The Relentless Hero

by Angel Vane

  “I’m calling him now,” Sunny said, then turned to look up at Julian. “Good luck.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  “You must be Julian Montgomery. Sorry to hear about your lady. It’s a damn shame,” Paul Defloria said, stepping away from the door to allow Julian to enter. Paul was a short man, lean and petite with a head full of silver hair contrasting with his tan, leathery skin.

  “Where do I sign?” Julian asked, not in the mood for small talk. They had over a hundred miles to search tonight and he was anxious to get back to northeastern Kenya.

  Paul shuffled through papers, occasionally placing several of them on a clipboard. “Enzo and Glaze out there with my guys, right? It took some wrangling but I managed to get everything you’ll need for the rescue. Damn shame how this happens to women in those rural areas. Terrorists using women for sport or to kill, damaging, and changing their lives with their cruel acts.”

  Julian scribbled his name next to the large highlighted X’s on the five sheets of paper, then handed the clipboard back to Paul. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled the TIDES corporate card out and slid it across the desk.

  “Mr. Paul, all the provisions are loaded on the helicopter,” a voice Julian recognized floated from behind.

  “Uhuru?” Julian stood and walked over to the teenage boy, who a week ago had almost lost his life when he was forced to be a suicide bomber at the private fundraising dinner for the president of Kenya. The kid looked good.

  “Julian!” Uhuru said, then flung his arms around Julian.

  Patting the boy on the back, Julian returned the hug and got a brief reprieve from the pain weighing on his heart.

  “What are you doing here?” Julian asked, casting a glance back at Paul.

  “Mr. DeFloria gave me a job. Now I can support myself and my sisters. It is a miracle that the police found them near Kibera. The bad men left them there the same night they sent me to bomb the fundraising dinner,” Uhuru explained.

  “And they are alright? Both of them?” Julian asked. A happy ending like this was rare and it couldn’t have happened to a better kid.

  “Yes, they are doing well. I’m so thankful for everything you did for me,” Uhuru said, then paused. Concern creasing his forehead, he asked, “Are you part of the team searching for the missing American woman?”

  “I am. The missing woman is my girlfriend,” Julian said, then paused as his voice cracked with emotion.

  “No, no, no,” Uhuru said, shaking his head, eyes wide with concern. “I’m so sorry she was taken. If there is anything I can do to help, please tell me. I owe you so much. I owe you my life!”

  “Thanks, but we got it under control. My buddies and I are flying out now to start the search,” Julian managed to choke out.

  “Hey, we’re losing valuable time. Need to get the fuck out of here.” Enzo barged inside, waving a hand at Julian.

  Julian gave Uhuru another quick hug, then walked out of the small box of an office within the corrugated warehouse and made his way toward the back of the property where aircraft hangars lined the road. The helo sat outside the hangar, the blades starting to turn slowly as Taye prepped for take-off.

  Walking out into the warm night air, Julian looked up at the stars peppering the sky. He wondered if Mena could see the same sky. Was she looking up, praying that he would come to rescue her soon? Or was she already—

  Julian’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

  Grabbing it quickly, he glanced at the screen. Unknown number.

  Answering it, Julian said, “Yeah.”

  “Julian … oh, God … I can’t believe I finally got through to you!”

  Julian felt his legs go weak as he stopped in the middle of the lot. He closed his eyes, willing himself to stay calm. “Mena? Is that you?”

  “Yes! Yes! It’s me. I’m fine. Oh God! Julian, I miss you so much! I didn’t know if I’d be able to get through to you,” Mena said, her voice choked with emotion as she cried on the line.

  Heart racing, Julian said, “Mena, listen to me. Tell me where you are. I’m coming to get you. Tell me where you are.”

  The line was silent.

  Julian closed his eyes, focusing on the sound of her ragged breaths as she cried. The connection was faint, but he could still hear her on the line.

  Mena sniffed, then said, “I’m sorry. No, don’t worry. I’m fine. I’m at the safe house … signal … bad … couldn’t get through to you … finally … will be driving back … tomorrow … Tubeec Hirad still after me … be back … morning …”

  Julian could barely make out her answer as the cell phone reception crackled and faded in and out.

