Little Girl Gone

“Is that right? Well, I’ve recently been told I’m stubborn, so that’s probably not going to happen.”

“If you’re still here when my men come back, I’m not going to be able to let you go. But I’ll tell you what. If you leave now, I’m willing to forget about it.”

“You’d do that? You’re a real generous man, Mr. Andrews.” Logan paused, then said, “Oh, sorry. I should probably call you by your real name. Mr. Bell.”

Bell’s smile faltered.

“Yeah, I do know who I’m dealing with,” Logan told him. “I also know your friend here is with the Myanmar secret police. And, if I’m not mistaken, that you were planning on transferring these two ladies to him. Now, I’m not a lawyer, nor do I work for one like you do…what’s that firm’s name? Bracher Schwartz?…Anyway, this looks a lot like human trafficking to me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Logan Harper.”

“You are so out of your depth, Mr. Harper. This is not going to end well for you.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Absolutely.”

“How, exactly, do you think you’re going to pull that off?”

“My reach is a hell of a lot longer than yours.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re the guy who makes things happen, aren’t you? Like this business deal? Sein, here, for Burmese offshore oil rights? I’m pretty sure LRB Oil’s shareholders aren’t going to be too happy when news of this transaction comes out.” That had been the connection Logan had found during his web search on Daeng’s Phone, a direct link between LRB Oil and Lyon Exploratory Research.

Bell glanced at his man. “Perry, shoot him. Now.”

Perry fumbled with his coat, then started pulling a gun out from under it.

“Don’t do it, Perry,” Logan told him.

But he didn’t listen. As soon as Logan saw the handle of the man’s pistol, he pulled his own trigger.

Logan had killed two men before that moment, including the man who shot Carl. Perry was his third.

In the distance, he could hear sirens. They weren’t the same rhythms and tones he was used to from the States, but there was no mistaking the police were on the way.

“Either of you two armed?” he asked Bell and his client.

Bell shook his head, while the Myanmar man reluctantly pulled a gun out of his pocket, and tossed it on the floor.

“Good. So, shall we just sit and wait?” Logan asked.

“Do something,” the man from the secret police said to Bell.

“You can have the women,” Bell told Logan. “Just let us go.”

“No!” the other man blurted out. “That woman is traitor to her country.” He shot up from the bench, and stepped towards Sein. “She commit crime against my government. She tell lies everywhere she go. She come with me.”

As he reached out to grab her arm, Logan said, “You don’t want to touch her!”

But he did it anyway, or at least he tried. As his fingers brushed against her arm Logan pulled his trigger again. The only difference this time was that he wanted this guy to live. The bullet hit the man just below his knee, and he collapsed screaming onto the floor of the truck.

Bell, who had been keeping Elyse close to him, suddenly let her go. “She’s all yours. Please, I’m not going to do anything.”

Sein immediately rushed over to her daughter, and threw her arms around her.

“Take her outside,” Logan said. “And shut the door.”

Sein looked at him for a moment, then nodded, and helped Elyse to her feet. As they passed, she whispered, “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

“Don’t even worry about it. Just get her out.”

As soon as the door was closed, Bell said, “What are you? Some kind of mercenary?”

“No. Auto mechanic.”

Logan pulled the camera out of his pocket. He stopped the recording, then started it again so he’d have a new file, and then pointed it at Bell.

“Let’s you and I have a little talk.”

44

To say it was a bit of a diplomatic mess was probably an understatement.

The only way to stem the fallout on the U.S. side was to swiftly move to arrest those suspected of being involved in the “Kidnapping for Oil Scheme,” as it was soon labeled by cable news.