“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I wish I did, but, Tal, she’s totaled emotionally, in deep shock over whatever happened to her. She doesn’t want any strange man touching her. She’s okay with me holding her, and she’s okay with a woman nurse or doctor touching her. I guess that’s good news. But I don’t know the extent of her injuries or anything else that’s happened to her. Right now, all I’m trying to do is give her a safe harbor. She’s spun out, shocked, and scattered. The other seven women? They’re in far worse shape than she is, from what I could tell, but they’re civilians. And I need to fill you in on the mission and what happened.”
Tal nodded. “Good, because the Joint Chief of Staff has cut off our live feed to the mission because it involved one of our family members. We don’t know what happened after you and those three SEALs after you arrived at that other entrance, Gage. Leave nothing out on the rest of that op?”
She listened intently as he moved into the mission, her eyes closed, her heart pounding with fear and anguish for Alexa. When he was finished, she said, “As usual, you’re downplaying your part in their rescue, Gage.” He was always self-effacing, always giving others credit. It was one of the many qualities that Tal had always appreciated about him; above all, Gage Hunter was a team player. Her heart warmed to him, knowing that his courage to enter that cave system alone had saved Alexa and the other women, hands down. Someone should have been writing the man up for a damned medal.
“Look, all I care about . . . is Alexa.”
“Okay, so what should we do here? I know when my parents hear our conversation they’re going to fly over to Bagram in a heartbeat to be with Alexa. I just heard from Matt’s CO, and he’s coming off that op tomorrow morning. I know he’ll want to see Alexa as soon as he gets back to Bagram. And God, my whole family will want to fly in and see her, too.”
“My assessment, Tal, based upon what I’ve seen of Alexa since we rescued her, is that she doesn’t want to be around people. They had to move her up to Obstetrics because she couldn’t handle the ER, all the noise, the activity, the movement of people in and out of her cubicle. She’s fallen apart emotionally.”
“God,” Tal rasped, standing up, suddenly feeling she needed to do something, anything, to help her sister.
“I’m sure she’ll want to see her immediate family, though,” Gage reassured her. “Family is important in something like this . . .”
“She wants to feel safe,” Tal uttered, pacing the floor of her office, scowling, thinking. “Family means safety to Alexa. It would anyone in a circumstance like this.”
“Well,” he said wryly, “I think if Matt gets here, that will help her stabilize. I’m in a little bit of a jam right now, and I’ve got MPs standing by to take my statement. I’m not sure I’ll be able to be with Alexa, despite what she might want. And right now, she really needs people she loves to be nearby. I think it’d help her a lot.”
“MPs?” Tal muttered. “What the hell, Gage. What did you do?”
He nervously cleared his throat. “That ER doctor, the guy who busted into Alexa’s cubicle and was going to force her to do a rape kit? I told him he wasn’t getting near her and to find a woman doctor to treat her. He didn’t take it well. He told me he was going to write me up for insubordination to an officer.”
“Shit!” Tal breathed. She anchored to a halt. “Okay, you stay with her. I want you like glue next to her bed. Don’t you dare leave her side until Matt arrives. I’m putting a call in to his CO right now. Further, I’ll have my uncle Pete Culver call your CO ASAP.” She went to her desk, grabbing a pen and paper. “Give me his name and his contact number, Gage. Because my uncle is a general in the Marine Corps, he’ll make damn sure that you stay exactly where you are—with Alexa.”
“Sounds good to me,” Gage said, relief in his voice. “I can use all the help I can get right now. I don’t want to be in the brig when Alexa needs protection until Matt or your family can be here to stand guard over her.”
“Can I get you on this sat phone number, Gage? Will you have it on you?”
“Actually, I borrowed it from the nurse’s station. I have to give it back to them. But you can call it, and they’ll come and get me, because I’ll be in Alexa’s room.”
“I need to get the MPs to stand down and get that ridiculous charge removed.”
“Trust me, Tal, I don’t want to be anywhere else.” He lowered his tone. “She’s very fragile . . .”
“I hear you, Gage. Thank you for being there. You’re the right man to be with her. In my book, you rock, Marine.”
“I’ll call you once I know more about what they’re going to do with Alexa.”
