Silk Road

by Lynda Filler

  Zaria kept the children close to her and hoped wherever they were headed, she could continue to look out for them. Fighting now was useless. They were in a strange country, didn’t speak the local language, and no one would be around to save them.

  Zaria stared out the dark-tinted windows. What she saw made her forget her predicament. “20 Miles to London Bridge.” London, England was on the ocean! One day soon she knew she would realize her dream to visit the sea. But first, she would have to deal with the nightmare that would be her life.

  She asked Allah to protect her and the little ones and help her beloved family to heal from their loss.

  Zaria was strong. She would escape her captors when the time was right.

  32

  Paris, France

  “Samaar.”

  She turned away. Nothing Raven could tell her would placate her.

  “We won’t give up. We will find the children.”

  She turned her sad eyes and stunning body back towards Luke.

  “Luke, when Alice was born the Israeli government—well maybe a rogue part of it—told me she was ill and needed medical attention in the hospital. I was shot full of drugs, so I wouldn’t remember anything about giving birth. They kept me sedated, my soul in pain for the loss of my lover, who would never know his daughter. The Mossad just wanted to keep me working for them. They could see that my life was complicated by the birth of my daughter. My focus was changing. Alice only had one parent.” She shuddered at the memories.

  “I was numb, no one was safe around me. Then when I learned about the arms for drugs, the illegal CIA move and all that money, I saw my way out. And even though Himanish, Firestorm, had disappeared from RAW, he knew about Alice. He contacted me to wish me well and told me if there was ever anything I needed, to contact him. And that’s how Alice and I got out.” Luke could see Samaar was reliving her past. She took a deep breath then proceeded.

  “Himanish organized a raid on the home where they were keeping Alice. At the same time, he sent people to bring me out of Israel. He knew what I was working on with the joint undercover operation against the criminal team in the CIA and the South American cartel. He set me up in a safe place and never once showed his face in all of this. But he looked out for us. And when the time was right, he hacked the Swiss Bank system and moved the funds offshore for Alice and me. By this time, we were on the run hiding out in plain sight.”

  Luke nodded, none of this was news to him. He and Himanish had been silently working together since he formed the Raven Group. But as far as the team was concerned, Firestorm was off the grid, and he was for a while. He took a break in Paris, worked with private clients. And he then discreetly formed a clandestine group helping the United Nations Human Rights Commission. His love for humanity was his driving force. He didn’t care to fight the battles that RAW, the Indian intelligence agency wanted him to do. He was not interested in corporate espionage or ISIS unless it pertained to human rights.

  She paced her home—Samaar had never had a place she called home before. Luke was concerned. He’d never experienced Luci in meltdown mode.

  “Ali and Fatimah have triggered something so huge, so evil. I thought I’d put the pain of the how I was treated after Alice’s birth behind me.”

  Luke turned back to the console in Samaar’s safe room in her Paris home. When Alice told Luke, she wanted a normal life for Alice he oversaw every aspect of creating that for her and her child.

  He’d pulled in extra security from a team in a part of Israel that wasn’t under attack from Hamas. They were both male and female and blended into the neighborhood taking possession of a townhome directly adjacent Samaar.

  When Samaar decided to pursue a normal life, he’d worked with special ops contractors to outfit her place with high-tech security. After their recent run-in with Ivanov, he’d doubled down on protection for Alice.

  Luke took a few moments to get control of his emotions. Doing what he knew, what he lived and breathed, protected him from his constant yearning to hold the woman he’d come to love—her rejection of him would be too painful to imagine. Sometimes he cursed himself for taking cool hand Luke and opening his heart—again, the few days they’d spent in the Maldives had changed things for both of them. Luke had allowed his heart to open and he believed that Samaar had also.

  “I’ve got some information coming in.” Luke studied a message and smiled for the first time in days.

  “What?”

  “We might have been correct after all. There’s suspicious activity reported by my associates in London! The East Wind arrived at Barking Station in the early hours of the morning. At six am, workers began to unload the merchandise. Look, the image is coming through. Look what they found outside car 7747!”

  Luci gasped. The other Love bracelet from the Maldives!

  “The kids are in London!” Luci’s pain of a few moments ago was now forgotten.

  “Yes. I’m calling Prince Xavi. After saving his wife in Qatar, he will want to help us. We’ll leave immediately.”

  33

  London, England

  P rince Xavi looked at the latest test results from the doctor. He’d come a long way from the “privileged playboy of the British Royal Family.” But then again, he’d been a fighter pilot and an active member of the British Special Forces against the better judgment of his royal mother. And if he hadn’t been in the military he might not have been in the pub that day with his workmates when the London Bridge was attacked by terrorists—and he might never have met the love of his life, Sabrina.

  “Princess Sabrina and your baby are doing well. Stop worrying, Sir. The birth is imminent.”

  “You heard what the doctor said Xavi!” The esteemed Obstetrician distanced himself from the heated discussion the couple was having as they left his office.

