***
In the weeks since Kate had arrived at the Sheikh’s compound in Chad, she had started to relax, to be more rational in her actions. She retained the belief her father would be coming for her, comfortable in the friendship and trust of Fatima. The latest development had caused her to tense, to become more nervous. It was to become a lot worse when the Sheikh entered the women’s quarters and spoke to her.
‘I will not dress as you require. I am an American citizen. I demand to be sent to the American embassy.’ She was indignant.
‘I will make myself very clear. The American embassy will never know of your presence in my house and unless you agree to comply, the penalties will be severe. I will not touch or harm you, you are much too valuable, but I can harm others.’ He raised his hand as if to slap her across the face but did not.
‘You have formed a friendship with Fatima,’ he continued. ‘Failure on your part in any requirement will force me to take her out to the compound and have her flogged. You will watch and you will hear her scream, and you will realise that it is happening because of you. Each time you fail a command, I will ensure that the flogging is doubled and she will die.’
‘I will do as you say,’ Kate said feebly.
‘Good, then we understand each other. Fatima will help prepare you for the showing, and I will expect to see radiant beauty and desirability in your look. Failure on both count and the flogging will commence.’
The dress was Dior, and it was as the Sheikh had described. It clung to her body, revealed all her curves and the plunging neckline left little to the imagination. Adorned with diamonds and jewels and with make-up of the highest standard, she was of a beauty that no man could resist. Frightened, confused and ashamed as she was, she could not let Fatima suffer for her.
‘Please, do not do this for me,’ Fatima had said. ‘My life is of no consequence. I am purely a woman of the harem; you are an innocent child from the West. I will take the suffering; you must not take the humiliation.’
‘Fatima, you are my friend. I cannot allow you to be beaten and to die purely for my not wearing a dress. Besides, my father will not leave me here for long. Once he knows where I am, he will send people and you will come as well.’
‘I hope you are right, but I feel you are misguided.’
‘My father will not fail us. We will survive, my dear friend.’
‘Inshallah, God willing.’ Fatima was not so sure.
***
‘She is ready for the viewing,’ the Sheikh said as he led Abdullah and Saleh to the room he had set up. Both had been there before, both knew the routine.
The room where they sat furnished with cushions and expensive carpets on the floor. It was the typical furnishings of a wealthy businessman, except for the one-way mirror on one wall. Many black girls had paraded on the other side over the last year. Abdullah and Saleh had purchased a few for the Prince. Other buyers had come and taken a few of the girls to the East. The Sheikh suspected their fate but did not care as long as the price was right.
‘Please come in and walk around the room,’ he commanded to Kate via an intercom.
She did as she was told. She was beautiful and desirable, but she hunched her back, with her face looking at the ground, and she was crying.
‘Hold you head up high. Straighten your back and smile.’
She complied, although the smile was forced and her make-up was streaking down her cheeks from the wet tears.
‘If you do not stop crying, and face towards us, I will take Fatima out now and horsewhip her until she is unconscious. Do you understand?’ The Sheikh was angry. He had ten million on the line, and the asset was not assisting.
‘She is truly beautiful,’ Abdullah ventured. ‘It may have been best if you had drugged her before we came.’
‘I would have done that with the black girls. You would have been able to see them naked, but this is a unique find. I did not want her shown in that manner. They were just donkeys in comparison to the thoroughbred mare you see before you.’
Kate, fearful of what would have happened to Fatima, complied. She acted as the Sheikh wanted. He was delighted; he knew they would pay him the money.
The two visitors equally knew their master would pay. Their commissions would be high, and he would let them choose whichever girl they asked for back at the compound in Riyadh.
‘Is she not as I told you?’ said the Sheikh. ‘Is she not a flower in the desert, ripe for the picking?’
‘Our Master will be pleased,’ replied Abdullah. ‘He will accept our recommendation.’
‘Then let us discuss price,’ said the Sheikh. ‘I have only seen one blonde virgin in my time, and she must be regarded as truly unique. It is a one-off opportunity. I could not possibly let her go for less than ten million dollars.’
‘Our master will never agree to such a payment,’ Saleh said with alarm. ‘Our failure to reach an agreement will cause repercussions for all of us. He is not a forgiving person; generous to a fault, but if he feels he is being taken advantage of, then his anger and cruelty know no bounds.’
Abdullah knew they had to make a deal; the Prince would pay the full price, but they could not agree at this time. Besides, they could tell him the price was ten million and whatever discount they could achieve, divide it between himself and Saleh.
‘The master is to be the only buyer that you will deal with at this time. There must be no other bidders, auction and so on. Is that clear?’ Abdullah said.
‘That is fully understood. I will not countenance or enter into any agreements with any parties until our discussions are concluded.’ He had lied. He knew Kate’s father would not be able to raise the ten million he was now asking. The three million dollars agreed already would do him nicely, but if he could get a few million more from the Prince, so much the better. He saw a life as a legitimate businessman, in Africa or Europe; he could buy a place in the South of France, live a beautiful life. That was what he yearned for now.
