Find A Way Or Make One (8 page)

Yasser looks at me, then looks back
at the ground. After taking a deep breath to fortify himself he simple says,
“100,000 Euros so I can get my sister back?”

Stunned, I could only stare at my childhood friend. Finally I was able to formulate a sentence. “Ok, tell me everything; from the beginning.”

Yasser started ringing his hands. “My sister, Nadeen,
and Jamil were married two years ago. Within the first six months he became abusive, both mentally and physically. No matter
what, my father, the old camel’s arse, refused to take her away from him, because it would reflect negatively on the family.” Yasser all but growled out the imitation of the man he plainly despised.
Yasser had never seen eye to eye with his father, but now all of
Yasser’s contempt of the man is boiling at the surface.
“Two days ago I received word that my sister had tried to escape. This enraged her husband, and as retribution, he sold her to an
Armenian group that is known
for sex trafficking. I went to the man in charge of this group, and he said that I could buy back my sister for 100,000 Euros. I had two days while she was kept safe, but after two days she would be sold into a life of depravity.
I have to help her, but I don’t have access to that kind of money
without my father’s approval, which he will never give. A
nd even if I did it wouldn’t be in Euros. Your brothers said that you could access the necessary funds from the company’s account. Please
Prenses
, please help me.” By the time he had said this, Yasser’s head was bowed and I could tell how much it cost him to ask for help. The fact that he would do so for his sister proved my childhood friend had grown into a strong and good man. The type of man I had always thought he would become.

Unfortunately, I know that if he shows up with the money, he will just be killed and his sister sold, if she hasn’t been sold already. No, getting
Nadeen
back wouldn’t be as easy as showing up and handing over the specified amount of money. Honestly I didn’t know if I would be able to get
Nadeen back or not, but
I knew I had to try. Yasser had always been
good to me. Even though his father had not liked Daddy
Samee
having me spend time with his sons, Yasser had never been cruel or spiteful when I was around, and had in fact stood up to his father regarding me on more than one occasion. “Yasser, if I thought that they would actually uphold their end of the bargain, I would give you the money in a minute, I just don’t think that they will. Tell me where you were supposed to meet and I will go
get her.
I will do everything in my power to find her.
Just be prepared. They may have already sold her, so it may take longer to track her down.”

Yasser had been quiet up until that point. Now he was so agitated he practically hummed with it. “No,
Prenses
. I cannot let you do that. You do not know these men. They are worse than animals. Your brothers would have me drawn and quartered if I let you go. I will go and get my sister.”

“Yasser, I will go. I don’t mean to be harsh, but I have a better idea of what these men, if you can call them that, are like than you.
Murad
and Rashid knew this when they sent you to me; they just love me too much to openly put me in danger. Give me the address and set up
a meeting with them there in two hours, but meet me there thirty minutes before.”

As I waited for Yasser to put the addres
s information in my phone, I went through what I needed to do. If
Nadeen
is there I will get her and any other girls out.

I quickly hail a cab and make
my way to the house that Seamus, Cian, and I are staying. Since
the Cale, Ken, Sunny, Crow and Chip can at times seem to be competing for the title of
Man Whore of the Year
, I thought it was best for me and the boys be close but not too close. Tonight it also allows me the freedom to do what needs to be done and not have to play fifty questions.

As I jump in the shower to quickly wash off the makeup and smoke, I start making plans and lists of things that I need.
The best way to get in undetected is to create a diversion. Yasser will go to the door and ask to speak with the head of the operation. I will tell him to let them know that he isn’t going to do business unless it is with the man in charge; this will
cause the strongest of the men to have to act as bodyguards, which should leave the other doors and entrances lightly guarded.

They told him before to not involve the authorities, so my guess is they have some girls at the house waiting to be sold. That means that
the strongest of the me
n not acting as bodyguards will be guarding their payday. Now this is where it could get a little tricky. I will need to get at least two smoke bombs from the warehouse
to mess with the guards vision and perception and a mask so the smoke won’t mess with mine.

Planning a mission
took my complete attention and focus. That was one of the reasons I took so many dangerous missions after the fallout between Wyatt and I. I had to give my total concentration to the mission, which meant I could not dwell on how hollow
and
empty Wyatt had made me feel. Finding
out I meant nothing to him had destroyed me, and planning missions became my escape.

Once again, Wyatt is the reason that I have to run away from my emotions.
I can’t believe that he would approach me with the intent of us reconnecting when he was here in
Morocco with someone else! Damn
it! If I am going to survive tonight, I have to put him out of my mind.

I lose myself in the motions of getting my Glock
17 and my 11 inch Outback Bowie knife out of the lock box under my bed.
I repeat and repeat what is going to happen as I reload my Glock and strap my knife in a leather sheath around my leg.
Repetition will become my savi
or in more than one way tonight; it will save my life and save me from my memories.

I use my Harley to get to the warehouse. It’s quick and it’s agile, and those are two qualities I think I might need tonight. After getting the necessary equipment that I need from
the vault, I make my way to the address that Yasser had given me. As directed, Yasser is waiting half a block away in a dark ally.

Walking over to Yasser, I begin without preamble. “Look Yasser, I want you to give me five minutes;
then I want you to go to the door and demand to see whoever is in charge. Don’t talk to
anyone but him. They will try to deny you, but after they see you won’t budge or be intimidated, they will try to use decoys. I would figure that they would try at least two or three times before the real deal comes out. The only way you can tell who the real one is if you stay alert and pay attention. Watch and see when you see one of the goons discretely leave, the next one in will be him.

