Abducted

by Tikiri

  “Are you serious?” Katy said.

  “We never did that,” Win said.

  “Shhh,” Luc said. “Local police are now looking for culprits. Supposed to be a young team of, er—” He hesitated, giving me a cautious side glance. “Unskilled, foreign cooks.”

  “What? Unskilled?” I spluttered. “The twit! What else is he saying?”

  “Er—he’s saying that’s what happens when you hire inept kitchen help with no, er, competency. He’s saying the castle will change its policy to make sure they vet their caterers better in the future.” Luc’s voice trailed off. “Sounds like he’s more scandalized by this than the arrests of johns.”

  “Monsieur Wilmar’s such an ass—” I gritted my teeth.

  “You should thank him.” Luc nudged me with a grin. “They think it was a petty crime. This is good.”

  “Yes, but there’s no saying what will happen if they catch us for petty theft or otherwise,” Tetyana said. “We can’t sit around here.”

  I gave her a worried look.

  “What about your guns?” I whispered, suddenly remembering her showing hers to the kitchen staff. “Where are they?”

  “Buried deep up the hill, when you were all asleep.”

  We stared at her.

  “I was on watch last, remember? They’re well hidden, deep in the ground, far from where we slept, don’t worry.”

  “You’re good,” I said.

  The news anchor had moved on to a different story, and we turned away from the screen.

  “Ok guys, here’s what we found,” Luc said, “next train with space for five together is to Marseilles. It’s the nonstop TGV. Leaves in ten minutes. What do you all think?”

  “Marseilles sounds far away,” Katy said. “And that’s a good thing.”

  “Yes, let’s get out of here,” I said, looking around, worried we were being watched.

  “I’m coming with all of you,” Win said.

  Tetyana was silent for a second. “Sure, let’s do it.”

  As soon as the nearest ticket machine spat out our tickets, we grabbed them and ran to the platform.

  It was a high-speed train that took us from Luxembourg City to the south coast of France, in less than seven hours. Tetyana gave us watch shifts, so one of us would always be awake. Time passed quickly, as we zoomed through the countryside so fast that everything outside became a blur of gray-green.

  We pulled into Marseilles late at night. From here, if we headed south, we’d hit Northern Africa. If we went east, we’d land in Sicily, and if we kept going thousands of miles southwest, we’d arrive in Goa, India.

  Chapter Fifty-four

  It didn’t take long for Katy and me to buy our tickets to Goa with a stopover in Mumbai.

  We’d split up the cash, so we could each buy our tickets separately. That would avoid arousing suspicion in case anyone was looking for a ragtag international group of five young people trying to fly out of Marseilles all at once, we thought.

  Luc was sure the Luxembourg police had our faces on the castle cameras. Though I hadn’t seen any cameras back at the castle, I didn’t disbelieve him. There had been some interesting modern contraptions hidden in the bowels of that ancient building, so I didn’t want to make any assumptions. Also, I didn’t want to assume what the police in Brussels or London had on us either. I knew their focus would be the pimps and brothel owners, but they could have our photos as well, maybe mine in particular, and I didn’t want to take any chances.

  As the train got close to the Marseilles Provence Airport, Luc had become more agitated, Tetyana more distant and Win more teary-eyed. We all told her she could come with any of us, but she didn’t want to decide. As far as she was concerned, we should all stay together, and she didn’t care where that would be.

  I worried about Win. She was still a minor, but at the same time, she had more life experiences than many adults in this world. In fact, she’d spent a lifetime experiencing adults forcing things down her throat. The last thing any of us wanted to do was impose yet another decision on her. She had to think for herself, and we had to respect whatever choice she made.

  We promised to meet at the coffee shop next to the Air France ticket booth in an hour. By then, we’d each have made a decision and perhaps even bought a ticket.

