“Yes,” Simpson answered. “According to my records, Ms. Faraj had already been with the ministry for several years at that point. My guess is someone in the Union targeted Maleek, or Aazar, because of his connection to Aliyah, figuring they could use that to their advantage.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Alexander tried to absorb this new information. “Right. Well, we can’t be sure she’s not involved in some way. I’ll try to get in touch with her to feel her out, but right now, I’m just a few blocks from the warehouse…” He trailed off, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach as he sped past the JFK/UMass train station and came to a stop just short of the warehouse. He swallowed hard, not wanting to believe what he saw.
“Oh, here we go, sir,” Simpson said. “It appears Martin’s SUV is—”
“At the warehouse,” Alexander answered. “Have you spoken to him and told him where I was going?”
“No, sir,” he responded gravely. “I haven’t made contact with him at all.”
Alexander’s shoulders slumped forward as he put the SUV into park. “That’s what I was afraid of. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on Olivia. Find out where she is and make sure she’s okay.”
Alexander hung up and opened the car door, jumping onto the street. He was torn between wanting to make sure nothing had happened to Olivia and wanting to know why Martin’s SUV was suspiciously parked in front of the warehouse where he believed Melanie was being held. He tried not to worry about Olivia. He couldn’t, not when he was so close to holding his daughter.
He ran to the back of his SUV and opened the hatch, unlocking a large chest containing a small arsenal of weapons. Grabbing a shotgun, he gestured for his agents to follow as he ran up the street toward the warehouse. He was flying by the seat of his pants. He had no plan, curiosity forcing him forward. Why was Martin’s SUV here? Did Martin figure it out before he did? Or was he really involved from the beginning, like Moretti suspected? And where was Olivia?
Slowing to a stop outside a metal door, he held up his hand at the team of agents following him, signaling them to keep back. He brought his hand to the knob, expecting it to be locked. Instead, as he slowly turned it, the door creaked open. Adrenaline coursing through him, he looked at his agents, gesturing with his hands in which direction each pair was to go once they breached. They nodded in understanding. Alexander held up a finger, mouthing, One, two, three, then pushed the door wide.
They poured into the warehouse on nimble feet, two agents going left, two agents going right, Alexander and another agent pushing straight ahead toward the light. The huge space in front of them was filled with row after row of empty shelving racks. Keeping his gun raised, he headed down one row, constantly checking behind him for any sign of movement. He felt like a sitting duck with a target on his back, but he couldn’t stop. He needed to push further. He needed answers. He needed to find his daughter.
Reaching the end of the aisle, he met up with the rest of the agents, all of them shaking their heads to indicate they hadn’t found anything. A hand tapped his shoulder. When he looked at one of the agents, the man gestured behind Alexander toward a set of metal steps leading up to a loft, a lone lamp hanging from the ceiling.
Alexander turned toward the stairs, motioning for the rest of the team to stay where they were for the time being. His heart in his throat, he climbed the stairs, trying to subdue the sound of his shoes against the metal. Stepping onto the landing, his eyes fell on a chair beneath the lamp, a figure holding an open laptop strapped to it, bruises and cuts marring his face, arms, and hands.
When Alexander rushed toward him, the man’s eyes grew wide in fear, moaning through his taped mouth. He halted in his tracks. He had spent the last few decades working beside Martin. When he indicated not to take another step, Alexander knew he needed to follow his command, no matter how difficult it was for him to see his colleague and friend so helpless and vulnerable, absolute horror etched in his eyes.
“You thought you could outsmart me?” a distorted voice cut through.
Alexander shot his eyes to the laptop, a video feed of a house he knew all too well on the screen. A line of men dressed in black with their faces covered, except for their eyes, stood against a set of bay windows. He didn’t know how it happened, but they had found one of his safe houses.
“What are you talking about? What do you want from me?”
“If I were you, I’d choose my words very wisely, Mr. Burnham.”
The camera panned down, showing a line of five girls on their knees.
“No!” he bellowed when he noticed two people who shouldn’t have been at that safe house…Olivia and Melanie. He shook his head, trying to fight off the lightheaded feeling washing over him.
“I’ll always be one step ahead of you, Mr. Burnham,” the voice said, becoming clearer and more feminine. Then a figure came into focus.
“Aliyah,” he muttered through a clenched jaw. When Simpson told him of Aliyah’s relationship to Maleek, he couldn’t think of any reason she would be involved, not after everything she had done for him and his company to help keep those girls safe. None of this made sense. “How…?”
“How what? How could I do everything within my power to uphold the traditions you westerners don’t agree with? These women brought dishonor on their families. It’s my job to make it right.” She approached one of the women and held a gun to her head.
His stomach rolled when he noticed she held a baby in her arms. From Olivia’s stories, he knew exactly who this woman was…Selena.
“No, please,” she begged, tears streaming down her face as she knelt on the floor, clutching the baby to her, trying to shield her son from what was going on. But he knew, his cries becoming loud and desperate. Closing her eyes, she kissed the baby’s forehead, then glanced at the woman to her left. Olivia. “Please, don’t kill me,” she begged, looking back at Aliyah.
“Oh, shut up!” Aliyah barked, her tone cold.
Without blinking, she pulled the trigger. Selena’s body slumped forward. Olivia reacted quickly, grabbing the baby, as the other women screamed and cried. She stared straight into the camera, trying to soothe the baby.
During his time as a SEAL, Alexander had been through countless situations where his life was on the line. He had seen more horrific things than most people could even fathom. But this, watching a woman, a mother, lose her life in front of her own small son… This was more than he could bear.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Melanie’s trembling body as she held the hand of one of the women. It broke him just thinking about what she had witnessed. Parents are supposed to shield their children from the horrors of the world, but Melanie was witnessing some of the worst of the human race with her own two young eyes.