“I’m in touch with her CO already,” Tal assured him. “Right now, from what you’re telling me, everyone’s probably waiting on that examination and the results. That’s going to determine what the Air Force will do with her. They’ll have a flight surgeon assess her to find out when she can return to duty and fly again.”
“I don’t see how she can go back to flying any time soon.”
Tal stilled. “It’s that bad, Gage?”
“I’m not a psychiatrist or a flight surgeon, Tal, but I know Alexa well enough. She’s nothing like the person you knew before. This kidnapping has changed her world and changed her. I don’t know for how long . . .”
*
It was nearly dinnertime when Dr. Pamela Griffin finished with her examination of Alexa. She was a physician but had never interviewed or had to perform a physical on someone who had been kidnapped with the express purpose of making them a sex slave. As she sat down in her office off the main hallway from obstetrics, she dropped the clipboard on her desk and went to the window, looking out the venetian blinds. The night was closing in now, with no hint of a sunset across Bagram, the January weather quixotic, cold, and unpredictable. Her stomach was tight and she rubbed the area. It was important she enter her findings into the computer. She knew the flight surgeon over at the A-10 unit at Bagram was waiting for it. Tomorrow, Major Jill Donahue would have the information and would come over and assess Alexa Culver herself.
Shaking her head, Pamela sat down, wanting a shot of whiskey. It wasn’t something she had often, but on a really bad day like this it helped unknot her sensitive gut. Pushing her fingers through her hair, she pulled over her laptop and opened up the patient-file program. She had to get this over with.
There was a knock on her door.
“Enter,” she called, wondering who it was. There was no shift change yet. Her eyes widened as a tall man wearing an Air Force uniform with general’s stars on his epaulets entered. Behind him was a woman with red hair, dressed elegantly in a black wool pantsuit, her face tense.
Instantly, Pamela shot to her feet, coming to attention.
“At ease, Captain,” the general said, standing aside, allowing the woman into the large corner office. “I’m Alexa’s father, Robert Culver.” He shut the door they both approached her desk. “This is my wife, Dilara Culver. I’m sorry to barge in unexpectedly like this, but we just landed at Bagram. I wanted to see you first, since you examined our daughter. Do you have time to sit and talk for a moment before we go see her?”
“Of course, sir.” Pamela quickly came around the desk and brought two chairs in front of it. “Can I get you anything to drink, sir? Mrs. Culver?”
Dilara gave her a weak smile and sat down, her black leather purse in her lap. “No, thank you, Dr. Griffin. Please, relax. We’re here as parents, for our child. This isn’t military business.”
Robert removed his hat, placed it on the edge of the desk, and sat down. “Please, sit down. Relax. I’m assuming you’ve examined Alexa?”
“Yes, sir, I have.” Pamela sat down and opened up her clipboard. She saw the somber look in their eyes, the fear, as if they were trying to prepare themselves against whatever she might say. “Please understand, your daughter requested that only her parents, brother, and sister have the privilege of seeing the results of my examination.”
Robert nodded. “That’s good to know.”
“Sergeant Gage Hunter, who helped rescue her and the other women, has been with her almost nonstop at Alexa’s specific request.”
Dilara winced, biting down on her red lower lip, clutching the bag a little more tightly.
Robert slid his arm soothingly around his wife’s shoulders. “Is he with her now?”
“No, sir. The MPs arrested him earlier.” She grimaced. “That didn’t help Alexa at all, to have them march into her room and put him custody. She was very upset.”
Robert nodded. “We’re working out this issue as we speak. My people are in touch with the doctor who charged Sergeant Hunter. I feel it will get straightened out shortly.”
“Good,” Pamela said. “Because Alexa relies heavily on him for now.” She took a breath and added quietly, “Let me quickly go over my findings. And please, time your discussion on any of this with your daughter. She’s on very shaky ground. I had a tough time getting her to give me what little information she shared with me. I found most of what I needed in a physical examination of her. It was very hard on her, and I feel badly that I had to do it, but she understood.”
“Is she all right now?” Dilara asked.
“I just gave her a mild anti-anxiety medication, Mrs. Culver. Alexa is tired, still sleeping a lot, off and on. She’s not eating much, which, when you understand what she went through, isn’t surprising.”
“Tell us,” Robert demanded.
