Chapter 7

"Here she is," Albert said pointing at a beat up old sedan.

"Perfect," I told him.

It was. It wasn't so beat up that it would stand out on the road, but wasn't new enough to be noticed either. It looked like thousands of other cars driving America's roads, and it would blend in nicely.

"Will it trace back to you?"

"Nah, I was fixing it for a guy I know in town. I'll tell him something bad happened to it, and set him up in a nicer ride. He won't mind, as long as he gets the title in his name. I still have a few weeks 'till I need to talk to him about it, so the tags will be clean for that long."

"I owe you big time, Albert."

"Well you owe me for the cost of this car, that's for sure."

"Look at you, starting a business and getting all mercenary."

"Son, I was mercenary long before I left the Army. Doesn't pay to do favors for free."

I laughed and said, "True enough. And I still owe you even after I pay for the car."

"Sure as hell do."

"And I need one more thing."

"Jesus, Taylor, do you ever stop asking for favors."

"Eventually. I pulled a piece off one of the Russians, but I don't want to walk around with a hot gun on me when I go meet the feds."

"You need a weapon?"

"No, I have a gun, but I need some ammo. I prefer to make as few stops as possible while I have Renata with me."

"Yeah, I can fix you up."

"Thanks, Albert. I swear that's the last favor I need."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let me get you the keys and what not."

Inside, Albert took the Russian's gun from me, and handed me a box of 9mm rounds from a gun safe located at the back of his shop, along with a set of keys.

On the way out to my 'new' car he stopped me and said, "Watch your ass, Taylor. I remember these guys from that stint we did with the Russians. They can be nasty."

"I'll be careful."

We shook hands for a long moment before he let go and I started to walk away. I was surprised when Renata stepped past me and kissed Albert on the cheek.

"Thank you for helping us," she said before turning and walking to the car.

I swear a smiled creased that old curmudgeon's face. I gave him a nod and hopped into the car, pulling out of his lot. There was an off chance the Russians or someone was tracking that SUV; but if I knew Albert, he would have the thing pulled apart and scattered into pieces, in no time. If someone did show up, they would regret it.

I had grabbed our map before we left, and picked a random mid-sized town several hours drive to the north. I wanted somewhere we could disappear into the populace. I had agreed to not leave Renata with Albert, but she was still not coming with me to the meet. The odds of her getting grabbed there, were much greater than if I put her up in some no-named motel.

Once we got to whatever motel I was going to have her hole up in, I would need to get some sleep. It was mid-morning, and I was coming up on a day and a half since the last time I'd slept. Put on top of that, the come down from the adrenaline high of the firefights and the emotional drain of seeing Claire yesterday, and I was feeling pretty well spent.

While we drove, there was more information I needed from Renata. The conversation also would help keep me from nodding off.

"Tell me about what happened leading up to the ambush in the street," I asked her. "How did you two end up there?"

"After I meet with FBI, they put me in house with agents. They would come and ask questions every day."

"Questions about what?"

"About what I had heard. They wanted places, names, and dates I could remember. They asked many questions about Yuri. They would sometimes bring lawyers with them."

"Probably federal prosecutors."

"After several days, they introduce me to lady Marshal. The Agents tell me that they have the information they need, but I must tell same information at trial. They tell me they have arrested Yuri, and I am to be going with lady Marshal to a safe place until it is time for trial. This was last night. She drives me to safe house outside of city, but when get close, she sees black auto's sitting outside of house. She says it isn't right and keeps driving. One of the autos has someone in it and it chases us. We drive back into the city, and she calls man on phone, tells him Yuri's men are finding us."

"They chase us for a long time, and we lose them. She is still talking to man on phone when black auto turns corner in front of us. Marshal hit brakes hard, so we do not crash. Two men start get out and begin to fire at her. You know rest."

"So you lost the guy following you, and then one just appeared out of nowhere."

"Yes."

"What was the Marshal saying on the phone?"

"She was talking to boss, saying where we were and asking for a new safe house."

"Did she tell him exactly where you were?"

"Yes."

"Did she say anything else?" I asked.

"She said it was happening again."

"What did that mean."