  Security waited discreetly, all eyes were on the traffic on the busy London street outside the offices in Chelsea. Ever since she’d been kidnapped by terrorists and taken to Doha, Qatar, Prince Xavi had become overprotective. As a female Muslim journalist living in London, England, she knew the risks she took marrying into the royal family. There would be haters and worse, terrorists, that would like nothing better than to see her and Xavi dead. She’d always been a target for radicalized Muslims. She was too modern for the far right and not conservative enough for many of the Arab descent who lived and worked in London. Nothing had changed in that respect, except, she was about to give birth to the heir of the British throne any day now.

  “No. I will not cancel this luncheon. I’ve agreed to speak. Come with me if you are so concerned.” “Love. I know you promised Himanish you would give a talk, so I give up! I will cancel my appointment and join you. I’ve always been involved in the United Nations Human Rights Commission from a different perspective in the military. And don’t ask me to go into detail, you know I won’t. I’m looking forward to seeing Himanish, too.” Sabrina tried to get close enough to Xavi for a kiss, but their unborn child was in the way.

  “You know I have a special interest in the refugee crisis, human and sex trafficking, and especially in the fate of the children. Thanks for understanding and being by my side.”

  The Special Forces team guarding the couple were scrutinized and intensely vetted by the Raven Group. Ever since the fiasco and Sabrina’s abduction, this team never stopped assessing danger to the Royals from every direction. They were heavily armed, and as was agreed when they married, Luke Raven’s operational units were still mixed in with the Crown’s security no matter where Sabrina or Xavi traveled in the world.

  Xavi took comfort in knowing that Luke himself was never further away than a phone call.

  They entered the Mayfair room at the Connaught hotel in London.

  “Oh, Xavi, look at the blush English roses. I love the way they’re arranged in elegant tall vases. Doesn’t this remind you of our wedding day in the royal gardens in Balmoral in Scotland?”

  “Xavi!” Himanish strode across the room
, grasped his friend in an embrace, and grinned. “And look at your bride Princess Sabrina and your child who appears like we may welcome him or her into the world this afternoon!”

  When Himanish smiled a light came into the room. Everyone in his presence was mesmerized by his charisma and charm. But underneath his veneer of civility, a man of tremendous power and passion fought for the rights of the displaced and abandoned children of the world. He refused to accept injustice and worked at the highest levels with a focused goal of keeping humanity safe.

  He stood watching Sabrina and Xavi and remembered another beautiful exotic creature that he’d had a crush on in Israel, Samaar. They’d never acted on it for far too many reasons. She was a free-spirit and an assassin, two aspects of her that he could never change. He wondered why at this moment in time he was thinking about his times with Samaar. Maybe it was the royal baby and having a family of his own had eluded him. And he had a woman in Ireland to forget, now, more than ever. They chatted for a few moments and agreed they would catch up later this evening.

  “Look Xavi, some of our guests have brought their children! Isn’t this perfect?” Princess Sabrina took her place at the lectern and began to speak to the assembled dignitaries and honored guests. These were people who’d been invited from all over the United Kingdom to meet the Princess and be honored for the work they were doing to fight injustice in the world. Some worked for the United Nations, others were journalists, and social workers renowned in their fields. At least one hundred guests sat in rapt attention to what the Princess had to say.

  “I chose this area of focus when that brilliant man, Prince Xavi, asked me to marry him.” Sabrina smiled at her husband, and he blushed at the very un-royal attention he was receiving. Sabi continued.

  “As a journalist, I encountered much sadness and pain surrounding the human condition in all parts of the world. But the pain of losing our children is the greatest pain of all. Who will protect them when they are kidnapped, forced into labor or the military, like in some of the African countries; and into sex slavery in others. No matter what strides we are making, or think we are making, it’s never enough.”

  Xavi stood beside his friend and was surprised to see tears roll down Himanish’ face. A British royal would never allow such emotion to surface, and yet he too knew the pain and fear of personally losing someone you love to these horrendous crimes. Xavi knew Himanish was an empath. He not only worried about the children, but he could also feel their sadness, their fears, and their pain. Xavi suspected he even took on their pain—an experience too excruciating to imagine.

  His friend was looking tired. If he took his role in the UNHRC as seriously as he made all his studies at St. Andrews, where they first met, Himanish was in need of some severe self-care, or he’d burn out. He needs to find a woman to love him. Maybe a little matchmaking from Sabrina was in order.

  Her voice filled the traditionally elegant venue. “If even one person turns the other way when a child is in trouble, or something doesn’t feel quite right with a teenager in the local shopping mall, we become complicit by neglecting to report it. This new phase of diligence, the promotion of hotlines in the US and Britain, will be a tremendous step forward in fighting the trafficking of children for sex and labor purposes. Those of us who have privileged lives have a moral obligation to protect the young innocents who are being forced into situations that could kill them. Disposable children in all countries around the world must be saved. Thank you all for your unwavering devotion to those who need our help. Let’s make our voices heard and let the disenfranchised know they are loved.”

  Xavi moved forward to embrace Sabrina and help her navigate the stairs. Then his phone buzzed, the identity was blocked.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes? Is that how you greet old friends?”

  “Luke. How are you?” Xavi turned away from his wife who was leaning into Himanish while he explained something to her.

