Read Online The Trade (A Hans Larsson Novel Book 2) by Chris Thrall - Free Book Online Page B

think of her beloved Bear and her father,
but her mind was too afraid and confused to focus. She prayed with her whole
being for this horrible experience to end.
    As the man finished wrapping a crepe bandage around her
head, securing it in place with a safety pin, he heard Jessica mutter something.
    “What did you say, Maria?”
    “I said my papa’s gonna kill you, you prick !”
    The man felt the almighty impulse to pick the impudent
little pissant up by the ankles and smash her head against the cell wall, and
not to stop smashing until her skull caved in and her brains spread across the
stonework in a satisfying spray of dark-green and yellow globules. But he had
been by his boss’s side for twenty-five years and would be lost without his
protection and guidance. He couldn’t go against his word.
    There was a time in that war-torn place when he did as he
pleased with the innocents, where the only authority was that of the other man,
who was equally if not more sick than he was. But that time had passed, and now
the game had rules, and if he dared break them, the Trade would suffer, as
would he.
    “Strip!” he ordered.
    She looked at him, puzzled.
    “I said strip!” he bellowed. “Take off your clothes!”
    “No!”
    Jessica was horrified. Her parents had always warned her
that this type of behavior was wrong and she must refuse at all costs, despite
the threats made.
    The man thrust his hands out and began to suffocate her
again. Jessica’s legs gave way, and he let her go.
    The man lifted his foot and placed it inches from her head. “I
give you one more chance.” He shook with anger. “Or I smash in your head, you
little pissant.”
    Everything became a blur to Jessica. Without realizing, she
began to sob and, sitting up, pulled off her shorts and filthy T-shirt. Huddling
naked on the floor, she continued to cry and slipped deeper into shock from the
acute embarrassment.
    The man picked up her clothes, grunted and left the room.

- 21 -
    “H ans!”
Penny cast her laptop aside and leapt off the sofa. “What happened?”
    “Sorry, honey. I couldn’t really talk in the cab. Things
just got serious.” He held Penny’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “She’s
alive – but she’s been kidnapped.”
    “Wh-wh—?” Penny burst into tears, Hans holding her in
silence as droplets rolled down his own cheeks.
    “Take a seat. There’s a lot to tell you. But first I need a
drink.”
    Hans went into the kitchen area and pulled a bottle of rum
from the fridge. He poured the amber spirit into cut-crystal tumblers and took
a big gulp before continuing. “There was a woman at the seafront watching us,
an African, who I saw at the marina. I knew it couldn’t be coincidence, so I followed
her to her home. She told me Jessica was picked up floating in her scuba gear by
local fishermen and sold on to people traffickers.”
    Penny listened without interruption, horrified as the truth was
unveiled. “But, Hans, you have to go to the police, surely.”
    “It’s not that simple, honey. It’s not like they can arrest the
boat captain on hearsay. And if he’s not taken into custody, he’ll warn the
traffickers we’re onto them and . . .” Hans shook his head. The ramifications
didn’t bear thinking about. He downed his rum and refilled the glass.
    “But we must do something.What about speaking to
Karen? As the US ambassador—?”
    “No, I need to speak to Muttley again,” Hans replied, having
given his controller an update on the search earlier in the day.
    Hans checked his watch. It would be 10:00 p.m. in Boston. He
took out his cell phone and stabbed at the keypad.
    “Orion, dear boy,” Innes Edridge answered in his stately
Scottish tone.
    “Muttley, the game’s changed.”
    “I figured that,” said Muttley, knowing the special operative
wouldn’t call at this late hour for nothing.
    Hans filled him in on the details in the
short-and-to-the-point manner the organization favored.
    “The way I