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BLANCHE LA POINTE unlocked the door to her office and tossed her satchel on the desk. It would be strange not having Hakim in the outer office, but she’d make do. There was always someone who wanted to work for the popular relief organization. She’d have to get her story straight before she filed a missing person report for Kadeem Hakim and the security guard. She’d wait until someone from the camp reported Dr. Dahmani missing before doing anything about her.
Although they were only able to recover five of the children, the debacle in the desert did have a silver lining—now she would be able to pick up where she’d left off without Hakim’s meddlesome actions thwarting her every move.
La Pointe walked behind her desk and turned on the lamp. She sat down and rummaged in her purse for her phone. The call she was about to make would take care of two problems: one, it would initialize the first step of her plan, and two, it would tie up a loose end from her last operation. One that she never would have left dangling if she’d been aware of the SHEN operative’s identity. Allowing Chessa’s rescue had been a brilliant move, in more ways than one.
She picked up the phone and dialed.
~ ~ ~
THE NEXT MORNING, AFTER everyone had a good night’s rest, Fatima welcomed the seven children into the SHEN office with her trademark warmth and humor, putting the kids from the refugee camp at ease. Leine and Jinn hung back as Fatima took them through the intake process.
“I’m sad that we weren’t able to find the others,” Jinn said in a quiet voice.
“At least these kids will find homes now.” Leine stared into space, thinking about the five other children now lost to some hellish reality. How was she going to find them? There were no clues to their whereabouts, no threads to pull. Maybe she’d go back to the refugee camp, see if La Pointe had anything to add.
Lou had combed the desert with the drone but lost the other pickup’s trail several kilometers to the east, when the tracks led to a main thoroughfare. White pickups were ubiquitous in Libya and were difficult to differentiate from the air. He’d sent a team to recover the bodies from the crash site. Travis was treated for multiple lacerations at a local hospital and released. He was scheduled to fly back to his home in Los Angeles for some R&R.
Hakim was in a medically-induced coma waiting for the swelling in his brain to go down before doctors attempted to remove the round from his skull. She hoped he’d come out of it sooner rather than later, but that was the surgeon’s call. The assistant director might have information they could use to find the traffickers.
“I think I know a way to find the others,” Jinn said.
“Oh?” Curious, Leine turned to look at her.
“They are looking for children my age, yes? Why don’t I go back to the refugee camp and tell them I’m an orphan?”
“You mean use yourself as bait?” Leine shook her head. “Not a chance, Jinn. It’s too dangerous.”
“But how else are we going to find them?” The anxiety in her voice spoke volumes.
Leine smoothed her hair. “It’s good that you want to help. But I can’t let you do that. Not when you’re finally safe.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t live with myself. You deserve to be a kid—go to school, make friends, and have fun, instead of worrying where your next meal is coming from. You need someone to watch over you and give you a safe place to sleep at night.”
“Then why can’t I go home with you? You would keep me safe.”
Leine gave her a weary smile. “They’d never let me take you.”
“Why not?” Her indignation almost made Leine laugh.
“Because of my job. I’m never home, and neither is my partner, who’s a detective. No one in their right mind would grant me custody. Hell, I wouldn’t grant me custody of a plant, much less a kid.”
“I can take care of myself.” Jinn crossed her arms and sat back in her chair, staring straight ahead, her chin lifted in defiance.
“I know that.” Leine softened her voice. “But you shouldn’t have to.”
They sat in silence. A creeping guilt gnawed at Leine’s insides, no matter what she told herself. You can’t be responsible for every single kid that comes along.
Maybe not, but she could make sure that Jinn was safe.
Twenty minutes later, Fatima finished the last kid’s initial intake.
Leine prodded Jinn with her elbow. “Your turn.”
She frowned and looked from Leine to Fatima back to Leine. “What do you mean? I’m not staying.”
“Why not? I said I’d do everything in my power to find you a good home.” Leine gestured toward Fatima. “This is a great opportunity.”
“You would do this to me?” Jinn stood, her eyes flashing in anger.