  “Can we meet? I’m close by with Luci and David. Did you ever meet him? He’s family to Zach and Israel.” Luke’s voice was urgent.

  “I think he might have been off on some mission when I was in Israel. His relationship to the boys is familiar to me.”

  “We’re flying from Paris. We’ve been traveling the Silk Road, but I’ll tell you about it when I see you. We need your help. Are you available?”

  “Yes, of course, always. Sabrina is close to giving birth, however!”

  “Right. I’ve been distracted.”

  “No problem. Sabi's got round-the-clock security thanks to you and of course the Crown. I can slip away for a meeting.”

  “Okay, I’ll send through the coordinates where we will meet. Let’s keep this as low key as we can.”

  “Sure.”

  “Don’t bring Sabrina. I don’t want to upset her. It’s about children.”

  Cryptic. Luke Raven.

  34

  London, England

  The Mayfair Hotel

  H imanish said goodbye to Sabrina and Prince Xavi. Both agreed they would meet later in the evening for dinner. A representative of UN Geneva was always going to have people around him at an event like this, so he wasn’t surprised nor bothered by the questions, and curiosity of the attendees. He nodded politely and answered as best he could.

  He was beginning to feel tired. He needed to find a quiet place, so he could connect with Luke Raven and reveal some new information that had come in the last two hours. He missed his coffee and turned to find a waiter. The Mayfair would surely have exactly what he wanted.

  Suddenly he felt a persistent pull on his Armani jacket.

  He looked around and didn’t see anyone until he felt the pull again. He looked downward, and there she was, the girl in the photo.

  He lowered his body to be at her height and looked into the smiling eyes of a darling little girl.

  “And what is your name?” Himanish could not take his eyes off this pretty little lady.

  “My name is Yu Yan, sir.”

  “That’s beautiful. Do you know what your name means in English?”

  “Yes, my mother says it means beautiful smile.” She looked down shyly, her straight jet-black hair tied in pink bows swayed with her nervousness.

  “Well, my name is Himanish.”

  “I don’t know how to say that. Mama?” The five-year-old girl turned to the woman standing behind her. Himanish was afraid to look up. The fighter-pilot, clandestine operative, ex-RAW analyst, and connoisseur of all things elegant and beautiful, was afraid to look into the eyes of a woman he loved.

  “Himanish?” Cara put her arm around him. Yu Yan hugged his knees.

  “My mommy said it’s okay to love you because you are my family too.”

  Cara held him tighter. He was incapable of speech. She could feel his body trembling.

  “Himanish, let’s order some coffee, and maybe we can find something sweet. Come my darling, Uncle Himanish will have some pastry with us, and we will tell him all about you and how you came all the way from China to live with Mommy.”

  The young girl looked up at the smiling man and then reached for his hand.

  It was in times like this that the Indian man knew why he would fight for the rights of children around the world until the day he died. His heart was filled with love.

  35

  Washington, DC

  T he young boy grabbed his knapsack and pulled his windbreaker tight around him. He put a ball cap on his head as instructed and pulled the brim down to cover his eyes. He tried to control his terror. The past weeks had been frightening. The threats, the bullying, and the forced drugs into his system had made him weak and paranoid. He didn’t know what they made him take. But it sucked.

  “It’s simple kid. You do what we say when we say it, or we grab your mother and bring her into our business. She will be raped by everyone, and then we will sell her on the strip like the whore she is.”

  Miguel wished he’d been smarter. Why did he have to hang out in the
mall? Why make friends with strangers? He even hated the stupid tattoo that they paid for just, so he could be cool. Look where it got him.

  The guy banged on the door again.

  “Come on, you’re going to be late.”

  A sizeable Russian thug waited outside the room Miguel shared with three other boys.

  When Miguel opened the door, he was met with a gun in his face.

  “I don’t get time to fool around here. What took you so long? Shooting up? Let me see your arms.” Miguel’s jacket was ripped off, and his arms were searched for needle marks.

  “The boss is not going to be happy if you damage yourself. People will pay less if they think you’re an addict. So, don’t start!”

  “Yes. I mean no!”

  They walked from the house to a waiting vehicle. Then they pulled out onto a busy street in the same Toyota they’d traveled in last week.

  Zach and his new friend Rachel entered a suite on the tenth floor. He usually wouldn’t take a civilian with him on an operation, but Rachel’s experience in Afghanistan qualified her for anything in his books. And for her, this was a personal mission. He could relate to her pain.

  They checked the room for listening devices. It was DC after all, and who knows what might be left here from previous occupants. Visiting dignitaries, current politicians—everyone has something they don’t want the world to know. People like NSA keep track of those secrets.

  Five minutes later, they put away the sensitive hi-tech equipment Raven had provided.

  “It’s all good. And this device will block any directional listening devices. RB has taken care of anything from satellites. We’re good.”

  Miguel bounced around on his feet. He waited for an elevator he wished wouldn’t come. What had he done? Why? What was he thinking? His mother must be going insane. If only he could have talked with her, told her what was going on. Too late now. Miguel tried not to cry, swiped his eyes.