“When will Tatiana and Alia be able to go?” Lily asked as she started up the car.
“I don’t think they’ll be well enough to make it this trip, Lily. Tatiana really needs to rest. That girl is mentally and physically exhausted.” Tatiana had also not spoken a word since the rescue. The girls who had been with her said she hadn’t for a long time, even when “Papa” hit her many times to make her plead. Amber’s heart broke every time she saw the scars on the girl’s body. “Maybe next trip.”
Amber and Lily had been very careful to transport the girls by different routes so they were harder to trace. Those flying out had to be taught how to use their passports and what exactly to say at different embassies, if they were caught. Those who preferred to return to their homes were accompanied to the farthest train stations possible.
“I hope she makes it, Amber,” Lily said quietly. “She…reminds me of my sister. I would love to get her out of here as quickly as possible, to somewhere safe.”
Amber’s responsibility was to get the girls ready, or as ready as possible; Lily was in charge of transportation. Amber had gone on several of these trips, after shutting the café down for vacation, to learn the different routes and meet the networks involved, and was always amazed at Lily’s many connections.
Veza—who one knew to ease away problems—was the most valuable asset besides cash, and in the world of moving people without papers across borders, one needed to know many people at different levels of governmentandcrime. Sometimes, watching how Lily nimbly navigated her way through them, Amber wondered whether there was any line between the two. Four years of doing this had certainly made her even more cynical.
She touched Lily’s arm comfortingly. She had never lost a sister the way Lily had and could imagine how painful it had to be to see these girls and know her sister had suffered the same fate. “I’ll do my best to get her ready,” she said. Privately, she was worried. The girl wouldn’t talk. How was she going to function among strangers?
By the time they reached the last safe house with the deliveries, it was very late in the afternoon. At every stop, Amber checked on the injured girls while Lily talked to those who were ready to leave with her on the next trip. They restocked the place. Amber gave cash to the caretakers, two nurses who had lost their jobs and families in the Balkan wars.
“You must take more away soon,” one of them told her. “Too many girls.”
Amber nodded. The more they took in, the more dangerous the situation. With Brad’s raids, their numbers had almost tripled, and she couldn’t afford to get anyone else involved in the caretaking. Too many people equaled more risk of being discovered. As it was, three safe houses was pushing it. Brad had offered to bring in international medics, but then that would mean reports would filter out. Their operation wouldn’t be a secret anymore.
“Very soon,” Amber agreed.
Lily burst into the room suddenly. “Amber,” she said, her calm voice contrasting her expressive eyes. “Can we talk?”
Amber nodded to the nurse, who went off with a few of the containers. “What is it?”
“I just got a cell call. Dilaver’s men are attacking one of the gangs that have been seizing his trailers.”
“That means—”
“If Dilaver captures them alive, they’ll tell him about selling the girls to me. They’re mercenaries, without much allegiance.”
“But you’ve been careful. Dilaver wouldn’t be able to trace you.”
“Yes, but it’d interest him to know that it’s a woman who’s setting a price on his trailers,” Lily said. Her movements were very measured as she picked up her jacket from the back of the chair. “I have the location and I need to go there.”
“Why?” Amber frowned. “They’re in the middle of firefight and this guy calls you? Isn’t that a bit odd? And what are you going to do in a battle?”
“I said the mercenaries have some allegiance, didn’t I? The man owed me, so he’s doing me the favor of telling me to run before Dilaver comes after me.” Lily shrugged. “I’m not running. I’m going there to take the mercenaries out myself. That way there’s no chance for Dilaver to interrogate them.”
Amber stepped in front of Lily. “Wait a minute. You’re going there alone to…what…take out a whole gang of mercenaries? Lily, you aren’t the Terminator, you know. You’ll get killed.”
“I can’t let this destroy what we’re doing, Amber. It’s an hour’s drive from here. I can take a chance that they’ll still be at it when I get there. All I need is a few grenades.”
“Lily!” Amber shook her head in disbelief. The image of Lily tossing grenades in her short top and heels was stretching her imagination. But she’d had a gunrunner boyfriend…. “No, no, that’s too damn dangerous. We’ll take the chance that Dilaver—”
“No, not with this many girls in our care!” Lily’s expression turned grim. “They’re my responsibility and transporting them will be dangerous if Dilaver sends the word out to look for a woman. Do you have any other ideas?”
There was no way she was going to let her friend drive out into a gang war. Amber racked her brain for an answer. “Cell phone. Cell phone!” She yelled out, snapping her fingers.
“What about my cell phone?” Lily was already buttoning her jacket.
“Let me try getting hold of Hawk. He told me last night his would be on if I needed to call him.”
“He tells you to call while he’s going into a firefight? Come on!”
“Well, he didn’t know he was going to be in one. He told me Dilaver was taking him out to show him the weapon depots and routes. We were joking when I asked about contacting him in case I needed to instant message something…important.”Something sexywas what she had said, actually. Amber went to the counter to get her handbag. “Let me give it a try.”
“I can’t believe it. You’re going to call the guy while he’s running around with a weapon in his hand.”