Pamela knew there was no way to sugarcoat her findings. If the parents didn’t know the whole truth, they couldn’t help their floundering daughter. She went over everything. And the more information she gave them, the more Dilara Culver tensed. “There are abrasions outside and inside her vagina, but they will heal within a week. Her anal area is similar, but there is a slight tear at the entrance. I numbed the area and put two stitches into the tear, and she should be fine in a few days. She didn’t suffer any pain from the procedure.”
“Oh, no.” Dilara wobbled, pressing her gloved hands to her lips, looking at her husband, tears in her eyes.
“She was not raped, Mrs. Culver,” Pamela said gently.
“In a sense,” Robert growled, “she was.”
“In the strict legal sense, she was not,” Pamela said. “But that does not mean that Alexa’s reaction to the violation isn’t going to be similar to that of any rape survivor. I’ll know more about this tomorrow when Major Donahue, the flight surgeon, interviews her. Like I said, I’m not a psychiatrist. I can only tell you what I observed from a compassionate human perspective.”
Dilara blotted her eyes, her mascara running. “She was tortured,” she whispered. “Oh, God . . .”
Pamela compressed her lips, watching the general try to comfort his distraught wife. His face was a mass of rage, his eyes narrowing the deeper she went into her findings on Alexa.
Robert asked, “In your opinion, Dr. Griffin, how should we behave toward our daughter? Obviously, we’re not going to ask her what happened.”
“No, I think right now a lot of care, a lot of love, no judgment, no questions, is what she really needs.”
Dilara sniffed. “What about those other poor seven women?”
“They all received similar treatment. We have one woman who just came out of surgery because her anal cavity was compromised and torn. She could have died in three days if they hadn’t been rescued. As it is, she’s going to be fine. Well . . . she’ll be fine physically, but the mental and emotional abuse all these women suffered is going to take years to come to grips with. It’s a terrible sentence.”
“Was Alexa the only one to be whipped with a belt?”
“Yes.”
“Did she tell you what happened?” Robert demanded.
“No,” Pamela said. “I couldn’t get it out of her. She just retreated, almost went catatonic on me. Asking her questions drives her deep into herself, sir. It’s as if speaking about it brings it all back, which makes sense. She breaks out into a sweat, starts shaking, crying, and doesn’t want to be touched by anyone. Not even me. Well, I should amend that. Sergeant Hunter, her fiancé, can hold her. When she’s like that, she wants to be in his arms and be held. He’s been really good for her.”
“Fiancé?” Dilara said, eyes widening. She looked to her husband and then at Pamela. “She never told us she was engaged.”
“Well, Sergeant Hunter told Dr. Parlin that he was Alexa’s fiancé.”
Robert’s mouth quirked. “That’s news to us, but it’s not important right now. If our daughter trusts him and is willing to let him support her, that’s all I care about at this moment.”
“Y-yes,” Dilara whispered, blotting her eyes with the handkerchief. “We owe him so much . . . so much.”
“He was part of the rescue team,” Pamela told them. “He’ll never tell you this, but he’s the one who went into that cave system alone and found the women. I’ve seen the SEAL report on what he did.”
“Yes, I’ve seen it, too,” Robert said. “He’s an outstanding Marine.”
“Right now, your daughter absolutely relies on him, sir. She was so upset when the MPs took him away from her. I hope you can do something soon?”
“It’s in process, doctor.”
“C-can we see our daughter now, doctor?” Dilara asked.
Pamela gave Dilara a sympathetic look. “Of course. I’ll take you down. My advice is to see where she’s at. If she’s sleeping, allow her to sleep and quietly leave. Or just take a chair and sit and wait for her to wake up. Obviously, she’s exhausted. All the women are.”
“I want to stay, no matter what,” Dilara said.
“What about her back, doctor? What is her prognosis?”
“Sir, she’s been badly beaten. The bruising and swelling are going to be painful for her for the next week or so. I’ve got her on ibuprofen for the pain, and it’s reduced some swelling, so it’s helping her rest better.”
“Can we hug her?” Dilara asked.
“Yes, but very carefully,” Pamela suggested. “Her back is very, very sensitive.”
“Of course, it would be,” Dilara agreed faintly, shaking her head.
