by Lynda Filler
He stood in front of the Pearl-Qatar. The sand-colored high-rise towers loomed above him. He maneuvered around a construction site and got through a series of winding streets to get to the waterfront. His fake ID allowed him access to this exclusive part of the Gulf.
He looked out at Doha at night. The old part was lit along the waterfront with few high rises. The new part of Doha was lined with skyscrapers that would rival any international city. Maybe he would keep a permanent place here. What he liked about the Pearl was the privacy, the exclusive and expensive structures that could be deeded to off-shore corporations. Perfect for laundering the money he’d make in the drug business.
He unlocked a private gate. Multiple yachts were docked at their individual piers. This part was extremely quiet although about five hundred yards away, a three-tier mega-yacht hosted a wild party. A live Western group played while a white female singer dressed in a gold lame gown sang Happy Birthday in English to a young Qatari man. At least two hundred people partied on all three levels. Infidels mixed with Muslims. The way of the future.
He walked along the dock until he reached the yacht he had leased. It was modest by comparison, but the purchase price was still in the vicinity of a million dollars. A man waited, handed Tariq the keys, and swiftly departed.
Tariq found the items he’d sent beforehand. He immediately prepared the camera and pulled his backdrops to make a lower level room appear to be anything but located on a luxury boat. Next, he opened a can comprised of a red liquid, the exact match to the color of blood, and the prosthetics he’d purchased from Europe. The shining sword lay on the table to his right. He rolled black plastic on the floor, so the entire room would appear to be underground.
His phone vibrated. The message was clear. His men had arrived with the package. And he was ready for them. He’d not told them exactly where he was but instead, texted to watch for a signal on the pier.
The sooner this was over the better. The smell of dead fish in the Persian Gulf made him want to puke.
44
SABRINA TOSSED AND turned, agitated. She was hurt and needed to pee. The truck stopped, and she forced herself to open her eyes. She was totally disoriented, her hijab covering her face completely. She tried to move her hands, but they were handcuffed. The metal dug into her wrists.
Suddenly she was pulled from her vehicle and forced forward. She tripped and tried to cry out, but she was gagged.
“Be quiet and walk! Don’t struggle or we will give you another needle!”
Sabrina listened to the guttural cadences and placed the voice as possibly from Yemen. She could hear singing and partying off in the distance. Too far to help her even if she could scream or get free. She couldn’t see anything. But the briny smell and the diesel fuel told her she was near the ocean. Her burqa was too long, and it caught between the slats on what felt like a wooden walkway. The men whispered in Arabic and she heard the name ‘Tariq’ and ‘boss’. Then she heard a word that sent shivers up her spine. The translation to English was beheading.
She struggled in spite of their warning. She’d rather be shot than martyred for their cause!
Immediately, an authoritative voice spoke up.
“At last, Ms. Sayyid. I’ve been waiting to meet you for a very long time.”
She was led up two steps, then down one. Her hijab was removed.
“You see where you are? The weapons I have?”
Sabrina remained silent and obstinate.
“If you continue to struggle, I will simply kill you!”
“Where am I?”
“Later, Ms. Sayyid. First, you are my guest. I have a place prepared for you. Now sit. The chair is behind you and we shall make you comfortable.”
One of her kidnappers put a rope around her arms and tied her back against the chair. Another tied her legs. All the while, Tariq pointed a revolver at her head. She felt helpless and hopeless.
Something slippery and off-smelling assaulted her senses.
She was in a room with four middle eastern men. One looked slightly familiar. His onyx eyes stared at her intently. He waited. And then she remembered where she’d seen him. A SAS fighter had captured a photo of the illusive leader of ISIS a few years ago. He had disappeared and was assumed dead. Her heart started pounding in her chest.
“I think you might recognize me. Well, I certainly know who you are. That’s why we grabbed you. I must say, you’ve created a lot of trouble for me with your false reporting.”
Sabrina didn’t answer. She mumbled something unintelligible but was petrified by his chilling tone of voice. She whispered something, then lowered her head.
“I have something special in mind for you.”
Tariq moved in closer, right up in front of her face, and revealed his gloved hands holding a long, thick silver sword covered in blood.
She screamed, spewed out vomit—some of it landed on his elegant suit—and fainted.
Tariq swore.
He stepped back and raged at his men to find him towels.
“Clean her up and prepare her for the video.”
The men proceeded to clean up the woman without untying her or replacing her clothing. Her hair had become matted, and her eyes were ringed in black. They tried to keep their excitement under control while managing to stroke her breasts through the cotton garment. They wondered if Tariq would permit defiling this woman’s body. She was a whore and they should be allowed to do this in the name of Allah.
“We have a change of plans.” Adnan replaced the gag on Sabrina and Tariq motioned to the men to come outside the room.
“I have demanded a ransom for her. It was announced while you were in the air that she is to marry the Prince of England.”
The jihadists were nervous, they already knew about the engagement. They would get paid whether Tariq killed her or collected money. He had promised them. But if he was going to release the woman, they couldn’t rape her.
