by K. T. Tomb
“And if they’re engaged?”
“They’ll give you the names and locations of the men they’ll send, but it’s more than likely true that they will call in replacements on their current job and come themselves.”
“I see,” Sirita said.
“We’re going to need armored cars in Iraq, preferably Land Rovers,” Chyna added, as she flipped through the giant old fashioned Rolodex in front of her.
She stopped at a business card and said, “You can call Masoud Limos for those; two of them. Black, armored and tinted and we won’t be needing drivers, just an airport pickup. We’ll drop them back at the dealership and sign the papers. I think that’s it.”
“Let’s see,” Sirita said, “We’ve got flights, accommodation, security and transportation. That sound about right, Chyna?”
“It sure does,” she agreed. “All I have to do is put our ‘Plan B’ into place and we’re all set.”
“‘Plan B’?” Sirita asked.
“Yes, Siri, ‘Plan B’,” Chyna confirmed. “That’s your first lesson as a would be investigator at Found History; we never go into hostile territory or take on a major investigation without a ‘Plan B’. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be getting started on it. Thank you.”
Sirita nodded and left the room, closing the office door behind her. Chyna took her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and dialed Tony’s number.
“Hey, Babe,” came his voice on the other end.
“Hi there,” she replied smiling, “how are you doing?”
“It’s going good, Chyna,” he said. “Missing you is all. I can’t wait to see you next weekend.”
“Oh dear!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ummm, nothing. It’s just I forgot about that, Tony. Something serious has just come up at the office.”
She could hear him exhale deeply on the other end. He was worried.
“Tell me,” he finally managed to say.
“Ilea Le Gal called from UNESCO headquarters this afternoon. Her entire team has gone A.W.O.L. One group of Americans disappeared in Baghdad on their way to leave the country and they lost contact with the others yesterday.”
“UNESCO? Why does that sound familiar?”
“Because that’s the assignment Lana went on two weeks ago in Hillah; the Babylonian excavation. She was supposed to help them get the pieces ready for transportation.”
“Oh yes! Don’t tell me she’s among the missing!”
“She is, Tony! And I don’t know what to do.”
“Well first of all, don’t panic. She’s a really skilled girl. She’s well trained and she has good instincts. She may not be able to get them out of there, but she will certainly be able to keep everyone alive until you can find them and rescue them from whoever’s kidnapped them.”
“I’m sure you’re right, Babe. I just feel like I’m about to lose it.”
“Relax. You’ve got this, remember?”
“I do got this!”
“What can I do to help?”
“I’m going to need an evacuation route ready just in case we need to haul ass out of Iraq; and the likelihood of that, depending on who we’re dealing with, is quite high.”
“I’ll make all the arrangements for you. How many people were in the UNESCO team?”
“Let’s see,” Chyna said, as she rummaged through the paperwork that Sirita had brought in from the fax machine. “We’ve got sixteen; nine Americans, four Italian and three Brits.”
“How many of your personnel?”
“Including Lana, we’ll be six.”
“Did you get Demetri and Thorin?”
“Sirita’s working on that but we’ll have two stand-ins if they aren’t able to come.”
“Okay, so that’s twenty-two in total,” he said, whistling. “I’m going to have to call in a whole lot of favors but at least there’s still a huge amount of U.S. Air Force in the area.”
“I appreciate your help, Tony. We leave for Baghdad tomorrow afternoon. I’ll call you as soon as we get there.”
“Sure thing, Babe. You can ask for Agent Hamilton at the U.S. Embassy.”
“Awesome! I’ll stay in touch, Babe.”
“You just be careful.”
They ended the call on that note and somehow Chyna felt a little bit better. She was in sheer turmoil with the loss of Lana. There wasn’t a clear way that she thought she could handle it. The worst part was that they were going into Baghdad blind; they didn’t have a clue where to start, they didn’t know who they could trust.
Suddenly, Chyna stopped dead in her tracks.
“Sirita! Get in here right away.”
Sirita came running through the doors a minute later; she was obviously in a state of surprise.
“What is it Chyna?”
“I think its official; I must be the stupidest person in the world!”
“Why would you say that?”
“Shut the door and come closer,” Chyna instructed. “When we’re in the field, every Found History employee and every piece of our luggage wears a tracking device. It’s a little distress signal unit that can be activated either by the wearer or remotely through our server. Lana’s is sewn into the lining of her boot. We haven’t gotten an S.O.S. signal from Lana’s so I would assume either it’s been taken away from her or she hasn’t had the chance to safely activate it as yet.”
“Hmm, I’ll get Oscar on the line,” Sirita said, picking up the telephone.
“Hello!” Nigel said, loudly into the phone.
“Hi Nigel, how are you?” Chyna said cordially. “We need to talk to Oscar.”
“I’m fine; Miss Stone, but you just missed him. I just got back from taking him to the airport.”
“Oh that’s fine, Nigel. I’m sure you can help us.”
“I’ll sure try my best!”