To say Yasser was confused showed
on his face. The shock that showed on his face would have been highly comical in any other circumstance. “How do you know that
Prenses
?
What is it you have been doing since your engagement that would teach you how to read a situation such as this
?” Yasser obvious concern over his sister’s dilemma seems to
be temporarily diverted. Too bad it was now all aimed in my direction; oh joy.

“Yasser, when I left Oxford, I went back to the States and worked in the Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA. The people who peddle drugs are just as bad as the people who peddle flesh, often times they are peddling both. So I have seen humanity at i
ts worst my friend. Unfortunately, I know how animals like this think. Well,
in this case I guess it is fortunately, because it gives us a better chance to get Nadeen back.”

Yasser looked at me
with surprising understanding.
Clasping my shoulder he said gently, “My friend, I hate that you have had to be close enough to the dregs of society that you understand how they think. Even if it is helping my sister, I wish you could remain innocent to this side of life.” Obviously Yasser had never been told the story of how my mother and I came to live in Yemen when I was seventeen. Thank goodness.

After finalizing our plans, I made my way to the back of the house and slowly climb up to the second story where a window has been left open. When I get to the window I look in and see that it is evidently a holding room
where they keep the girls. As I
scan the faces that I can see, they all seem completely spaced out. I can tell that they have all been
roofied
, probably GHB, so that they are more malleable and easier to control. As I climb inside I am completely repulsed by what I see, hear, and smell. I see women in various states of undress, huddled together for either warmth or protection. I can hear the muffled cries of a young girl, who can be no more
than twelve or thirteen years of age, and I can smell the bodily waste in the chamber pots that have not been removed. As I
slowly look around, I know that each of these women will be spending their last night here. This hell would end tonight.

“Nadeen
?
Nadeen, are you in here?” As I scan the faces in the room, looking for some sign or spark of life, I instantly become disheartened. I am too late, Yasser’s sister has already been sold.

“Are you looking for the woman Nadeen
that was sold to these dogs by her husband?” The voice is coming from the far corner of the room and as I scan over the huddled masses of bodies over there, I can’t make out who is speaking.

“Yes, yes I am. Do you know where she is? Has she already been sold?”

“No, she is to be sold later today. Right now the dogs have taken her to serve them. Right now she will probably only be serving them drinks, but in a few hours?” The figure slowly
shrugs her shoulders. As I can
make out more and more of her face, I can see she is beautiful, or would be if there was any life in her eyes. Long blond hair drapes her shoulders, and dark green eyes stare unseeingly at me.

“What is your name? Will you help me?”

“Look, you are no match for these dogs. Just pray that your friend is sold to one of the more diabolical customers who will kill her the first night.”

“No! That is not how this is going to go down.
I am going to get Nadeen and each of you out of this hell on Earth.”

“Why?
Nadeen
has no family. Her husband sold her to these dogs because she dared to run away from his abuse. Many of the girls you see here come from similar circumstances. They enraged their fathers, their husbands, or some other man who controlled their lives.
Or they simply needed money.
Where would
they
go? From one whorehouse to another?”

My heart bled for this girl and what she had suffered, but we had no time for that now. “No you will go and live with my family. My father and my brothers will protect you and you will never be forced to do anything you do not want to do ever again.”

I cynical smile twisted the girls lips. “You really think your family will protect whores like us? Please, no man would want us around his family.”

Time is running out and I know it. I have to get her to believe me.
“Only a man who makes a girl his daughter because he likes her spirit, and brothers who stand by her even when her world is ripped apart by an ex-boyfriend who tries to sale her to pay off his debt to his drug dealer after taking what he wants from her would see the truth of girls and women who have lived through hell and have become stronger for it.”

The shock in the girl’s eyes
causes a small smile to touch my lips. “What? You thought that you girls were the only ones that have been dealt a shitty hand? You haven’t had a choice in what
has happened to you up until now. I am giving you a choice now. You can stay here and wallow in the hell and misery, or take a chance and help me offer each of you a chance at the lives that everyone deserves.
” I saw her jaw go slack,
and then
I saw her eyes fill with emotion for the first time. Taking a deep breath, she held out her hand, “What do you want me to do?”

Quickly I clasped her hand. “Ok, I need you to get everyone into that far corner, after we move the chamber pots in front of the door. Then I need each of you to start moaning like you are in pain when I give the signal. Once the man that comes to check on you is neutralized, I will go and take care of anyone
else on this floor. Grab the man’s weapons and go get the girls and go to the warehouse at this address. The men there will help you all get to my father’s tribe in Yemen once Nadeen and her brother catch up with you.”

“Her brother, he let her husband do this to her! Surely you aren’t asking me to trust him!”

“No he didn’t, her father did. Yasser is a good man and a loving brother. He
came to Morocco to ask for my help.” I could tell the girl immediately understood. For a man to ask a woman for help was huge in this part of the world and Yasser loved his sister enough to do it.

“Ok. You obviously have faith in this man. I will try to do the same.”

“That is all I can ask. Well that, and your name?”

The smile that overtook her face made her exquisite. “Raylan. My name is Raylan.”

Holding out my right hand, I replied. “Nice to meet you Raylan, my name is Kye.”

Raylan looked at my hand for a long moment. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. Needing her to focus I hugged her back then said, “Ok, I have always wanted a sister, and while I think that you are going to be a better sister than anyone could imagine, we have to get out of here first. You ready?”