by David Archer
Sharon just looked at her for another moment, then shrugged her shoulders. “So, if they—you know, if they force us—should we just go along with it?”
Sarah’s smile slowly faded away. “The way I see it, it won’t matter how much we resist. They’re going to get the job done, one way or another. Resisting will probably get us hurt, and it might be smarter to keep ourselves in as good condition as we can.”
“Yeah,” Sharon said. “I guess so. But how do we live with ourselves after?”
Sarah shook her head. “You’re not looking at it right,” she said. “This isn’t something you’re doing, it’s something that’s being done to you. It’s not your fault, Sharon. Giving in to it doesn’t mean you’re guilty of anything, it means you’re preserving your strength for when the time comes for us to act. And you never know,” Sarah said, her grin sneaking back. “It might even make them relax, and give us a chance to get away on our own. If we can get near a phone, I guarantee I can get hold of Noah within minutes. Just keep yourself together, and keep yourself alive. That’s what’s got to happen.”
One of the men suddenly pointed at Sarah and shouted something she couldn’t understand, but the tone told her he wanted her to shut up. She gave Sharon a meaningful look but closed her mouth. The other girl nodded her understanding.
FIFTEEN
When Noah awoke again, Neil and Marco were already up, sitting quietly at the table in their room. Neil had the tablet turned on, but of course there was no sign of Sarah on it.
“Almost eight o’clock,” Marco said. “I figure Jenny should be here pretty soon.”
Noah nodded. “Probably,” he said. “After we talk, we’ll go find some breakfast.”
Neil rolled his eyes. “Geez, Noah, how can you even think about food right now? God only knows if Sarah is even still alive.”
Noah turned to face him. “She’s alive,” he said. “Sarah’s not stupid. She’ll know we’re going to do all we can to find her, so she’ll do whatever it takes to keep herself and Ingersoll alive until we do. As for breakfast, we have to keep our own strength up. We can’t let ourselves get run down, because we’re going to need all of our faculties when we find her.”
“Sheesh,” Neil said, but then he shut up.
“The boss is right,” Marco said. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the girl a lot, but the best chance she’s got is the three of us and the reinforcements coming our way.”
“I know, I know. It just stinks, that’s all. Sarah is like—like my big sister, or something. I can’t help worrying about her.” He barked an ironic laugh. “Hell, it seems like that’s half of what we do.”
Marco started to speak, but he was interrupted by the ringing of Noah’s phone. Noah snatched it up instantly.
“Camelot,” he said.
“Noah, this is Don Jefferson. I’ve taken over for Allison for the night, and wanted to bring you up to date. Thailand’s National Intelligence Agency confirms that the Nay Thas—that means ‘Slave Masters,’ it’s what the organizations behind forced prostitution call themselves—maintain what they call training compounds throughout both Thailand and Cambodia, though we have no idea where they might be.”
“Understood,” Noah said. “I’m assuming I still have authority for independent action?”
“With one caveat,” Jefferson said. “Your mission objective has not changed; Sharon Ingersoll is still your number one priority. Now, that being said, we are currently assuming that she and Sarah are still together, so rescuing Sarah is an acceptable secondary objective. If they are not, you must get Miss Ingersoll out of the country before you take any other action. After that, Allison says you are authorized to go back after Sarah, with your team. You will be completely on your own, though, Noah. If anything goes wrong, we probably won’t be able to send anyone out after you.”
“I understand that. Thank you.”
Noah could hear Jefferson’s smile through the phone. “I think that’s the first time any of our people have ever said those words to me. Good luck, Camelot.” The line went dead.
Noah put the phone into his pocket, just as they heard a knock on the door. Marco rose and crossed to it quickly to open it.
A woman and three men stood in the hallway, and Noah recognized Jenny Lance despite the fact that her usually black hair was now as blonde as Sarah’s. Jenny stood five foot four and, like Sarah, she had the athletic build of a cheerleader. Her bright blue eyes seemed to look right through you, and yet you were certain that she didn’t miss a single detail. She stepped into the room and the men followed.
