Pushing Up Daisies Read Online Free PDF Page B

another meal,” Blackberry said as he took a swig of water out of a bottle. “Need to hydrate. It’s hot as fuck out there.” He held up the crackers. “Salt and water.”
    The bird began descending. House stared out the open door. They were coming in over a town. It was poorly lit, looked like every other Somali town. They had no idea where they were going. They knew they had three captives being held by pirates who were brokering a deal with Al Shebab. If they didn’t get them before the deal went down, it was likely they never would.
    * * * *
    Alone, Sarah allowed tears to roll down her face. After only a few minutes of sobbing, she gathered her wits and her courage and worked the bag off her head by scraping it on the rough board floor. She harvested a few splinters and some scrapes for her efforts but was finally able to see. She examined her surroundings. There was a filthy mattress on the floor in the corner. The one window showed a dark sky. It was night. She crawled to it and looked out. The room was part of a two-story concrete and stone house. A courtyard below held trucks and lots of men, armed men. Each one carried an automatic weapon and ammo belts.
    She was familiar with weapons. Her father had taught her to shoot and in every country she saw armed men. She knew what kind of weapon each of the men below carried. It looked like they’d bought a shipment of older AK-47s. The men were all dark-skinned like the local Somalis and were dressed in shorts for the most part and grubby T-shirts.
    The courtyard was surrounded by a concrete and rock wall and lit by the yellow glow of sodium vapor lights. A rusty iron gate suddenly opened and a shiny SUV entered. She backed away from the window so she wouldn’t be spotted.
    The five men who emerged from the SUV were different. Two wore keffiyehs on their head and black robes. They were Arabs…al Qaida or maybe al-Shebab. The other three were Africans, dark-skinned locals from their looks, all heavily armed.
    Sarah spoke Farsi. She strained to hear them talking below her. What she heard caused her heart rate to accelerate and hope for rescue evaporate. They were members of Al Shebab and the pirates were negotiating a sale for the three of them. If the rebel insurgents controlled them, they would die. The pirates would ask for ransom. Al Shebab would use them as pawns in their power game.
    She leaned against the wall. There was so little she could do, but at least she was aware of what was going on. Ignorance was deadly. The commotion in the courtyard died and Sarah closed her eyes. She was exhausted but too scared to sleep. Refusing the small comfort of the filthy mattress across the room, she leaned against the wall to rest.
    It seemed as though she’d slept for only a few minutes when the door flew open and one of the pirates entered. He saw her bag was gone, found it and shoved it over her head. Once again, her world descended into darkness. The pirate grabbed her elbow and dragged her from the room.
    In her pocket, the gold object she’d taken from the tomb bounced against her thigh with each step reminding her of the price she’d paid for it. She was lifted into a vehicle, the door slammed shut and a seatbelt was strapped over her, bound hands and all.
    The vehicle’s seats felt soft and the cool interior smelled of leather and men. She was in the back of the big SUV. She wondered if Freidrick or Coop was with her and her heart raced with terror. If she was being moved without them, the pirates might kill her two friends while she would be used to gain some kind of advantage for the Islamic insurgents. If Coop and Freidrick were in the SUV, she couldn’t sense them or hear Freidrick’s moans.
    When the pirates leaped into the cave on the outskirts of Elaayo, they’d slashed his leg with a machete. Sarah saw the bloody blade later. It looked dirty. She’d torn a strip off the hem of her dress and