Following Demon was a frail older woman with graying hair. She looked to be about the age of fifty and wore a simple cotton dress, with sleeves going to her knobby hands. In her hands, she carried a metal tray, on top of which rested a small metal bowl, a bar of soap, a wrapped sandwich and a new rag.
“Do not hurt her, girl. One finger on her and you will regret today even more than you do already. Do you understand?” Demon asked, his dark voice dripping with venom.
All I could do was blink and nod in affirmation. He stepped out of the room, locking us inside. The woman didn’t attempt to speak, and quickly soaked the cloth in the metal bowl full of water, reaching to clean the puncture on my lip. She gently prodded and poked, and then reached for a small tube of glue, dabbing a little on to the bite mark to seal the wound. She took turns dipping the cloth in water and rubbing it on the bar of soap, then my face.
I closed my eyes and felt her examining the rest of my body. She pushed her fingers down my ribs, checking for any broken bones, then put a dark muddy salve across the large blackened area on my torso.
“Please…” I whimpered, grabbing her close to me. “Please, help.”
Her eyes moistened as she stared into mine, shaking her head back and forth. She whispered something to me, but I couldn’t understand her. Even so, I felt her regret and sorrow flow through her touch into me.
Placing the sandwich in my hand, she pushed it close to my mouth and instructed me to eat. I attempted to take a bite of the bland meal, knowing I would need my strength if I were ever to find a way out of this. She reached over and pulled the discarded t-shirt off the ground, shaking it out a few times. Gently, she helped me slide my arms inside and pull it over my head and down my body. I winced as my arms raised above my head, but she quickly situated the shirt and moved away.
When we were finished, she grabbed her supplies and knocked twice on the chamber door. Moments later, the door unlocked and creaked open. The woman walked out, never looking back. Demon tossed a small blue quilt inside, then turned to lock my cage again. I was a prisoner. A slave. I listened to the tears of the girls around me and fell asleep, tightly wrapped in the only comfort I could find.
If I live through another day, please… please… if you’re listening…I need help. Give me a sign you’re listening.
I was woken by the clanging of chains. I sat up, pulling the quilt around my shoulders. My eyes darted quickly around the room and then trained on the door, waiting for whoever was about to enter. The click unlocked and Demon walked in. In his hands rested a large rusted chain.
“Stand up,” he commanded me, his eyes cold. I didn’t hesitate to fight him this time, knowing it would bring more pain. I dropped the blanket and stepped off the mattress.
“Feet together.” He knelt down and began wrapping the hard crusty chain around both my feet, wide enough I could shuffle to walk, but tight enough that I would not be able to run.
“Hands in front.” He looked at me, waiting for my compliance. I moved them in front, side by side. He secured a plastic tie around both wrists and pulled firmly. They were secured together. His fingers found my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his.
“You will follow me out of this room. Do not attempt to do anything. Do as you’re told and stay quiet. Do you understand?” He waited, face firm, for me to nod in understanding. He stepped out of the door and I shuffled my chained feet behind him. As I walked through the makeshift door, the flickering lights swinging above my head glared down on me. The hallway was long and made of concrete, doors lining the hall on both sides. My room was located near the middle. Girls, similarly bound, were being pushed out of their doors, each looking as ripped and bloodied as myself.
I glanced around, trying to find Evie. I didn’t see her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t here. I gripped my fingers together and turned to face the back of the dark-haired girl in front of me. She was sobbing loudly, uncontrollably. Demon had moved toward the front of the line and had his head bent toward few other men.
“Hey,” I whispered, keeping my eye on Demon.
She sniffled and turned her swollen face towards me, tears falling. “What?”
“You might want to stay quiet.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” she spat, causing people’s heads to turn. Demon’s head whipped around and his eyes pierced mine. I stood back against the wall as he angrily marched toward us. The girl in front of me began to whimper and a sob escaped her trembling lips again. Demon halted his steps in front of her as she cowered down on her haunches and tried to hide her face. He tangled his rough calloused hands into her hair, pulling her up to face him.
“SILENCE!” His voice bellowed throughout the cement hallway. She whimpered again, and he yanked harder, pulling her closer to him. His voice was deadly quiet as he spoke into her ear. She went as white as a sheet and nodded before he quickly let go, causing her to fall into me. I tried to catch her, but my bound hands kept me from gripping appropriately. She fell to the floor, hitting her head against the concrete wall beside me. She rubbed at the spot, slowly pushing herself up as blood began to trickle down her pale wet cheek.
“You will follow me through this door. Do not speak, do not touch, do not do anything. My men will be around and you will be punished should you decide to do something stupid.” Demon spoke loudly so everyone could hear him. He turned and walked through a door, propping it open. The girls began to file out behind him, sounds of clanking chains echoing through the hall as each set of feet shuffled across the floor.
I passed the solid wood doors that lined the walls, and followed the girls before me toward the exit. Demon led us down an adjoining hallway that opened into a large tiled room. When we were all inside we were commanded to sit along the far wall. I slid myself down, the cold of the tile seeping into my bare skin.