“Noah,” she said. “Do you guys know my team? This is Jim Marino, Randy Mitchell and Dave Lange. Guys, this is Noah Wolf, aka Camelot, and you’ve met Marco before.” She turned and looked at Neil. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure?”
“Neil Blessing,” Noah said. “My computer man.”
Neil nodded once, and the man she had identified as Jim broke into a smile and stepped toward him. “Man, am I glad to meet you,” he said, extending a hand. “I’ve heard of you. The company considers you the best, and they passed on some of your tricks to the rest of us. Your Ghost Money program is absolutely awesome.”
Neil smiled, and actually blushed. On one of their very first missions, he had written a program that could cause bank accounting computers to think money had been transferred in, only to vanish at a preset time later. That program had enabled Noah to get close to his target, but it also made it possible for the American government to capture a large supply of black-market nuclear weapons material.
Jenny grinned at the two of them, but then turned to Noah. “I’ve been briefed,” she said. “How can we help?”
“Allison said you already have an idea in mind. Let’s hear it.”
She shrugged. “I remember Sarah from the memorial, and it struck me then that we look a little bit alike. Since my hair was already blonde for the last mission, I suggested that maybe I become her older sister and start raising hell at the prison. With any luck, they’ll decide they need to shut me up and try to grab me, as well.”
Noah nodded his understanding. “Of course, they could just decide to put a bullet in you. That wouldn’t exactly be a desirable outcome.”
Jenny laughed, and an outsider would have thought it was a laugh of delight. “I’m pretty hard to kill. Besides, I think I can throw enough seductiveness into my act to make someone think I’m more valuable alive. The question is how you’re going to be able to track me if that happens.”
Noah turned to Neil. “Neil? Any ideas?”
“Well, we don’t have any more of the little subdermal trackers we used on Sarah,” he said, “and those don’t give us any real range, anyway.” He turned to his computer and started tapping keys. A moment later, he grinned and turned back to Noah. “There’s an interesting little device called the Spark Nano International GPS Tracker. It can bounce signals off any cell tower within range, so we can literally track it in real time, and the battery is good for about three weeks. There’s a dealer right here in Bangkok, less than two miles from here. I can have one within an hour.”
“How big is it?” Noah asked. “Is it something that’s going to be extremely noticeable? If she does get snatched, they’re probably going to pat her down and go through her pockets.”
Neil grimaced. “Yeah, there’s that,” he said. He turned back to the computer and clicked a link. “It’s about an inch-and-a-half by three inches, and not quite an inch thick. If they pat her down, they’ll find it. Let me see what else…”
“Not where I’ll put it, they won’t,” Jenny said. “And get that look off your face, this is about doing what we have to do. The thing is moisture resistant, right?”
His face red and averted, Neil nodded.
Jenny turned to Lange. “Take Neil and go get one. The sooner we get busy on this, the better I’m gonna like it.”
Neil got up and followed Lange out the door to the car, still avoiding letting his eyes meet Jenny�
��s. As the door closed behind them, the woman turned to Noah.
“Cute kid,” she said. “How does he cope with what we do?”
“He does okay,” Noah said. “He’s just not had a lot of experience with women. Try not to traumatize him, would you? I need him able to function.”
She laughed again. “Okay, I’ll take it easy on the kid. Now, here’s what I got in mind. As soon as he gets me set up, I’m going down to that prison to start raising all kinds of hell. I’m going to demand to see my sister, and when they tell me she’s escaped I’m going to go completely nuts on them. If the prison officials allowed the pimps to come in and pick who they wanted, they’re probably not going to want to get police involved with me. I’m betting they’ll call those same guys to try to make me disappear, too.”
Noah nodded. “There’s at least a good chance of that,” he said. “Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll be taken to the same place they were.”
