running down her neck. He flicked the knife, and both straps to her bra were cut. One of her shoulders was bleeding. He unfastened her bra, and threw it into the corner. Lynda decided that she would not kick him again. The camera had been turned on during the cuttings; she saw the red light on it.
Another man walked down the stairs into the room. He said something in Arabic, and the man with the knife backed off.
The new man spoke in perfect English. “You should not make my men so angry; they want to behead you now. But we will not behead you until tomorrow.”
Lynda responded, “Just do it now, and get it over with.” The spotlight shining on her was hot.
The new man said, “Do not get in such a hurry. Who knows? Maybe our demands will be met and we will release you.”
“Fat chance,” Lynda said. “Just kill me and get it over with.” She was almost begging. Her throat was parched. She asked, “Could I get a drink of water?” She felt like she was begging the man.
The new man signaled his crony, and the man went upstairs. He came back with a clear liquid. Lynda started to drink it. “Vinegar,” she said. “Yuck!” She spit the liquid out of her mouth. She asked, “What are your demands?”
“We want some of our friends released. They are in one of your prisons,” the new man said.
“When will you behead me?” Lynda asked.
“At noon tomorrow; that is when all beheadings occur,” the new man answered.
“So you are not going to feed me or give me anything to drink?”
“You will have to beg your countrymen to concede to our demands,” he said. “It is very simple: you help me, and I help you!”
Lynda answered, “I will not do that!”
“Then you get nothing!” The man signaled to one of the men, and he tightened the ropes some more. Lynda did not know how they got any tighter; her arms felt like her shoulders were going to be pulled out of their sockets. The pain was even more intense.
The sun had gone down; Ted wondered if Lynda was still alive.
The assault team had been assembled. It would be eight Rangers in heavy armor with eight Rangers behind them, in light armor. Ted would be behind these guys, and would be one of the last to enter.
The new man looked at Lynda carefully and pinched each one of her breasts. He looked at her buttocks, and slapped each one of them. He said, “You know, I could work out an agreement with you.”
She knew what kind of agreement he wanted. She spit out, “I will not work out an agreement with you.” She would die before she would help these men.
He said, “That is too bad. It could have saved your life.” He walked back up the stairs.
The ropes were tightened again. One of the men put on the hood and took the big sword. They turned on the camera and they made another movie, and filmed Lynda nearly naked. The hooded man held the sword to Lynda’s neck. He held up the card of demands again.
Lynda tried to control her breathing. She could barely see on the other side of the spotlight. There were men over on the other side, drinking and talking in Arabic. She figured they were talking about her. Frequently different men would come up to Lynda and rub her body with dark oil. She had no idea why they did that. They would film this activity and put it on the internet. She assumed that the video or videos would go viral.
It was nearly midnight. Ted watched the latest video. The high resolution video of Lynda topless had gone viral. Everyone back at the office had seen it too.
The team was not going to make entry until two in the morning, two more hours. Ted was angry at himself for letting Lynda talk him out of security. He felt that it was his fault that she was in this predicament. He had seen the broadcast that had gone out on the internet. He knew that they would behead her and it was his entire fault. He did not want to face Tom.
Two a.m. arrived, and the eight-man team broke open the front and back doors of the house. Flash bang grenades were thrown in to disorient the occupants. Several of the men inside grabbed rifles and tried to fight back, but were gunned down. Sixteen new Rangers were keeping a perimeter.
All the men on the first floor of the house were killed or wounded. A heated gun battle went on with the men in the basement. The next eight soldiers entered and cleaned up the wounded men. Not a single US casualty occurred.
Ted was the last man in. He found Lynda in the basement, nearly naked and in severe pain. He cut one of the ropes and tried to catch her, but she fell onto the ground. He took his shirt off and covered her up with it. She was so weak that she could not stand. Ted helped her into a chair. A medic was called and cleaned up the wounds on her wrists.
Lynda hugged Ted and said, “I will never complain about your security efforts again.”
