She tried to sit up, but couldn’t move her arms or legs. A cold chill raked her body when she realized she was completely naked and strapped to some kind of metal table. Bound and naked! She jerked her arms in a frantic test of her bonds, but they wouldn’t budge. Same with her feet. She tested the straps again, much harder, and felt her skin burn from the friction. Craning her head, she looked left and right, but found only blackness. Her daughters! Where were her daughters? Did they kidnap them too?

Full-blown panic seized her.

She turned her head toward the sound of a door opening. A few seconds later, it closed with a bang. The reverberating echo meant this had to be a fairly large room. The sudden squeal of wheels terrified her. It was a hideous sound, like fingernails on a chalkboard, only worse.

“Who’s there?” Her voice cracked and she hated how weak it sounded.

The squealing got louder.

“Who’s there?”

Nothing, just the increasing screech of wheels. A chill raked her again, not from the cold, but from that hideous sound.

She began jerking her body in a frantic attempt to break free. Tears flew as she whipped her head back and forth in frustration and fear.

“Someone help me!” she screamed.

The squealing got louder by the second.

“Please, someone help me!”

The squealing ended. Then slow footsteps. Unconsciously, she held her breath.

Directly above, a floodlight snapped on. The stab of pain shot through her skull. She squinted against the blinding intrusion, looked down the length of her body, and froze. Mounted on a tripod, a video camera loomed, its red eye unblinking.

A face appeared above her, eclipsing the bulb. A man’s face. Hispanic. Black, braided ponytail. Smiling. Empty eyes swept over her breasts. The smile widened. A hand caressed her cheek. She jerked away from the touch. The smile faded, replaced by a frown.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”

The hand grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her head off the table. The smile vanished.

“I am asking the questions. Understood?”

“Please.…”

“Understood?”

“I don’t know anything.”

He slammed her head onto the metal surface and hauled it back up.

“Understood?”

“Why are you doing this? I don’t know anything!” It was true, she didn’t. The NSA never told her anything. All she did was translate phone calls. Boring phone calls.

Another slam. Her vision grayed, then winked out for a few seconds.

“Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Very good.” The hand gently lowered her head back to the table, but this time a small pillow cushioned it.

“Better? We’re going to work on a positive and negative reward system. When you cooperate, you’ll be rewarded. When you don’t, you’ll be punished. Are you thirsty?”