  That was an hour earlier. Katy and I got to the coffee shop exactly at the same time, and to my relief, she was sticking with our original plan. We grabbed a table and some tea and waited anxiously for the others to join us. The coffee shop was next to a large open window. Outside, we could see people being dropped off, taxis coming and going. We sat silently watching the scene outside, while we waited.

  It surprised me that no one had questioned my stay in Europe. The ticket attendant flipped through my passport quickly and handed it back, apparently thinking it natural to have an Indian passport when returning to India. I also realized then they’d be more interested in illegals coming into the country than leaving it. Behind me, a lineup of travelers snaked through the terminal. Maybe she was in a hurry to process us all. Either way, I got my ticket and boarding passes all the way to Goa.

  I switched from nervousness to excitement, knowing I’d see my cousin soon. Finally! I wondered how she was doing, where she was, and whether she’d even recognize me after these years. I was fifteen when I left India and would be nineteen going back.

  It was Win who arrived at the coffee shop next, with tears on her face. She looked nerve-wracked.

  “So did you decide, honey?” Katy asked.

  “I really want to go to Laos,” she said, plunking herself on a chair between us.

  My heart fell. I’d secretly hoped she’d come with us.

  “But I don’t know anyone there any more,” she said, wiping her tears with the tissue Katy handed to her. “So I’m going to come with you. Is that okay?”

  Katy and I stared at her for a second before we both grabbed her for a hug, and didn’t let her go for a while. I felt a sob come to my throat and swallowed quickly.

  “I’m so happy you decided that,” I said.

  I got up to buy Win a cup of tea, feeling relieved. I’d have worried to death about her if she’d gone away on her own. We all would have.

  “What about the others?” she was asking, when I returned with her drink. “What do you think they’ll do?”

  “Everyone’s got to do what they want to do,” Katy said, looking down.

  “Whatever happens, it doesn’t mean we won’t see each other again,” I said. I knew though, if the others decided to go their own way, I’d feel incomplete. We’d become close in such a short time. I crossed my fingers and looked around.

  “There’s Luc,” Katy said. We watched him approach us, knowing quietly from his face that he’d bought a ticket to Sicily. He grabbed a chair and turned it around before sitting down and adjusting his cap. He looks smug, I thought.

  “So?” Katy asked. “Don’t keep us waiting.”

  “I hear Italy’s beautiful this time of the year,” I said, with a wry smile.

  He put his ticket on the table and pushed it toward us. We leaned over to look.

  “Hear Goa’s nice too,” he said.

  “What?” Katy said, grabbing the ticket.

  “You’re going to Goa?” Win shrieked. “Me too!”

  “Hey Win, why are you crying?” Luc said, reaching to gently wipe a tear from her cheek. She looked away.

  “Should be happy, not sad,” he said.

  “I’m happy. That’s why I’m crying,” she said, her cheeks pink.

  “Love that color on you, by the way,” Luc said, making a move to tussle her hair. Win ducked and blushed even more.

  “Where’s Tetyana?” I asked, looking around. I knew we weren’t supposed to intrude on each other, but for the past fifteen minutes, I’d been trying to spot her in the lineups. When I first tried to look for her, I saw her at a free Internet terminal. Checking that forum again, I thought. Wonder who she’s looking for? After t
hat, she’d disappeared. I’d scanned all the desks with flights going to Eastern Europe, but hadn’t been able to see her, though she was easy to spot, even without the blazing red hair.

  We waited an hour, getting more and more anxious. The image of Tetyana clenching and unclenching her hands while we were stuck in the back of the white cargo van came to mind. It was me who was clenching and unclenching my hands now. It had taken some time to get to know Tetyana, and I’d even doubted her at the beginning, but now, I felt we couldn’t move on without her. She put herself in the line of fire more than once to save us. Without her, we’d either be in jail or dead. She was a friend. She was family.

  Luc and I went for a walkabout to see if we could find her, but came up empty. I even checked all the washroom stalls. Our boarding time was now in fifteen minutes, and we didn’t have much time.

