were large
hotbeds for human trafficking activity, but he temporarily opted to
exclude them, as the area was mostly agricultural and the slavery
predominately bonded labor. Certainly not the location for the
world’s elitist playboys and terrorists to arrange for a lavish
pleasure slave auction.
Fuck! It was going to be a very long
night.
Matthew checked his watch
and decided to order his dinner before his favorite Chinese
restaurant closed for the night. He was practically salivating over
the thought of garlic noodles and crunchy eggrolls. There had been
a time when he’d have ordered for two, but
it had been nearly a year since he’d had a partner to share the
long investigative hours with; these days, he worked alone. It was
just as well since he wasn’t really good with people. He was much
too honest and people just didn’t appreciate him for it.
He was good at his job and people respected
him, but it didn’t mean they jumped at the chance to work with him
or wanted to go out for beers after work. Still, they did what he
asked them to do and he couldn’t fault them. If he’d asked one of
the analysts to stay behind and help him do some research, they’d
have begrudgingly done it and kept their disparaging remarks to
themselves until the next time they found themselves in better
company.
Matthew had asked for a special task force
to assist on the case. There was a potentially short turn-around
and the possibility of an international incident if they had a raid
in Pakistan. Still, his boss refused to get a decent task force
together unless Matthew had concrete proof suspected terrorists and
political targets would be at the auction.
If he didn’t know any better, he’d accuse
the Bureau of purposely letting this case fall between the cracks.
Olivia Ruiz’s face was splashed all over the news, complete with
grainy surveillance and camera-phone videos of her standoff with
the border patrol. Something like that didn’t go away easily.
He scrolled through the
information he had available on Muhammad Rafiq and his accomplices.
He was a Pakistani military officer and a high ranking one. He had
fought beside U.S. forces as part of the coalition during Desert Storm . He was
highly decorated and was rumored to be very close to the former
Major General who assisted in the 1999 coup that overthrew
Pakistan’s president. In short, the man had some very powerful
people in his circle.
If he wanted someone dead, he couldn’t
imagine it would be difficult for him to carry it out. Of course,
he would have to do it without embarrassing himself or his
superiors in front of the international community. Could his
involvement be the reason the Bureau was hesitating on attacking
this case full force?
Matthew picked up his pen and wrote down a
list of things he needed to gather information on: military bases
in Pakistan, air strips near or on such bases, customs locations
and refueling stations. One thing was for certain, Rafiq wouldn’t
be flying in or out through commercial means, he’d need a private
plane, one that wouldn’t have to contend with customs officials. It
wasn’t much, but it was a start.
The intercom buzzer startled him. His food
had finally arrived. He took the elevator to the first floor and
met the delivery guy, gave him a healthy tip and trudged back
upstairs to enjoy his greasy, delicious treats.
Several hours later, Matthew decided to call
it a night and drive back to his hotel. He planned on getting up
early in the morning and going to visit Olivia in the hospital
again. She’d be expecting news on her request to join the witness
protection program and he had no additional news to offer, but he
still needed to get the rest of her statement.
If her information delivered the results he
had proposed to his superiors, her request would likely be granted,
but not for the right reasons. What the girl needed was justice.
She needed the men responsible for her kidnapping, rape, and
torture to pay for
hotbeds for human trafficking activity, but he temporarily opted to
exclude them, as the area was mostly agricultural and the slavery
predominately bonded labor. Certainly not the location for the
world’s elitist playboys and terrorists to arrange for a lavish
pleasure slave auction.
Fuck! It was going to be a very long
night.
Matthew checked his watch
and decided to order his dinner before his favorite Chinese
restaurant closed for the night. He was practically salivating over
the thought of garlic noodles and crunchy eggrolls. There had been
a time when he’d have ordered for two, but
it had been nearly a year since he’d had a partner to share the
long investigative hours with; these days, he worked alone. It was
just as well since he wasn’t really good with people. He was much
too honest and people just didn’t appreciate him for it.
He was good at his job and people respected
him, but it didn’t mean they jumped at the chance to work with him
or wanted to go out for beers after work. Still, they did what he
asked them to do and he couldn’t fault them. If he’d asked one of
the analysts to stay behind and help him do some research, they’d
have begrudgingly done it and kept their disparaging remarks to
themselves until the next time they found themselves in better
company.
Matthew had asked for a special task force
to assist on the case. There was a potentially short turn-around
and the possibility of an international incident if they had a raid
in Pakistan. Still, his boss refused to get a decent task force
together unless Matthew had concrete proof suspected terrorists and
political targets would be at the auction.
If he didn’t know any better, he’d accuse
the Bureau of purposely letting this case fall between the cracks.
Olivia Ruiz’s face was splashed all over the news, complete with
grainy surveillance and camera-phone videos of her standoff with
the border patrol. Something like that didn’t go away easily.
He scrolled through the
information he had available on Muhammad Rafiq and his accomplices.
He was a Pakistani military officer and a high ranking one. He had
fought beside U.S. forces as part of the coalition during Desert Storm . He was
highly decorated and was rumored to be very close to the former
Major General who assisted in the 1999 coup that overthrew
Pakistan’s president. In short, the man had some very powerful
people in his circle.
If he wanted someone dead, he couldn’t
imagine it would be difficult for him to carry it out. Of course,
he would have to do it without embarrassing himself or his
superiors in front of the international community. Could his
involvement be the reason the Bureau was hesitating on attacking
this case full force?
Matthew picked up his pen and wrote down a
list of things he needed to gather information on: military bases
in Pakistan, air strips near or on such bases, customs locations
and refueling stations. One thing was for certain, Rafiq wouldn’t
be flying in or out through commercial means, he’d need a private
plane, one that wouldn’t have to contend with customs officials. It
wasn’t much, but it was a start.
The intercom buzzer startled him. His food
had finally arrived. He took the elevator to the first floor and
met the delivery guy, gave him a healthy tip and trudged back
upstairs to enjoy his greasy, delicious treats.
Several hours later, Matthew decided to call
it a night and drive back to his hotel. He planned on getting up
early in the morning and going to visit Olivia in the hospital
again. She’d be expecting news on her request to join the witness
protection program and he had no additional news to offer, but he
still needed to get the rest of her statement.
If her information delivered the results he
had proposed to his superiors, her request would likely be granted,
but not for the right reasons. What the girl needed was justice.
She needed the men responsible for her kidnapping, rape, and
torture to pay for
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