“Could you activate Lana’s distress signal? We need a location on her.”
Chapter Two
Nigel laughed cheekily as he sent the satellite imagery to Chyna’s projector screen. Chyna and Siri stood looking at the disjointed map eagerly as he frantically typed on his keyboard, trying to home in on the signal. In the background, they could hear an incessant beeping noise that was apparently the sound the computer made as the tracking software was trying to get a position on the activated homing device.
A few moments later, a red dot appeared on the map and Nigel continued typing furiously. The image blurred, doubled in size and became clear again as it was magnified.
“Hang on a minute,” they heard Nigel announce over the speaker phone.
There was more clicking and beeping in the background.
“Alright, here we go!”
The image blurred, enlarged and re-focused a few more times until streets, alleys, the tops of buildings and open spaces became well defined and in some cases even labeled with their names. Chyna and Siri watched intently as a little red dot appeared on the screen and pulsed gently over one of the buildings.
“That’s it, Chyna,” Nigel announced. “That’s where she is.”
“Or at least that’s where her boots are; let’s hope that Lana is still in them.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sirita asked.
“Unfortunately Siri, every scenario we get ourselves into in our line of work comes with the possibility that things may not always have a ‘Happy ever after’ ending. We always try to prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario.”
“You’re saying she may not still be in those boots, aren’t you?”
Chyna gave her a grave look and a little nod, and then returned her attention to the red dot on the screen and to Nigel over the phone.
“Nigel, could you put a watch on her, please? And get us the address of that building.”
“Sure thing, Miss Stone,” he replied.
“Thank you. I’ll let Oscar check in with you as soon as he arrives. You two will have to come up with a plan of how we can keep the track going until we actually g
et there.”
Chyna disconnected the call but kept on watching the screen on her office wall.
“We’re coming for you Lana. Just hang in there.”
***
Chyna met Siri at the office at around eight the next morning and went straight over to the Hagia Sofia museum to meet with Rashid. He had spoken to the Eastman the night before, just as he had promised Chyna he would, and they both wanted to meet with her before she left for Iraq that afternoon. She was looking forward to their meeting in the hopes that her friend would be able to put a secret weapon in her arsenal for the trip.
Nigel checked in to say that the signal had not moved. Somehow the news stirred mixed feelings in Chyna; there were more negatives associated with it not moving that if it had.
Zubeida, Rashid’s secretary, escorted them into his opulent office at the back of the museum. When the three women walked in, he was sitting on the edge of his large desk speaking animatedly in Arabic to the three other people in his office. Chyna thought that maybe they had interrupted him in a meeting and looked expectantly at Zubeida who extended her arm signaling for them to proceed. Rashid stood and walked towards them with his hand extended to Chyna for a handshake.
“Welcome friends,” he said, jovially. “Come in, I want you to meet some people.”
Chyna recognized the Eastman, but she didn’t know who the man and woman with him were.
“Eastman!” she said, happily. “I have not seen you in quite a while. How have you been doing?”
“Miss Stone,” he replied, “What a pleasure to see you again. I understand you are off on another adventure today.”
“Indeed, Eastman,” Chyna confirmed as the smile faded from her face. “And it certainly isn’t under the most ideal circumstances. I take it Rashid has brought you up to speed?”
“He has. I am extremely sorry to hear about Miss Ambrose. How long have they been missing?”
“Well, the American team disappeared almost two weeks ago. Lana and the others have been gone for three days now.”
Rashid interrupted them at that point to introduce Sirita to the Eastman. Then he turned to the two people who were patiently waiting for the friends to finish their pleasantries.
“Chyna Stone,” he began, “I’d like you to meet Asha Khouri and Eli Bishara. These are two of our Watchers from Boğazkale. As I said yesterday, we don’t have anyone in the Foundation who operates that far to the east, but these two are originally from the Babil province. Their family has farmed those lands since the time of the Persian Empire so they know the territory inside and out.”
“I’m impressed,” Chyna said. “Your knowledge of the area will certainly be advantageous. Do either of you have any further connections in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad? I predict that the major portion of the operation will happen in that city since we have a location on Lana’s tracking device as being stationary in a building in the Baiyaa district.”
“I see,” Eli said, nodding his head. “My family has remained very rural, mostly working the family farm and taking jobs in tourism around the Babylon ruins, but Asha’s people have been living in Baghdad for decades.”
“It is true, but the amount of help available depends on what you think you will need, Miss Stone,” Asha said.
“Mostly information,” Chyna said, “But tactical support as well, about a dozen men, fully equipped for hostage retrieval. I’d rather not show up on the radar if I don’t have to.”
“I understand. I can do these things. Let me make a few calls.”
“Awesome,” Chyna summarized, as Rashid handed her a folder with some more background information on the two. “As Watchers, you have my utmost respect and trust. Rashid and Eastman think you are right for the assignment, I am satisfied with that. Can you be ready and at the airport at one o’ clock this afternoon?”
They both nodded their confirmation.