“Who cares? We’re not going to wait till they take me to their slaughterhouse, we’re going to take them down and make them spill their guts. Geneva Convention and humane conduct rules be damned, we’re going to make those bastards talk. Right?”
“Right. It’s as good a plan as I can come up with.” He looked at Mitchell and Marino. “You guys, Marco and I will be keeping her under surveillance the best we can, while Neil rides with Lange and watches the computer. If we lose her, he’ll be able to guide us back on track, but we’re going to do our best to keep her in sight. Then we’ll take them down at the first possible chance.” He thought for a moment. “We need a place to take them, somewhere we can do our questioning without anyone overhearing.”
Marino picked up his computer bag and set it on the table beside Neil’s laptop, opened it up and turned it on. “Give me a few minutes,” he said, “and I’ll find us a place.”
Five minutes later he pointed to an image on his screen. “This place is about forty minutes out to the southeast, in a rural area. It’s an abandoned clothing factory, and there’s nobody around it for miles, unless it’s got squatters. I ran it through law enforcement databases, and there are no police reports connected to it, so I think it’s isolated enough for our purposes.”
“It’ll do,” Noah said. “Any squatters will probably leave in a hurry when we show up, and they’re not likely to want any contact with police.” He looked at Lange. “I know you’ve got a car, but we’re going to need more vehicles. Let me make a call.”
He took out his phone and called Knapp. The operative answered on the first ring, even though he probably hadn’t gotten any sleep at all.
“Darrell, this is Camelot. I need some wheels and some weapons.”
“I’m your guy. What kind of transportation?”
“I’m thinking motorcycles, four of them. We’re likely to need maneuverability, and two wheelers get around this city better than four-wheelers.”
“No problem, I can have them to you in a couple of hours. What kind of weapons?”
“Four Glock forties, maybe a couple of baby Uzis. Two magazines for each, and silencers for the Glocks. If we need more than that, it will mean we’re in serious trouble. I also want some communications gear. Do you have access to something like earpiece setups? Small and easily concealed, but with a decent range?”
“I think I’ve got just the thing. Four sets?”
“Unless you can make it six.”
“Okay, give me two hours. We’ll deliver it all to your hotel, right?”
“That’ll be perfect.” He ended the call and put the phone back into his pocket. “I’m guessing you guys can ride, right?”
All three of the men nodded. “Man,” Marco said, “I was born on two wheels. I can ride anything.”
Neil and Dave Lange returned after almost an hour, and Neil set to work immediately programming the tracker. Its battery was fully charged, so it was only twenty minutes later when Neil blushingly handed it to Jenny. She took it without a word and stepped into the bathroom.
When she stepped out a moment later, she looked Neil directly in the eye. “I take it you’re getting a clear signal?”
Neil swallowed, but nodded. He was saved from having to speak by a knock on the door.
Darrell Knapp stood there, and at his invitation they all followed him down the stairs and out the front door. A cargo van was parked a couple of blocks away, and he led the way to it.
“I rounded up the quickest bikes I could find,” he said as he threw up the rear door, “so you’ve got four Honda 400s.” The men quickly set about unloading the quartet of sport bikes, while Darrell picked up a pair of briefcases and handed them to Noah. “The rest of your order is in these,” he said. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“Not unless you got any leads on what happened to my operative.”
Darrell grimaced and looked abashed. “Unfortunately, I don’t. I’m still trying, but this is a real gray area here in Thailand. The worst part is that it isn’t even entirely illegal; unless the women speak up about being forced, there isn’t a whole lot that can be done about it.”
Noah nodded. “Then this will do. Keep me posted if you find anything out.”
Darrell tucked his chin and climbed into the passenger seat of the van. It drove away a moment later, and they pushed the motorcycles into the parking area of the hotel, then checked their fuel tanks. All of them were full and ready to go.
