Operation: Austin

Chapter Two Part Two

As they walked down the concourse, he was studying her casually. She had a smooth stride, but there was some hitch in her movement. Bruising, he thought. The fuckers probably didn’t leave much untouched. He found himself wondering how far her abuse went. His anger was heating again, and he needed to press it down and focus. He needed to concentrate so they would safely get to his sedan and head east out of town.

The T-shirt and jeans were new; he figured that was John’s doing. Her shoes were older but in good shape: two-inch slingback heels. They were dressy. Her hair was beautiful, somewhere between a light honey brunette and a dark blonde. It fell, unstyled but full of body, to just below her shoulders. Not wearing sunglasses, she carried an over-the-shoulder purse that showed some wear but matched the shoes. It was stylish but not expensive.

He decided she probably shopped at Target or Ross, maybe Kohl’s, so a stop at Target in Yakima would be the right place to get some clothes. He liked what he saw very much. Given some time to heal, he might have seen this girl in a bikini modeling shoot in Tahiti or the Maldives.

He had been trying to avoid being obvious as he studied her. Conversely, she looked at him blatantly, scanning him from bottom to top. Her appraisal rested when she reached his eyes. With a soft tone and an embarrassed expression, she said, “Thank you for picking me up. I’m sorry I look so bad.”

He gave her a casual nod. “Don’t give it another thought. We don’t have far to walk; then we will take a taxi out of the airport,” he offered, letting her know that whatever pain she was in wouldn’t be drawn out.

“You didn’t drive?” she asked nervously while trying to sound casual.

He looked at her and smiled, trying to assuage the nervous fear that was not far below her surface. “Not into the airport,” he answered. “Airport parking is too controlled, and there are too few exits. I parked offsite; we will take a taxi ride and then an Uber before we get to the car.”

He watched her eyes for an indication of what she was thinking. “Paige, you are safe. We are the best in the world at this. Nobody can track you or hurt you again. From now on, you have a team of dangerous people on your side. They would have to kill us to get to you, and that is not going to happen.”

Her next look, a slight nod, told him she understood. She had seen the outcome of their work in Vegas. Then she looked at him, her bruised and broken smile sealing his fate, and he felt an emotional click as her vulnerability synchronized with his need to be a hero. It was obvious from her wince that she paid a price in pain to give him that smile, and he valued it immensely as a result. Quickly, she glanced away, though, not sure how to trust someone after what she had been through.

Damn, this girl is beautiful, he thought. John, what did you get me into here?

Something about her was magnetic. Her smile, even with bruised and cracked lips, was wonderful. Even dulled with caution, her eyes drew him in. He wanted to help bring a sparkle back to those eyes. He could feel it. Even with the age difference, he felt the slide of his heart, and as they walked together, shoulder to shoulder, he liked the way she felt beside him.

“Thank you,” she said softly, looking straight ahead. Then, with a pause, she asked, “What’s in the pack?”

He slightly raised it in his hand. “I brought it so it would look like you were coming off a flight, back from vacation.”

She nodded, appreciating the level of detail he anticipated.

Approaching the ground transportation area, he told her that when they were in the cab and then the Uber, they needed to make it seem like she was headed home from a trip where she had taken a tumble. “The story is, I’m your uncle, come to pick you up at the airport because you were hurt in a surfing accident in California. It is important that you not talk more than in short replies.”

“When we get into the cab,” he continued, “we are going to a nearby hotel. From there, we will call an Uber to take us to where I have the car parked. Does that make sense so far?” He waited for her to nod her head. “It will be okay, just play off what I say. Don’t talk to the drivers; let me take care of that.”

She gave him another crooked smile. “Uncle Gary. huh. I can do that.”

As they walked out into the sunlight, they could feel the contrast between the heat and the air conditioning inside. He glanced at his watch: 10:48 a.m. The sunlight was bright in her eyes, and as she squinted, he saw it hurt. She winced twice. Once for the sun, then a second time because of the pain from her injured eye. He waved to a Blue Taxicab waiting in the back of a line. “When we stop to get you some clothes, you can pick out some sunglasses.”

She glanced his way. “I don’t have any money,” she said bashfully. “They took my cash. I do have a savings account with some money in it, but John said I shouldn’t get it; someone might find out.” Her vulnerability was written on her face. Beating her was bad enough, but while they were punching and kicking her, they also took whatever feeling of confidence and control she had. “John said we didn’t have time to look around. I was lucky to see my purse as we ran out of the house, so I just grabbed it. My wallet was still there, but I had $140 in it, and they stole that.”

He gave her a smile that he hoped would be reassuring. “Don’t worry about that. You’re covered; we’re going to do some shopping on the way home, and I plan on making John pay for it. This is going to be fun. They probably left your documents there because they planned to use them to transport you, maybe out of the country. I’m a bit surprised you had a passport.”

She nodded. “I thought I would need to be able to travel on modeling assignments. Jenny said there were always opportunities for bikini contests and photoshoots. It sounded so exciting.”

It was a story he’d heard before. “She was most likely planning on filling an overseas order from the beginning. You and the other girl were targeted.”

She looked at him with a new understanding. “They do that? Look for someone so specific, I mean. Are they that deliberate?”

It was his turn to nod sadly. “More than you have any idea, yes. It’s a business for them, and they are extremely good at it. Girls are just a commodity, like peanuts or blue jeans. They get an order for a girl or boy with a specific age, look, and shape, and they search social media and start grooming the victim. I’m just happy we got to you in time.”

He could tell that the topic was an unhappy one for her. “I’m sorry,” he added. “Let’s change the subject.”

By that time, the cab had worked its way over to them. Gary put his right hand gently in the small of her back, with the pack in the other hand. “Remember, for the next few minutes, we need to play our parts, okay?”

“Sure. No problem, Uncle Gary,” she said in a fake childlike voice. She smiled again, then added. “I just won’t talk much.”

He found himself thinking he could get used to her smiling at him.