FORGOTTEN
A DELTA FORCE UNLEASHED THRILLER
J. ROBERT KENNEDY
BOOKS BY J. ROBERT KENNEDY
The Templar Detective Thrillers
The Templar Detective
The Templar Detective and the Parisian Adulteress
The Templar Detective and the Sergeant's Secret
The Templar Detective and the Unholy Exorcist
The James Acton Thrillers
The Protocol
Brass Monkey
Broken Dove
The Templar’s Relic
Flags of Sin
The Arab Fall
The Circle of Eight
The Venice Code
Pompeii’s Ghosts
Amazon Burning
The Riddle
Blood Relics
Sins of the Titanic
Saint Peter’s Soldiers
The Thirteenth Legion
Raging Sun
Wages of Sin
Wrath of the Gods
The Templar’s Revenge
The Nazi’s Engineer
Atlantis Lost
The Cylon Curse
The Viking Deception
The Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers
Rogue Operator
Containment Failure
Cold Warriors
Death to America
Black Widow
The Agenda
Retribution
State Sanctioned
The Delta Force Unleashed Thrillers
Payback
Infidels
The Lazarus Moment
Kill Chain
Forgotten
The Detective Shakespeare Mysteries
Depraved Difference
Tick Tock
The Redeemer
Zander Varga, Vampire Detective Series
The Turned
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
The Novel
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Acknowledgments
Don't Miss Out!
Thank You!
About the Author
Also by the Author
For the over 3000 women and children held as sex slaves by ISIS, and those risking their lives to save them.
“[Successful are the believers] who guard their chastity, except from their wives or (the captives and slaves) that their right hands possess, for then they are free from blame.”
Koran 23:5-6
“There is no dispute among the scholars that it is permissible to capture unbelieving women [who are characterized by] original unbelief [kufr asli], such as the kitabiyat [women from among the People of the Book, i.e. Jews and Christians] and polytheists.”
Pamphlet entitled: Questions and Answers on Taking Captives and Slaves
Research and Fatwa Department of the Islamic State (ISIS)
PREFACE
This book deals with the very sickening reality facing thousands of young women in ISIS-controlled territory—life as a sex slave. While this book does not delve into graphic sexual detail—I don’t think any of us need to suffer through those images—it does deal with the fact this is actually occurring, on a scale unprecedented in modern human history.
It is estimated at least 3000 young women, some just girls as young as eight, are being systematically raped by ISIS soldiers and supporters, with some estimates as high as 25,000. Auctions to sell them off are held on a regular basis, with the younger girls fetching a higher price. ISIS has even issued a manual outlining the rules for owning sex slaves, an officially endorsed practice condoned by the Koran.
This is ridiculous, yet is rarely spoken about, perhaps because the vast majority of victims are Yazidis, and the perpetrators are Muslim, a group the media and too many government administrations have for some reason chosen to forgive when it comes to transgressions like these. If it were Russians raping thousands of women on a constant basis, would it be ignored? Or Chinese? Or what if it were Jews?
I think not.
This book’s subject matter should enrage you.
I know writing it did me.
1 |
ISIS Held Territory Outside Thawrah, Syria
“Dude, you weigh a ton!”
“I’m the way my momma made me.”
Sergeant Carl “Niner” Sung grunted as he helped the muscled frame of his buddy, Sergeant Leon “Atlas” James, toward the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that had just touched down. Gunfire peppered the area, several rounds pinging off the reinforced skin of the chopper as mortar rounds slammed into the ground around them. This entire mission had been a Charlie-Foxtrot, and now Atlas had taken a round to the ass, something Niner intended to tease him mercilessly about over the coming days.
To say this mission was a mess was an understatement, though they were Bravo Team, part of what the public liked to call Delta Force, officially known as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment—Delta. They were the best America had to offer, the highest trained Special Forces in the world, sent where their country needed them, usually with the public never knowing what they had done.
Except for those Chuck Norris movies. Awesome!
He looked up as another Apache helicopter passed overhead, its weapons pods opening up on the approaching enemy, but there were too many. The city they had been in was an armed camp, and it appeared everyone had decided to get in on the fun.
“RPG!”
