Pages 5-10

Interpol tried to seize one of our ships this morning,’ said Andrei. ‘It was a close call but the tide was against them.’

Mohammad was staring out the window. ‘Which ship?’

‘The Núsmas,’ replied Andrei. But like I was saying they failed.’

‘The problem,’ said Mohammad. ‘Is that they got so close. The fact that they were able to track one of my ships. Is my faith in you misplaced Mr Milikov?’

‘The tide was on scene in good time to ensure they didn’t succeed,’

‘And that’s another thing,’ snapped Mohammad. ‘That band of criminals that form your tide squad, get rid of them and hire a professional security detail.’

‘The tide is comprised of the finest men in Somalia,’ replied Andrei.

‘It’s a band of disgusting pirates,’ said Mohammad. ‘They just attract attention. We don’t need any more attention than we already have.’

‘They are loyal men,’ argued Andrei. ‘And they are a cheap form of disposable labour.’

Mohammad rubbed his temple as he always did when he was thinking. ‘Okay, reassign them to Sarhoş, they can be an added protection detail for the girls. But if anything goes wrong I will have the, used to fill up a few empty holes in the quarry.’

Andrei nodded. ‘I will see to it immeditaely.’

‘Good,’ said Mohammad. ‘I also have a problem with the new shipment on The Angel Wings.’

‘What is it?’ asked Andrei.

‘We’re three girls short,’ said Mohammad. ‘Use your contact in South Africa and find the replacements there.’

‘It will be done,’ nodded Andrei.

‘You can get out now,’ ordered Mohammad.

Andrei climbed out the car and it immediately pulled away leaving him standing in the quarry. Andrei climbed in his own car that was parked a few meters away and pulled out his cellphone.

‘Ariyo,’ said Andrei Milikov into the phone.

‘Yes boss,’ replied Detective Ariyo.

‘I need another one from your district,’ said Andrei. ‘They are quite popular with the locals.’

‘I am already working on getting one for you, boss.’ Replied Detective Ariyo.

‘Good,’ said Andrei ending the call.

The weekend had gone by far too quickly for Sophias liking and sooner than she liked it was Monday morning and she was back at school. Sophia hated Mondays, they went by slower than any other day of the week. Sophia sat down to her first lesson and immediately started her countdown to the end of the day.

There were two of them in the car. Obafemi Adenjii and Arikawe Uwa, Obafemi clicked his knuckles loudly, each loud crack adding to the tension in the heat of the car.
'Will you stop that!' spat Arikawe in his heavy Nigerian accent. 'It is almost time.'
Obafemi pulled small container out of his bag and passed it to Arikawe. 'It is just like every other job, better even as she is only twelve.'
'I just want to get this over with and go home,' sighed Arikawe and he pried the lid off the small container and instantly the car was consumed by the strong smell of copper coins. 'I hate the smell, makes me woozy.'
Obafemi smiled. 'Imagine what it will do to her.'

‘Is it safe to use that much on her?’ asked Arikawe.

‘It probably isn’t,’ smiled Obafemi.

Sophia Hartley sat in the back of her classroom with her head resting on her folded arms. It was one fifty-five in the afternoon, five minutes until the bell would ring and she would be free to make her way home. Sophia was twelve years old, same age as everyone else in grade six but she was considerably more mature than most of the kids in her grade, all the teachers loved her and often complimented her parents on how much of a pleasure it was teach. Finally to, Sophia’s delight, the school bell rang and it was time to go. Sophia’s relieved sigh was inaudible over the scramble of everybody packing the bags and laughing their way out of the room. Sophia threw her books into her bag and all but ran out of the classroom. She eventually found her way outside of the school gates, and she took a second to absorb the warmth of the afternoon sun before throwing her bag over her shoulder and beginning her walk home.

The wine glass seemed to fall in small slow motion. Turning slowly so as to avoid Sarah Hartleys outstretched hands as it smashed onto the clean white kitchen tiles. 'Damn!' swore Sarah grabbing a cloth from the counter and wiping up the mess.
'What was that?' asked Alex Hartley from the living room. 'You need a hand?'
Sarah rolled her eyes and threw the glass shards in the bin. 'No thanks, all done.' She rinsed off her hands and went to join Alex in the living room. 'Just fixing up lunch for Soph, she should be home soon.'