He was tired of dirtying his hands with either deluded fundamentalists or the greedy agents of a Prince, who were no doubt aiming to tell him ten million, then get him to accept less and pocket the difference.
‘We will go back to our master with your price,’ said Abdullah. ‘But be warned, his displeasure could be violent. We will contact you tomorrow midday to conclude our negotiations.’
Chapter 21
With the Arabs departed back to Saudi Arabia, Phil and Mustapha returned to the original plan. ‘The electricity will go off at one in the morning,’ Mustapha said as they both stood to one side of the compound.
‘Give me one hour?’
‘I will ensure you are given the time you require.’
‘Can you see the weak point in the wall?’ Phil asked. ‘It’s lower than the rest. Those drums stacked by the side will act as steps.’
‘I see it now,’ replied Mustapha. ‘I did not see it the other day.’
‘The guards, what are they up to?’
‘They are dozing, barely conscious. I ensured the food they ordered from the street seller had the minutest quantity of sedative.’
‘You are devious.’
‘I pride myself that I see solutions to problems.’
‘The Sheikh, where is he?’ asked Phil.
‘He has crossed the border into Nigeria. You only need to worry about the guards, and within thirty minutes, they will be fast asleep. Remember, they are not totally knocked out.’
‘Good man,’ said Phil. ‘If they suspected they had been sedated, they would inform the Sheikh.’
‘That is what I thought.’
‘How many dogs are inside?’
‘I only heard two, but they sound large.’
On schedule, the power went off, and it was clear the generator was not going to start. The guards would have been expected to investigate, but they were sleeping peacefully. Phil quickly scaled the wall and disappeared over the top.
The dogs were curiously sniffing the ar
ea nearby, attracted by the smell of raw meat. They were voracious in their appetites and deliberately kept hungry to keep them awake. They soon succumbed to a profound and peaceful sleep.
He had one hour before they would rouse and he intended to be long gone by then. Wearing night vision goggles and with a map provided by satellite surveillance, he made his way across to the far side of the compound.
The general layout was typical. His focus was a large, rectangular building on the far side of the complex. The main house located in the centre was carefully avoided, and within a few minutes, he was outside of what he assumed would be the probable location of Kate. The building was heavily secured, and no light emanated from inside. Skilfully, he moved forward along the side of the walls, looking for a crack, anything that would allow him to peer inside. The few windows, heavily shuttered, offered no help. Despairing that his efforts had been wasted, and ready to leave, he encountered some luck. He had been seen.
It was not luck that gripped him initially; it had been fear, the fear of discovery. The woman – and, judging from what little he could ascertain through his goggles, an Arab woman – was gesturing to him. He had to get out of there quickly before she screamed for help. To his surprise, she did not. In fact, she moved towards him.
‘Kate?’ she said in a hushed voice.
‘Is she here?’
‘Yes. You must help her.’
‘We will.’
‘You must take me as well. Kate is my friend.’ The woman looked quickly over her shoulder. ‘The men from the north, they will come back for her, I am sure.’
‘When will they come?’ asked Phil.
‘I do not know, soon.’
‘Where is she located?’
‘She is at the back of the building. Do you want to see her?’
‘No. I need to know she is safe and well.’
‘She is safe and well,’ replied the woman. ‘I look after her. Can we go now?’
‘It is not possible. We need to rescue her other friend at the same time.’
‘Helen? I know of her. When will you come for us?’
‘I am not sure. Within seven days.’
‘We will be ready.’
‘Good, it will be at night. Ensure that a door is open.’
‘The door I came out from. It will be left unlocked for you to enter. I am Fatima.’
As quickly as she came, she disappeared. He realised he had spent longer in the compound than intended. There was a growling from one of the dogs as it started to wake up. He moved faster than he thought possible, scaled the wall and casually strolled down the street with Mustapha.
‘Did you find her?’
‘Yes.’
‘When are we going to rescue her?’
‘Let’s talk to Harry and Yanny, but very soon.’
It was close to dawn when they arrived back at Ahmed’s house. He should have been exhausted, but the adrenaline kept him focussed.
‘Is she there?’ Yanny, equally alert, asked.
‘Yes, she is there.’
‘Did you see her?’
‘No, but I was approached by a woman there. She told me that Kate was safe and well.’
‘You were seen?’ Harry questioned.
‘The woman’s name is Fatima. She told me she is a friend of Kate’s and was looking after her.’
‘Can we trust her?’
‘I believe we can,’ replied Phil. ‘She could have screamed and woken the guards, but she didn’t. I need to stay here. If there is any attempt to move her, then I will go in and take her by force.’
‘Understood,’ replied Yanny, ‘but it could make Helen’s captors nervous if they found out.’
They all that Harry would return to Northern Nigeria, Yanny to Port Harcourt while Phil would stay in Chad. Now that both women were located, it was time to execute the rescue. However, there was to be a further complication – the Western media. Their intervention would make not only Harry, Phil, Yanny and Steve nervous, it would also make the Sheikh and Boko Haram nervous as well, and their actions were unpredictable.