“Well,” Jenny said when they got back up to the hotel room, “we’ve got everything we need. Why don’t we get started now?”
Noah looked at her. “It’s Sunday,” he said. “What you need to do is go to the visitor registration office at the prison and ask to see your sister. They’ll probably give you the runaround for a while, but sooner or later they’ll have to tell you she’s gone. The official story is that she escaped last night, so be ready to go into your act.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said, “acting is how I get close to my targets. Did you know I went to Julliard? I was all set for a career in movies and theater before my real little sister was killed. She was raped and murdered by a sixteen-year-old boy in New York City. It was part of his gang initiation.”
“And you took action?” Noah asked.
Jenny nodded gravely. “Animals like that need to be removed from the gene pool. I killed him and all three of his brothers, who were just as bad as he was. Would have killed his parents, too, so they couldn’t produce any more, but I’d struck early in the morning when there should have been no one else around. Unfortunately, one of the neighbors had stayed home sick that morning. She heard the screaming and called the police. There was a squad car just a block away, and they cornered me. I was convicted on all counts, sentenced to die and that’s when Allison came to visit me. I’m pretty sure you know how the rest turns out.”
Noah cocked his head to one side and looked at her for a moment. “Sounds like you let your anger get the best of you. I’m kind of surprised she recruited you, under the circumstances.”
Jenny laughed. “Oh, no, you got it all wrong. I didn’t do this in a fit of anger; I waited and planned it out for almost six months, and the closer it got to the time I chose to do it, the more excited I got. The cops that arrested me put in their report that I was obviously enjoying myself, and that’s what got Allison’s attention.” She shrugged. “Turns out I was a closet sadist. I happen to enjoy killing, so this is the best possible work for me to be in. I get to indulge my passion and get paid for it at the same time.”
Noah nodded. “That makes sense, then. Just don’t kill your captors until we get a chance to get information out of them.”
The pretty woman smiled again. “Oh, no worries. Torturing information out of someone’s sort of like foreplay, for me. I like to string it out and make it last.”
Noah looked at the others. “Lange, you’ll take your car and Neil will go with you. Neil, take your computer so you can keep track of Jenny for me.” He opened the briefcases and handed Neil and the driver
each one of the mini-Uzis, then passed out the rest of the weapons and the earpieces. Each of the men clipped one to his ear and turned it on.
“Everybody on?” Noah asked, and all of them nodded. “Okay, we’re ready. Jenny, you should take a taxi to the prison, it’s quicker than the ferry. We’ll all rendezvous at a little restaurant close by, so we’ll be ready to move the moment something happens.”
Jenny giggled, and Neil shivered. “Cool, baby,” she said. “Let’s do this.”
SIXTEEN
Noah and the other men were gathered around the table near the front door of the restaurant. Jenny had entered visitor registration more than an hour earlier, and they’d seen no sign of her since then. Neil had brought his computer and was checking the screen periodically to see if she had moved, but the blip that indicated her presence only wandered back and forth around the registration office area.
“She’s moving around a little more the last few minutes,” he said. “I guess she’s doing the getting mad bit.”
“She does it well,” Mitchell said. “Really well. She can put on a mood faster than she can put on a hat.”
Mitchell’s phone suddenly rang, and he answered it on the second ring. He then held the phone away from his ear, because Jenny’s voice could be heard screaming frantically.
“Daddy! Daddy, I’m here in Bangkok, at the prison where they took Kayla, but they’re telling me she’s gone! Daddy, they’re trying to tell me she broke out, and you know Kayla couldn’t do anything like that. Daddy, what do I do?”
Mitchell looked surprised, so Noah reached over and took the phone. “Lisa, calm down,” he said. “What do you mean? Somebody said she escaped?”
If Jenny was surprised that Noah had taken on the act as her father, it didn’t show in her voice. “Yes! Daddy, you know that can’t be true, Kayla is just too soft for anything like that. What do I do?”