Seal Team Six Hunt the Wolf(45)
“Do you know what happened to Malie?” Crocker asked.
“She left two days ago with a man named Cyrus.”
The name meant nothing to Crocker.
“Who is Cyrus? Can you describe him?”
“Arabic-looking but dresses European. Around thirty years old. He acted like the nicest one. But he was sick, too. Ask her,” the Ukrainian said, pointing to the girl with the mole, who was wrapped in a blanket and still staring at the floor.
Crocker knelt beside her and asked gently, “What’s your name?”
She didn’t shift her gaze and didn’t answer.
Dorina answered for her. “Justine.”
“Justine looks so young.”
“She’s fourteen. Cyrus raped her, then bathed her. Raped her, then bathed her. Over and over and over.”
“I’m sorry.”
The girl finally looked up and asked, “Why?”
“Because I feel for you and what you’ve been forced to endure.”
She said something in a language Crocker didn’t understand. Dorina translated. “She asks, Why did he degrade me, then bathe me so gently?”
“I don’t know.”
Dorina said, “We were forced to watch everything.”
Crocker looked at Akil, who shook his head in disgust, then asked, “Do you have any idea where Cyrus took Malie?”
“They treated us like animals. Worse than animals.”
“I’m sorry. But that’s over now.”
“What did we do to them?”
“Nothing, Dorina.”
“Nothing.” She twisted up her mouth like she was trying to comprehend the injustice of what had happened.
“Dorina, please. I need you to focus.”
“What do you want?”
“Did Cyrus say where he was taking her? Taking Malie?”
She shrugged. “I think somewhere east.”
They were interrupted by the sound of sirens approaching. EE-OO…EE-OO…Akil hurried outside to look.
The thin Ukrainian girl mumbled something in Russian and pointed to her breasts.
“What’d she say?”
“She said that Cyrus bragged to her,” Dorina answered. “He told her that he’d sold the Norwegian girl for a million dollars, to a sheik, because she had a big chest.”
“A sheik?”
The Ukrainian girl nodded.
“Did this sheik have a name?”
Not that either one of them remembered hearing.
Akil gestured from the doorway and said, “They’re here, boss. Two fire trucks. Half a dozen men.”
Crocker tried to sound gentle and reassuring as he addressed the young women. “The French authorities are here. They’ll look after you. They’ll send you back to your families. Don’t be afraid.”
Dorina smiled ironically, as if to say: What could be worse than what we’ve been through?
The Ukrainian girl muttered one last “Thank you very much.”
He stuffed the DVDs in his pocket and took off in the direction of the lake with Akil at his heels whispering, “Boss, you’re going in the wrong direction. Boss, what are you doing?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Arriving at the approximate spot where he’d seen Rafiq, Crocker removed his shoes, placed the DVDs, AK, and Makarov on the ground, and jumped in.
“Boss…”
The water was cool and thick with algae, no more than six feet deep. It was impossible to see anything, so he felt along the bottom. Mostly silt and rocks. He swam in a circle until his lungs started to burn, then came up for air, which was pungent with the smell of burnt wood.
Flashing blue lights swept the lake and surrounding hills.
Akil looked anxious. “Boss, they’re coming!” he exclaimed in a whisper. “They’re close.”
“I need a minute.”
“Why? What are you looking for?”
Crocker took a big breath and went down again, this time pushing out farther from the shore. He swam as fast as he could with one arm, found something that felt like metal, and came up.
“Boss!”
It had once been the top of a small chest. He tossed it aside.
“Last time.”
Kicking hard, he swept the bottom with both hands this time, over smooth rocks covered with slime. Then he reached something hard and slick. Grabbed it under his arm and pushed to the surface.
It was an Apple laptop. White and a little banged up.
“Let’s go!”
Akil helped him out and pointed to a spot on his shoulder. “What’s that?”
A sliver of wood or metal had created a long gash, he couldn’t remember when. Blood mixed with the water from the lake smeared across his chest.
“It’s nothing,” Crocker said, removing the sliver and finding his shoes, the DVDs, the weapons.