Niner spun toward where Sergeant Will “Spock” Lightman was pointing, and cursed, the rocket-propelled grenade
streaking toward them in a lazy sideways arc. “Oh shit! Let’s move!” He shoved Atlas into the chopper, two of the crew hauling him inside, he and Spock following. Niner turned, urging their lead on the mission, Master Sergeant Mike “Red” Belme, forward. It felt like slow motion, but Red pushed toward the helicopter, his legs pumping, hunched over as gunfire continued to streak across the battlefield.
The grenade hit.
The explosion was massive, knocking Niner backward, his head smacking on the metal floor of the Black Hawk’s cabin. He shook his head, disoriented for a moment, then jumped back up. “Red!” The chopper lifted off and Niner rushed toward the open door. “We have to go back!”
The pilot glanced over his shoulder. “Negative. The position is overrun. We go back, we all die.”
Niner stood in the doorway, peering through the dust and debris from the explosion, dozens of ISIS fighters swarming their former position.
And closed his eyes as he spotted the body of his friend in a twisted heap, surrounded by the enemy.
Dead.
2 |
Todd Residence Queens, New York City, New York One Week Earlier
“You’re a fool!”
Mary Todd glared at her father. “Yeah, well you’re an old fool!”
“Don’t you dare talk to your father that way!”
Mary redirected her aim at her mother. “Christ, Mom, you always take his side!”
“You obviously haven’t been paying attention, then, dear.”
Mary’s dad grunted. “She clearly hasn’t been paying attention to anything I’ve been saying, or to the news.”
She leaned forward, her head jutting out, her chin extended, her fists clenched in frustration. “But I have been! That’s exactly why I’m going! Don’t you see? I have to do something. I can’t just sit by and wait for some news report that might never come! Somebody has to do something about it!”
Her mother clasped her hands in front of her mouth. “But why you, sweetie? Why do you have to be the one? Let a man do it!”
Mary’s jaw dropped, her eyes bulging. “I can’t believe you just said that! I thought you were a feminist! Always telling me there’s nothing a man can do that a woman can’t do just as well. Now you’re telling me to let a man do it! Are you kidding me?”
Her mother’s hands dropped to her waist, still clasped together. “This is different, honey! I can’t believe you can’t see that!”
“Oh, I see it perfectly well. All that talk of me going places and accomplishing great things was just BS. If Bobby was going, you wouldn’t try to talk him out of it!”
Her mother’s mouth opened wide for a moment before words erupted. “Of course we would! But that’s different.”
“Why? Because he’s a boy and I’m just a girl?”
“Exactly!” Her father threw his arms up. “My God, I thought I raised an intelligent young woman, but you’re acting like a naïve little moron! You want to fly to Turkey, sneak across the border into ISIS held territory, and try to find proof that your friends were kidnapped and sold as sex slaves, rather than let the government handle it! How stupid do you have to be to not realize that if you get caught, you’ll become a sex slave yourself?”
“I’ll never let that happen.”
Her father spun on his heel, heading toward her bedroom door before spinning again. “And just how are you going to stop it?”
“What? I’m not strong enough? I’m a black belt in karate!”
“A hell of a lot of good that will do! They have guns and you’ll be just one person.”
“I’ll go with her.”
“Bobby!” Mary leaped from the edge of her bed and hugged her brother, not having heard him arrive home.
Their father jabbed a finger at them. “No, under no circumstances are you going. And neither is your sister.”
Mary smiled up at her brother, squeezing him tight. She turned to her father. “We’re both adults. We can do what we want, and you can’t stop us.”
“If you go then don’t come back! You’ll no longer be welcome in this house! If you’re going to throw away the life we gave you, then you aren’t the children we thought we had.”
“William!”
Her father held up a hand, silencing her mother. “I mean it! You go out that door, you’re cut off!”
“Fine! I don’t care. You’re always saying we’re broke, so we’ll leave and save you some money. You’ve always said we should earn our own way, so we will. After today you won’t have to worry about supporting us anymore.” She glared at her father, her chest heaving.
Her brother’s calm voice broke the stunned silence. “Okay, how about everyone take a deep breath and calm down. Mary’s right, Dad, we’re both adults. She’s going to go and try to help her friends. I’m going to go to try and protect her. I’ve got some money saved. Everything works on bribes over there, so we’ll be okay.”