"I do not know. I hear only her side of conversation. She said that, and then man on the other side talk for a while. Then she say she is not going 'to lose this one'."

"Interesting."

We both fell quite for a little while, thinking.

"Talk to me for a little while," I told her. "I am pretty exhausted, need help staying awake."

"Ok. You were in military with this Albert we meet?"

"Yes, many years ago we served in the same group. In Russia, in fact."

"You were in Russia?" she asked, sounding animated.

"For a little while. We were doing joint missions with the Russian Army in Russia and Eastern Europe. It's where I met people like Yuri, before. Albert was on his way out of the Army, and I was just starting up."

"He must be very good friend, to do all the things you ask."

"It's different than that. We are friendly, sure, but until he visited me in the hospital, we hadn't talked for a long time. But for people who have served in combat together, it is different than just friendship. It's hard for someone who hasn't served to understand. But it's more like family."

"You were in hospital."

"For a long while. Several years ago I was deployed in Afghanistan and was captured. They held onto me for three years before I escaped. I was pretty dinged up, both from my time in captivity and the escape, and had to spend almost six months getting put back together."

"That's terrible," she gasped. "How did you escape?"

"They made a mistake and I exploited it. Mostly I was just lucky."

"I'm sorry to hear this."

I gave a shrug, saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

She nodded and fell silent again. Who was I to complain really? Sure my time in the desert had been tough, but this girl had been through hell. I had heard stories and even sat through a few detailed briefings on the activities of traffickers operating out of Russia and Eastern Europe. Even with that, I couldn't image what it was like as they 'trained' these girls.

It compared or even surpassed what happened to me. And then they are put to work. It must be soul crushing.

"Tell me about what it was like before you were taken away. What was home like?" I asked her, partly because I found I liked her and partly because the distraction would keep me awake.

"It was wonderful. Dubitsa is very small place. Everyone is friendly with everyone else. People do not move away often, so we all know of each other. It is like, very large family. Actually, many of us are are being related to each other. My father, he has small sheep farm outside of town. It not make so much money, but they were happy. I went to village school and my mother teach me English at home. Before she met my father, she traveled very much and had made friends with a man from England, who taught her English. She think it a good skill, and teach it to me and my brother."

"You have a brother?" I asked. Partly because I enjoyed getting to know her and partly because focusing on what she was saying was keeping me awake.

"I have two brothers and a sister. One is older than me, the other two are twins, but much younger. We were poor, but made enough to feed my family. But my mother, she become pregnant again. With two more mouths, it is very hard on us. My brother join Army and sends back what money he can. That is why I thought of getting job."

"You said they told you they were looking for nannies. Where did you hear about them?"

"My friend, Irina, she knew of them. She told me just before she left for job to become secretary in Germany. Now, I am afraid she did not go to Germany."

"I hate to say it, but she probably didn't. Not if she gave you these guy's number."

"Yes, I have thought of her sometimes. I do not believe I will ever see her again."

"No. But you can see your family again. Once this is over and Yuri's convicted, I'm sure you can talk the feds into getting you home. Unless you want to stay in America."

"Home would be good. You have been very nice to me, but I do not think I want to stay in America. It has not been so good to me."

"Every country has its bad guys. Don't judge us all by them."

"I guess. What about you? Do you have family? Wife?"

It was like a shot in the heart. All this non-stop excitement and plotting to stay alive had pushed Claire to the back of my mind. With one innocent question the pain of losing Claire was back.

"No," I said and paused, forcing the anger and sadness down, out of my voice. "No, I'm not married. I was an only kid and my parents died in a car cash a long while ago. No, it's just me, all by myself."

"Where did you grow up?"

"I grew up in Kansas. My mom was a school teacher and my dad was the mailman. It was really ... normal. We weren't rich, but we weren't poor. By the standards of many countries I guess we were rich."

"And you became soldier?"

"Yeah, I was going to a community college and working odd jobs. I honestly had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. Just about the time I finished my basic first two years, and needed to start thinking about changing to a four year school, 9/11 happened. I don't know, it was like something clicked. Here I was looking for something to do with my life, and that happened. It felt like I was being called, or whatever. I know it sounds cheesy."