by Terry Toler
“What can we do?” Coldclaw asked.
“Later today, Fabi Orlov, our new agent, is going to raid the offices of the company in Pinsk. Everyone associated with it will be arrested and questioned and all the files confiscated. Fabi is going to get us the names of the girls who were kidnapped and make it a high-profile thing. Get it some publicity so it can’t be covered up. President Rutherford needs to call Yokov and Bobrinsky and put pressure on them to find the girls who have been trafficked and return them home.”
“Good idea. He can make it a congratulatory phone call to Bobrinsky,” the Director said. “An attaboy for cracking down on sex trafficking and uncovering the ring. We can put a reward out for the arrest of Asaf. Actually, put him on the ten-most-wanted list.”
“That reminds me,” Director Coldclaw added, “Alex, you need to take the plane to Guantanamo Bay. We can’t bring Asaf here. We’d have to get him an attorney. He’d have rights. There we can interrogate him. At the right time, we can announce that we arrested him. We’ll decide what to do with him later. For now, I don’t want anyone to know we have him. Let Bobrinsky think he was behind the theft of the nukes. We can just make them disappear altogether. I can’t tell you how happy I am about this mission. The President is going to be incredibly pleased. You did good, Alex.”
“That sounds great. Jamie will be excited too.”
“Where is Jamie?” Brad asked.
“She’s still in Belarus.”
“Why? She finished her mission. She found the pipeline. And a whole lot of other things.”
Alex took a note from Jamie out of his pocket and held it in his hand reading it to himself. Alex. You know I have to do this. It’s who I am. Love, Jamie. When he woke up Sunday morning, the note was on her pillow, and she was gone.
“Alex… Where is Jamie?” Brad asked.
“She went to save the girls.”
26
Sunday Morning, 1:30 a.m.
Jamie left the safehouse feeling bad about not saying goodbye to Alex. It had to be done. He would’ve tried to talk her out of going. Pointed out all the risks. The dangers. The fact that she had no idea where her friend’s sister had been taken. All she knew was somewhere in Russia. She didn’t even know that. Asaf could’ve put them on flights going to the Middle East or any other parts unknown. If she’d had more time with Asaf, she might’ve gotten it out of him, but she had to get moving.
Alex thought the best plan of action was to regroup and call Brad. He was right. That’s why she went ahead and left. Like the note said, it’s who she was.
She wouldn’t abandon her friend. Alex had also pointed out that Chastity could hardly be called a friend. They met once at Splash nightclub. But her sister, Olga, had called her on the train after being kidnapped. Turned to her for help. Jamie couldn’t get the fear in Olga’s voice out of her mind. She’d want someone to help her if she were in that situation. Once it crossed that line of emotional connection, Jamie had to do everything she could to help her. But she had no idea how.
Three days had gone by, so finding Olga would be like finding a lost cell phone in the state of Texas. But she had to try. She needed some luck.
Curly always said luck was when skill crossed the path of opportunity. The skill was there. She now needed the opportunity. He also said people make their own luck in life. She intended to.
Finding Olga would have to wait a few hours. She had to do something else first.
Jamie walked several miles to a main road and caught a cab to her hotel. After packing her possessions, she checked out then drove the three miles to the Splash nightclub. In her trunk was a large satchel she’d taken from Asaf’s hotel room. Filled with what she estimated to be about a million dollars in cash.
Luck played a part in her even having the satchel. After Alex took Asaf out with the tray of food and drink, she scoured the room for anything that might be useful for intelligence. She took Asaf’s phone and computer and left the rest. As she was leaving, she saw the satchel hidden in a closet. Figuring it was just clothes, she almost didn’t look it in. She couldn’t believe it when she saw it was filled with cash.
That’s when the idea came to her.
The bouncer at the door let her into the club without looking in the satchel after she slipped a hundred-dollar bill in his hand. The club was barely half full. Not nearly as packed as it had been the last time she was there. Being Sunday night, the men had to work the next day and would logically call it an early night after a weekend of drinking and partying.
Chastity wasn’t hard to find, since she was standing around along with a hundred or so other women, clearly bored, without much to do. Her face lit up when she saw Jamie and came over to her immediately. Jamie hugged her and tried to match her enthusiasm, but her mood was more serious. It was apparent Chastity had no idea what had happened to her sister. Jamie would have to tell her.
“We need to go back to the room,” Jamie said, referring to the VIP room they’d gone back to the first night they met.
“Sure,” Chastity said. “Come this way. It’s been a slow night. I’m sure it’s available.”
They walked back toward the curtain in the far corner. Jamie couldn’t help but grin as she walked by the roped-off area where she met Asaf for the first time. She took great satisfaction in the fact that he was tied up on a couch in the safehouse and would soon be on his own airplane back to the U.S. or wherever Director Coldclaw decided to send him for interrogation.
The man at the entrance to the VIP rooms waived them through without so much as a second look. Turns out their room was in use, but the bigger one next to it wasn’t. Even better. They went inside and closed the door.
Jamie sat the satchel on the table, opened it, and took out some documents.
