Page 19 of Unspoken Passions

“Take it off!” she yelled, furious now.

Ella jumped, but didn’t move. “Don’t you need to get your product out of here?” she prompted, not sure what product they were referring to, but assuming it was some sort of illegal drug stash. “I know that Mick must be frantic about now and is already searching for me. The sooner you get your threats to him, the faster he can comply.”

The woman’s hands dropped to her sides and she opened and closed her fists. Ella wondered if the itch to slap her was returned.

“She’s right, Aida,” one of the men murmured. “The faster we get out of here, the faster we can move on to another city. We have a site already picked out.”

Ah. Aida. Good name. Pretty. Too bad it didn’t fit the evil woman who spun around, ready to lash out at the brute of a man who had dared to agree with Ella.

“Don’t ye dare forget tha’ we’re getting Liam out as well!” she spat at him, then turned, pointing a red-tipped finger at the others. “Liam is coming with us! He’s the brains behind this operation. Without him, ye’re all just a bunch o’ thugs with stupid product!”

The men shifted, obviously angry, but none of them spoke up against the woman.

Ella took advantage of her distraction to look around, trying to figure out an escape route. The doors appeared to be steel and rusty, which would make them loud when she opened them. So stealth wasn’t an option. The windows were high up on the walls, well outside of her reach, so that probably wasn’t a practical route either.

Maybe there was a ventilation system that she could crawl through to escape? She looked around, trying to be surreptitious. She didn’t see any vents, but maybe they were behind the boxes over to her left.

“Take her picture and send the message!” Aida ordered. “I’m going to check on the merchandise.”

“We don’t have customers today, do we?”

She swung around. “No, ye eejit! It’s too hot right now! Everyone is looking for us!” She gestured furiously to Ella. “That’s why we got her!”

And then she walked out, disappearing through another door. This one wasn’t steel so that might be an option.

Before she realized what was happening, the big guy took her picture and Ella glared at the camera, hoping to show Mick that she wasn’t cowed.

Chapter 10

Mick read the message and forgot how to breathe for a moment.

“What is it?” Bobby asked, instantly alert.

Mick turned his phone around, showing Bobby the message. “We have three hours to deliver Liam McCary in exchange for Ella. Once they have Liam in their possession, they’ll promise to drop her off at an undisclosed location once they are safely out of the county.”

Bobby’s jaw tightened. “Well, the bad news is now we know that red isn’t Ella’s color.”

Mick glared at the younger man. “And the good news?”

Bobby jerked his head at the message. “The good news is that we now know exactly where they are,” he pointed out with grim determination. “That’s the old bauxite mine processing factory.” He pointed to the torn up bags behind Ella. “See that company label? That’s definitely the bauxite company’s label.” He looked at Mick and continued. “The miners left the area a long time ago. The area around that warehouse is all farmland now.” He paused, scratching his head. “It’s actually a perfect place to hide a large group of women and an illegal operation. The warehouse looks abandoned, but because of the multiple phases the industry went through as well as the storage capacity of the factory, there would be a lot of places to hide parked cars.”

Mick blinked at the deputy for a long moment. Then he spun his phone around and stared at the picture again. “I only focused on Ella just now,” he admitted, his voice raw with the emotions roiling inside of him. He pulled the phone closer, “But now that you mention it, you’re right. This is the old factory!” He punched Bobby’s arm. “Excellent eyes!”

Immediately, Mick turned back to the table. “Pull up the map of the old bauxite factory!” he ordered.

Everyone jerked into action. Maps were on one screen, satellite images on another. The FBI headquarters in Washington, DC was on the line offering assistance and Mick even called in the county’s SWAT team leader. As new information was discovered, it was called out to the group.

Twenty minutes later, with the head of the SWAT team in charge, they had a plan.

“Okay, let’s move out!” Mick ordered. Everyone moved towards the door, ready to leave the room except for two FBI agents who would remain behind and coordinate with the drones that were already in the air, flying over the area to get better images of the warehouse. The drones would track anyone who left the factory during the operation.

Everyone hurried out of the conference room with a sense of urgency and determination. No one knew how many women were held at the factory. They might even be gone, although the drones that had been flown out a half hour ago were hovering within sight of the place and the same four vehicles were still parked by the south entrance.

“Sheriff!” an agent called out, just as he was about to follow the others.

“What is it?” Mick demanded, impatient to get over to the factory and find Ella. He needed to see her, to make sure she was okay.

“There’s a strange truck heading towards the site, sir,” the woman explained, pointing to the image on the screen. “It looks like…” she paused, squinting at the screen.

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