The Journal: Raging Tide: (The Journal Book 4) by Deborah D. Moore Page B

of muffled commotion
going on outside. Tat put his belt around my neck like a leash. He
did that every time we left the room. The only time I was free of
him was when I had to join the other two captive women in the
cooking cabin. We stepped outside and I came to a halt, my heart
pounding. The relief that filled me made me dizzy and I
staggered.
    Colonel James Andrews was standing in the
center of the compound. I don’t know which a better sight: him, or
the three dozen armed soldiers that had all of the escaped convicts
surrounded.
    “I said where is she ?” Jim yelled at
the man kneeling in the dirt. The man tipped his chin in my
direction and Jim spun around. “Allex!” He took several long
strides and stopped in front of us. “Take that off her,” he snarled
at Tat.
    “I got my bitch on a leash, soldier-man,”
Tat snickered even as Jim leveled his gun at him.
    “Take. It. Off.” Tat dropped his hold on the
belt, and I limped forward on my stockinged feet, removing the belt
from around my neck and dropping it to the ground. “Now hand me
that gun. Butt first.”
    Tat complied. “I suppose you want me on my
knees too?” he said and dropped to the dirt, crossing his ankles
before Jim could answer.
    I stood near Jim, afraid to speak. I wanted
to hug him to make sure he was really there.
    “I believe this is your sidearm,
Lieutenant,” he said, handing me the Beretta. I ejected the
magazine, checked the loads and slammed it home, chambering a
round. I turned to face my captor. My tormentor.
    I placed the barrel of the gun to his
forehead and saw a flicker of fear in his eyes just before I pulled
the trigger. I stuck the gun in the waistband of my tattered and
filthy pants and limped back to Jim. “Get me out of here.” My knees
buckled. Jim caught me, cradling me in his arms, and marched me
back to the Hummer. I felt his heart beating against my cheek as I
breathed in his scent. Yes, it was really him and I felt a surge of
emotions that I’d neglected for far too long.
    “Sergeant, execute every last one of them,”
he barked out when he passed his second in command.
    Jim set me down on the tailgate of the
Hummer. “I’m so sorry it took me this long to get back, Allex.” He
brushed a lock of hair away from the fresh bruises on my face. “Are
you okay?”
    I looked up at him. “No, I’m not okay.” The
tears started running down my face. “I’ve been held captive by a
violent, sadistic psychopath who tortured and beat me. All the
while I had no hope of being rescued because I believed my best
friend was dead! When they captured me, I heard them say to not
waste a bullet, you were already dead. All my hope was gone in that
one statement. I believed you were dead, Jim, and my sorrow was
overwhelming. Plus, with you went any possibility of me ever seeing
my family again.
    “ And I just killed that psychopath in
cold blood. You know the worst part is? I don’t feel anything, no
regret, no sorrow, no remorse in shooting him. So no , I’m not okay!”
    Jim pulled me into his arms for a reassuring
hug and I clung to him. “It will take more than a conk on the head
to kill me,” he said, trying unsuccessfully to get me to smile. “I
came to with a serious headache about a half hour after the attack.
I followed their trail back here. It wasn’t hard, even a blind man
could have followed them. I waited and watched for another half
hour. I never did see you. I counted fourteen men; fifteen
including Tat.” He took my hand. “Allex, if I thought I had even
the remotest chance of getting you out by myself, I would never
have left, but fifteen to one is not good odds. I’m sorry.” He sat
down next to me. “I got back to the Hummer just as some of them
were starting to search for it. It was too well concealed for them
to find. As soon as they were gone I hightailed it for the Soo. I
had to stop a couple of times to clear my head. I think I had a
concussion. Once I got there though, I must say I had