by Rachel Dylan
“He’s a piece of work, Sadie. And he’s right. The conditions are going to be deplorable. You need to be mentally prepared.”
“Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean that I’m not tough. I will tell you now, and I don’t want to have to say it again. I can handle this.”
He dropped his right hand from the wheel and gently touched her knee. “I didn’t mean to offend you, Sadie. You are a very tough woman. Tougher than most men. But when you start dealing with human trafficking, that’s hard for anyone to stomach. No matter who you are.”
“Sounds like you have experience.”
“I saw some awful things while I was deployed. Things that still haunt me.”
She looked over at him, and he tried to keep his focus on the dark road. “Anything you want to talk about?”
“Not particularly.”
“If you keep it all bottled in, it will eventually destroy you.”
“I’ll be fine.” He didn’t even believe the words as he said them.
“I’m here if you want to talk.”
“I don’t even know how to begin, Sadie. I’ve been very lost for a long time. God wasn’t listening to me. And I felt that I was abandoned when I needed Him most.”
She sighed. “Kip, you’re talking in riddles. It would probably be more productive if you just said what’s on your mind. I’m not here to judge you. Just to listen. As a friend.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to have that conversation yet.”
“That’s okay,” she relented. “I won’t push you. But know if you want to pray together, I’m here for you.”
He was truly touched. No woman had ever offered to pray with him—besides his grandmother. “You’re a very intriguing woman, Sadie.”
“I guess I should take that as a compliment?” She laughed.
“Yes, it was meant that way. Can I ask you a personal question now?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Why are you still single? I mean, it has to be by choice. You’re smart, beautiful and funny. Why choose to be alone?”
She paused for a minute. The only sound he heard was the hum of the air conditioning.
“Sometimes it’s easier to only depend on yourself. People have a way of letting you down.”
He nodded. “That I can relate to.” He thought she was going to follow up with more questions, but she didn’t. It was one of the things he liked about her. She knew when to push him and when to stop. It was a strange feeling because it seemed like he had known her for a much longer time. He had to keep reminding himself, though, that as nice as she was, he wasn’t in a position to open up his heart again. And what could he offer a woman like Sadie? He was damaged goods. Severely damaged.
He wondered why she was so quiet, and then he looked over and saw her eyes were closed. She had to be exhausted. He had no plans to wake her up. She needed to rest. The remainder of this trip wasn’t going to be easy. When he’d told her that he’d seen awful things while deployed, he couldn’t even begin to give her the details. The slaughter he’d witnessed in the village in Iraq had been brutal. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. In fact, he’d been ordered not to intervene.
He’d considered disobeying a direct order and living with the consequences, but he also knew that one man couldn’t stop the carnage. It would’ve taken his whole team. And after they voted, he was outnumbered. He also wasn’t the highest ranked member in the group. So that was the end. He had to witness a massacre, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He had to remind himself that Brad wasn’t a man of faith. He was guided by principles that worked for him, but he didn’t answer to the Lord. Kip couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his gut that Brad just didn’t want to risk his own life to save the villagers. The guilt ate at him. God, I need You to help me.
He sucked in a breath. Had he just prayed? He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d said a prayer. Maybe Sadie was rubbing off on him. In a good way.
* * *
Sadie felt something nudge her arm. She went for her gun but then realized it was in her purse on the floor.
“Sadie, it’s okay. It’s Kip. You’re safe.”
His calm voice washed over her. “How long was I asleep?”
“About four hours. We’re about to reach our destination.”
“What time is it?”
“About two in the morning.”
She groaned. “I’m listening.”
“We have two options. Find a hotel in the city and get some sleep. Or we can try to check out the facility now while it’s dark and get some sleep after.”
“I’m worried about you. You haven’t had any rest at all. I’m fine with either option.”
He laughed. “Sadie, I’ve gone without sleep for five straight days before. I’m sure I can handle this.”
She should’ve known that a former army ranger wouldn’t slow down on a mission. “I think we check out the situation now while it’s dark. Any guess on security level?”
“Actually, I’m thinking it may be pretty light. A couple of armed men are probably all that it takes. This isn’t a resource intensive business. Or at least it shouldn’t be if he wants this business venture to be profitable.”
She shuddered at the thought of those men and what they could be doing to those poor girls. And that’s exactly what most of them probably were. Girls. Not women. Megan Milton was only sixteen years old.
“You still with me, Sadie?” he asked. He reached over and gently touched her shoulder.
“Sorry. Yeah. What’s the plan?”
“We’ll leave the car a ways out. Then go on foot. Best case scenario is we take the guards out with non-lethal force. Then secure Megan.”
“What about the others? We can’t just leave them there.”