  “What safe house?” Julian asked, his words slow and measured. Glancing up at the helicopter, he motioned for Glaze and Enzo to come over to where he was. He didn’t want to move for fear of losing the signal. “Who is with you?”

  “Julian? Julian? Are you there? I can’t hear you …” Mena’s voice grew more frantic.

  “I’m here. Can you hear me? Mena! Mena!” Julian said.

  “I hear you! I love you, Julian. This phone is so bad … so hard … spotty … trying to call … glad … “

  Julian clenched his fist, fighting frustration as the reception distorted Mena’s words.

  “Mena, who are you with? Where are you?” Julian asked.

  “What? Julian? … did you … what? Safe house … with him … got me … out … he rescued me … I’m okay … miss you so much.”

  “Mena, honey listen to me. Tell me who’s there with you,” Julian said, his words coming out slowly as the reception grew fainter.

  “Stay there … too dangerous … Tubeec … will kill you … coming home … stay … I’m fine … kept …”

  “Mena?”

  “ … leaving in morning …”

  “Who is bringing you back? Let me talk to him,” Julian said, changing his tactics. “Mena, I want to talk to who is with you now!”

  “Hold on …” Mena said.

  He heard the rustling of movement.

  Her words were faint, but he listened intently, straining to hear the name she called.

  The line went dead.

  “Fuck!” Julian said, glancing at the cell phone.

  He couldn’t call back.

  Had he heard the name correctly? The one Mena had said after he asked to speak to the person with her.

  Had she said … Hakeem?

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Hakeem’s heavy hand slammed like a shackle onto her wrist as he snatched the cell phone from her hand.

  Heart pounding, Mena looked at Hakeem. The fading sunlight wasn’t enough to mask the anger and annoyance clouding his eyes as he frowned at her.

  “Who did you call?” Hakeem demanded, his thumbs flying across the screen of the phone.

  “I’m sorry—” Mena stumbled backward on the jagged rocks submerged in the rust-colored sand. The stars popped out in the sky, as the moon emerged, casting an eerie glow.

  “Bullshit! You just put your life and mine in danger. Don’t you know Tubeec Hirad has been waiting for a chance to track this cell phone? And you handed him the opportunity he wanted. Who the fuck was so important for you to call?” Hakeem asked, glaring at her.

  Twisting against the vice grip on her wrist, Mena felt a sharp pain shooting up her arm. Hakeem yanked her back toward him.

  “The cell phone had a few signal bars, so I called Julian. I just needed to hear his voice,” Mena tried to explain, the words tumbling from her mouth as she fought panic. “I didn’t think you would mind. You made a few calls to TIDES today.”

  “I encrypted the phone before I made every call. I told you we needed to lay low and keep communications to a minimum for our own safety. Damn it! Wasn’t good enough for you that I finally found a way to get us back to Nairobi without tipping Tubeec off. You had to ruin shit by trying to call your boyfriend? Unbelievable,” Hakeem said.

  Hakeem’s outburst stunned her into silence. She’d been care
less. Mena had thought the worst was over. Knowing Julian had survived the ambush by Tubeec’s men had been the only thing keeping her going.

  For the past two days, she’d hidden out with Hakeem riding on the back of a rusted motorbike, avoiding the main roads and zigzagging across northeastern Kenya trying to avoid capture by the band of rebels who’d been offered top dollar to return her to Tubeec Hirad. As they passed through tribal villages, the warnings had been the same each time. Tubeec wanted her found and brought back to him. Some of the villages had already been threatened and pillaged by militants or members of al-Harakat, trying to see if they were hiding Mena. Others refused to shelter them, fearing they would bring death and mayhem to their settlements.

  They’d finally arrived at the safe house, but Hakeem had warned her they couldn’t stay long. He needed to get a message back to TIDES headquarters, which hadn’t been possible with the spotty cell service in the rural areas. It wasn’t until this morning that he’d made contact and secured a plan to get them back to Nairobi in a new vehicle under the cloak of night.

