COLOGNE, GERMANY

Arianna disconnected the call. “Show time, fellas” she said to Kevin and Raul. “That was my producer, Shine, back in New York. I need to have a report ready to air in two days.”

They had eaten lunch at the hotel and returned to their suite to freshen up before heading out again. “What’s Miller’s number?” she asked. “Oh, wait. Never mind. I have it.” She tapped his number in her contact list, and the call connected. “Dan,” she said when he answered, “you and your assistant need to meet me in the lobby in ten minutes. We’re on the move again.”

“And just where are we off to?” Kevin asked when she hung up.

“Duisburg. Monica said it’s a small town not far from Cologne. There’s a large refugee community there.” She threw her keys and notebook into a backpack and headed for the door. “I have Rashid’s interview, and Monica gave me permission to use bits and pieces of our conversation from this morning, but that’s not enough material. I need more immigrant statements.”

She, Tony, and Raul took the elevator to the main floor and made their way through the lobby. “After we leave Duisburg, we’ll go to Cologne’s central train station. There’s some kind of carnival celebration going on. I’ll be able to interview many of the local people at that event. Altogether, this should give me plenty of material, covering all sides of the issue. I think my producers back in New York will be pleased with my work.”

“Whew! Sounds like the next couple days are going to be really busy.” Kevin hoisted his camera equipment over his back, and they walked out the front exit, where Miller, his assistant, Bailey, and the rental car driver were waiting.

“Where to?” Miller asked.

Before Arianna could answer, two men stepped up and stopped Raul. “Sir, we need to talk to you a minute,” one man said in broken English.

Raul’s hand immediately moved back toward the gun in his waistband. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“If that’s a gun you’re reaching for, I wouldn’t,” the second man said. “You see that’s actually why we’re here.”

Raul looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.

The men flashed some credentials which identified themselves as Ordnungspolizei, administrative police.

“Our job is to verify registrations, identity cards, and various permits. Do you have a permit for the gun you’re carrying?” the officer asked.

Raul nodded and pulled out a piece of paper from his wallet as Arianna and the group looked on with concern.

The official studied the paper and shook his head. “I’m not sure this is authentic. It is written in English, and that is my second language. We had a report that you had a concealed weapon. Even with a permit, guns are not allowed in public events in Germany.”

Raul frowned. “A report? From whom?” He looked over at Miller who had a smug look on his face.

“I cannot say, but, sir, if you intend to keep this weapon, you need to come with us to see if you have the proper credentials.”

“I don’t know who contacted you or why,” Raul said, “but this permit is valid for me to carry my weapon everywhere I go. You have been misinformed.”

“I’m sorry, sir. We have our orders. Surrender your weapon, or you can come with us and we will see if we can straighten this out, but you cannot go with your gun.”

Raul cursed under his breath. “Well, I have no choice but to go and try to sort this out because I can’t do my job of protecting this film crew without a weapon. There have been death threats on this woman’s life. It is not safe for her to move about unprotected.”

“She’s not unprotected,” Miller yelled. “I’m head of security and can keep her safe.”

“Hush,” Arianna said to Miller. “You’re not helping things.”

“I cannot help you,” the officer repeated. “You need to go with us or surrender your weapon. We have a car waiting right over there. What do you choose?”

Raul threw up his hands in resignation. Before leaving he turned to Miller. “This is bogus. If I find out you had anything to do with this, I’m going to come back and beat the shit out of you.”

“Hey! Hey! No need for all this animosity,” Miller smirked. “I assure you I had nothing to do with this. Your credentials are your problem. I made sure my team and I are properly credentialed. If you screwed up, that’s on you.”

Raul glared at him. “You’re an asshole.” He started toward Miller, but Arianna stepped in-between them.

“Hold on, Raul. There’s no time for this.” She firmly held onto his arm. “Go and get your permit straightened out, and we’ll meet you back at the hotel later.”

Raul balked.

“Don’t worry,” Arianna assured him. “I’ll be okay. Miller and Bailey will be with me. Now go and work this out.”

He reluctantly turned to join the waiting Ordnungspolizei. “Do your job, douchebag,” he yelled back over his shoulder to Miller, “or you’ll have to answer to me.”

“Wow,” Miller said, “that guy needs anger management.” He threw his hands up in the air. “I swear I had nothing to do with this registration problem.”

Arianna started walking toward their waiting car. “I sure hope not, but right now, we need to move. I have a deadline to meet, and we’re burning daylight.”

A SHORT drive later, the group arrived at Duisburg and drove to a section of the city that housed refugees. It had been dubbed the “immigrant ghetto”. Trash littered the area, store fronts were boarded, and the homes were dilapidated. A barricade blocked the main entrance into the town center.

The car rolled to a stop, and some local polizei approached the vehicle. Arianna presented her press credentials. “We’re here doing a story on the refugees for a US network. We’d like to go into this area and interview some of the inhabitants.”

In broken English, a policeman said, “This is a ‘no-go zone’. The police stay on the outside so as not to provoke the residents. I think this is not a safe place for your group either.”

Arianna and Kevin got out of the car and walked around to the back.

“That’s not encouraging,” Arianna said, “but these are exactly the people I need to interview.”

