Rendezvous at Silver Lining

B for Bowmen(Trigger warning)

2 months later…

I had to go out the country to follow a lead for a different client, which led me to England. A mother and father contacted me through one of my associates about their missing child. It was a little girl, and a mother sought me after her son went missing. Sadly, she was sick and passed away a few months after he disappeared, but I've made it my mission to find the children, especially that little boy. He needed to know that his mother searched for him up until the very end of her life, and she loved him very much. That was a few months ago, and it's been a little over a year since the children went missing. Whoever took them were either clever or lucky. They'd bounce around between countries, cities, and hell, even continents. This trafficking ring has been around for awhile and the reason it has lasted so long, was due to not having a central location. I'm also sure it has to do with the people who runs it. They have deep pockets to keep people from paying attention or pretending like they don't know. My colleague, Sam, had made a 100% facial recognition on the little girl being last seen in England, which is why I'm here. I found myself in Bakewell, Derbyshire. It's a quaint small town, surrounded by woods and trails. It's the perfect place to hold and hide trafficked victims. Not only is it a wooded area, it could also be seen as a tourist attraction. So, any unfamiliar faces wouldn't raise too many redflags. My first stop was at a pub. It was mid to late afternoon, so it was a little crowded. I walked in and looking every bit like an outsider, I received many quick glances and looks. Unphased, I moved towards the bar closer to the back. There were a few bartenders and all of them were busy. I took up space towards the end of the bar, leaning partly against the wall and bar. I got a message from Sam, saying she needed to speak with me and that it was urgent. I replied in time to look up and see a bartender headed my way.

"What can I do you for?"

"Uh, I actually have to go, but I wanted to know if you seen this little girl around?"

I pulled out my phone and showed a picture of the little girl to the guy and he showed no signs of being able to recognize her.

"No. Sorry. Is she missing? How do you know her?"

He gave me an incredulous look, and I shook my head.

"She is missing. I was told she was last seen in this area. Her parents wanted my help to find her."

His eyes looked sorrowful at hearing my words and gave me an understanding nod. He then spoke up again.

"Well, a few months ago, I started seeing a bunch of new faces around here. I thought they were tourist until I began seeing them way too often. Then, a month or so ago, they all disappeared. I've seen a lot of foot traffic going in and out of those woods during that time. There's an old barn and some farm land, maybe a mile or so up beyond Trevor's trail. Maybe take a peek around there."

I smiled at him and shook his hand.

"Thanks a bunch."

The man smiled and nodded, and I headed out. I called Sam to get some directions.

Phone call:

Me: Yo, Sam. I think I got a lead. Can you look into the forest around here. One of the trails is called Trevor's trail. See if there's a barn or farm land maybe a mile or two up? I was told there were a lot of movements up there the last few months that suddenly stopped."

Sam: OK. Hang tight.

A minute later...

Ok. So there is a huge barn a little pass a mile on the trail if you take a slight right. That path will take you to a winding road that ends. From there, just walk on the grass because the trail stops. After a few feet, you should see some wire fencing, and that's when the barn should be in your sights.

I frowned.

Me: How do you know so much about the barn. I thought there weren't any cameras near by or in those woods?

Sam: There aren't. I'm close by with a drone. I'm already on Trevor's trail. I didn't know you'd be headed up here. I was just tryna stay out the way, but couldn't allow you to go in blind. It's a good thing to.

Me: That's my girl! Alright I'm headed to you now.

Sam: Imma head to the barn. I'll let you in on the information I found out earlier.

Me: Cool. Send those coordinates so I don't get lost.

End of call.

As soon as the conversation was over, my phone dinged, letting me know I just received the coordinates to go to the barn. After some time, I finally managed to get to the barn in question. She had already cut the wire and I'm sure has entered the barn. By the time I got there, Sam already was deep into her information web. I walked over to her and sat on a metal door sitting across from her. I looked around and realized just how big this place was. It had definitely seen some improvements because even though the outside looked like a run down barn, the inside had renovation, like if someone build the inside of the barn to hold people. There were multiple rooms lined up on either side of the barn walls, with beds inside each room. On the top of the barn, it looked as if there was a ledge. They must have kept that from when the barn was a barn and hay was kept up top for storage. I'm gonna assume that the storage space was made into a security bunker to keep an eye out on the people in here. I turned my attention back to Sam.

"Alright. What you got?"

She finally stopped typing and looked up at me with a frown.

"Ahhhh s**t! Whats that face about, Sam?"

"Were too late. The girl and the other people left about a little over 2 months ago. I think they went to America."

I groaned out in frustration.

"The f**k, man! 2 months!!!! We could've just stayed our asses home for all that. What the hell. Why are we just finding this out."

She looked up at me clearly angry.

"Hey! I'm trying here. These fuckers don't stay still and they are covert as f**k. We hardly are ever able to get any photographs of them or spot them on any security camera. s**t, we lucky to have made it this far. Besides, you had me doing some other s**t for your friend. If the girl your friend was looking for was trafficked by the same people, its very likely he could've seen the girl we're looking for now."

I sighed and rubbed my eyebrows together.