“What are those, Allie?” Chastity asked.
“My real name is Jamie. I’m not an American tourist. I can’t tell you who I work for, but I can tell you it’s for the good guys, and I’m here to help you. What is your real name?” Jamie asked.
“Daria.”
“Daria, I have here a legal document, signed by Omer Asaf, the owner of Splash. It releases you from the contract you signed with Belles of Belarus. All you have to do is sign it, and you are out of the contract.”
Jamie had typed up the agreement on the safehouse computer and printed it out. She then persuaded Asaf to sign it. Technically, it wasn’t a document that would stand up in the court of law. Any contract signed under duress was invalid. Asaf was definitely under duress when he signed it, but he wouldn’t be in a position to contest its validity anytime in the near or distant future.
Daria took the document in her hand and said, “All I have to do is sign this, and I’m out of my agreement? Sounds too easy.”
“You also have to agree to never go back into prostitution again.” She took a pen out of the satchel and handed it to her.
Daria signed her name without any objection or without even reading it.
Jamie opened the satchel and took out some money wrapped in a paper seal.
“This is five thousand American dollars. It’s yours. Consider it a severance package.” The sum was more than a year’s pay for a girl like Daria with her educational background.
Daria’s eyes widened and her mouth opened into a confused look. “This is for me? That’s amazing. I can go back to school. I can go to America and see my sister.” She threw her arms around Jamie and said thank you several times.
Jamie bit her lip. She wasn’t ready to tell Daria about her sister yet. “Listen carefully,” she said. “Go out into the club and bring as many girls as you can back to this room. I want to talk to them.”
“Sure. I can do that.”
“Hurry,” Jamie added. “We don’t have much time.”
A few minutes later, more than a hundred girls were cramped into the room. Several were still with men and Daria had left word with the bouncers to have them come see her when they were finished. Daria instructed the girls in the w
ater area to get dressed and come to the meeting as well. The room was buzzing. Something like this had probably never happened to them before.
The room was actually more of a suite. Kitchen table, king sized bed, one nightstand with a clock on it. A couple lamps and track lighting on the ceiling. A large picture on the wall above the bed. It also had a couch up against the far wall, although it seemed out of place and looked like it was hardly ever used. Jamie stood near the couch, her back against the wall so she could face all the girls.
She quieted the crowd and began speaking. “I am here to announce that Splash is permanently closed, effective immediately.”
A groan went through the room.
“Why? What’s going on?”
Jamie could hear the questions and confusion in their voices.
“I have it on good authority, that the government of Belarus is seizing control of the nightclub, and the police will be raiding it at first light.”
Jamie could feel a wave of fear go through the girls. The reaction she wanted. What she said was true. Fabi was going to bring the Militsia to the club early in the morning and take control of it. Bobrinsky would likely seize all of Asaf’s properties in Belarus after what had happened.
Jamie waived one of the documents in the air. After Asaf signed it, she had made 150 copies. Enough for all the girls. She told them the same thing she told Daria. Sign the document and they would get $5,000 each. They had to leave immediately and agree not to go back into prostitution. Jamie knew some of the girls might eventually go back into it, but most wouldn’t. The money was an opportunity for them to start a new life. Courtesy of Omer Asaf.
Daria distributed the documents to the girls, everyone signed it, and Jamie distributed $5,000 to each one of them. The girls could hardly contain their excitement.
“The agreement also has a confidentiality clause. That means you can’t tell anyone about it,” Jamie explained.
“We won’t,” she heard them saying.
“Go get your things and leave out the back entrance,” Jamie said. “Good luck to all of you.”
The girls filed out of the room. Daria went to get the rest of the girls who were probably finished by now, and they stayed until every girl signed the document and received their money. Jamie felt a great deal of satisfaction. She counted the number of contracts. One hundred and thirteen girls were rescued that day. They were working at Splash voluntarily, but she considered them rescues anyway. They’d been exploited for money by rich men. This was there chance to get free from it.
As Jamie and Daria were packing up to leave, the manager of the club walked in, highly agitated. “Where are the girls?” he asked, roughly.
“They left.”
“Who told them they could leave? I have men out there who are clamoring for them.”
“They aren’t coming back,” Jamie said.
“Yes, they are,” he retorted angrily. “I’ll have them arrested. For breaking their contracts. I’m going to call Asaf.”
“Be my guest,” Jamie said, sarcastically. “Doesn’t change the fact the girls aren’t coming back.”
“We’ll just hire new ones,” he said.
“You’re the one who should be worried about getting arrested,” Jamie retorted sharply. “My sources tell me the police are going to raid the club at any time and close it. They might even be on their way here now. I suggest you and your men get out of here as soon as possible.”
He started to object, but something stopped him. A fear or panic, judging by the look on his face. Probably some illegal things going on he didn’t want anyone to know about. He left the room without saying anything further.
Jamie and Daria didn’t wait around to find out what happened next. They grabbed their things and went out the back entrance and ran to Jamie’s car. Daria was laughing hysterically as they drove away. Her nightmare was finally over.
Jamie looked at her friend and forced a smile, knowing the happiness would be short-lived.