  Mena held up her hands. “Hakeem, I’m sorry. I messed up and it won’t happen again. I’m beyond grateful that you risked your own life to save me. It’s a miracle that you were able to overtake the rebels and I can’t thank you enough.”

  The surprise attack at the small blue house had wrecked Mena. Two men had jumped Julian, knocking him out. Mena was dragged away and shoved into an old, ragged SUV. The ignition roared to life and the vehicle took off down the road, leaving Mena staring through the back window, convinced Julian’s life had ended right then and there.

  Hours later, when the driver stopped to refuel, she found out the truth. Hakeem Underwood, one of the security guards and rescue agents with Tactical and Intelligence Defense Executive Services, emerged from the store, catching the gunmen off guard. Gun pointed at the men’s heads, while their weapons lay on the front seats of the SUV, Hakeem had forced one of the men to tie the other up, then knocked him out and tied him up next to the other.

  Mena watched it happen through the side window, but she could do nothing to free herself and run away, which made it all the better when Hakeem slid into the front seat and introduced himself. He was here to rescue her and yes, Julian was alive and being transported back to Nairobi by the rest of the TIDES team.

  “I don’t need your gratitude or your apologies. What I need is for you to follow my instructions and not do anything that could jeopardize us getting back to Nairobi tomorrow. Think you can do that?” Hakeem asked, slamming the cell phone onto the ground. Lifting his leg, he stomped his army boot on top of the small device, leaving it splintered in the sand.

  Mena nodded. “I’m confused because Julian didn’t seem to know that I was with you.”

  “That’s because I haven’t been talking to Julian. He’s in the hospital recovering from the injuries from the attack. I don’t know if the rest of the team told him what was going on. Last I heard he was still in and out of consciousness,” Hakeem said. “I thought since I saved your life, that would give me a little bit of trust, but I guess I was wrong.”

  “I’m sorry. I do trust you.” Mena covered her face in her hands, trying to ward off the panic building within her. The look on Hakeem’s face said everything she hadn’t realized. They were still in extreme danger.

  Hakeem said, “Let me explain something to you. I made two calls to TIDES today. Each time, I initiated an encryption coding to prevent the cell phone from being traced and I monitored the length of time of each call to prevent an override of the encryption. Ask me why I did that.”

  Mena looked up at him, but said nothing. She knew she’d screwed up and now, she was about to find out the awful truths Hakeem had been shielding her from.

  “Because Tubeec Hirad has top-notch hackers working for him, scouring the calls coming into TIDES in hopes of tracking us and finding us before we can get back to Nairobi. Your call to Julian gave him the opening he’s been waiting for, all because you couldn’t wait a few more hours to hear Julian’s fucking voice? I’m one hundred percent sure that Tubeec is locking in on our location as we speak and dispersing a team of killers to this safe house to recapture you. Guess what he’s going to do if he finds you. Come on, now. Guess!”

  Trembling, Mena refused to let the tears fall. She hadn’t considered that Tubeec could still find her before she and Hakeem made their way back to Nairobi.

  “I’ll tell you what he’s going to do. The same thing he did to my sister. He’s going to force you to be his fucking sex slave for daring to try to escape from him. You’ll be dragged all across Africa as he kidnaps and kills for money and sometimes just for the sport of it. All your fancy education and art credentials will mean nothing. You’ll be reduced to the pussy he fucks when the whim strikes him. If he likes you, he’ll keep the others away from you. If he doesn’t, he’ll let any of the guys on his team fuck you too when they get horny enough. Is that what you want? Is it?” Hakeem screamed at her.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know … ” Mena stammered, fear gripping her heart at the disgusting scenes playing out in her mind. She’d heard the stories of human and sex trafficking, the horrible acts women were subjected to until they were deemed no longer useful and then killed.

  “We need to get out of here. Now. I can’t wait for the provisions and transportation TIDES was arranging for us. We’ve got to take a chance and take the most direct route to Nairobi tonight.”

  “How long is that going to take?” Mena asked.