  “Do you think she’s already gone?” Win asked anxiously.

  “She’d never leave without saying goodbye,” Katy said.

  “Do you think she’ll come with us?” Win asked.

  No one spoke.

  “She’s got her brother to think about,” I said finally. “That would be my first priority if I were her too.”

  “There she is!” Win shouted out.

  Yes, there she was, walking toward us, fast. Win jumped on her feet as Tetyana got closer. Something in her face told us all was not good.

  “We’re all going to Goa,” Win said loudly, too loudly. “Can you come with us too?”

  Tetyana didn’t answer. She gave a small smile at Win, leaned over the table and whispered, “The police are coming.”

  Her voice was so calm it took us a second to realize what she’d said.

  “What?” Katy said.

  “Are you serious?” Luc asked.

  Tetyana nodded. “This time, they’re here for us.”

  “Oh no,” Win said.

  “When do you board?” Tetyana asked.

  “In ten minutes,” I said. “Still got to get through security though.”

  “Here’s what I want you to do,” she spoke in her low voice. We leaned toward her, ready to do anything she asked us.

  “I want you all to get on that plane as discreetly as possible. If anyone asks, you were tourists here. Don’t call any attention to yourself. Stay under the radar, and stick together. And get out of here quickly.”

  “And you?” Win asked.

  Tetyana straightened up.

  “Are you going back to Kiev?” I asked.

  “Not to Kiev.” She hesitated. “We don’t have time to talk. You need to go now.”

  “Oh my god!” Katy said, staring out the window.

  Two police vans had pulled into the departure area, just outside the windows, near the taxi stand.

  “Go! Now!” Tetyana pushed a piece of paper into my palm and squeezed my hand for a second before letting go. I stared at her. She stepped away and blew us a kiss. Then she turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

  “This is the general boarding call for Flight Seven-Eight-Three.”

  That was our flight. We looked at each other. Tetyana had already vanished. The police were getting out of their van.

  We didn’t wait. We grabbed our bags and walked quickly toward security. I looked back once to see Tetyana’s tall brunette head near the Russian airline desk.

  I never even gave her a goodbye hug.

  We were lucky the attendant at the gate noticed our flight time and pushed us roughly to the front of the line. “You’re very late,” she admonished us, before asking security to process us first. We got through the line and started running toward our gate.

  I saw Win wipe her face every few seconds, her expression contorted. I felt like crying too, but couldn’t. Not right then.

  We were running along the third floor of the terminal, which had glass windows on both sides. On one side were the parked planes, and on the other side were the vehicle departure and arrival areas.

  “Hey!”

  I looked back to see Luc had stopped and was staring out the window.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “We don’t have time!” Katy said.

  Luc’s face had gone white. Something was wrong. We ran up, crowded around him and looked below. It was Tetyana.

  She was in handcuffs, getting ushered into one of the police vans.

  Win gasped.

  “Oh no,” Katy said.

  My heart dropped. I wanted to run back to her. I turned around.

  “Asha!” Katy grabbed my arm and stopped me. “No!”

  “They’ll haul all of us away,” Luc said.

  The police van pulled out and the blue light turned on. I watched as it sped away, without a siren.

  The PA jerked me out of my trance. “This is the final boarding call for Flight Seven-Eight-Three.”

  We stared at each other.

  “What do we do now?” Win whispered.

  I opened my hand and uncrumpled the piece of paper Tetyana had passed to me.

  “Phone number?” Katy asked, looking at the series of numbers hastily written on it.

  “This is the final boarding call for Flight seven-eight-three. We’re still missing four passengers. Please come immediately to gate seventy-five.”

  “We’ll call her from Goa,” I said, pushing the paper into my pocket.

  We ran toward our gate. The scowling attendants didn’t waste time in rushing us through. Our seats were at the back of the plane. We stumbled into them, our faces flushed, our hearts pumping like mad.

