Captured 3 Read Online Free Page A

wasn’t about to enlighten her. Joe was on the frontline, or close to it, which was somewhere he’d never been.
    He walked Mary-Margaret and the kids home, reassuring them again that the disruption had most likely been caused by the satellite connection. He didn’t think he’d convinced her, though, and he promised to let her know as soon as he learned something. He would, right after he found out firsthand, but he would tell her a story that was close to the truth, hiding everything she didn’t need to know.
    There were others inside the building on the base, a concrete two-story block with two MPs posted out front. They recognized Eric in his full uniform as he strode up the steps to the front doors, which were opened for him. The hallway inside was darkened, deserted, but he could hear the squeak of footsteps on the linoleum floor.
    “Captain Hamilton, everyone is in the situation room,” came the voice of Corporal Miller, who was carrying a paper cup of coffee. The boy was young, lanky, and efficient. He walked beside Eric and handed him the coffee.
    “Any news?”
    “No, sir, but the colonel’s arrived. Lieutenant Perkins, too.”
    Eric stopped outside the room and keyed in his security code. He dismissed his corporal and then took a swallow of the lukewarm coffee before walking in. The room was filled with personnel, computers, and a projector screen at the front. Everyone was talking. He walked past the rows, recognizing the glassed-in office in back and his superior officers inside, standing, talking. Perkins was round in the middle, too much time behind a desk. Colonel Hancock’s gray hair was parted on the side, and he wore dark-rimmed glasses. He was a head shorter than Eric. Eric closed the door behind him and didn’t miss the annoyance on the colonel’s face.
    “Any word from Lieutenant Commander Joe Reed?” Eric asked.
    It was Lieutenant Perkins who said, “Hostiles made their way into camp and invaded the women’s quarters. They managed to abduct two of them, but a third managed to get away. It appears these hostiles entered the camp with the sole intent of taking those women. We’re not sure yet on all the details. The team in pursuit was taken out by insurgents in the hills. A launcher detonated on them—one dead, two wounded. What we know is that this was planned, and they knew exactly the way into the camp and the details of where the women’s barracks was situated. Reports are sketchy, but Lieutenant Commander Reed is one of the members of the third team, which has left to go after the women.”
    Eric couldn’t believe it. Why would Joe have done that? He was meant to be coming home in a few days.
    There was a knock on the glass door before it was opened. “We have the commander on com now, Colonel.”
    Perkins nodded to one of the corporals in the doorway.
    “Bring it up,” Colonel Hancock said.
    Eric followed Perkins and the colonel into the bullpen. A big screen was on, and a gray-haired man Eric didn’t recognize came on.
    “DeLaurie, what’s the status with the women?” Colonel Hancock was standing in the middle of the room, wearing army boots and green fatigues. Lieutenant Perkins, on the other hand, was dressed in blue jeans and a dark blue golf shirt.
    “We don’t have all the details yet, Colonel, but rest assured we’re going to find the taken women.”
    “You’re not telling us anything. What have you been able to find out?” The colonel was cutting right through the bullshit, something Eric appreciated.
    On the screen, DeLaurie snapped his fingers in the air. There were personnel behind him, and someone handed him some papers. He shoved on a pair of reading glasses. “What we’ve been able to piece together from Riske, who was one of the women they tried to take, is that Lance Corporal Dunlop has been communicating online with a man in northern Iraq. Apparently she’s formed some kind of relationship, and he contacted her through Facebook. Our techs have been