Betrayal wouldn’t fully express how she’d feel if she found out someone she worked with did the deed. If it wasn’t one of them, it had to be the bartender or one of the servers. She didn’t need to ask why. Money was the driving force behind kidnapping. That’s if they didn’t plan to stuff them full of contraband and force them to be drug mules.
She changed the direction of her thoughts. Negative thinking would not help. Now, it was urgent to get out of this hell-hole before her turn came for them to sell her. Whatever it took, she had to do something before the day ended. Tomorrow wasn’t promised in this location if they had any buyers coming through today.
Ryan’s face floated before her eyes and she blinked, surprised to find her cheeks wet again. She longed to bask in the glow of his good-natured grin and suggestive comments about what he’d do to her when next they were together. He was the total opposite of the man she’d been with before him. Where Ryan was free with his affection, Eric had been close-mouthed and stingy with compliments. She didn’t need him to bolster her self-esteem, but encouragement from her partner was something she expected.
Plus, he was a serial cheater. By the time their relationship ended, Aziza wondered what she’d seen in him. When she dumped him, his parting remark was that she’d never been pretty enough or smart enough for him. His malice didn’t affect her because she understood that somewhere inside, he was broken. Not that he’d ever admit it.
The continued sobbing from the teenager on her other side interrupted Aziza’s mental flow. The scent of urine hung around her and assaulted her nose. Aziza raised her head. “Do you speak English?”
With her expressive doe eyes shimmering, she nodded.
“What’s your name and where are you from?”
“It is Ahaba Ysrael. I am from Liberia.” She pulled in a deep breath and held out her hand. “My employer did this. When I couldn’t take care of the baby or clean the house, she … ”
Ahaba dissolved in tears, while Aziza shivered involuntarily and hid her shock at the gaping patch of pink flesh on the girl’s arm. The shape of the wound looked as if someone had held a hot iron to her arm.
“Oh my God,” Naima gasped. “That’s just wicked. Why would anyone … ”
Aziza shushed her, then whispered. “Now is not the time. What we need to do is get the keys from Hamid when he comes to give us dinner.”
Alarm filled Naima’s eyes. “I don’t want to think about what Abdul will do if we fail.”
Leaning toward her, Aziza said, “I can’t think about us not succeeding. That isn’t an option.” She pointed to the other women. “We all agreed that we’re going to do this. Don’t back out on me now.”
A verbal exchange on the other side of the container interrupted their hushed conversation. Both of them cocked their heads, but from Naima’s mystified expression, Aziza knew she didn’t understand what was being said. She identified Abdul and Hamid’s voices, but the other two men with them were strangers. Or so she thought.
When Ahaba released a small shriek, then clapped a hand to her mouth, Aziza turned concerned eyes on her. “What is it?”
Ahaba kept a hand over her lips, but pointed in the direction where the chatter continued. Perspiration poured from her forehead, and her tears would not stop. As she drew labored breaths, Aziza’s shoulders sank and anxiety filled her belly. “What are they saying?”
Ahaba’s jaw wobbled as she said, “They are talking about which one of us they will gut for our organs.”
Chapter Ten
“You still with me, Ryan?” Shaz prompted from the screen.
“It’s a lot to absorb if you haven’t ever seen anything like this before,” Dro said from the corner of Ryan’s room that overlooked the pool.
“Yeah, it’s enough to turn the strongest stomach.” Ryan pulled in a deep breath to continue, “How the hell can people do this to other human beings?”
They gained access to the pictures of the two women on his screen through Daron Kincaid, who arrived on schedule, a day after Dro. The dark-haired security expert had come straight to Ryan’s room for a mini-conference.
“For the money,” Dro said over his shoulder, facing the plate glass.
“And remember … ” Shaz tipped his head toward the screen. “There are folks out there who think Black people are less than human. It’s easy when you look at these women as dispensable.”
Ryan nodded. “I get it. If that policeman viewed George Floyd as his equal and therefore worthy of respect, he’d never have put a knee to his neck.”
“That’s right, and it took a worldwide protest to make that point,” Shaz said. “Let’s get the bastards who thought it was okay to kill these women for their organs and dump them like so much garbage.”
“Whoever did the job is an expert surgeon, based on these images.” Ryan rubbed his temples and pulled his mind away from the dark path it had taken. This would not be Aziza’s fate.
Daron sat next to Ryan at an oval meeting table positioned to one side of the cream-and-gold suite. The Sheikh and Sheikha offered them accommodations, but they thought it best to stay where Aziza had spent most of her time. Daron planned to move around the country, following clues as necessary, so he agreed to stay at Khalil’s palace. “So, aside from the game they’re running at Encounters, we have no leads. Is that correct?” he asked.
Pacing the room, Dro weighed in. “That place is a hub for some nasty activity.”
“That’s right, and I believe we’re on to something,” Ryan said, including Shaz in his comment. “The authorities do not believe this is even worth their attention. Our visit did not change their attitude. Only the hint of scandal and the threat of reporting to the Sheikh meant anything to them. The attempted kidnapping charge we tried to bring
