by Gemma Hart
Instead, now there was a crudely paved road with clear tracks of a truck having passed through recently.
Something was off. This was all new. Very recent. Someone had been making a road to somewhere and had been doing it quickly and quietly.
I gripped the wheel with a new sense of alertness. If someone was making some kind of move this close to basecamp, I needed to be aware.
“What is it?” Emilia asked, noticing the change in my demeanor.
“This road,” I said, not finished my thought. “Are you sure this was the direction the girl went?”
Emilia nodded, still holding onto the little red shoe.
“Is there something wrong?”
“This road is new,” I said. Emilia looked at me in surprise. “This section of road,” I clarified. “You can tell by how uneven it is. The width is narrower than the part of the road we are on nearer to camp. And the ground has barely been tamped down.”
Easy Team had done a thorough reconnaissance of the area once we had landed and none of this had existed then. So within just a few short weeks, someone had started road construction without our knowledge.
And sizeable road construction, I noticed, as we continued to drive down the uneven road.
“There! What’s that?” Emilia cried out, pointing towards something in the distance.
I saw it too. From around a corner bend, over the tops of some rocky dunes, I saw gray fabric swinging in the hot, desert breeze.
Tent tops.
Those were the tops of tents that had not existed before on roads that had never been made before. This was all becoming extremely suspicious.
My back straightened as I prepared for whatever was ahead.
As I pulled the truck around the corner, we came into a small dusty clearing.
“Oh my god,” Emilia breathed.
There were about three large ragged tents that had been patched up so many times, there was no way to know what the original fabric had been. And under those tents were dozens upon dozens of children.
Not just any children. Little girls.
Emilia put a hand on the door, ready to step out, but I gripped her arm quickly. She turned up to me, questioning.
“When we get out, I want you to stick close by me,” I said.
Emilia’s eyes swept across my face. “But they’re all just children,” she murmured, confused. She obviously just saw the need that was in their faces but I saw much, much more.
I held firmly onto her arm, needing her to understand me for her safety and theirs. “This looks like a holding camp for trafficked girls,” I said. I watched as Emilia’s eyes widened in horror and surprise. “That’s why they’re tucked away here, away from the city, away from the refugees, but close enough to people who would demand such commodities.”
“Oh my god,” she said, uttering the words again. “No.”
“Yes,” I said, wanting to make sure she understood the situation. “And whoever is the ring leader in this situation could be nearby. So stay close to me. Do you understand?”
Emilia swallowed hard before nodding. “Okay.”
We stepped out of the car with my hand on my weapon. Even though from where I stood, I could only see a gaggle of little girls, something felt wrong. And I never went against my instincts.
“Shallah,” Emilia said hesitantly to the girls who had gathered around in a curious circle.
I carefully assessed the girls. None of them looked injured. More than a few of them looked pale from malnourishment. All of them were dirty. They all wore some semblance of a dress from scraps of fabric. And they all had different skin tones that told me that whoever was trafficking these girls had picked them up from different tribes all across Qunar. I wouldn’t be surprised if some Pakresh refugees were also in here.
“I-I’m looking for a friend of yours, maybe,” Emilia said in English, unsure how to continue with these silent girls who stared at us with a somber look.
I could tell these girls had seen some shit. I recognized that distant glaze of trauma.
Emilia turned to me, looking for help in translating.
I nodded but instead asked in Qunari, “Where is your master?”
I needed to know exactly what the danger was here.
The silent and staring girls suddenly started tittering amongst each other, staring at me in surprise and suspicion. Emilia nearly jumped back at the sudden activity these girls showed.
Well that proved it. I had obviously hit upon something.
“Where is your master?” I asked again with firm authority.
“He isn’t here,” a girl responded.
The circle made way and a little girl with beautiful gray eyes stepped forward. She had striking features that spoke of the beautiful woman she would soon become.
I studied here. Clearly, she was some kind of leader here amongst the girls. They all were looking to her.
Emilia gasped. “There you are!” she said. “Why did you run off?”
Emilia immediately knelt in front of the girl and placed a hand on her forehead, taking her temperature. “You’re burning up,” Emilia said as she pulled out a stethoscope from her pocket. “You need to come back with us.”
I could see the little beads of sweat lining the girl’s forehead and her chapped lips. Yes, the girl was very ill. But clearly, she had left the safety of the medical tent for a reason. A very important reason.
“Why did you leave?” I asked in Qunari.
The girl licked her dry lips. “I am next. If I am not here when the master arrives, he will hurt or kill some of my sisters in anger.”
It was always a little off putting to see a small child speak with such solemnness. I saw it a lot on various missions. Kids who grew up much too fast.
This girl couldn’t have been more than eleven and yet she spoke like a woman who had already lived three lifetimes.
“Next for what?” I asked, keeping a relaxed but solid grip on my gun as I kept it pointed down.
“Next to be sold,” a familiar voice said behind us.
Emilia and I whirled around, my gun immediately raised and pointed at whoever stood behind us.