“Great, we’ll have tickets ready for you at the check-in counter, see you then.”
Chyna turned to Sirita and instructed her to take their names, dates of birth and passport numbers and call the airline to book the tickets. While Siri made herself busy with that, Chyna spoke further to Rashid and Eastman.
“How are you holding up?” Rashid asked her.
“Okay for now, but the signal from the beacon hasn’t moved since we homed in on it and I don’t know what to make of that.”
“Do not worry, Miss Stone. It will be fine,” Eastman said.
“I hope so, Eastman. I really do.”
***
There wasn’t much time left before Oscar’s plane would land at the airport and Demetri and Thorin were probably already through the immigration process and heading on to customs. Their meeting with Rashid had certainly been fruitful; they had added two experts on Iraq to their ranks.
Oscar’s plane wouldn’t be arriving until around ten thirty and their flight to Baghdad wasn’t scheduled to leave until close to three o’ clock. There wasn’t enough time for Oscar to leave the airport and freshen up at her house, so Chyna decided to take a room in the airport hotel where he could take a shower, have a meal and relax a little before they had to leave. The two bodyguards had been instructed to check in and secure the room if they arrived before she did. When they got to the airport, she and Siri would get checked in on the flight and send their bags on before retiring to the room to set up a temporary work space.
As she had anticipated, when they got to the front desk of the hotel, Sirita was informed that the room had already been checked in and they proceeded upstairs. Always on guard, Chyna took point and kept her hand on her SIG Sauer® M-11 pistol inside her jacket as they approached the door. She knocked on the door and waited for a response.
“Operation Ninurta,” came Thorin’s voice from behind the closed door.
“Ishtari’s retrieval,” Chyna replied, reholstering the gun and taking her hand from inside her leather jacket.
The locks were turned immediately by the satisfied bodyguard who rushed out to engulf her svelte body in a massive bear hug. When he saw Sirita behind her, he stiffened.
“Hey Thorin how are you?” Chyna said, cheerfully. “This is Sirita, our office manager from the new office.”
“Hey, how do you do?”
“How do you do?” Sirita replied, primly.
They walked past the huge Swede and stepped into the beautiful room. It was one of the largest the hotel had to offer. Sirita had done a fantastic job of anticipating how much room they would need to be able to function for the hours they would be spending there. As soon as Chyna had greeted Demetri and introduce him to Sirita, she took out her laptop, logged on to the Found History server and called Nigel.
“Nigel, I’m going to need you to find an archery shop for me in the city. If there isn’t a place where I can get a compound matrix bow, I’m going to need to know that in less than an hour so I can arrange to take mine.”
“Sounds like you’re planning to get stealthy over there, Miss Stone,” he replied.
“If we’re dealing with a hostage situation, then we may have to, Nigel.”
“Understood. I’ll get right on it.”
“Could you also log onto Lana’s profile and download everything she’s uploaded to the server in the last week? I want to get a clear picture of what she was working on before she went missing. You never know, maybe we’ll find something helpful.”
“Good idea, Boss.”
It wasn’t long before Oscar knocked on the room door. Of course, he was a lot less cautious with his approach; he was still a bit of a novice. When he strolled in, Chyna smiled broadly.
“Where are you coming from, Cowboy?” Chyna quipped, making fun of how he was dressed. “Did we just fly you out of New York or was it Austin, Texas?”
“Awww, come on Boss Lady,” he groaned. “Give me a break. I left for that flight straight from work. I don’t even know what’s in my bag. I had to ask Sandra to go pack it for me.”
Oscar received raised eye
brows from both husky bodyguards when they got a good look at his leather and denim ensemble. He looked more than a little bit like Crocodile Dundee, without the knife of course.
“Go take a shower and get some rest,” Chyna instructed. “I’m about to order some lunch.”
***
Lana yawned and stretched in an effort to relax the kink in her back. She had slept propped up against a concrete wall and it had been a rather cold night. As she rubbed the small of her back, two men in military style green uniforms came into the room carrying bottles of water and a bag of oranges. They carefully passed them out to Lana and the others.
“Is this all you’re going to give us?” a blond woman asked them boldly.
Lana turned quickly to look at her, shaking her head slowly trying to tell her to shut up. The men laughed at her and continued handing out the meager breakfast to the others.
“I’m starving and all you can give us is an orange?” the woman persisted, raising her voice.
Lana could see that she was genuinely upset and clearly not thinking straight. Just then, another man entered the room. He seemed to be someone who was in charge, at least of the other two who were tending to the hostages.
“What is she saying?” he asked the two men in Arabic.
They shrugged and continued with their work but the woman wouldn’t stop complaining. At that point, she stood up and threw the orange at the wall before collapsing to the floor crying. Lana sat peeling her orange as it was all playing out in front of her. The captain repeated his question. He was getting more and more agitated as the woman cried louder and louder.
“She’s asking if all we get for breakfast is an orange,” Lana said softly, in fluent Arabic.
