I remember standing in my ground floor apartment in broad
daylight when I noticed a group of armed men quickly exiting two jeep
type vehicles moving towards my building. Just as I called out to my
girlfriend whom was upstairs putting away our laundered clothes to warn
her of the impending danger, the door to our apartment came crashing in.
Six men in ski masks with M16 rifles came systematically through the
doorway. I had to make a very fast decision at that moment in time; either
I was going to go for my .45 that was tucked in my waistband and at least
take a few of them with me or I was going to take my chances and hope
they would not just shoot me immediately and take my girl.
At the moment they came through the door
I was standing in close proximity to them and realized they
could have easily shot me as they moved through the door,
but they did not, so I decided the best course of action at
that moment was to submit. And so I complied with their
commands to get on the floor on my knees with my hands
clasped on my head.
As I sat on my knees mind racing for answers and
coming up with only questions, there was an eerie silence that
fell over the room that seemed to last for minutes. That silence
was quickly broken when my woman raced down the stairs to
see what happened. She too was instructed to get down on her
knees.
One of the men stood over me and told me to put
my hands behind my back and they then duct taped them
together.
Almost as quickly as these men breached my domain,
they now had me on my feet pushing me with the muzzle of
their rifle out the door. My only solace at that instance was that
they left my girlfriend alone in the apartment as they moved
me into one of the vehicles.
So there I was taken by insurgents, thinking how
ironic this situation is, having spent years as a kidnap &
ransom consultant. As the vehicle sped away, my thoughts
drifted to my team of shooters.
Judging by how the grab went down and the fact that
they did not kill me immediately, I knew they either wanted
something from me, or they were going to interrogate and
torture me. In either case, it meant I had a little time to figure
a way out.
Normally we were the ones to be called in to execute
the hostage rescue. I knew my team would come for me, but
the big question looming in my mind at that moment was,
“will it be in time”?
I remember being physically thrown into a dark
room with a dirt floor. I still had a hood on my head so I
was unable to see, and my hands were taped. I knew at that
moment, if I were going to live, then it would be up to me to
save myself.
37