They grumbled amongst themselves.
“You have a problem with my decision?”
Two men nodded, they were fine. The third looked away.
In one quick movement, Tariq wielded his sword and the man died before his corpse hit the floor.
“No, of course, Tariq! We trust your judgment completely! You know what you are doing.”
He looked at the two remaining men cowering before him.
“When I receive the ransom funds, I will pay you as we discussed. But first, we must make a video, so there is no hesitation when I demand the funds tonight. Roll the traitor up in the tarp over there and later we will dump him in the ocean.”
The two men returned to the room. Sabrina feigned sleep, her head hung down. Tariq kicked her until she looked up. He adjusted the camera and began his explanation to the woman.
“Your family wants proof of life. Announce your name and tell them you are okay. Adnan hold the camera.” Out of the sight of the woman, he prepared his sword and his props. Then he masked his face and turned toward the camera and told the man to record.
“I have sent a request. I demand the ransom money to the account I’ve given you, but I want it by midnight tonight! I know you can arrange this.”
He showed the face of Ms. Sayyid. “Say something to the Queen.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am.”
“I’m willing to set Ms. Sayyid free, unharmed when I see one hundred million dollars in the account by midnight tonight, no excuses. If not, I will make a video of the beheading of Ms. Sayyid and the Arab world will rejoice! This will show you I am serious!”
A scream pierced the air. The camera turned back toward Sabrina, who was now blocked by Tariq, and he held an object dripping blood in his hand.
“If I don’t have my money transferred by sixty minutes from now, forget any deal. I will make an important video for the cause, forward her head in a box, and her body I will drop in the sea.”
They finished the video, uploaded it to a number they’d been emailed after their demand today, an
d severed their connection.
The leader of ISIS laughed with his men as he closed up the tin of red paint and threw the prosthetic finger away.
“Now, while we wait, where is her cell phone? You took the battery out, yes?”
“Of course. It’s here.”
“Where is her wallet?”
“Here.”
Tariq pulled out her ID and thought about how scandalous she was dressed in her photo. Then, he glanced at another ID and he turned red with rage.
He turned to Sabrina, who had paled visibly when she saw what he held in his hand.
“Show me now!!! Or I will kill you immediately and throw your body overboard.”
London England
The Director of Special Branch stood beside the Queen and played the video.
Her Majesty gasped in horror.
“We cannot show this to Mr. Sayyid. Get me Prince Xavi immediately.”
45
“HER MICROCHIP SHOWS she’s stopped at this exact location.” Prince Xavi had taken over the coordination of the rescue of Sabrina.
They were at the security entrance to The Pearl, Qatar.
“I’ve used my Qatari military connection to get clearance to enter the area.” He pointed to the map. “She’s stationary at the moment, so let’s move quickly. The Pearl guards say three men and a sleeping woman came through thirty minutes ago. The location coordinates are on a marina according to our map. This GPS implant shows her to be here. Let’s move.”
The two vehicles drove through the ornate plaster and wrought iron gate. They headed along Pearl Blvd. taking the first right off after the bridge over the Marsa Canal. Darkness could be both a benefit and a hindrance. Xavi’s phone vibrated in his jacket.
“Yes.”
“Sir, we’ve received a video.” The Director attempted to keep his voice neutral, but if anything happened to Sabrina as a result of a snatch while his team had been watching, he would not only lose his job, but he would end up in jail.
“I’m sending it through. Are you having any success?”
“Yes.” Xavi waited for the video to upload.
“Sir, I must tell you, they’ve up their demands to thirty-five minutes from now and one hundred million dollars. We can do the transfer as soon as we need to.”
“Wait for me to call or text. We’re close to her now.”
Xavi glanced down at the video as it began to play. Luci and Maggs leaned in from the backseat. Xavi’s first in command kept his eyes on the GPS and the road. The ragged look of Sabrina and her blood-curdling scream were more than Xavi could handle. He remained stoic, closed the phone, and double-checked his weapon.
“Let’s go kill some terrorists right now!”
46
THEY MOVED PAST mega-yachts. Millionaire Oil Sheiks. Too much money and nowhere to spend it. They flew Qatari flags for the most part, with the odd Luxembourg and tax-haven nation flags in the mix. But it didn’t matter how well they hid, if they were harboring ISIS and Sabrina, they would die tonight.
The team moved quickly and stealthily. They kept their weapons out of sight. On some yachts, wild parties raged, and alcohol flowed. Others appeared deserted.
Xavi motioned for the group to stop. “We’re within fifty yards of where Sabrina’s locator places her.” He pointed to a dock straight ahead.
“There are two boats over there. One is a fast speed boat that looks like it can sleep ten easily. And the other is flying a Russian flag. The middle berth is empty. There are no lights on at either yacht, but her locator places her here.”
They crept along. Luci was following the GPS on her cell phone. As they got closer, the SAS boys stopped to confer.
“I don’t like this.”