  “Please buckle up. We’re already late for takeoff,” a stewardess said in a crisp voice before walking away.

  We looked at each other and buckled up.

  I was on my way back, over the Mediterranean and Arabian Seas. I wondered if I was ever going to see Tetyana again. I remembered how I’d abandoned Preeti and Aunty Shilpa, and look what happened to them. All I had to trace Preeti was that letter she’d sent a year ago. I didn’t even know if she was alive. Now, I’d gone ahead and abandoned Tetyana, at a time she needed help the most.

  I put my head in my hands. It was going to be a long flight.

  Thank you for reading this story!

  Did you enjoy the book? Your thoughts and feedback mean a lot to me, and are how I can create more stories you’ll love. If you’d like to leave an honest review, please do so here:

  www.amazon.com/dp/B079MCP4MV.

  Join the Red-Heeled Rebels Tribe and Get the Prequel Short Story to the Series for Free.

  Sign up to the Red-Heeled Rebels tribe and get your free copy of Beginnings: www.RedHeeledRebels.com

  A young girl. A foreign land. An assassination

  Born of parents from two different countries and living in a third, all Asha wants is to belong. But she’s always the stranger, always the outsider. The day she commits a crime to gain trust and friendship, her whole world collapses. Will this be the end of her life? Or an unthinkable beginning of a new one?

  This is a short story of innocence, audacity, and death. This is the beginning of the adventures of the Red-Heeled Rebels, a band of gutsy, sassy women who fight for their rights and travel the world to find their freedom.

  The Red-Heeled Rebels Novel Series

  The Red-Heeled Rebels is a gripping, coming-of-age, global suspense series with iron-willed heroines who fight villains and traditions that keep them down. If you like exotic locales, complex twists, and globe-trotting female leads, you’ll love this story.

  What readers are saying:

  “A wonderful story! I didn’t want to leave the characters.”

  “A real page turner and international thriller. Reminds me of why I’ve always loved to read. Because I can visit worlds and places I wouldn’t ordinarily get to see.”

  “If you love adventure, strong female leads and cultural insights, this is the perfect book for you.”

  “A heart stopping adventure. I just couldn’t put the book down till I finished reading it.”


  “This is soul writing that needs to be read.”

  For more, go to www.RedHeeledRebels.com

  BOOK ONE: Disowned

  A lost orphan. A forced marriage. A fugitive on the run.

  She’s a stranger in a strange land. After losing her parents to a fiery crash in Tanzania, Asha’s shipped off to a seaside village in Goa, India to join an extended family she didn’t even know existed. Believing she’s finally found a home, she tries to adjust, but very soon has to flee a forced marriage to the vilest man in town. But does Asha know she’s only walking into another trap?

  BOOK TWO: Abducted

  A kidnapping. A forbidden place. An escape across borders.

  Asha and her best friend, Katy, arrive at London’s Heathrow Airport on their long trek from Toronto, when Katy is kidnapped in broad daylight. Hell-bent on finding her, Asha dashes across the city and follows a mysterious robed woman to a brothel, embarking on a journey that will take her from London to Luxembourg. Who kidnapped Katy and what do they want from her?

  BOOK THREE: Exiled

  A lost friend. A death sentence. A fight for freedom.

  Asha arrives in Goa, India together with her newfound team, the Red-Heeled Rebels. They’ve escaped the human traffickers and slave traders but only to make an alarming discovery. Two people Asha thought she lost from her life are alive and in grave danger, with a death sentence hanging over one of them. Will she find them in time to save them?

  Truth is Harsher than Fiction

  “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” - Albert Einstein

  There are an estimated 40.3 million slaves today. Compare this to the 12.5 million slaves brought over to the Americas between 1525-1866.

  51% of globally trafficked victims are women, and 20% are young girls, to a total of 71% female slaves around the world. Some organizations have estimated this number to be as high as 80%.