  Hakeem cut his eyes toward her, his jaw clenched. “Fifteen, maybe sixteen hours through al-Harakat territories, driving with no headlights to stay off any radars. Go inside and gather all the food from the safe house and the blankets from the bed. I’m going to get the Jeep from the bushes and I’ll meet you out front.”

  Mena took a deep breath. She was going to do whatever Hakeem told her to do. She wasn’t the only one in danger anymore. Hakeem was risking his life to protect her and get her back home safely. Her rash actions had turned his careful plans to reunite her with Julian upside down. All because she couldn’t wait a few more hours to let Julian know she was okay.

  She couldn’t feel sorry for herself. Tubeec and his men hadn’t found them yet. If she stuck to Hakeem’s instructions, she would be back in her condo safe and sound this time tomorrow.

  Placing her hand on the bracelet, Mena twirled it around her wrist until the heart-shaped charm rested on the back of her hand.

  I’m coming Julian.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  The chime on the glass door leading into the TIDES offices clanked loudly as Julian banged the door open, then stalked down the hallway toward the low murmur of voices in the conference room.

  Turning the corner, Julian walked inside, dropping his assault rifle onto the table with a loud bang. He ripped off the bulletproof vest, threw it into the corner, then stared at the TIDES team sitting around the table: Sunny, Simon, and Zale.

  Sunny frowned, then stood, her eyes locked on his.

  Fighting the anger and confusion boiling within him, Julian said, “Hakeem has Mena. Do you know anything about that?”

  “That’s impossible,” Zale said, standing up to walk over toward Julian. “Hakeem is in the Ukraine. I’ve talked to him myself and logged his updates on the security activities on our logs.”

  Rigid, Sunny placed her hands palm down on the table. Her eyes darted around the room from Julian to each of the other TIDES team members. After a brief silence, she asked, “Why do you think Hakeem has Mena? What happened?”

  “We were about to fly out to the airstrip in Mandera when I got a call on my cell,” Julian said, remembering the relief that had coursed through his body at the sound of the voice on the line. “It was Mena. The signal was shitty, but it was her. Thing was, she wasn’t afraid. There was no terror or fear in her tone. She kept saying things like I shouldn’t worry, she was fine and that they were heading back to Nairobi later and she’d see me
soon.”

  “That’s great news, mate. But what does that have to do with Hakeem?” Simon asked. “Like Zale said, there’s no way he can be in two places at the same time.”

  “The phone was breaking up bad, so I couldn’t make out her answer when I kept asking where she was and who she was with. But finally, I asked to speak to the person helping her. That’s when I heard her calling for him. She called out the name, Hakeem,” Julian said.

  “But the phone was breaking up. You can’t be sure she said Hakeem. It could have been another name that sounded similar,” Zale insisted.

  “I know what I heard. She said Hakeem. I’m sure of it,” Julian said.

  Simon interrupted, “That doesn’t make any sense. You couldn’t have heard right. Maybe she’s with an agent from ASF. Sunny, can you check with Reggie to see if one of his guys has found Mena.”

  “If Reggie had found her, he would have called me immediately. I haven’t heard from him since Julian and I left ASF ComCentral,” Sunny said.

  Taye walked into the conference room. “The signal was bad, Julian. You said Mena was confident that she’d be back in Nairobi tomorrow. Why not wait before we make a move?”

  Julian glared at Taye. “You think I’m going to sit on my fucking hands and wait to see if Mena shows up?”

  “We’re wasting fucking time here. Get that motherfucker on the phone so we can get to the bottom of why Mena thinks she’s with Hakeem,” Enzo said. “Julian knows what he heard and I believe him.”

  “If Hakeem is in the Ukraine protecting the art deliveries, then that should be easy to prove. Get Hakeem on a video call now. I want to know everything he’s done since I talked to him two days ago,” Julian said.

  Simon held up a hand, a look of disgust crossing his face. “Wait a minute, mate. You’re the new one to this operation, not Hakeem. We all have known him a lot longer than we’ve known you and there’s no need to check up on him. What reason would he have to help Mena but keep it a secret? What you’re suggesting doesn’t make any sense.”