***
Jamie drove the two of them to Daria’s apartment, where she invited Jamie to spend the night, and she accepted.
Daria poured them both a glass of wine. A plan was starting to form in Jamie’s head, and she needed Daria. First, she had to tell her the bad news.
“Your sister has been kidnapped,” Jamie said.
The words sent a chill through the room.
“Belles of Belarus was a sham. There were no American men to marry. It was a front for sex trafficking.”
“Where is Olga?” she asked, her voice cracking and tears starting to form in her eyes.
“I don’t know. I was hoping you could help. Has she called you?”
“She called a couple times, Daria said.
It was clear she was trying to hold it together. Jamie knew she could burst into tears at any time.
“But the messages were so garbled, I couldn’t make out what she said,” Daria explained further. “She called me again tonight, but I was at work. I have another missed call from her.”
A flicker of hope leapt up inside of Jamie. Her kidnappers must not have discovered the phone yet. They’d be ready the next time she called.
“Let me see your phone,” Jamie said. She played all three voicemails, but the messages were unintelligible. “Did you set her phone up on a family plan?”
“Yes. It’s on my account.”
“Good. Let me go into your settings.”
Jamie scrolled through the settings until she came to the location application. There was a feature on phones that would let her see the location of other phones on her family plan. Daria’s feature was on. She hoped Olga’s was as well. She went into the share settings. Olga’s phone was in there. It was on.
Jamie looked at the history which recorded the location of all calls between the phones. It showed the three calls. “Do you have a computer?” she asked.
“Yes. It’s in my bedroom.”
They went into the room and Daria sat down at her desk and powered it on. An older model, but it would work. She entered the password and stood up from the chair so Jamie could sit in front of it.
Jamie pulled up a map of Russia. The first call Olga made was from Savitskiy Log. Just across the border into Russia. A set of train tracks was nearby. Olga mentioned they were on a train headed north. Jamie hadn’t told Daria that she got a call from Olga as well and might choose not to. She’d want to listen to the message. No way she’d let her. It was too chilling.
Savitskiy Log had to be the location where the girls were taken off the buses and put onto the trains. They had a starting point.
The second and third calls were made from a location further north. Probably after the girls were removed from the train. Obninsk. A small town an hour or so outside of Moscow. That’s where Olga was a few hours ago. Or at least that’s where her phone was. Jamie considered calling her but resisted the urge.
Alex was right. The phone was the best link to her. Better if Olga could keep it hidden as long as possible.
The important thing was they now had a lead. A location.
***
Jamie told Daria what she found.
“I want to go with you,” Daria said.
“I want you to. I need you to,” Jamie responded.
“When do we leave?”
“Let’s leave in the morning. I need to get some sleep and eat something.”
Curly always said to eat and sleep when you can. On a mission, you never know when the next opportunity will come. Jamie had been up almost nonstop for three days. With little naps in between intense missions.
“I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep,” Daria said.
“I understand.” Jamie laid down on the couch. Those were her last words of the night, as she was out as soon as her head hit the cushion. She didn’t remember anything else until the smell of coffee woke her up the next morning.
They got up early, scarfed down some breakfast, and headed out. The first stop was a car dealership n
earby that Jamie had found on her phone. They needed a better vehicle than her rental car. One that couldn’t be traced back to her. She didn’t know what they’d run into in Russia but was sure there’d be some trouble.
The dealership was closed since it was early Sunday morning, but Jamie called the number, and told the owner who answered she would pay cash. All she needed to say to get him to get up early and open the showroom.
They picked out a navy blue, four door, Volvo Turbo SUV XC90. After a little haggling, they settled on a price. Jamie counted out $60,000 American dollars and told him to keep the change for his trouble. Part of the deal was that he signed over the title but didn’t fill in the name of the buyer. That way it couldn’t be traced to them in case they did something to draw the attention of the authorities. He put a temporary sticker on the back.
The drive to Obninsk took nearly eight hours. Jamie considered going to Savitskiy Log first, but Olga wasn’t there. She wanted to head straight to the last known location of the phone.
Daria drove most of the way so Jamie could research where they were going. She pulled up google earth and found Savitskiy Log. She followed the train tracks all the way to Obninsk. The tracks crossed over the road they were traveling on several times. Knowing Olga was right at that spot at one time was a sobering thought.
They made good time and pulled into the location just before dark. The locator indicated the phone was still there. She could feel optimism rising inside of her. Also, nervousness and adrenaline as she prepared for what they might find.
Jamie was ready to bolt into action and was much better prepared for this mission than she had been in Minsk. She took from the safehouse a gun, a rifle, a submachine gun, smoke bombs, grenades, and a two-way communication system so she and Daria could talk to each other. And a few other things she might or might not need.
They made a couple passes by the building so she could check out the location. The complex wasn’t as large as she expected. But everything else she envisioned in her mind was the same in every other way. Located next to the railroad tracks, it had fencing all the way around it. However, not a tall fence. Or a security fence. Just a chain link. Something easy to jump over. That told Jamie the girls were not at that location for very long.