“This is where you live now. You are here to do what we say and to earn us money. You are to keep silent unless spoken to. You are to eat when given food and to shower when told.” He pulled out a long dagger from his waistband and slid his fingers across the silver blade. “Being let out of your chamber is a privilege. Should you choose to be disobedient, you will suffer consequences. Trust me, you do not want to know what those will be. It is in your best interest to be as compliant as possible.” He stopped his pacing and stood to face us. “More than one of you have already cost me a good deal of money. You are never to lay a hand on a customer. Should you leave any marks on them, you will be punished. To help you understand what can happen to those girls who choose to fight, we’ve opted for a little demonstration.”
He turned his head and nodded at one of the men behind him. “Bring her.”
A few moments later a girl was dragged inside by two young men. She was limp in their arms, head sagging down, feet dragging behind her. Demon pulled a chair in front of us and the men sat the girl down, tying restraints against her limbs.
“Wake her up,” he commanded. One of the men nodded and pulled a dingy white bucket from the other side of the room and turned it upside down above the girl. Water flooded over her as she jolted awake, gasping for air. When her face turned up toward us, it was unrecognizable to most, but I knew who it was. Evie. Her face was distorted and puffy, lined with knife marks across her cheeks. Her eyes caught mine and a small sob escaped her lips as Demon backhanded her.
“This is what can happen if you choose to disobey.” He took his time looking at each and every one of us, drilling us with the hatred and venom that ran through his cold veins.
“You will shower. Make sure you are presentable. You will be brought food, I expect you to eat it. We’ll be back to take you to your cells before the day begins.” He turned and walked out the door, followed by a few of the men. There were a few other men with guns attached to their belts that stood by the door, eyes roaming over us all. The lights dimmed as one of the men hit a small button on the wall. A flooding sound echoed against the tiled walls. I glanced above us and watched as water began to spray from
a cluster of shower heads lined across the ceiling. I stood and rushed through the spray toward Evie.
“Oh, Evie,” I whispered. She looked into my eyes and let her tears mix with the flow of water.
“Are you okay?” she questioned, straining against the bindings on the chair. I nodded, attempting to use my fingers to work through the rope.
“Hey! Help me!” I glared at the girls nearest me. Most of them turned away, attempting to clean themselves as much as possible. The dark-haired girl from before walked cautiously over to me.
“Come on,” she grunted as she helped me work through the ropes. Eventually, we got her free and helped her stand under the flow of water.
“Thank you.” I nodded to the girl and worked my fingers through Evie’s hair, rinsing it as best as I could. We took turns helping each other. The water was freezing cold and we were shivering by the time the guards hit the button to shut off the water. We stood against the wall and waited as the older lady that had taken care of me earlier came into the room carrying a tray of cups. Each Styrofoam cup was filled with steaming liquid.
“Drink” She commanded in broken English as she handed each of us a cup. It was soup, hot and filling. We took our cups and sipped, letting the warmth seep into our bodies. I carefully held Evie’s cup to her cracked, bloody lips and tipped it forward.
Chapter 2
PRESENT DAY
(Sydney, Australia- Corinth Relief)
DAVIS
My chair squeaked as I leaned back and reached up, using my fingertips to scratch my stubble. Yesterday we received notice that two American girls were taken from the South Bay Resort. I pulled the file from the top of my desk, where I had tossed it after my long night. I slipped it open again, revealing the two images from the resort database. Anger boiled inside of me as I looked at the picture of Nova. My fingers fisted against the folder edges roughly as I remembered our first meeting a few days ago. She was with her friend, enjoying the sun, when I missed a catch of the disc that Charlie had tossed over my head. It landed at her feet. I remember feeling different when I looked at her. Something I hadn’t felt in a very long time, not since Amanda.
I should have been more careful. I should have known to keep my eye on them with the growing rate of missing women in the area. If I had only insisted that they both join us for dinner - and now it was too late. Regret washed through me and I slammed the folder closed, taking deep breaths to calm myself before I could manage to stand in front of my team.
The staff was meeting in a few minutes to discuss the details of their rescue. I was coming up on my fifth year working with Corinth, and I would be leading the team for this mission. A few years ago, I was called to join the rescue team here in Sydney. I had gone on several missions to expose various trafficking rings and bring girls to safety. Corinth provided safe houses to the rescued girls, along with counseling, therapy, and vocational training for those who need it. We always attempt to return the girls to their families as soon as possible, after we feel they have gone through the appropriate recovery term in our homes.
This case was a special one. The American families had already been notified of the status of their daughters. They were headed our way and expected to arrive later today. I pushed the palm of my hand to my eyes, attempting to wake myself. If I was going to make it through this logistics meeting, I’d need some coffee.
I stood from the chair and slid out from behind my scratched-up metal desk, bumping the corner with my leg as I passed. My office was small, entirely too small for my oversized frame. Thoughts of the girl’s parents and their homes in Texas filled my mind, which in turned caused my heart to ache at the thought of my own family. Being from Texas, this case was hitting a little close to home. Knowing I had met the beautiful Nova was making this even worse.