"f**k man. s**t can never be easy, can it. Alright, let's get the f**k up outta here then."

I began to get ready to leave when her laptop went off. Sam started to frantically type away as her faced was balled into the deepest scowl. That's when she gasped and I moaned.

"For f**k's sake, Sam. Good news, girl, good news."

She waved me over and I headed towards her.

"Ok. This is what I wanted to tell you. You know how when looking for someone, I made a program to be able to separate the dead from the living."

"Yea, Sam. What about it."

"Well, I decided to try and track the little girls' movement further back and came across something interesting.The man that had the little girl took her from some guy. I don't know if they all know each other or not, but he's hemmed up. Maybe he was trying to get her way from them? I don't know. Anyway, I ran his face through my database and guess what I came up with?"

"What?"

"Nothing. I came up with nothing."

"How can you come up with nothing?"

"That's because I assumed he was alive."

"Hold the hell up!"

I had to pause for a second because what she was saying to me was not making sense in the slightest.

"Are you telling me that man is dead? How can a dead man save a child?"

"They can if they aren't actually dead. I ran his face through my deceased database and guest who popped up?"

My eyes grew big as I stared at her screen.

"This must be them new zombies cause, he sure looks good for a dead guy. And I don't mean recently. I mean, he's been dead for 16 years."

"WHAT!!"

What the hell was going on?

"How the hell has he been dead for 16 years and could still pass for a goddamm GQ model? Where the f**k is his coffin at?"

Sam shook her head and looked back at her screen.

"Yeah well. This is the part I'm afraid of. You see this man next to him. Do you recognize him?"

I took a closer look at the screen and that's when it hit me. All the blood drained from my face.

"Oh.My.God. We gotta go and I mean now."

Sam looked at me confused.

"B. What aren't you telling me? Do you know him?"

I stopped to take a look in here face as fear began to form on it.

"Sam, I saw that man before. He was at Divinity's art gallery opening. We gotta go. I have to speak with Damien."

She and I both started packing up her equipment but before we could we heard another ding from her laptop. She took a quick look at it before jumping up.

"Someone's coming, well, some people. Who did you talk to because they dont look friendly."

I looked back at her confused.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

She quickly turned her laptop around to me.There were men coming up the trail and were pretty close by my judgment.

"I didn't speak with anyone other than the bartender."

"Well, someone who knows the dealings concerning this barn must have over heard you, B. f**k. It's a good thing I placed those hidden sensor devices along the trail closest to the barn but far enough away for us to get outta here. I just sent you the way out. I already looked up an alternative route just incase this happened."

We packed her things away and got the hell otta dodge. She had the sensors linked to not just her laptop but phone so she would still be able to watch the people to make sure we were good. We were far enough away when those men reached the barn in search of me. Thankfully, they didn't know about Sam. Sam and I have been working together for a few years now. I don't call her for every situation, but these cases lately, I've needed more and more of her assistance. She's 5'7, white woman with short, curly, black hair. She had ear rings along her whole ear and a nose ring. She was average build, carrying more weight on her hips than anywhere else. Sam is gorgeous though. She has pretty big brown doe eyes and luscious lips, and this girl is a genius.

We continued our walk to get out these woods as she continued to watch those men. After awhile, they gave up the search and started to head back the way the came. Sam sighed in relief.

"All clear. They're leaving."

"Good. Great job, Sam."

She smiled and nodded but it quickly faded away. She looked at me with concern.

"B. Do you really know who that man is?"

"Yeah. I saw him at her-"

"No. I mean, do you really know who that man is?"

I gauged the fear in her eyes and knew it couldn't be anything good.

"What do you know about that man?"

She opened her mouth to tell me when her phone went off, but this time an alarm sounded and she quickly turned it off. She stopped walking and looked dead at her phone. I kept walking until I realized she stopped. I looked back at her.

"Aye, you good?"

She said nothing and remained frozen. I started to get worried. I walked back to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, Sam. You ok? What's wrong?"

I shook her gently, trying to get her to snap out if it. She looked up at me and then handed her phone to me. I took a look and finally realized what made her stop. My heart dropped to my ass. I couldn't believe what I was reading. The dead but not dead man has a connection to the living.

"That can't be right, can it, Sam?"

I looked at her, begging with my eyes for her to say it wasn't possible, but she gave the answer I knew none of us could hide from, especially Divinity.

"I'm afraid it's right, and what you're reading is correct. I think Divinity is in more danger than we originally thought. We've got to get back home immediately. You need to call Damien and warn him."

We nodded to each other and began joggingunning through our route. I took my personal phone out and turned it on. I received a couple of calls and messages from Damien already and they didn't look to good from what I've read. I sighed.

"This about to be on some bullshit."

My main focus at the moment was to make sure my friend was ok and that meant doing everything I could for Divinity. She made him happy and better and I don't want to see him lose that. I met Divinity. She's literally the sweetest and funniest person I've met, besides me. As much I was doing this for Damien, I'm also doing this for her. And she's gonna need some support after this s**t show that's about to take place. I'm praying to get to them in time, but for some reason, I have this sneaky suspicion that we won't get to them in time.

And that's what scares me.