People Trafficker (3 page)

Now every reporter was listening intently.

“I’m doing this because I believe we should pursue the people who do this sort of thing, to not only adults, but children as well. The governments and particularly the politicians bury their heads in the sand about it. This has to stop and I intend, by offering my story, to highlight the plight of these children, from every part of the world, sold to become slaves to private buyers and brothels. So my story is for sale to the highest bidder, plus as many photos of me dressed as you want and need to promote the story. But this is not about me trying to make money for myself. I want nothing out of it. Every penny raised is to be used to fund a charity to help the forgotten ones, to bring them home and give them shelter besides bringing pressure and embarrassment to governments. So you may ask yourselves, am I worth it? Well one man thought I was worth forty thousand dollars, others believed I was worth dying for. For me there is no answer to that, except you will have to pay considerably more.” She grinned. “Money that is. So dig deep Mr. Reporters, my story will not be cheap. But you can expect a story full of sex, lies, violence and deceit. I would think the ingredients for a best seller, let alone an article in the paper, except don’t believe for one moment it’s over and whoever buys the story, hang on, it’ll be a wild journey, that I promise.”

As she spoke, already the phones of reporters were ringing. Their editors watching the live interview were demanding they arranged meetings with Karen, with hundreds of thousands of pounds being mentioned. Every one of them believing, with such a photogenic, articulate and attractive eighteen year old, the story she was offering would take the ratings by storm. They wanted to secure it for their paper.

However, the people who accompanied Karen were shocked at her words, and were now urging her to enter the building, so after a last few photos she went inside.

The reporter for the live television broadcast turned to the camera. “So there you have it. Karen Marshall, who escaped the clutches of a people trafficker to come home, has floored not only the press, but the world with her statement. Very composed and after a blunt rebuff of a reporter calling her ‘love’, she stood in front of the world’s press and made an offer to sell her story, that in itself was truly astonishing after her ordeal, but made more poignant in that the offer to sell to the highest bidder, wasn’t to make money herself, but to help the ones left behind. This is going to embarrass governments and make fools of the politicians who have paid lip service to this problem for years, to hear that a young girl intends to donate what could be hundreds of thousands of pounds, in fact everything she has, to do something they should have done years ago. Politically it’s dynamite, morally it’s the first time the world has had to face the harsh reality of just what’s happening in their own backyards and they all chose to ignore. This is a story that promises not to go away and I expect we shall be seeing a great deal more of Karen Marshall in weeks to come.”

Sirec turned the television off and looked at Halif. “Well, any thoughts?”

“She’s either a very stupid girl throwing the gauntlet down to traffickers, or very calculating. I don’t believe she’s stupid. I believe she still thinks that there’s a risk of being taken again and this press involvement is the first stage in raising her profile so high that it would be a very foolish person who would try and take her, risking the might of not only the world’s press, but public opinion coming down on them.”

“Yes I agree with you, she’s played a trump card there. I also agree it would be foolish to try and take her at this time. But there’s no hurry, I can wait, the girl’s going nowhere at the moment. However, Karen’s not aware that Saeed’s still alive, and that man wants vengeance for what she did to him. He’ll ignore any rational thinking and bulldoze in as usual. I will have to see him and make sure he does nothing stupid.”

“Then you still consider she’s yours?”

Sirec took another sip of his drink then looked at Halif. “Karen will always be mine, because the moment she took the money I’d paid for her from Saeed, she effectively sold herself. Soon the time will come when we will meet and then she’ll understand.”

While Sirec was watching the television, so too was Saeed from his hospital bed in the Lebanon. Saeed was a particularly greedy people trafficker who originally sold Karen to Sirec. However, when Karen was rescued she had the opportunity to get her own back on this man for holding her down while he and his friends raped her. She had intended to kill him and his friends, however, even with a great deal of shooting Saeed had survived, although not without losing a leg and being confined to a wheelchair, besides having to use external bags for his urine. The moment he saw her emerge from the vehicle his stomach churned. He despised this girl, her arrogance, but most of all the audacity of her stood there and talking like she had.

At the time he was watching, a man was in the same room stood leaning against the door smoking a cigar, watching as well.

“That bloody girl, she’s turning out to be one hell of a ball-ache, Janssen,” Saeed said after turning off the television.

Janssen smiled. “She’s got you going Saeed. I never put you among the ones who could be beaten by a skirt.”

“Yes well, don’t let that soft exterior of hers deceive you. She’s a cold-blooded killer that one. Gunned down my friends without batting an eyelid. Apart from at least another seven I know about, directly attributable to her.”

“So what do you want I do, kill her for you?”

Saeed laughed, but stopped quickly because of the pain he was still experiencing. “Kill her, that’s too easy; I want that bastard to live a life of hell. Then when I’m content she’s paid dearly for her crimes, I will kill her personally.”

“Then what do you want me for?” he asked.

Saeed told him to pass over a folder lying on the side-table. He opened it up and looked at it for a while. Then back at Janssen who’d by now taken a seat at the side of the bed, and was lighting up another cigar.

