People Trafficker (30 page)

He put his arms round her and pulled her close. “I’ll keep your letter, Karen, and give it you back when you return,” he whispered. Then he kissed her on either cheek. “Take care, whatever you think, God is with you in this, believe me?”

She gave him a weak smile, and then walked over to the helicopter. They helped her in and it rose quickly, turning towards the mainland.

Sir Peter didn’t move until he could no longer see the helicopters. He had a feeling this might be the last time he’d see Karen, but he hoped not, after all she’d been through and what was waiting for her, she didn’t deserve to die.

“Fuck, they’ve detected us, now we’ll have some fun,” the soldier who’d been talking to Karen muttered.

She never said a word, inside her stomach was churning, the fear of being back, the repeat of what happened last time. Karen gripped her gun that much tighter, closing her eyes trying to block the constant bleeping of the missile detection from her mind. Deep down Karen knew she should never have come, now she was back and so too was the Angel of Death.

The helicopter was being thrown about like some puppet on a string, then all of a sudden there was silence.

“See, like I said, a piece of cake,” the soldier commented at her side.

Then the alarm sounded again. Seconds later came the explosion, throwing the helicopter into a spin, plunging it down towards the ground. But again at the last moment the pilot pulled it out. This time the soldier at her side said nothing. Karen was terrified, her head spinning, the explosion still ringing in her ears. But there was little time to relax as yet again the bleeper began. The helicopter banked sharply then began sending out chaff to confuse the missile as they raced along less than fifty metres from the ground. Even above all the noise she could hear the scream of the missile, followed by an explosion, so close the helicopter veered sideways with the blast. The alarm was sounding once again, but this time the missile was wide of its mark. They carried on without further incident, everyone beginning to relax hoping they were past the defences. The pilot turned to the Captain and shouted into his ear.

“They’ve lost us on radar tracking; you can relax for the time being, ETA five minutes.”

He moved to the back. “Right gentlemen and lady, we land in five minutes. This is hostile territory so don’t hang about, the helicopter will be down for only one minute. Shaun, Carl and Eric protect the group. Jason and Paul protect the Lieutenant.”

The helicopters were slowing; everyone was checking their guns, pulling their backpacks on as the helicopters landed gently on open terrain. The troop spilled out, running to the protection of shrub-like trees to one side of the landing area. Three of the soldiers broke away from the main group and settled a short distance away scanning the area with powerful night vision glasses. Karen followed the main group, a soldier to either side of her, and within seconds they’d stopped on the edge of the scrub area, all down on one knee circling the Captain and Karen. In the distance further down the valley were the lights of the village where Saeed’s house was. They waited for the helicopters to leave then the Captain gave the order to move.

Everyone did one final check of their weapons and they set off at a brisk pace. Already three men were well ahead of the main group with three well behind in a classic protection of the main group position. After forty minutes of nonstop marching they entered the outskirts of the village. It was dark, with the majority of the buildings shuttered up for the night, very few lights to be seen inside the houses. Karen took them past the church she’d prayed in, down two more streets and into the cul-de-sac of Saeed’s house.

She grasped the Captain’s arm. “I’ll show you how to get in; there’s a bit of a knack.”

He nodded and pointed to two soldiers to go with her. Once in the courtyard many now followed, fanning out and settling in places that afforded hiding. Karen moved onto the front door and slipped the latch using the same method she had watched Saeed use, and done herself once - it opened silently. Then she, the Captain and two others entered the house.

The place was in darkness, even the kitchen was closed up for the night. Moving up the stairs Karen took them to an end room, then looked back as she stopped at the door. “This is where Saeed’s mother sleeps.”

They never replied but moved Karen from the door and in seconds were inside. Saeed’s mother had no chance and before the light was on she was being held by two soldiers. They dragged her out from the bed and forced her to sit down on a chair in front of an old dressing table, demanding she place her hands flat on the table.

“The girls Saeed took, where are they?” the Captain demanded.

Saeed’s mother grinned showing a row of bad and broken teeth. “Gone, all sold,” she lied.

“Then we want names, addresses,” he demanded.

She shrugged. “How do I know, I’m just his mother. What he does with girls, where they go you’ll have to ask him.”

Karen entered the room and walked up to her. The old women’s face changed from one of confidence to a look of sheer terror. She raised a hand pointing at Karen. “Get that thing out of my house,” she screamed, before placing her hand back on the table.

But Karen ignored the comment and came closer, talking in French. “Y
ou’re still frightened of me are you? That is good because you have reason to be. I’m not like these men, as you know? It’s already believed by your people that I’m a killer, which I suppose is true. You will tell me where each of the six girls have gone, otherwise, I’ll slit your throat.”

None of the soldiers understood what she’d said to the woman except they could all see the real fear this woman had with Karen standing there. The Captain began to wonder just what had really gone on in this house between this girl and the occupants to have the woman so frightened.