When Lynda could finally get up, she went through the bodies and found that the leader who spoke English was only injured. He would be interviewed and sent to Guantanamo. The man who had threatened to behead her was dead. Lynda’s clothes were found and she was dressed. She even put the mutilated bra back on. The soldiers were all very respectful of her. She put her hair back into a ponytail and put the helmet back on. Now she just looked like one of the boys, except she had more curves.
Lynda got a full military escort back to CIA headquarters. She was quite the hit around the area. Back at the center, everyone applauded her when she walked back in. Without question, she was now in charge.
As soon as things calmed down, Lynda was back to business as usual. The center had run fine without her. She wasn’t really needed. So she and Ted went to an early morning breakfast. They went to the military commissary. There was a restaurant there that was open twenty-four hours a day. Ted was so happy to have Lynda back. He let her know that his job was to protect her, and it was no longer negotiable. She did not argue with him.
Much later that morning they were both at the center. Lynda said, “One-Shot, I need to take a walk.”
Ted got his four security men, and they followed Lynda out the door. Once out the door, two men hurried in front of Lynda and took walking positions about ten feet ahead of her. Ted walked beside her, and two men walked at a discreet distance behind her.
Ted said, “How about this formation, is it acceptable?”
Lynda smirked at Ted and asked, “Did everyone see the video?”
Ted looked down at the sidewalk. He said, “Lynda, it went out over the internet; everyone in the world saw it. But I wouldn’t worry about it!”
She grimaced. “I guess that I have no secrets to hide anymore!”
Ted smiled at her. “I downloaded my own personal copy!” Then he laughed real big, but his eyes were constantly moving from side to side of the street.
“Really?” Lynda asked, “I want to see it!”
“No,” he said, “I was tempted, but I didn’t.”
The laughter left his face. “Lynda, stay close to me. Something is amiss. That window, across the street. Do you have your vest on?” He whistled at his men. “All the kids have left the street.” He grabbed Lynda by the arm and pulled her into a darkened doorway just as a bullet skimmed by her face. She grabbed at her purse and had her gun out.
All five men fired as one at the window. A man in eastern dress fell out. Ted motioned for two of the men to investigate the building and that room in particular. The two front men hurried toward the door of the building. The two men in the rear came up and covered Ted and Lynda with their bodies. They were facing outwards, their guns sweeping the street. Suddenly there were children surrounding the man lying in the street.
Ted relaxed. “We are going to have to keep you under lock and key. Obviously the bad guys have you confused with someone special.” He laughed at the look on Lynda’s face.
The two men leaned out the window and gave Ted a thumbs-up. Ted let go of Lynda and the four people moved out from the doorway. They waited until the two lead men were back in position, then they completed their
walk. Nothing else so exciting or scary happened.
About thirty minutes later, they reentered the center. Lynda went to her office and shut the door. She came back out obviously with no vest on, just a camo tee shirt.
Ted stopped her, “Lynda, you have to wear that all the time. Who knows when you might get shot at again?”
She said, “One-Shot, everyone has already seen my goods. I have nothing to hide. I am safe in here. I will put it back on in a bit. It is very uncomfortable.”
“Damn, Lynda,” Ted said. “It wasn’t made to be comfortable; it was made to save your life. I wish you would put it back on. I would feel much better.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, “I will put it back on. Just let me breathe for a few minutes.”
“Just for a few minutes, is all,” Ted said, “and I mean it!”
At the end of that day, they went by armored car back to the hotel. Once in the hotel, Ted came in and said, “We are changing rooms. I take your room, and you take my room.”
“Why, One-Shot?” Lynda asked.
“Whoever is after you thinks you are in this room. We move you undercover and I will be waiting on them when they try again,” Ted said.
Lynda started packing her clothes. The security men helped her move quickly. When she got to Ted’s room, she realized that he had two beds. Once she saw the two beds, she said, “One-Shot, don’t get any ideas now.”
Ted grinned and said, “You Blonde Bombers are all alike, you think us guys
CIA - The Slave Traders Page 9