Standing behind us was a man dressed in a casual black suit with an unbuttoned white shirt. He wore dark sunglasses. Behind him were about half a dozen men. I recognized some of them as part of the gang from town.
A black truck was parked behind them. I had been so deep in thought trying to figure out where these girls and this camp had come from that I hadn’t heard the truck approaching.
I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward, putting myself squarely in front of Emilia.
“The highest bidder gets the girl at auction,” the man continued, flashing us a brilliant grin, as if we were carrying on a normal conversation. “And I’m willing to bet we’ll be getting a nice big fat sum for this little flower. Aren’t we, Sora?”
That voice.
It was the same voice from the radio. The American voice.
But it was something else. There was something else to the voice that scratched impatiently at the back of my head.
“Who are you?” I demanded, eyeing the man carefully. He was tall and had a good build. I could tell just by the way he carried himself that he was a man who knew how to handle himself.
The man chuckled and then lowered his head as he took off his glasses. “Ah, Hawk,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.”
Chapter Eleven
Emilia
I stared at the man as he grinned familiarly at Cooper.
He was nearly as tall as Cooper but with a leaner, slighter build. He had a scruff of dark beard lining his jaw and he looked menacing in his dark suit even in the bright desert sunlight.
I tried to lean around Cooper to get a better look of the man but Cooper shifted his body to keep me firmly positioned behind him.
“Do you know…?” I trailed off, unable to finish my thought. The tension in the air was so thick, my muscles were nearly cramping from bei
ng so stiff. And looking at the back of Cooper’s neck, I could see the muscles taut and ready for action. Seeing him so wired made my own stress that much worse.
Cooper kept his gun pointed at the man.
“Randall,” he said finally. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
The man, Randall, raised his brows in surprise then laughed. “Is that how you greet an old comrade, Hawk?” he chided. “And after so long as well.”
Randall gestured towards Cooper with his sunglasses. “Who’s the beauty there?” he asked casually. He leaned a little to get a look at me. Although I had just been trying to do the same to get a look at him, I now scooted closer to Cooper’s hard back, wanting to keep myself hidden from the man’s gaze.
“What are you doing here?” Cooper repeated, not engaging.
Randall quirked a brow. “Really, I should be asking you that question. What are you doing on my property?” he asked. He gave a pointed look to the gray eyed girl he had called Sora. “And with my property?”
Cooper didn’t respond right away. Although I couldn’t see his face, I had a feeling he was assessing the men behind Randall. There were about six of them. And they were all armed. Having seen Cooper pull his gun on their boss, they had all pulled out their own weapons.
Randall might be standing calmly, speaking casually, but he knew he had a small army behind him.
“We’re here to provide medical care,” Cooper finally answered.
Randall was surprised by the answer. “To who?”
“To all of them,” I piped up, unable to help myself. “But especially Sora. She has measles. And if not treated, she could give the virus to the other girls if they don’t already have it.”
Randall’s eyes gleamed as he pointed his gaze towards me, interest rapidly growing.
“Oh are we some kind of doctor here?” he asked, his voice smooth and silky. He reminded me of a snake. Cool, slithery, charming, and filled with venom.
“I-I’m Dr. Lyon,” I replied.
“What is this?” Cooper interrupted, clearing wanted to prevent Randall from having too much interaction with me. “Since when were you in the slave trade?”
Randall pursed his lips and made a broad gesture with his hands. “Oh, only the small players get into the slave trade. And it’s a messy business at that. No, I’m in a more valuable trade.” He grinned, his teeth glinting brilliantly in the light. “No matter how far civilizations and societies progress, man is still man. And our baser needs always need to be filled. And they are willing to pay whatever it takes to fulfill those needs.”
I looked around me. Most of the girls looked to be Sora’s age, eleven to twelve. Some looked like they were around fourteen with small, developing breasts. My stomach turned seeing some girls as young as six.
He couldn’t possibly….
It was just too horrid if he….
“Sex always sells, Hawk,” Randall said, as if reading my mind. “If our travels around the world has taught us nothing else, that is one thing we know to be true.”
“That’s what you’ve fallen into now?” Cooper asked, clearly disgusted. “The sex trafficking of little girls?”
Randall shrugged, unfazed by Cooper’s tone. “Among other things,” he said. “Hey, I outgrew mercenary money.”
“And mercenary code as well,” Cooper nearly spat.
Randall grinned. “Whoever heard of a mercenary with a code?”
“You’re looking at him,” Cooper snapped back. “And you worked with a team of them. But clearly shit in the soul will rear its head no matter what.”
Randall extended a hand to Sora, done with the philosophical conversation. I could see the little girl’s face, blank with no expression or emotion. She was clearly numb to the pain of her life and the trials she had experienced.
“Regardless of your high morals, Captain,” Randall said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice, “I have an auction to organize. And the next little flower up for sale is this one,” he said, his hand still extended. “And measles or no, she’s going to earn me a killing.” He grinned, saying the last word.