“Wait a minute. I’m not ‘doing’ anything to you. I thought this was what you wanted. Didn’t you say something to me about living in France? This is how that can happen.”
“You’re just like the rest.” Unshed tears brimmed in her eyes and she angrily wiped them away. “You never cared about me.”
“Of course I care—” Leine reached toward her.
Stone-faced, Jinn brushed her hand away and marched up to the counter. Fatima smiled and began asking her questions, entering her answers into the computer.
At that moment, the phone in Leine’s pack went off. She fished it out of the front pocket and answered. It was Lou.
“Hey, Lou. When’s my flight?” she joked, glad for the diversion. Why else would he call her now?
“Yeah. About that. You’re leaving at oh eight hundred on the FPS jet. But you’re not going to LA.”
“Wait a minute? What?”
“You’re going to Paris. There’s a situation developing.”
“Okay, then. I guess I’m going to Paris.” Leine had known Lou long enough to understand the word “situation” meant something serious had happened or was about to. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Chessa.”
“Is everything all right? Are her parents there?”
“They touched down at de Gaulle last night. That’s not the problem. Apparently, Chessa slipped away from our team at the hotel yesterday. No one can find her and her parents are upset, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
“That’s not good. Do you think she went to meet the recruiter?”
“Not exactly. Have you checked your burner?”
“Not lately, why?”
“Our people found a note in Chessa’s room that said she would speak to you and only you. Did you give her anything with your number on it?”
Leine tensed as another bad feeling came roaring back to settle in the pit of her stomach. What’s Chessa doing?
“I gave her one of my cards like I usually do, and told her to contact me if she needed to talk. Hold on—let me check the phone.” Leine rummaged in her pack for the burner phone she’d been using to communicate with the SHEN office while she was in Tripoli. She drummed her fingers on the armrest while she waited for it to boot up.
The screen resolved, showing that she’d received a text. She opened the app and read Chessa’s message. “Oh, shit, Lou.” She read it to him.
Leine. I’m in trouble. They’re going to kill my family if I don’t do what they say. I told them I was afraid, but they don’t care. I don’t know how long I can hide. I don’t want my parents to DIE. Please help me! C.
Leine sent a reply:
I’m on my way. Where can I meet you?
She checked the time. She had less than an hour to make the FPS flight.
“I’ve got to run,” she said to Lou. “The plane leaves in less than an hour.” She glanced at Jinn, who was still talking with Fatima. “Can I ask you to personally take care of one of the new cases?”
“Is it the girl who called me from the sat phone?”
“That’s the one. Her name is Jinn and she’s an amazing kid.”
“I’ll make it a priority. I’ll call Fatima as soon as we’re finished talking. Keep me posted as soon as you land in Paris.”
“Will do.”
She ended the call and turned off the sat phone, keeping the burner on in case Chessa responded.
Fatima looked up from her computer and smiled at Leine. “We’re finished. Would you like to say goodbye to Jinn?”
Leine nodded and stood up as Jinn turned around. The look on the kid’s face sent a spear of guilt through her heart: betrayal, anger, and hurt were all rolled into one in her expressive brown eyes.
“I just spoke to Lou and I have to leave.”
Jinn nodded stiffly, her mouth a tight line.
“I also asked him to take a personal role in your case. He’ll do right by you, I promise.”
The girl didn’t say anything.
Leine knelt down so they were eye to eye. She took both of her hands in hers. “Remember the chatroom you and I talked about when we were at the house in the desert?”
She gave a tiny nod.
“Good. If you ever need me, any time, about anything, you send me a message there, okay? I’ll get back to you just as soon as I can.”
Jinn stared at her without saying anything.
Leine sighed and pulled her into an embrace. Jinn held herself rigid and didn’t return the hug.
“Well, if that’s the way it’s going to be.” She released the girl and rose to her feet. “Take good care of her, will you, Fatima?”
Fatima smiled warmly at Jinn and nodded. “You know I will, Leine.”
With one last look at Jinn’s unyielding expression, Leine turned and walked out the door.