“You need to understand the background to this abduction. Karen wasn’t just snatched to be sent to work in a brothel like many of the kids. She was the innocent pawn in a vendetta between two men, one being her father and the other a Frank Whittle. When Whittles daughter was knocked down and killed by Karen’s father, who was drunk at the time, Whittle blamed him for losing not only his daughter but the subsequent split from his wife. Afterwards he lost his home and self-respect. Because of this Whittle wanted Karen’s family to suffer the same as his. So he planned to snatch Karen when she attained the same age his daughter died. Whittle set this all up because he wanted Karen to suffer, yes, but more importantly for her family to tear itself apart knowing she was suffering and they had no way of finding her. It didn’t work as he’d hoped it would, for two good reasons. Firstly Whittle committed suicide after snatching her. He did this by driving over a cliff. The police and others decided Karen was also in the car except her body had been washed out to sea. Although they never recovered the body the family believed she’d died in the accident, and so the agonising thought of her suffering over the years didn’t happen. Secondly, where Whittle planned her to go was to a particularly nasty brothel, which would work the girl twelve hours a day. But I received far better offers for her, so because Whittle was dead I sold Karen to the highest bidder and not to the brothel.”

Saeed shifted in his bed and drank a little water before continuing.

“Whittle also planned Karen should go to a brothel already experienced sexually, so she couldn’t claim she was just a child. He had some idea she might convince someone to help her, but if she was already a whore, so to speak, no one would want to help. So for this to happen he hired a man to seduce her before she was abducted. Of course it was naivety on the part of Whittle. Any girl soon learns to open her legs, learns she’s got two orifices and men want to use both, when she’s dumped in a brothel. Usually after a week she will know how to please a man or she ends up with a good beating until she does. But I’m deviating. Karen knows all about how her so-called boyfriend duped her. She also knows about her school mate who tricked her for money and of course she knows Assam and his ship called the Towkey that transported her to the Lebanon. The best part of it is, she thinks I’m dead and no longer pose a threat to her. How wrong that girl is. So what will she do with all this information? She’ll either squeal like a pig to the authorities or she’ll go after her abductors herself. Don’t for one moment think she wouldn’t be considering the latter course of action, that girl would relish seeing them squirm before she put a bullet in their heads, and believe me she’s quite capable of doing that.”

Again he stopped, his injuries were still serious and he constantly needed to take breaks. “Because of either possibility, this is where you come in. Before Karen had even been collected from the ship, to be prepared for sale, I’d already carefully selected five more children to be taken in the UK, all just as attractive and intelligent as Karen. It would seem I’d hit on a market that was silent previously and they wanted me to still fulfil their requirement after Sirec had outbid them for Karen. These new girls’ photos have been circulated and the buyers are very excited. I’ve just less than a month before they are taken. A lot can happen in that time now Karen’s free, so I don’t want to take a chance that any of the people originally involved in Karen’s abduction, may have picked up some knowledge of even the tiniest part of my UK operation. If they talk, whether that’s to Karen, or to the British police to save their necks, my planned collection of the five girls could be in jeopardy. So everyone who was involved in Karen’s abduction must be silenced.”

Saeed handed the document over to Janssen, who hadn’t commented.

He looked at the pages then back at Saeed. “The child as well? Surely she wouldn’t know anything?”

Saeed shrugged. “If she’s there, and could be a witness, get rid of her, otherwise don’t bother. She knew nothing, only the father’s the risk.”

“Five thousand a hit, plus expenses, the kid’s free, if she’s in the house,” Janssen said.

“It’s a deal, twenty per cent up front and the rest when I’ve proof they are eliminated.”

“What’s your timescale on this?”

“It’s got to be sorted within a couple of weeks. I can’t take the chance of Karen talking and of anyone being taken in for questioning.”

“I’ll leave at once. Are you the contact?”

Saeed removed a sealed envelope from the folder he had in front of him, handing it to Janssen. “No don’t contact me direct. Inside the envelope are known addresses, photos and other details, plus a contact name and number in the UK. The contact will supply you with untraceable weapons and updated information. He’ll also give you the first payment.”

When Janssen left Saeed dialled a number in the UK. “Pat, Saeed here, can you talk?”

“Yes.”

“Janssen’s on his way. You know what to do?”

“I’ve got it all in hand,” Pat replied.

“What of the competition results?”

“Went like a dream, we sent entry forms to each of the schools the girls attend, saying because of the desert trip and staying with a nomadic tribe, only ones over sixteen could enter. With free entry and the chance to win the trip of a lifetime, we received plenty of entries including the girls we wanted. Anyway of course they were the winners. All have been notified and have returned the parent consent forms.”

“What has it cost us?”

“The hotel is two star and for only one night, the flights out are booked and paid for, so too is the agency. Altogether we’ve paid out two grand. The agency and parents have a return date and flight number but it doesn’t exist, well the flight does, but their kids are not booked on it. Anyway the desert trip leaves first thing on the second day. We’ll make sure the girls have no mobiles, so none will be able to contact the outside world. That will give you ten days at least before any parent would expect to talk to their daughter.”

“How about the organisers you employed, do they know you?”

“No, the agency doing all the work believe they are dealing with a charity based in Morocco that are something to do with the tourist board, promoting a better understanding between the cultures there. The agency sent the entry forms to a P.O. Box number and we returned the winning names and schools they attended. Two representatives are going with the group, but they return to the UK after the girls leave on the desert trip. The drivers of the Land Rovers are hired locals and know their destination. They of course won’t return, along with the vehicles.”