Sora was about to take a step forward when I jerked out behind Cooper’s back, putting my arm out in front of the little girl.
“No!” I cried out. My thoughts ran frantically in my mind as I tried to think of a way to buy her time. “She is ill and needs immediate medical attention!”
I saw from the corner of my eye Cooper immediately shifting his body to make sure that he was still covering us. He was a little off to my left but still easily within reach. I knew that if he needed to, he could cover us with his body.
Randall’s jaw tightened a little as he narrowed his gaze at me. “Dr. Lyon, I’ve had my fill of games for today. I’d ask you kindly to step away from my property.”
“She isn’t property!” I spat out, angry and afraid at the same time. I could feel my pulse nearly humming in my throat. “She’s a little girl. And a sick one at that! The least you could do is let me treat her!”
Randall stared at me. His gaze was icy cold like a black diamond. A small tremor of fear moved constantly through my body. Yes, I was frightened. There were six loaded guns pointed at me.
But afraid or no, I wasn’t going to let Sora die.
Randall finally broke his gaze, looking down and nodding, as if coming to his senses. “I see,” he said. He turned over his shoulder, giving his men a quick glance.
Immediately, the men shifted and swung their arms out, making a circle as they pointed their guns at the little girls. There were small cries of terror as the girls huddled closer together in fear.
My eyes widened in horror.
Randall looked back at me, his eyes sharp and unmoving. “Dr. Lyon, you have a choice—either give me my property or you will watch me as I kill every other girl here on this camp.” He gave me a humorless smile. “After which, I can’t promise you won’t be next.”
I swallowed, terror flowing as freely through me as blood.
“So which is it?” Randall demanded. “Sora or everybody else?”
My mouth opened but neither words nor air escaped it. What could I do? That was an impossible choice. I could see girls crying silently around the circle. They had learned long ago not to make noises to call attention to themselves. Tracks of tears fell down their dirty cheeks as crazy idea after idea ran through my head.
A small smile played at Randall’s lips. “Feels like old times, doesn’t it, Hawk?” he said, his voice almost a tease.
I had no idea what he meant but I couldn’t worry about that now. I had to protect Sora.
After what felt like eons but had probably been less than a minute, Cooper stepped away and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back towards him.
I stared up at him in horror as he kept me pinned against him, allowing Sora to step forward into Randall’s extended hand. I watched with a sickening twist of the gut as her little hand was enveloped in his larger one.
Randall smiled at the little girl. He whispered a few words in Qunari to her then looked up and smiled at me.
“Good choice,” he said. But I knew the words weren’t directed at me.
I looked up and saw a muscle leap in Cooper’s throat. But his face was as stoic as granite as he glared at Randall. Only his eyes, tight with pain, revealed the storm of emotions he must’ve felt inside.
“I can see you’re not a fan of history repeating,” Randall said as he led Sora to their black truck. Cooper’s body jerked at those cryptic words. “It was good to see you again, Cap!”
“It won’t be the last time,” Cooper said, watching them get into the vehicle.
Randall stared at Cooper just before he slid into the truck. He grinned. “Oh I know,” he promised.
Then the driver started the engine and they drove off with Sora, sick and pale sitting between one of the gunmen and Randall.
“No!” I cried out. The girl would die if she wasn’t properly treated. She needed medicine. She needed care. But mostl
y, she needed safety. “No!”
I wrenched myself free and ran down the rocky road, down the trail of dust the truck left in its wake.
But she was gone. Sora was gone.
And the worst part was, I knew exactly what would happen to her.
Tears burned down my cheeks as my heart broke in pain.
Chapter Twelve
Emilia
“How could you do that?” I cried out as I nearly stumbled out of the truck in my rage. “How could you just let her go like that? She was a child!”
Cooper stepped out from the driver’s side. He looked around and saw some of the men of Easy Team and the medical team staring at us curiously. With a firm arm around me, he led me to a remote corner of camp. I tried to push him away but it was to no avail and anger flooded through me as I felt impotent and helpless again.
We had left the camp with Cooper nearly throwing me into the truck when I had refused to leave the camp without the children. Cooper had grabbed me, threatened me, and then eventually just bodily picked me up and threw me into the truck without another word, driving us back towards base while I cried tears of rage at what had just happened.
Finally in a more secluded space, he let go of me and I jumped away from him. I was furious. And offended. And disgusted. How could he do that? How could he let Sora go? Abandon those girls?
“How could you do that?” I asked again, my voice breaking a little as a fresh wave of tears struck me. I cried more out of frustration than sadness.
Cooper had his hands on his hips and his head bent down. The lines of his body radiated stress. He looked like he was barely keeping a hold of his own temper. But I didn’t care. Who was he to get angry when he had let that monster take Sora?
“How many girls were in that camp today, Em?” he finally said, looking up at me. His gaze held an indescribable look of harsh pain and resignation.
I gave him a funny look. “What?”
“You heard me,” he said. “How many girls were in that camp today?”