Her father grunted and headed for the door. “You’re both morons.”
“Daddy!”
Her father stopped, always having a soft spot for her when she called him “Daddy” instead of “Dad”.
“Please, can I have a hug before I leave?”
Her mother rushed forward, grabbing them both and squeezing hard, her shoulders racked with sobs. “Oh God, please be careful!”
She stared past her mother at her father, who watched them over his shoulder, his back still facing them. He glared at Bobby then left the room, heading toward his den. She broke free of her mother and stepped into the hall, her voice cracking. “Daddy!”
But he didn’t stop. His shoulders shook and she heard a stifled sob escape as the door to his sanctuary closed.
Her mother joined her in the hall, taking her arm. “You’ll have to forgive your father. You know what he’s like.”
She sniffed hard, squaring her shoulders as she searched for her resolve, shaken by the knowledge she had genuinely hurt her father. “Well, if he doesn’t want to say goodbye, then that’s his choice. I could die out there, and he’ll have to live with the fact that our last conversation was a fight where he refused to even give his daughter a hug.”
“Mary!”
Her stomach flipped at the venom in her own voice, it shocking not just her mother. She stepped back in her bedroom and grabbed her backpack, jammed with everything she figured she would need for her trip. She gave her mother one final hug then turned to Bobby. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
He nodded. “Somebody has to look out for you. Let’s go to my place and grab some things.” He gave his mother a hug. “Love you, Mom. And tell Dad we forgive him.”
Mary glared at Bobby for a moment then sighed. “Fine.” She took one final look at her room, the only home she really remembered.
And was overwhelmed with a sense she’d never see it again.
3 |
Turkish-Syrian Border Three days later
Bobby shivered in the cold of the night. They had been hiding for more than an hour, the instructions his sister had received before leaving New York telling them to wait at these GPS coordinates for their contact to arrive. How she had received these instructions had been a source of constant frustration for him. He was desperate to know who had told her to come here, and she stubbornly refused to tell him. It had been a sore point between them since they had arrived.
Their trip had been uneventful, both of age, both Americans, both with valid passports, there no reason for anyone to question them. They were here on vacation, brother and sister, to explore the wonders Turkey had to offer. And with the country on edge since the coup attempt, it was eager for tourism to resume, to restore some sense of normalcy to the troubled nation.
Unlike his sister, he was fully aware of the world’s problems. He had spent the past few days bringing her up to speed on the region, the problems, the reality of ISIS, pretending to assume she already knew everything he was saying, merely recapping what they both already knew. He had hoped if she knew the dangers, if she heard
it from someone other than their father, she might realize what she was doing was foolish. He had no intention of crossing the border. When their contact arrived, he would put an end to this once and for all.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes.”
“Despite everything you know about this place.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She stared at him. “Because of my friends. I need to know what happened to them.”
He frowned. “I looked into that, you know. There’s been nothing on the news.”
She shrugged. “The news doesn’t know everything.”
“But you do?”
She grunted. “More than them in this case.”
“How do you know they’re here? If they were kidnapped as sex slaves, how could you know that?”
She didn’t answer, and his train of thought had his stomach in knots. “You don’t know, do you? This is all a smoke screen for something. What’s going on, Mary?”
“There they are.”
Mary rose, pointing to a shadow bouncing along the horizon, the vehicle’s lights off.
“Mary, tell me what’s going on.”
“All you need to know is that I’m going and you’re not.”
A pickup truck skidded to a halt in front of them, two men climbing out, their expressions in the moonlight anything but pleased, one pointing at his sister’s bare legs and shouting something in Arabic.
“I don’t think he likes your clothes.”
“As-salam alaykum, my brothers.”
“Wa alaykum e-salam, sister.”
Sister? And how does she speak Arabic?
He tensed. “When did you learn Arabic?”
She laughed. “I didn’t. It’s like saying bonjour in French.”
The driver reached into the truck and tossed a bundle at her. “You wear this while you’re with us.”
Mary unwrapped the bundle, Bobby gasping when he realized what it was.
Forgotten Page 1