“I know. We’ll try our best to get them all out. But depending on the numbers we might not have immediate transport capability for them all. Once we figure out exactly what we’re dealing with, I can patch in the Mexican police forces who work with the FBI. I’ve got full FBI backing.”
“I take it that all Mexican police aren’t friendly to American interests.”
“You got that right.”
They drove in silence while Sadie mentally took stock of the situation. Kip’s eyes were intent on the road. They were both focused on what they needed to accomplish.
Kip stopped the car. “From here we go on foot.” He pulled something out of his pocket.
“You have a GPS?”
“Yeah, a nifty navigator. Plus an old-school compass because I roll like that.” He smiled before he opened the door to the SUV. He was trying to lighten the mood, but nothing could make her feel any better right now. Darkness enveloped her as she stepped out of the car.
Kip came fully prepared with high-tech night vision goggles that also operated as binoculars. She had her regular night vision goggles, and she was again thankful for them. Because if they hadn’t had their equipment, it would probably be impossible to see anything. This wasn’t a big city with street lights, but a rural area on the outskirts of town. The summer heat was brutal even at night. She felt a trickle of sweat roll down her back as they started walking through the darkness.
He took her hand and squeezed. “We’ve got this. Stay close. And don’t make any moves without me. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” she snapped. She didn’t mean it to come out so curt, but she was getting a little tired of taking orders from Kip. She was used to being her own woman, her own boss. It was clear to her that he only knew how to operate if he was the one running the show. But she couldn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Right now she needed to concentrate on rescuing Megan.
“Hey, I’m sorry.” He grabbed her arm gently. “I know I can be bossy. Especially on a mission.
Even though I’m out of the army, I haven’t lost my military training and the take-charge mentality.”
“I understand. Let’s stay on task.”
He pushed a stray hair out of her face, and she felt the warmth of his touch. He was a good man, as much as he might irritate her sometimes, she couldn’t deny that. And she had her own control issues. She couldn’t help but laugh thinking about it. Her issues were probably worse than his.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking that you and I are actually very similar.”
“You think so?”
“Yes,” she said. She tripped over something. “Ouch.” He grabbed on to her arm, steadying her.
“You all right?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what that was. Probably some stray debris or a root.”
“I think we’re getting close.” He looked through his special night vision binoculars. “Yeah. I see some type of warehouse up ahead. We’ll need to go silent. Only talk if absolutely necessary. We’ll use simple hand signals as much as possible.” He stopped and turned toward her. “If that sounds good to you? Let me know if you have other ideas.”
He was making an effort to include her. “Hand signals it is,” she said softly.
She didn’t know how it was possible, but it seemed to only get darker which each step. A chill went down her neck even with the blistering heat. This was it.
He made a sweeping motion toward himself with his hand, signaling her to stick close. He didn’t have to worry about that. She didn’t have any intention of running off on her own right now. She might prefer to work independently, but she surely wasn’t stupid.
She gasped at what she saw in front of her. This couldn’t be right. Her heartbeat raced. Kip squeezed her shoulder. Then he signaled no. He must have seen it, too. Because this wasn’t just a warehouse with two armed guards. No, there were multiple men. All armed with automatic weapons.
Kip tugged on her arm. It was clear he wanted to retreat. But she shook her head no. She pulled him close and whispered in his ear. “We need to understand what we’re up against. Let me go get a better look. I’ll be right back.” She took a step.
“No.” He pulled her back, and spoke in her ear. “Absolutely not. I’m not letting you out of my sight. This just got a lot more dangerous. Those men all have submachine guns, all automatic weapons. There’s a lot more taking place here than what we anticipated.” He spoke so low she could barely hear him, but she felt his warm breath tickling her ear.
“Let’s just get a little closer. Please.” She tugged on his arm.
It must have been the please that did it, because he nodded. They walked very slowly and crouched down low to the ground. Quickly she pulled out her night vision camera that had cost her more than two months’ mortgage payment, and snapped a few pictures with the nighttime setting. There was no way that many armed men with high power weaponry would be needed to guard a group of girls. Something else was going on here. What had they walked into? And more importantly, why did Igor send her here? Was it all an elaborate trap?
Kip nudged her shoulder, and she knew it was time to fall back. They had some serious regrouping to do.
Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. But it was too late. The guard was right there. And he had his submachine gun pointed in their direction. He didn’t have on night vision goggles so it’s likely they were only shadows to him.
“Que hay?” the guard asked.
He was asking who was there. He started walking in their direction. Then she felt a large hand on her arm. She didn’t scream. Instead she punched him hard. She connected with his jaw. The man grunted in pain.
Then Kip lunged toward the man slamming him to the ground. Thankfully the gun didn’t go off. With one punch, Kip knocked him out.
She squatted down to the ground. “Is he conscious?” she asked.