Xavi nodded.
“How accurate is the locator?”
Luci spoke up. “From what the Director told us, that model has a tweaking on it. The satellite can pinpoint it within five feet. I’ll walk to exactly where she is, and you guys keep watch all around me.”
She kept her weapon pointed downwards and started walking the last twenty yards. She passed the fast boat, Reborn, out of Isle of Man, and stopped. She looked around. No Sabrina.
“It’s here. Let’s search this dock.” They each took a specific area. Maggs whispered loud enough for the team to hear.
“Come! Look at this.” She reached down and picked up a bloody object sitting precariously close to the edge of the dock.
Luci looked at Xavi. His face was white. She dialed Raven who was standing by in Paris.
“We have a problem.”
47
“SO, YOU THOUGHT you were safe? All this time, you knew you had a GPS chip inside your ankle? Yes?” Tariq was losing it. The high-speed yacht raced out of the mellow marina into the erratic black waters of the Persian Gulf. Sabrina started to choke.
“Take out her gag.” His men did as ordered. Sabrina gasped for air.
“Water.” There was a sense of despair and fear in her whispered words.
“Give her water. After all, she’s worth a lot of money to me. And keep her quiet.” He pulled out his phone and checked his account in Switzerland. Nothing yet.
Tariq knew where he was going. He’d meticulously planned his getaway. Now he’d improvise, but only slightly. He monitored by radar. He kept the running lights low, so they wouldn’t be visible from shore. The closer they motored toward his destination the choppier the ocean became. It had always been in his plans to take this yacht into the Gulf and sink the boat near Banana Island where he had a cigarette boat on standby.
Once the ransom was paid, two more corpses would become shark fodder.
48
EIGHT SOMBER PEOPLE stared in resolutely at the object in Maggs hand. Luci moved away from the group to talk to Luke.
“We’ve got a bloody GPS tracker. I’m sure Tariq threw it off the boat, expecting it to land in the water. We got lucky, if that makes any sense. But there is no sign of the boat that was moored in this spot.”
“All right. Stay on the line. I have a call coming in from Special Branch.”
Luci listened to Raven confer with the Director. Murmurs echoed through the phone. She could hear RB and Zach in the background. Luke came back.
“Listen. We’ve had a development. Special Branch received a video from Tariq. We don’t know if he was inside the yacht when he took it, but these are the coordinates. It’s a video of him with a bloody finger removed from Sabrina’s hand. And her screaming in the background.”
Luci held the phone tighter. She tried to appear calm to the group watching her. Maggs would recognize the change in her body language.
“They’ve also sent RB the tracker from Tariq’s phone. He called, but something must have happened. He’s getting sloppy. He forgot to take the chip out! Give us a second and we will connect your phone with our computers.”
“Listen. You have Xavi’s number. Bring him in on this, too.” She hesitated, but she didn’t like keeping anything from Raven.
“He looks really bad, Luke. Did you know she was pregnant?”
Luke took a deep breath. “No.” He turned back to his men. “Have you found Tariq yet?”
RB yelled out. “Yes. I’m projecting it out now. It looks like he’s heading toward an island off the shore from Doha.”
“I’ve got it, Luke. Xavi!” Luci called over to the Prince. He seemed to shake off his despair and come over to Luci.
“We’ve got him! Check your phone. Here, look!”
Xavi motioned to the team.
“Let’s relieve this owner of his oversized speed boat.” Xavi pointed to the boat moored next to them. “We’ve got Tariq’s location and we’re going to bring Sabrina home.”
Luci used her phone to keep the navigation on track. The men were SAS. Water or sand, it was all the same to them. Maggs clutched her gun, ready to intercept and board the yacht. But so far, they couldn’t see anything but lights that twinkled like stars along the coast of Qatar.
“If this wasn’t so serious, I’d have to say that looking back to shore is a beautiful sight.” Maggs sat side-by-side with Luci. Neither were much good at small talk. They tried to stay loose and remain alert to anything ahead.
“We should be closing in on the yacht, but I can’t see anything.”
Luci used her satellite connection to speak to Raven.
“Luke. We’re here, and the yacht is stopped. According to this, we should run right into them at any moment.”
“RB, what’s up?” Luke checked the screen and saw the same thing.
“Sorry, boss. I think he’s smarter than we thought. His phone is no longer emitting a signal and he’s disabled the locator on the yacht. Luci’s correct. She should be on top of him by now.”
“Now what, Luke, Luci?” Xavi looked up, fear in his eyes.
“Look, let me think. He was headed toward Banana Island for a reason. So, let’s keep going. We’re running dark. We stay that way.” She spoke to Luke again.
“Put RB on.”
“Luci.”
“RB, remember that thing you did when I was trying to locate Sying? She was driving a Rolls Royce and she’d also disabled the tracking device.”
“Got it. I’m all over it. The yacht is a fast and furious new Magnum model. I know someone who can help me. I’ll get on it. Give me five minutes and keep heading toward the island.”