'There she is,' pointed Obafemi. Arikawe sat up quickly and looked where he was pointing.
'That’s her?' he groaned stretching his arms. 'She’s pretty.'
'She is not to be touched!' snapped Obafemi. 'But yes, that’s her. Go.'
Arikawe grabbed the wet cloth out the small container, shoved it in his pocket and climbed out the car.

Sophia had her ear phones in and was listening to music rather loudly on her phone. She turned the corner and walked into the park. It was a very hot afternoon and no one was about, save for one car parked on the other side of the road. As Sophia crossed into the park she saw the car door open and a very tall African man stepped out. Sophia immediately knew he wasn't from around the neighbourhood. The man seemed to be watching her, but as she walked passed he turned away and so she paid him no more notice.

Arikawe watched the little girl carefully. They had planned this for two weeks, he knew which point she needed to reach in the park before it was safe to make his move. He counted down her steps towards the fountain. When he got to one, he started walking after her. His long strides accounting for three of hers. In a matter of seconds he was only five or so steps behind her.

Sophia felt the hairs on the back of hair neck stand up. A very slow and cold chill stretching its tentacles down her spine. She stopped the music and immediately heard loud footsteps close behind her. Her heart sped up and she felt very vulnerable. She heard a loud ripping sound behind her and finally gave in to her fear and took off running as fast as her legs would carry her.

Arikawe swore loudly and took off after her. His hand had gotten caught in his pocket and startled the girl, but he was not overly concerned, he was already gaining on her. He pulled the cloth out of his pocket and jumped forward.

Sophia’s throat was raw, she could taste blood in her mouth and already the adrenaline was failing to numb the pain in her legs and chest. She barely had time to scream when the heavy man landed on her. She screamed loudly and kicked out at her attacker, but he was stronger, with one powerful blow to the head he knocked the fight out of her. Before she could cry out again he shoved a wet cloth over her mouth and noise. The cloth smelt and tasted strongly of copper pennies. She had only three seconds to ponder this before she fell back into the beckoning darkness.

Sarah placed the hot frying pan next to the sink to cool down. She quickly rinsed off her hands and put the hot slices of french toast into the microwave. 'Anything from Soph?' she asked as she dropped herself onto the couch next to Alex. 'She really should've been home by now.'
Alex stifled a yawned and felt around for the remote. 'She probably stopped at a friend’s place,' said Alex reaching across to the side table for the remote. 'What's the name of that red head girl she's always seeing?'
Sarah smiled. 'Jillian, of course, she’s with Jillian.'

Detective Babatunde Ariyo was not having a very good Wednesday. It had started at around two o'clock Wednesday morning; he had woken up from a rather nasty dream, a dream in which he was climbing a mountain and as he got to the summit, he found his path blocked by none other than himself. Not only did this dream make no sense to him but it infuriated him daily while he tried to think of a way around himself. In one dream he had pushed himself over but then discovered that as the other him died, so did her. This dream often left him rather shaken, and he often found it hard to return to sleep. Detective Ariyos cell phone rang from within his jacket pocket. He rolled his eyes and prayed it would be good news at last.

‘Ariyo,’ he said into the phone.

‘We’re done sir,’ said a deep male voice. ‘We’re taking her to the half-way house.’

‘Very good,’ replied Detective Ariyo. ‘I’ll be there later.’ He cut the call and smiled to himself. Finally good news.

'She was supposed to be home at three!' snapped Alex. 'Four at the latest! We've checked with all her friends and the local library, she’s not there!'
'I understand you're scared mam,' sighed Detective Ariyo slipping his notebook back in his pocket. 'But these are routine questions, and more often than not the child turns up the next day from a friend’s house. If your daughter has turned up by tomorrow morning, then give us another call.'
'That's not GOOD ENOUGH!' shouted Sarah feeling her tears slowly slipping down her face.
 Captain Ariyo climbed into his car. 'But it's the best we can do, get some rest man, and call us in the morning if she hasn't turned up.'

When Sophia woke up she immediately became aware of three things, none of which she liked. Firstly she was groggy, tired and felt sick. The taste of copper coins was still overpowering her taste buds. She tried to sit up but she was still too weak, the chloroform had not relinquished its hold over her nervous system. She tried to work the grogginess out of her eyes, opening and closing them again and again. When they had cleared enough, she noticed she was in a small dimly lit room. She was lying on a thin blanket in the middle of the room. The only light in the room was emanating from a single light bulb in the ceiling. She looked around the room one more time before giving in to the chloroform once more. She woke after felt like only seconds, but she could tell by the light pouring in through the single, barred window that is was probably late morning. She didn't have much time evaluate the room before the door creaked open slowly. Sophia stood up quickly and for the first time became aware that she was completely naked. She grabbed the dirty blanket off the floor and covered herself best she could as the stranger made their way into the room.