Kip stood up. “No. Between the impact and the punch, he’s out. But we need to get out of here.”
They moved quickly on foot back to the SUV, jogging in silence. Once inside, she leaned her head back against the seat. “What just happened out there?”
“Nothing good.”
“Why would Igor have given me this address?” She was so confused.
“Maybe he’s testing you.”
“How so?”
“He wants to know if you’re really legit or if this is all a ruse. Igor’s no dummy. We provided him a very neatly tied up story. He’s probably skeptical.”
“On the other hand, if he believes that we are who we say we are, then he should want to work with us. It still doesn’t make sense. We could’ve gotten killed.”
“I suppose it’s possible that he told them we might be coming. It’s good they didn’t actually see us. That guard didn’t have on night vision goggles. No way would he be able to identify us. He probably couldn’t even tell that we were male and female. Just two bodies, since it was so dark.”
“You’re forgetting about Megan. Where is she? Where are the others?” She could hear the strain in her own voice.
He sighed. “Sadie, I don’t know. The extra security may have nothing to do with the trafficking of the girls. I just don’t know.”
“Even if that’s the case, it’s not going to help us find Megan.” Her heart sunk, as the realization of her own words crept in. Lord, what were they going to do? Please, she prayed. Those girls need us. “We have to think,” she said. More to herself than to him.
He had grown very quiet. She looked at him, and he simply stayed focused on the road as they drove back toward the city.
“Hey,” she said with a start, as an idea popped into her head. “What if those weren’t Igor’s men?”
“How do you figure that?” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
“What if they found out what he was doing and took over? Or shut him down?”
“Why would they do that?”
“Maybe a turf war. The Mexican drug lords are notorious for protecting their turf—at any cost.”
“How do you know so much about that?”
“I had a cop friend who worked on the border. I heard a lot of stories from him.”
“A boyfriend?”
Intrigued by his continued interest in her romantic history, she answered truthfully. “No, just a friend.”
“Your theory is that Igor’s operation here has been compromised by the local forces?”
“It’s just one idea. I can’t believe Igor would’ve sent me into that. If he wanted to kill me, he could’ve easily done that in his penthouse. I know he probably distrusts us, but I can’t help but feeling that he actually likes me. It makes no sense that he would’ve wanted me ambushed. Especially after I gave him the rundown on Artur. He definitely wanted to hear more about that. Almost desperately so. He said it took precedence over anything else I was working on.”
“We need to make a decision. Do we report this to Igor, assuming your theory is correct? Or do we wait?”
“If we wait, we run the risk of him finding out that we knew something was awry and didn’t report it.” She took a moment and ran through the scenarios in her head. “I think we call him.”
“It’s risky, Sadie” he said softly.
“The alternative’s worse. I need to get to Megan. He’s our best chance to figure out where she could be.”
“When do you want to make the call?”
“Now.”
“Don’t you think he’ll find it a little odd that you ran down here right after your meeting?”
“No. I told him I was taking a trip right away. He probably didn’t realize I meant tonight, but I think it’s fine. I’d rather get out ahead of this thing.”
“You’re going to wake him up.”
“Prob
ably. But, Kip, I don’t care. He’ll answer if he wants.”
“You ready to do it?”
“Yes. I’ll put him on Speaker.” She pulled out her cell. She felt like she was doing the right thing.
It rang three times, and then a raspy voice answered. “This better be good.”
“Igor, it’s Sadie.”
“What’s going on?” He demanded.
“I’m down here in Mexico. And I paid a visit to your facility.” She paused hoping that he was following her. “Imagine my surprise when I saw a whole cadre of armed men with automatic weapons parading around.”
“What? My warehouse only has a few guards in rotation twenty-four hours a day. They certainly don’t carry automatic weapons. You’re wrong.”
“I don’t like being sent into a trap, Igor,” she said as sternly as possible.
“I did not send you into a trap,” he said, his voice raised. “Tell me again what you saw. Are you sure you were at the correct location?”
“I went to the exact coordinates you provided me.”
“How many men?”
“Probably fifteen or so. All armed with automatic weapons. Clearly that type of force isn’t needed to guard any type of operation that we discussed.”
“No. Of course not. Ms. Lane, ever since you came into my life, very strange things have been happening. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
She had to keep her cool and play it smart. “Igor, I don’t think I’m the problem. I think you have to get a better grip on your business investments. There is something going on down here in Mexico. If I had to guess, I’d say the men I saw are part of the local Mexican drug cartels. Maybe they don’t want you moving in on their territory. I’d need more intel than what I have right now in order to provide sound advice. Regardless, I don’t know the status of your merchandise.” It killed her inside to refer to those poor girls that way, but she had to be convincing.
“Ms. Lane. I need you to figure out what’s going on down there. Is your friend with you?”