Pamela gave them a compassionate look. “Your daughter survived this. I think that’s what you must hold uppermost in all of this. She was rescued. And she’s going to live. All eight women will heal physically from this. I think you need to have a session with Major Donahue after she gets done talking with Alexa tomorrow. She’s a licensed psychiatrist, and I’m sure she could give you some pointers on how to help Alexa instead of causing her more pain than she’s already in.”
“But with Sergeant Hunter? She’s calm around him?”
“Not calm, but stable,” Pamela said. “He’s like an emotional anchor to her right now.”
Dilara sniffed and whispered, “Robert, you have to get him to remain with her.”
Grimly, Robert nodded. “It’s going to happen.”
Pamela had no doubt it would, judging by the set of the general’s square jaw and the hardness that came to his hazel eyes. She could see Alexa in both her parents, and certainly, Alexa’s attractiveness came directly from Dilara Culver, who reminded Pamela of a beautiful, world-class model.
“Alexa is probably asleep right now, but let’s go down and peek into her room. And, Mrs. Culver, we can always get another bed in there so you can remain with her and sleep nearby. I’m sure Alexa would find that a great comfort right now.”
Robert rose. “That’s a good idea.” He put his hand on his wife’s shoulder, his voice lowering. “I’m going to get my staff car and have my driver take me over to where they’re holding Sergeant Hunter. And, Dilara, you stay with Alexa. I’ll deal with the MPs.”
Dilara rose. “Yes, of course.”
Pamela felt sorry for them as she walked around her desk, leading them out of her office and down the highly polished hall. She couldn’t imagine how the other seven women who were alone must have felt, their parents half a w
orld away, unable to visit them.
Only because General Culver was in the military, and his daughter was, too, could this happen. Civilians were not allowed on the massive Army base.
It was Captain Alexa Culver who had been roughly handled, but it wasn’t the worst violation. The other hostage, a woman named Cathy, had been brutalized even further. Neither of those two women, in Pamela’s estimation, was going to emerge from beneath this toxic trauma easily.
All the women had suffered cruelty, and they would heal in time, but Pamela wondered just how long it was going to take each of them to emerge from the shadow of this horrific, life-changing trauma.
CHAPTER 16
Gage’s eyes widened when an Air Force general came into the interrogation room where he was being held. He instantly leaped to his feet, coming to attention as the tall, husky officer entered. The officer in charge who had been taking his statement entered as well. Lieutenant Adam Huson had a sheepish look on his face, his mouth set.
“At ease,” the Air Force general rumbled. He looked to the lieutenant.
Lieutenant Huson said roughly, “The doctor has dropped the charge against you. You’re dismissed.”
Blinking, Gage watched the officer quietly close the door, leaving him with the general, who stood sizing him up from across the table where he stood at attention.
Taking off his hat, Robert pulled out a chair. “Sit down for a moment, son, we need to talk.”
“Yes, sir.” Confused, Gage had no idea who this man was until his gaze settled on the name tag on the officer’s dress blues: “Culver, R.” He gulped, then sat down opposite him at the table. So this was Alexa’s father! He folded his hands in front of himself, holding the man’s hard, incisive gaze.
“I’m Alexa’s father,” he said. “And I understand from Dr. Griffin that you’re her fiancé?”
Shit, now he was in more trouble. Wincing, Gage sat back, rubbing his hands on his trousers. “I lied to the ER doctor, sir. When I brought your daughter into the ER from the medevac, he was bullying his way into her cubicle and scaring the hell out of her. He was demanding she get the rape kit test.” He scowled, his voice heavy. “I knew your daughter for three days before her kidnapping happened. We were getting along very well with one another.” Gage felt his emotions surging up, and he looked away, placing tight control over them. He swiveled his head to meet the general’s implacable gaze. “Alexa trusted me, sir. She was falling apart in the ER from everything that had happened in that cave. I wasn’t about to let that doctor anywhere near her. He was insensitive, and she was cowering behind me, begging me not to let him get near her.” His mouth thinned. “I told him to get a woman doctor to help Alexa and that he wasn’t going to lay a hand on Alexa. He demanded to know who the hell I was.” He shrugged. “I lied and told him I was her fiancé, because I knew that if I said that, he’d have to obey my wishes, even if he wasn’t listening to your daughter.”
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