Chapter 21
Afghanistan
December 2008
For Johanna’s and his family’s sake, he had tried to keep himself together.
He kept exercising inside the small hole, managing to not lose too much weight; he had eaten all the meager and distasteful meals he had been offered; he had played chess games with an imaginary enemy in the dark that he was subjected to for months, and under the light that kept him awake for days; he had stayed positive in all his letters to his family; and the few times he had been allowed to interact with Johanna had kept his hopes up.
Ironically, in his supreme triumph had lain his abject defeat. His struggle had been the reverse of an officer’s or a special agent’s.
He strived not to lie but to tell his captors the truth, because he didn’t have the inside information