Detective Ariyo entered the room slowly. He closed the door behind him and studied the little girl. She looked younger than most he had seen that year.

‘What’s happening?’ sobbed Sophia.

Before she could ask any other questions Detective Ariyo slapped her hard with the back of his hand. She fell backwards onto the hard concrete floor and cried loudly.

‘Please!’ she screamed. ‘What are you doing?

‘Just inspecting the merchandise,’ he smiled.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked backing away from him slowly.

Detective looked her over once more and then walked back out the door. The girl would do.

‘Get hold of the Muslims,’ he ordered Arikawe. ‘Set up an exchange as soon as possible.’

A man called Peta stood up. ‘Shouldn’t we aaaaah-test drive first?’

Detective Ariyo smiled. ‘Only once.’

Peta walked into the room, he didn’t bother closing the door, he knew the girl would not make it past him to reach it and would be very disappointed by what she found on the other side if she did. ‘Good morning my dear,’ he said almost warmly. ‘Did you sleep well?’

Sophia backed away from him slowly. ‘Where am I?’ she croaked her frightened voice almost inaudible. ‘Who are you?’

 ‘Ah of course,’ smiled Peta snapping his fingers as if he’d just remembered something particularly interesting. ‘You must be swimming with questions. Well I am Peta; I am your doctor, of sorts.’ Peta casually undid his belt and threw it on the floor. Sophia pressed herself against the furthest wall.

‘Please,’ she cried. ‘I wanna go home.’

Peta wiped her tears with his hand. ‘Hush child, you do not yet have a reason to cry.’ He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her towards the ground.

‘Please, I haven’t done anything wrong, I just wanna go home,’ sobbed Sophia struggling against his grip.

‘Brace yourself child,’ said Peta climbing on top of her. ‘The first time can get a little messy.’

‘Does your daughter always walk home from school?’ asked Detective Ariyo. ‘Or was this her first time?’

‘She always walks home,’ grumbled Alex, they had been at the police station since seven that morning; it was now half past eleven. ‘We live barely fifteen minutes away from the school.’

‘Can you tell me which route she usually takes,’ sighed Detective Ariyo who was enjoying this morning about as much as Alex was. ‘So I have better idea of where to start searching from.’

Alex stood up quickly, startling Captain Ariyo into dropping his notebook and pen and swearing loudly. ‘WHY ARE YOU QUESTIONING ME WHEN YOU SHOULD BE OUT LOOKING FOR HER?’ she screamed kicking her chair across the room.

Detective Ariyo picked up his notebook calmly and recomposed himself. ‘I’d appreciate you not destroying my office.’

‘And I’d appreciate you finding my daughter!’ said Alex slamming the door behind her.

It had taken the better part of the afternoon for Detective Ariyo to calm Alex down and get her back into his office.  She had still been rather hostile but for the most part had accepted that the best thing she could do for her daughter right now was to cooperate with him. Detective Ariyo pulled over beside the school. He got out and started off along the route Mrs Hartley had given him. He went straight along the street until he came to the park. The park was not very big, but on either side was an apartment building. But the park itself was obscured from the road by the line of trees on its border. If the girl had been kidnapped, this would be the perfect place to grab her. Detective Ariyo sighed, this meant a long days work was ahead of him. He pulled out his phone and dialled dispatch.

‘Detective, what can I do for you?’ asked Travis the officer on dispatch.

‘I need a forensics team, and some officers for mass questioning,’ ordered Detective Ariyo.

‘Officers are on route.’

Detective Ariyo put away his phone and climbed back into his car.

The afternoon was spent questioning residents of the apartment blocks surrounding the park and the school as well as small business owners in the area.

‘Alright Detective,’ reported Officer Lunda. ‘Last witness left is Mrs Mkhize.’

‘What do we know about her?’ asked Detective Ariyo flipping through his notes.

‘She owns the sweet shop just across from the park, says she saw a suspicious looking vehicle parked outside her store, could be a possible lead