12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 27

"If that's true then we can't let him go," Samantha said.

"Thanks for that Captain Obvious," Carlos rolled his eyes. Samantha stuck her tongue in her cheek as she glared across at the Marine but before she could retaliate a loud crackling sound, like that of a radio, cut through the silence.
Everyone's heads swivelled to look out across the sand towards the line of jeeps towards Muhammad Abbas, unsure of what the noise was, when they saw him stood with a white and red megaphone raised to his lips.

Everyone remained silent as he began to speak in his native tongue, his voice as rough as bricks and Jules suddenly found herself imagining him and Marc in a small room together with Abbas torturing Marc. It made a shiver run down her spine and her eyes close briefly. When she opened them again Marc had turned to Cromwell and sent him to scope out the rear of the compound with one of the other operatives in case this was a diversion.

As Abbas continued to speak, his voice travelled into the other room where his comrade in arms, still strapped to the chair and bleeding, began to shout in reply.

"Shut him up," Marc turned to her and Carlos.

Jules wanted to stay and keep an eye on Safia but she wasn't about to disregard an order and she knew the importance of keeping him quiet. Right now they were at work in a warzone and Marc was her commanding officer, not her husband. As the man's shouts grew louder she pushed herself up off the floor and followed Carlos into the adjoining room, and the moment she did the smell of blood and body odour hit her like she had just walked into a wall. Gagging she tried to breathe through her nose to overcome the smell when the man yanked at his bindings and his arms flung out wide as they gave way. Reaching for the ropes at his ankles he gave them a few swift tugs and they loosened dramatically allowing him to stand.

Rushing over Jules and Carlos grabbed a side each to prevent him escaping. As Jules stood next to him their faces were level with each other and she saw large red welts across his face which she could only imagine were the impressions left by Marc's fists. Pushing him back down into the chair Carlos held him down whilst Jules went around and tied him back into the chair, tighter than before. Once he was restrained once more they stepped back and she began to see the small signs of torture that Marc had inflicted including small cuts along his upper arms and torso.
Carlos and Jules both saw this but they could not do anything about it then. Unwinding the scarf from around her neck Jules ripped off a length of fabric and stuffed it into the man's mouth. He tried to bite her fingers as she did so but a well-placed thumb into one of his many cuts made him open his lips in a scream allowing her to stuff the fabric inside and shut him up. For good measure she ripped off a second length and tied it around the lower half of his head, leaving his nostrils clear for him to breathe.

Happy that he wasn't about to be shouting his mouth off anytime soon Jules headed into the other room whilst Carlos hovered by the doorway to keep an eye on him and check that he didn't loosen his bindings once again.

As they re-entered the room Jules noticed that the megaphone crackle had disappeared along with Abbas's voice. Gazing out through the gap she saw that Safia was still there but now she was positioned beside Abbas rather than in front of him. "What did he say?" She asked.

"He wants us to give him the man in the other room," Twitch replied quietly.

"Or?"

Twitch ran a hand over his face, "Or he'll kill us all," He held his hand out, "and let's face it, he can. He has the numbers and he has us surrounded. I say we give him over."

"No," MacAndrew blurted out, looking around at a sea of loss faces, "We can't. He obviously has vital information about the attacks due to happen in London. We can't let him go."