***
Upon their return to the Middle East, the two agents of the Prince went to see him. ‘Master, we have seen the property,’ Abdullah said. ‘It is all that has been promised. We offer our highest recommendation.’ Kate was merely a property to those involved.
‘Has he agreed to the one million dollars?’ asked the Prince.
‘He has significantly increased the price. He believes this is a unique commodity and he cannot afford to let it go for any other than the maximum price. This is a blonde, Western virgin who can be delivered to you and concealed in your premises for as long as it pleases you. He wants ten million dollars.’
‘Then he is a fool to think that I will agree to such a price! I am prepared to concede that one million is insufficient, but I cannot agree to ten. He is taking advantage of the situation; he realises that it is a seller’s market.’
‘But we believe the commodity is definitely worth the money,’ Saleh urged.
‘You have my authority to go as high as five million dollars. I will require proof of virginity, and I want her suitably drugged and compliant on her arrival here.’
The money wasn’t important to the Prince; it was only spare change. But there was a principle involved. If he ever suspected the duplicity of his two agents, they would have found out the strength of his vengeance.
Saleh and Abdullah were delighted. The Prince had agreed to five million dollars and he would be pleased with them for some very capable negotiation. All they needed to do was talk Sheikh Idriss down to three million.
As with all negotiations in the Arab world, negotiations are never quick and easy. They would take time, endless cups of tea, and endless bid and counter-bid. Eventually, however, all parties would leave the bargaining table comfortable in their negotiation skills and happy in the knowledge that they had got the better of the other party.
Sheikh Idriss, in the meantime, had sent an updated ransom down south of five million dollars. He knew that both party would pay at least three million, and the first one with the money in his nominated account would take the asset. He may still get the money from the father and sell Kate to the Prince. He was playing with fire, but avarice had taken hold.
***
The discussion over the price for the property was not to be conducted in Chad. It was to be via a phone line. Armed with the Prince’s agreement both Abdullah and Saleh were optimistic of a satisfactory resolve. ‘Our master will not pay the full amount. He is angry and feels that you are taking advantage of his wealth.’
‘Then I will not sell her. I will return her back to her family.’
The Sheikh realised it could end badly for him, personally and financially if he did not bring the negotiations to a conclusion. There was only so far, but he realised that the Prince could act quicker in the transfer of the funds. He preferred to agree with the agents of the Prince, rather than to let they go away empty-handed.
They also realised he had been playing the Prince against the virgin’s family. They would seal the deal, get the girl, and then inform the Prince. The Sheikh may have his millions, but he would not have time to spend it.
‘That would not be wise,’ said Abdullah. ‘The Master will believe that you have been negotiating with other parties, and his displeasure will only lead to violent and savage retribution.’
‘I have not been entering into other negotiations. The previous owners of the property had attempted a ransom demand, but I have not.
‘Let us stop this threatening behaviour and continue our discussions in an open and frank manner,’ he continued. ‘I cannot let her go for one million dollars, and you do not have the authority to pay ten million. Then let us agree at eight million.’
‘Two.’
‘Three,’ the Sheikh could see taking the money from both parties, giving the woman to the Prince and then disappearing out of sight. He’d still have six million dollars in cash.
>
‘Agreed,’ said Abdullah, ‘but we need clear proof of virginity as agreed. We will arrange payment to your nominated account on that proof being supplied. We are suggesting forty-eight hours as a time period for the removal of the commodity from your care and your country. We will arrange transport.’
Chapter 22
‘This is Sally Wilson, BBC in Abuja, Nigeria. There has been a report of an attack on a Baptist mission in the North of Nigeria some weeks ago. Details are sketchy, but we will keep you updated as soon as we receive more news.’
It had been over four weeks since the mission had been hit and, up till now, Steve and his people had managed to keep the news quiet. The brief announcement that had been made on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s twenty-four hours news channel could not have come at a worse time.
‘It’s the worst news possible,’ Steve said.
‘I’m waiting for the reaction from the kidnappers,’ Yanny said.
‘What do you think will happen?’
‘It depends on the details that the media will find out.’
‘Assume the worst.’
‘If the media learn that Kate and Helen are both alive, being held for ransom, the kidnappers will become aggressive.’ replied Yanny.
‘We must assume they’ll find out. It’s obvious someone has tipped them off,’ Steve said.
‘I’m still receiving the two hostage demands for Kate. One is clearly from Boko Haram, the other from the Sheikh. He’s hinting at more money.’
Conducting a mission of such danger and sensitivity required stealth, calm evaluation, an analysis of the facts, and the forging of relationships. It did not require the Western media barging in, cameras at the ready.
‘We’ll need to bring the dates of the rescues forward,’ Harry said.
‘It’s the only option,’ Yanny agreed.
It was only to be days before the full flurry of the world’s press descended on Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Further details had leaked. They knew there were Westerners and they knew some were dead.
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