I stepped through the office doorway and into the main room, which was filled with my team. The large mahogany table sat in the center of our universe, surrounded by a few whiteboards for planning. We were lucky enough to have supporters all over the world that funded our projects. We currently had 17 offices worldwide that provided rescue teams, safe houses, health teams, and professional educators. After a long and vigorous evaluation, I had been placed on the Sydney team of the Corinth Organization.
I started out as an intern, mostly thumbing through documents and legal research to help with placing the girls we rescued. After my time here, I now led the rescue team. I was the ideal candidate for the job because I could go undercover fairly easily. I knew how things worked around here, and I had connections through most of the city.
I pulled out a chair at the head of the table and took a seat, waiting for the rest of the team to gather at the central table and make themselves ready.
“Good morning,” I spoke roughly, pulling the folder in front of me. Greetings were exchanged without fanfare, and then we jumped into the task at hand.
“So this is what we have. I spent the night at South Bay, canvassing the beach. I was able to get access to their room and asked their neighbors some questions. Looks like our girls have been missing for nearly two days. That’s 48 hours, guys. You know our window on minimizing the search to local places is shutting. We only have another day or so before they could be shipped out of the ports.”
“Any leads?” Monica asked. She sat next to me, graying hair pulled away from her face, scribbling notes across a yellow legal pad.
I stood to post both large photos of the girls on the white board next to the table.
“Nothing significant, yet.” I turned to the pictures, my eyes committing their faces to memory.
“I’m Nova,” she said to me as she slid her delicate fingers into my rough palm. Her ice blue eyes and blonde hair stared back at me from the photo. I tapped the image with my knuckles. “She’ll be hard to get access to because she will be worth a lot of money in the system. We need to find her soon.”
Turning to face the team once more, I handed out the data sheets before running through the information.
“Here is the profile on our girls. Target One: Nova Drake, 24, Texas born and raised. Just graduated college. Target Two: Evie Palmer, also 24. Born in Mexico, raised in Texas. Roommate of and graduated with Nova. Both girls arrived three days ago on Aussie Airlines. They arrived at the resort in a local cab. The front desk said they went for dinner on the first night, and never returned. I’m thinking this could be in correlation to the heavy calls we’ve received over the last few weeks on missing persons.” I set my palms down on the table, looking to my team for questions.
“Should I pull a financial trace? Find out if they used any sort of traceable payments?” Nathan, our resident technology master, questioned.
“Yes. I want to try to pinpoint the location of capture. If I’m right about this, I believe we may be working on a Black Dragon case. We all know how difficult this group has been to infiltrate. We need to be careful and accurate, no missteps. Monica, I want you to head over to the resort and meet the families when they arrive. We’ll reconvene in twelve hours.”
I stepped away from the board and headed back to my office, slipping my phone from my pocket. I scrolled through my list of contacts and found his name. Jared. My contact with the Dragons. My fingers tapped across the screen, typing a quick coded message to him.
DAVIS: Catch a wave?
I waited a few minutes for the correct response. His reply would tell me if he was in a place where he could speak. It took a few minutes, but my phone chirped to life as it sat on my desk.
JARED: It’s a little windy right now. Maybe later? 4PM?
So he was surrounded by other people at the moment but would be free later.
DAVIS:Sounds good. Meet you there.
I slipped the phone back in my pocket and began going through the security footage from the resort, frame by frame. I didn’t look up at the clock until it was nearly four. I stood up, grabbing my keys, and headed out of the office and through the meeting space.
“Contact meet
ing in a few!” I hollered across the room so my team would hear me. “I’ll be in touch.”
I stepped out the door and headed down the steps into the small cafe below us. We rented the space, not only because of the price, but also because the location was discreet. I grabbed a bottle of water at the counter on my way out the door.
The bench at the marina was empty when I arrived, so I slid onto the metal planks and leaned against the back, waiting for Jared to arrive. The shade of the tree above me kept the smoldering sun from burning my skin as I watched the boats make their way into the marina, sliding into their slips and anchoring their ropes. The few large yachts that were visible stayed out in the bay.
“Nice boats.” Jared nodded and looked across the way. His head was shaved and he grew a dark scraggly beard across his chin. His shirt was ripped and splattered with mud.
“Yeah.” I glanced at him and then turned my gaze back to the water.
“So what’s the news?”
“Two Americans. One blonde and one with brown hair. Picked up somewhere on the south side.”
He nodded his head, dipping his chin down low to his chest.
“Not sure if they are part of the lot, but Dragons have a load they are trying to ship out in a few days. I’ve heard rumors that they are attempting a sale before they ship the girls over. Word has it that there are some especially ripe pickings this time. That could mean a few things. Either they have your American girls, or they are just trying to blow some smoke so they get a higher sale overseas.”
I watched as he fingered his watch and looked out toward the boats.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Davis. I mean, I know it’s all for the greater good, but the things I have to watch….” He couldn’t finish his sentence, and I rested my palm on his shoulder in an effort to offer support.
“I know it’s hard, but the only way we can get the information we need is if someone is inside. Do what you can to keep them safe. Let’s finish this job. If you still want out afterward, then fine. We’ll place you back at the office if that’s what you want.”
Redemption (The Restoration Series Book 1) Page 2
