“The first thing I did was stumble my way back to my tent. All I could think about was getting the girls out of the camp with me. But I was too late. When I got there the tent was open and the girls were nowhere to be seen. Nadil had taken them. They were gone.” She stopped trying to compose herself. “I attracted the attention of the guards around the perimeter fence and demanded they bring Adalina. But I was told she had gone to London.”
She shook her head in despair.
“The police searched the camp but could find no trace of Aalam and the men, the girls or anything that would prove he had been radicalising anyone. No one would talk. Not even the men who helped me and I was dubbed a nuisance by the police. I was a journalist and I had known the risks when I’d entered the camp and being raped was one of them. They were deliberately trying to stop me from creating trouble. It wouldn’t surprise me if the police were involved in the disappearances like Morelli and the Mafia. Aalam seems to have been using the lax security in the camp to come and go as he pleased. For this reason, I decided not to give Aalam’s mobile phone to the police in Marzello and go to Interpol instead.”
“Then you decided to come and find Adalina yourself and continue your investigation?” Botelli coldly finished.
Antonia took another breath to calm her annoyance at the woman’s callousness.
“I finished my article implicating her. I am sure she knew about Aalam and what he was doing. She will know where he has taken those girls or at least be able to give me an idea where to start looking for them.”
“I need to have the mobile and see the photographs on your own phone.” The United Global Defence chief sounded excited.
“I had photographs of the suicide bombers but when I was attacked my phone came out of my pocket and Aalam stood on it and smashed it making sure it was destroyed,” Antonia’s tone was one of defeat.
She looked downcast and Botelli shook her head with frustration.
“But I was lucky. He didn’t find his own phone stuck in my trouser pocket.”
“Good. Where is it?”
“In a locker in Kings Cross Station. I couldn’t risk carrying it around with me. I put it there and rang Interpol. They said someone would come out to meet me and bring me in but I was forced to run when those men turned up trying to kill me. They looked like Mafia. Then you came to my rescue.”
She looked up at Gabriel and gave him a brief shaky smile.
“Thank you.”
He grinned.
“My pleasure.”
Botelli coughed. It sounded mocking and it encouraged Antonia to let go of his hand. What must she have sounded like? A gushing sixteen-year-old staring starry eyed at her rescuer. Wasn’t she embarrassed enough by her predicament? She watched Gabriel’s forehead furrow into a small frown but he took the hint and walked away back to his chair.
“The key is where?” Botelli asked impatiently.
“In my bag. The phone is damaged. The screen is broken. It was crushed when Aalam… I couldn’t get it to switch on. Maybe you can do something with it.”
Botelli stood up and made her way to a chair at the other end of the room next to a small ornate dining table where Antonia’s clothes and personal belongings had been neatly folded and placed there. She rummaged inside Antonia’s stylish designer black bag and retrieved the key.
“I will get one of our agents to retrieve it. Thank you for your help, Ms King. We have been chasing this slippery eel for a long time and hopefully now we can bring him in and put an end to his violence. I will keep you informed of our progress. In the meantime, get comfortable. Until we have Aalam you are in protective custody.”
“No, no way. I am not staying here. I have to find the girls.”
Botelli made her way across the carpet to the bed calling someone on her mobile.
“Issue a worldwide notice for Aalam Hashem. Tell them we hope to identify the bombers soon. I will get some artist descriptions done and then circulated. A terrorist attack is imminent. Make sure every country realizes the importance of raising their terror alert status and takes the necessary precautions and agents are out in the field chasing all the leads we have.”
She closed the phone and turned to look down at Antonia.
“You will stay here. Until we get that phone working you are the only lead we have on Aalam El Hashem. We also need you to help us find Adalina. Maybe you can convince her to give herself up. Agent Malinov, if she tries to move tie her to the bed,” she snapped.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow and watched Botelli leave the room. Antonia growled with frustration and lay back on her pillows defeated.
She spent the rest of the day being asked to give descriptions of the men she had seen coming out of Aalam’s tent and any personal details she could give about the young boys who had lived near her. Then she had to help an artist depict their likeness. It filled her with sadness mentioning their names. They had been such a caring loving family and now their parents, uncles and aunts would be disappointed and hurt by their actions.
By morning, despite all the help she had given the United Global Defence team, they could not find the boys in the camp. They had disappeared and, worst of