Kevin nodded. “And this is exactly the footage I need to film, but without Raul here, do you think it’s too risky to go in there? I mean Raul doesn’t think much of Miller’s ability to guard us, and I trust his judgement.”

Arianna sighed. “I agree, but I need this footage.” She stared off in the distance for a moment before turning and walking back to the police. “We could really use your help. We have a small security team, but if you would accompany us, we would be even safer. We would all leave at the first sign of trouble. Please,” she pleaded. “Go in with us.”

The policeman thought about it a second before responding. “Okay,” he finally said. “We will take a chance and go with you, but be careful what you say or do. These people are unpredictable.”

Arianna, Kevin, Miller and Bailey, accompanied by two policemen, moved into the town square. Arianna walked down the street, greeting people with a friendly smile. She identified herself and asked if anyone would agree to be interviewed. To her surprise, several residents stopped to talk. Some actually seemed anxious to tell their story. As Kevin filmed, they told about how good life was in Germany with so many different cultures and so much opportunity.

“This is so much better than where I came from. I’m very happy to be here,” one man said.

“I hope to find work and further my education,” another chimed in. “It is good here.”

Arianna had not expected to hear this positive reaction at all. She couldn’t understand why this was called a “no go zone”. People she spoke with seemed friendly and happy to be in Germany.

Without telling them, however, the police suddenly disappeared and from out of nowhere, a group of masked men suddenly circled the group. As if someone had flipped a switch, the friendly calm scene drastically changed.

A car rushed forward, coming right for Kevin. He tried to jump out of the way, but wasn’t fast enough, and the vehicle ran over his foot. He fell to the ground in pain. Feeling the need to get what was happening on film however; he bit back the pain and struggled to his feet. He turned his camera on and continued filming the melee, ducking as objects were being chucked at him.

Miller tried to fend off the masked men, but took a direct hit in the mouth from someone’s clenched fist, and a rock hit the back of his head.

Men surrounded Arianna and started groping and tearing at her clothes. They were touching her everywhere…her breasts, her bottom, between her legs. She kicked and screamed and tried to fight them off, but she fell to the ground, hitting her head, and biting her lip. A man jumped on top of her, ripping at her clothes, while trying to spread her legs and force himself into her.

“Get off me, you bastard,” she yelled and tried to gouge his eyes. This seemed to only infuriate the attacker all the more, and he slapped her across the face.

Seeing what was happening, Kevin, oblivious to his injured foot, dropped his camera, jumped on the man’s back, and tried to pull him off. Like a madman, he pounded the assailant relentlessly until he had no choice but to move off Arianna. Miller and his assistant tried to fend off other assailants, but it was a losing battle. Not until the cowardly police finally returned did the gang of attackers take off and run away.

“Are you all right?” Kevin asked, helping Arianna to her feet. He gave her his jacket to cover where her shirt had been ripped away. “Let’s get you to the car.” He tried to walk, but winced and for the first time became painfully aware of the significant injury he’d incurred. “Shit! I think my foot’s broken.”

“Here,” Arianna said, “lean on me. Miller, get his other side.” Together the trio struggled to their car.

No one had escaped injury. All were bruised and bloody and in need of medical attention. They crawled into the waiting vehicle and sped off to the nearest emergency room.

CLEANED UP, stitched up, bandaged, and medicated, the group returned to their hotel hours later. Miller had a swollen lip and a missing tooth from taking a direct hit to the mouth. A goose egg the size of a golf ball was on the back of his head. Kevin limped in with a walking boot. Several of his toes had been broken, and there was a hairline crack in the metatarsal which would take weeks to heal.

Arianna had a stitched-up gash on her forehead, and her eyes had already started to turn black and blue. Her cheek was bruised, and her lip was cut and swollen. But these were only the outward injuries. There was no telling what emotional wounds she had suffered from being groped and nearly raped. Those were invisible wounds which were surely there and certainly significant.

Raul greeted the group, his anguish and rage palpable. He rushed over to Arianna and put his arm around her. “I am so sorry, Arianna. I should have been there. I could have stopped this. That permit thing was totally bogus. It was almost like someone purposely pulled me away from my job. If I ever find out who made that false claim, there’ll be all hell to pay.”

“It’s okay,” Arianna replied feebly, tired, dazed, and in a bit of shock. “You probably would have been hurt, too if you’d been there.” She moved slowly toward the elevator, stopped and wobbled a bit, before nearly passing out. Raul caught her before she fell.

“Oh,” she paused and put her hand to her head. “Wow, I think the pain meds they gave me are making me dizzy.” She leaned on Raul who helped her into the elevator. “The police abandoned us and left us in the middle of all that trouble. I couldn’t believe it.”

“It’s because the police are not safe there, either. I would have stopped things in a hurry. I have a gun, and I would have used it.”

The elevator opened, and they made their way to the room. “That’s just it,” Arianna said, still holding onto Raul’s arm, “if you shot someone then you’d be arrested, and be in even more trouble.”

Raul shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Zach would have seen to that.” He opened the door for her to enter. “You have no idea how high up my clearance goes. They would have never prosecuted me, but it’s a moot point now. Only thing I’m sure of is, someone is going to pay for this.”

Pity the poor bastard once Zach finds him.