However, Saeed’s mother had relaxed a little. “I know you Karen Marshall, you’re just talk. You’ll get nothing out of me. My Saeed is looking for you and believe me he will find you, then you’ll wish you never lived,” she said with confidence in English.

“
You know the first time I entered this house your Saeed told me just how important you are to him. Threatened me with all sorts if I as much as touched you. The bastard should be dead, for some reason he’s still alive. Next time he won’t be that lucky, if I see him again,”
Karen replied in French so the others in the room didn’t know what she’d said.

“Ha! You think he’s afraid of you? My Saeed has dealt with your sort for a long time. Go home little girl before he returns, otherwise it will be you who’s dead.”

The Captain was beginning to get the gist of this one-sided conversation with Saeed’s mother talking in English and Karen in French. It was becoming obvious now why this girl was with them. She hadn’t just been here before, she knew the trafficker very well by the sound of it. However, even he wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen.

Karen sighed. “I don’t have time for this shit,” she said reaching down to her ankle and pulling the knife out of its holder. Suddenly without warning she lifted the knife and came down directly through the woman’s right hand, the tip of the blade ending up in the top of the dressing table. The woman screamed in pain.

“That’s just for starters. I want names and addresses for every girl,” Karen shouted in her ear.

The Captain and both soldiers looked on in horror. Karen was so quick they had no chance to stop her.

“What the hell…” the Captain began.

Karen swung round and glared at the Captain. “Keep out of it; you heard her and her stupid threats. Well welcome to the world of trafficking, a world where violence is all they understand. But have no doubt I will find where the girls are, even if I have to cut her up into pieces,” she shouted at him. Then she turned back to Saeed’s mother and grabbed her hair yanking her head back. She’d already pulled the knife out of the woman’s hand, and was now holding it millimetres from the woman’s eyes.

“Talk or I’ll use this knife to dig out one of your eyes.”

The woman had no doubt in her mind Karen would do just that, only now understanding how she’d the nerve to gun down so many of Saeed’s friends. But she was also frightened of her son, and what he’d do if he found out she’d told Karen anything. However, the girl who was ill was still upstairs and a search would easily find her. So she decided to give them her information and claim she knew nothing of the rest.

“There’s a girl in your old room, she had an offer but he wouldn’t take her till she was fit. She’s ill and the doctor said he could do nothing, she’s dying. We were going to take her to the desert and leave her. But you can have her, she’s of no value,” Saeed’s mother answered as if throwing Karen a scrap.

Karen smiled. “So at last we’re getting somewhere. Is she secured with an ankle chain?”

Saeed’s mother shook her head. “There’s no need for one, she’s too ill and going nowhere.”

Karen turned to the Captain. “I know where Angela is, Captain, she’s here. Leave a guard with the woman and we’ll go and find her.”

“The house has been searched, Lieutenant, while you’ve been in here. There’s no one but the old woman,” he replied.

She grinned. “Come on, I’ll show you a room with no obvious door, I told you these people are very good, you have to know their secrets. But I suspect we will need the medic.”

He called for the medic over the radio while he and Karen ran up the next flight of stairs and along a corridor she knew well.

She turned and looked at him. “Now watch this.”

Grabbing what looked like an ordinary light switch’s outer casing, she swung it open. Behind was another hidden switch. Pressing it, the blank wall in front of them slid open revealing a door behind.

“That’s clever, how did you find that?” he asked.

“By chance, this was where they kept me. Saeed had taken me down for the afternoon to sit outside. When we came back up, his mother must have shut it, so he just opened the switch and pressed this button. Probably never thought I’d ever be a threat and so wasn’t bothered that I saw it.”

Karen turned the key still in the lock and pushed the door open, stopping for a moment before she entered; the memories of her time in here came back. But she didn’t dwell on them when she saw someone lying on the bed. She knelt down recognising Angela immediately.

“Angela…” she whispered in her ear, “wake up, it’s Karen, I’ve come to take you home.”

The girl stirred, and opened her eyes staring at her for a moment. “Karen, is it really you? I’m not dreaming am I?”

Karen laughed. “No, you’re not dreaming it really is me.”

She sat up, pulling the blanket around her naked body. “Would you pass me my clothes?” she asked.

Karen swung her gun back over her shoulder and went over to the chair grabbing the thin shirt and knickers for Angela, the same type she’d had to wear, returning to the bed and handing them to her.

Angela was already sitting on the side of the bed; she took them from Karen then sighed. “I don’t feel very well, Karen, I don’t think I’ve the energy to come with you. But thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming to find me, I always believed you would.”

“Don’t worry; we knew you’d not be well, so I’m here with your own personal medical team. They’ll give you an injection, then take you to the waiting helicopter.”