they would bolt quickly if anything went wrong.

Every noise seemed to make Benji and the rest of the men flinch. The air felt strained, and she didn't dare relax. It was like someone teased that they had a secret, and most of the people in the room weren't allowed to know it.

A door opened and a man stepped into the room. He seemed to exude menace. The air seemed to grow thick with tension. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Benji stepped in front of her, which she was fine with. If she could walk out and go back to the car right then, she would have.

Eventually, the men relaxed a little. Menace Man said something and the rest the men laughed.

Then Benji started bragging about her, forcing her to walk amongst the men and allow them to touch her.

She was on the other end of the room from Benji when she heard something that sounded like fireworks.

She tilted her head to the side, listening as the noise grew louder.

All the men seemed to panic at once. This wasn’t fireworks, it was gunfire.

Asher looked at Benji, seeing the panic on his face. She took a step toward him, but he turned and raced off, leaving her behind. The bastard had abandoned her. Maybe this would be her opportunity to escape.

She heard more gunfire and knew she would end up shot if she made herself a big target.

Instead of running like the men and some of the other women, she dropped to her knees and then lowered to the floor, curling into a tight ball on her side.

Though her hands were still bound in front of her, she was able to get the muzzle loose and force it off her mouth. Now, she could talk if she needed to.

The noise grew louder, and she pulled her legs tighter to her chest. She could still get shot or end up in an even worse situation, though it was hard to imagine anything worse than being a sex slave.

Today, Benji had made her go topless. The sheer fabric around her waist did little to cover her.

It was more like a hint of coverage. He liked seeing her uncomfortable and pushed to make her annoyed. If he got shot, she would celebrate.

Squat had taken down four combatants already, and had two more he was following through the twisting hallways.

He could hear the rest of the guys doing their job by taking out the trash.

The man they were looking for hadn’t been caught yet, but they only had about thirty percent of the compound cleared.

He moved through the labyrinth, clearing each room as he went.

Jay was behind him, and Griz was in the rear, making sure no one would come from behind with a surprise.

He'd just stepped into a large room with abandoned food and drinks when he saw movement on the floor to his right.

He studied the shape, seeing it was a half-naked woman.

“Movement. I'll check it out,” he said over coms. Squat made a beeline to the woman huddled on the floor.

She had no top on, and the flimsy material around her waist did little to cover her.

He half expected her to speak something other than English, but when he was about five feet away, she spoke with a Southern American accent.

“Please don’t shoot me.”

He paused and glanced around before focusing on her again. “Hands. Let me see your hands.”

She lifted her bound hands that were shaking like a leaf in the wind. “Help me.”

Squat glanced around, checking on Jay. “We’re clearing the rooms. What do you know?”

“We just arrived. I was in a room with beds and a bathroom. I don't know where it was. The man who brought me here took off running, leaving me behind.”

“Lucky you. Follow behind me. Don’t do anything stupid. We’ll get you out, but only if you follow what we tell you to do.”

Asher had never been so happy to see anyone in her life, even if she couldn’t see the man’s face. He sounded like an American, so at least that was going for her.

Her legs ached, and her feet hurt. Her body felt old and used like she'd aged ten years in the last few months.

The beatings had slowed, but she still felt the sting of the last switch they'd used on her.

The men with guns were moving slowly, but her limping gait made it hard to keep up.

She paused when they paused and moved when they moved.

She didn't scream or cry when a man jumped out and fired his gun at them.

The man in front of her shot their attacker, taking him out.

They killed two more people as they wound through the dark hallways, none of it bothering her.

The guy in front of her paused, and she stopped. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

“You, stay right here. We're going to clear this room and then gather the survivors. If any other guys come around who look like me, you make sure they know you're an American.”

She nodded, unsure of how she could let them know she was an American.

“Okay.” Saying more wouldn't help. She let him go about his business and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath for the first time in what seemed like months.

Would they take her home? She didn't want to be left here in this country, and she would say whatever she had to say to get these new men to take her with them.

It was maybe five minutes before all the guys in black, dressed like the man who'd found her, entered the room. They all glanced her way, but she held up her still bound hands, hoping they understood she wouldn't be any trouble.

“You, the woman standing against the wall,” one of them said.

She met his gaze, wondering what he wanted. The excitement of being rescued had turned to exhaustion. She hoped they didn’t want much from her. “Yes?”

“A helicopter is on its way. You stick with us.”

She nodded. “I’ll stick with you.”

They were talking amongst themselves, but exhaustion held her too tight to listen. It seemed like they were getting ready to leave, so she moved closer to them, keeping her arms over her chest because she was still mostly naked.

The men with the bug-eyed goggles all dressed in black weren't ogling her. They were basically ignoring her, chatting amongst themselves about a captive. Who had they taken captive? Apparently, the guy was in the next room.

She heard a weird sound that was coming closer. It sounded like a loud engine. Was that the helicopter? Possibly.

One of the men, possibly the one who’d found her, turned to her. “Time to go.”

She nodded and followed closely as they took off.

They had hauled two men up and forced them toward the helicopter.

When one of them tried to fight back, they were punched hard.

That shocked her, but she couldn't afford to stumble or fall behind.

They were jumping on the helicopter, which was a much bigger step than she'd expected, and there was no way she would be able to jump up.

Someone helped her into the helicopter, and she yelped as the bottom dropped out from underneath her. One of the men cut the binding off her wrists and then handed her a shirt. She pulled it on, and someone gave her something to cover her ears.

She sat in stunned silence as they flew away from the compound.

How had this all happened? Benji hadn't been planning on going the night before, but he’d changed his plans.

He'd only wanted to show her off. No one would have known to go there to rescue her.

She'd just been in the right place at the right time.

Her rescue had been a fluke, just by happenstance.

She should still be Benji's slave, but she had escaped.

What would happen to the other women at his compound?

There was no way to know. She closed her eyes, tears leaking down her face.

She'd survived, and maybe, just maybe, the horror was over.