CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"Where are the new batch of girls?" asked Yulia. Her voice was always so soft, so quiet, many had a hard time hearing her. Except when she totally lost her cool. Then, she was completely unreasonable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

"They're in the house across the pasture," said the guard. "We've got five men on them, but there's no need for more right now. They're all young and scared, less than fifteen."

"Any younger than ten?" she asked casually.

"Two. Nine and ten. We've given the men orders not to mark them. They're spoken for. They know what will happen if they touch them."

"Good. Be certain that they don't fuck up. Where is my ex-husband?" she asked. She didn't really care where he was, but she liked to keep tabs on him so that she could be certain he wasn't screwing her over once again.

"Still in Florida at the mansion there," said the man.

"Alright. Good."

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying so. You could do all of this without him. Our team could make sure we pick up the slack on everything he currently handles for you."

"I appreciate that, but Krauss and I have an agreement. For the time being, I have to abide by it. I don't know the technical aspects, and he doesn't understand the connections I have with Russia."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Richard?" He turned to stare at the woman. "Thank you."

He was so shocked he wasn't sure how to respond, just nodding at her as he left the room. He made his rounds with all of the men on the property, driving the thirteen square miles of the island.

Several small hotels were on the island but knew to never allow their guests to come near the private property at their end. As he reached the gates of the compound, he pressed the button to allow him in, but nothing was working. Looking up at the mansion ahead, he noticed there were no lights.

"What's going on? Why aren't the gates working?" he asked through his walkie-talkie.

"We're not sure. The tech guys said something interfered with all of it. The computers, phones, alarm system, everything is down. Even our cell phones. The walkies are working because they're battery operated."

"Start the generators," said the man.

"The generators were destroyed in the last storm of the winter. We needed to buy more, but she didn't want anyone to leave the island."

"Fuck!" he snapped. "I'll be right there."

By the time he got back to the massive mansion, Yulia was in utter panic. She was pacing the floors with two flashlights in her hands, stopping every few moments at the windows to stare outside.

"Yulia, it's just a power outage," said Richard.

"No. No, it's more than that. I can feel it," she said. "My father's enemies are here. It's them, or Krauss has finally decided to kill me!"

"Yulia, remain calm. Please. One of our tech people can fix it."

"He said he can't. The little one. Simon. He said he can't. The other one isn't here today."

"Okay. Just remain calm. I'm going to go to the mainland and find someone that can fix all of this."

"No! No, you can't leave me!" she said in a panic.

"Alright. I won't leave you," said Richard. "I'll send two of the other men. I'll be with you, and everything will be alright."

She nodded her head, pacing back and forth with her trusty flashlights. Richard called two men on the walkie and ordered them to take the boat to the mainland and find someone good.

Immediately.

Code watched the screens as the drones flew above the island and its mansion on the southern end. He had the exact count of men and a sense of how large the mansion was. But when he checked the heat signatures, he saw no women in the home other than one.

"Across the field," said Ace. "There. That's a farmhouse or something."

Code nodded, steering the drone toward the other building. As he scanned for live bodies, he looked up at Ace.

"A dozen, maybe more. Young females, at least two are just children."

"How many men?" asked Ace.

"Four. No, five."

"Trak? You read?" said Ace.

"Yep."

"We've got at least a dozen young girls in a farmhouse across from the mansion. Five men inside. Once we get on the island, they're going to be watching us. Get the girls out before they even know they're gone."

"I know."

"I know. I know, he says," smirked Ace. "Alright, Code. Let's unplug them."

"In five, four, three, two, and one," he said, looking across the river as the entire compound went dark. "Now what?"

"Now, we wait until they come and pick us up. We'll be standing right here waiting for our yacht ride," said Ace, standing outside the van. "After all, what do two geeks know about changing a flat tire."