Inside Taliban's "Islamic Emirate" by David Rhode, US Journalist

"David," she said, "it's Kristen. I love you." She sounded calm.
"Kristen?" I asked.
"Yes?" she said.
"I love you, too," I said. "Write these things down, OK?"
"OK," she said. She sounded remarkably composed.
"I'm, we are being treated well," I said. "No. 1," I said.
"No. 2," I said. "Deal for all three of us, all three of us, not just me. The driver and the translator also; it has to be a deal for all three of us."
"Do not use force to try to get us," I said.
"Four," I said.
"Yes," Kristen said.
"Make a deal now or they will make it public," I said. "They want to put a video out to the media."
Atiqullah told me to tell her that this was my last call. "They said I can't call you again," I said. "They want a deal now and I can't call you again."
"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm sorry."
"It's going to be all right," Kristen said calmly. "I love you. I am praying for you every day."
Kristen said she wanted to make sure she understood what the Taliban wanted.
"What is the deal?" she asked.

Standing in the remote darkness of Waziristan at the mercy of Taliban militants, I felt at peace. I had spoken to my wife for the first time in nine days. I had expected panic or tears, but she sounded collected and confident.

Atiqullah and Badruddin then told me to call the Times's bureau in Kabul. But instead of ordering me to make specific demands, they instructed us to exaggerate our suffering. "We are in terrible conditions, Tahir is very sick," I told Chris Chivers, a friend and Times reporter, who answered the phone.