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Joe was one to cut through the bullshit, and he was right: Eric was not one to become emotionally attached.
    “Shit, Joe, I’m not a monster, but evidently whoever did this to her is,” he barked.
    “You’re right, but we don’t know the whole story.”
    Eric didn’t expect that from Joe. He stared at his friend, wondering just what the hell was up with him.
    “You should let me talk to her, Captain. Let me handle this.” Joe was really pushing it.
    Eric thought about it, but there was something different about Abby. Something had happened, and he didn’t feel right letting anyone else talk to her. “No.” He jabbed a finger at Joe. “What I want you to do is notify command, let them know where we found Abby. Tell them that as soon as we have more details, we’ll fill them in. Then get in touch with some of your contacts in Bahrain, unofficially, of course. I want to know what boats were in the area. Have them pull up satellite, and find out any information about this girl, if anyone saw her aboard the boat and with whom. You and I both know what she most likely escaped from, but I want all the cold, hard facts, because right at this point, we really don’t know anything.” Raising his steely hand, palm forward, he stopped Joe from leaving his chair. “One more thing.” He gestured toward the door. “Make sure the crew keeps away from her. I don’t want some curious young sailor wandering down there, so post a guard outside the door of sickbay. Make it clear to the crew that she’s off limits.”
    “As you say, Captain. How soon are you planning on getting her off this ship?”
    This time, Eric wouldn’t look at his XO but swiveled his chair around and stared out the port window. “That’ll be all.”
    Joe hesitated and gave a chuckle that was something between a groan and irritation as he slid back his chair and stood. For a moment, Eric could feel his gaze burning into him as if he wasn’t finished and had something more to say. “I’ve know you for a lot of years, Eric, and you are a damn hard man for anyone to read, except me. I know you better than you think I do.” Then he left, leaving the door open behind him.
    Eric wondered for a moment what he meant by that. Sometimes, it bothered him that he shared everything with Joe. As pointed out by a staff shrink, he didn’t like to share anything about himself: his abandonment issues, his lack of commitment. This was a window into his soul that any enemy could use to overpower him, get in his head and fuck with him. Even friends with loose lips said and shared things without thinking, and Eric swore he didn’t want anyone getting that close to him again. But as his thoughts swept over to Abby, a vulnerable picture of her all alone, a flow of questions surrounding her arrival consumed him.
    Where did you come from? Who are you? What happened to you? Who did this to you? They were dark and ugly, the thoughts that crept in, from the possibility of terrorist links, to a trap, to this girl being tortured and abused willingly just to fool them. But that last part didn’t feel right. Eric knew deep down that his first thought had to be to his crew and ship’s safety, and his responsibilities wouldn’t let him dismiss the thought that this whole thing could be a trick. The enemy did absolutely despicable things and wasn’t above using a pregnant woman.
    Eric picked up the pile of reports awaiting his approval on the side of his desk. He flipped impatiently through the pages of information. Sighing in frustration, he threw them down while silently wanting to kick his own ass for this distraction, because Eric didn’t allow distractions to ever interfere with his duties. He lived and breathed this ship, the Navy. He did what he needed to do and pushed away everything and anything that pulled him from his duties. He often frowned on the married sailors who’d get a letter or email from home and lose it over something they couldn’t deal with from