Page 51 of Dangerous Protocol

“Isla, honey, can you tell us what happened the day you went to meet the person who called themselves Samantha?”

Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened.

“How … how did you know about Samantha?” She looked from him to her mom.

“I found your messages on Kids Chat,” Maya said. “When I got home from the shop, I searched the cottage looking for you and saw the laptop in your room.”

An embarrassed blush crept across their daughter’s cheeks, and she tilted her chin down.

“I was frantic and ran to the park.” Maya held Isla’s hand. “By the time I got there, you were already gone.”

“I’m sorry, Mom.” Her chin quivered. “I thought I would be home before you finished at the shop. I never should’ve snuck out.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe.” Maya sat forward and kissed her cheek.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Jeffrey shifted around and folded one knee on the bed.

“I got to the park, to the spot where Samantha—” Sadness and hurt crept into her face as the realization hit her. “Samantha isn’t a real person, is she? And she didn’t really want to be my friend.”

“No, honey, I’m sorry, she’s not.” Jeffrey hated everything about this.

“It was just the person after Mom tricking me?” Thanks to Nadim Al-Mansoori, Isla was learning a painful lesson about the world. He had stolen away her youthful innocence and naivete.

“I’m afraid so.” Maya lifted their joined hands to her heart. “Why don’t you tell us what happened at the park?”

“I waited and waited and was almost going to leave, but then a man grabbed me from behind and slapped his hand over my mouth. I felt his lips against my ear when he told me not to scream.” She shivered. “His hand was really scratchy on my face, and he smelled sweaty. His breath was really gross, too.” Her nose crinkled. “He dragged me through these tall bushes until we came out the other side.”

“Is that how you got these?” Jeffrey pointed to a little cut on her neck and a few scratches on her arms.

“Yeah.” She lifted her arms and checked out the marks. “Some of the branches were really sharp. Anyway, there was a big van waiting by the road. You know, the one we take to go to the ferry.”

“SS113.” Maya glanced at Jeffrey. “It’s one of the major highways around Sicily.”

“The back doors of the van were already open, and he just lifted me up and threw me inside. Then he climbed in after me and slammed the doors shut.” Her blue eyes shone with unshed tears, and he knew his poor little girl’s mind had taken her back to those horrible moments. “I screamed and yelled and kicked him, and he slapped me really hard.” She lifted her hand to where there was some slight bruising on her left cheek. “He said he would kill me if I didn’t shut up and sit still.” She blinked, and tears streamed down each cheek.

Maya popped some tissues from the box on the nightstand.

“The inside was all open, and I could see the man sitting behind the steering wheel. He seemed really mad and yelled something in a language I couldn’t understand.” She accepted the tissues from her mom and wiped away the tears. “They put a dirty old rag over my eyes, and we drove for a little while until I heard a boat horn. I could just tell we were driving onto the ferry. The van stopped, and the engine turned off.” She began to pick at the edge of the blanket again. “That’s when I felt a pinch in myarm.” Her brows crinkled. “After that, I only remember little flashes of things like … being on an airplane, but not a regular airplane like we’ve been on before. This one was like a rich person’s airplane and was super fancy inside. I don’t know how many people were there, but none of them spoke English either. It sounded kinda like the same language as the man in the truck. I felt cold air for a few minutes, and I’m pretty sure someone was carrying me outside somewhere. He smelled kinda good, like he was wearing perfume, but the kind a man wears. I’ll never forget that smell as long as I live.” Her head tilted to the side. “This is going to sound weird, but for some reason, I didn’t think he would hurt me.”

“I’m guessing that was Adnan Bashar,” Jeffrey said. “He carried you into the embassy.”

“I remember hearing that name!” Her eyes lit up.

“Perhaps Bashar didn’t approve of what was happening?” Maya raised a brow and looked at Jeffrey.

“Perhaps,” he said. “Isla, can you tell me anything about the men who took you? How tall they were, what color eyes and hair they had, those kinds of things.”

“They both had sort of light brown skin. The one who grabbed me had really dark, mean eyes—almost black—and a bushy beard and mustache. The other one—the driver—his eyes were really light blue, and he was dressed in fancier clothes. He had on these maroon, velvet shoes that almost looked like slippers, and they hadsomething embroidered on the top. And his haircut was really neat and clean. Oh, and he had a big scar right here.” She traced her fingertip down the right side of her face, from her temple down to just below her ear.

“You’re doing great, honey. Can you tell us anything else about the van?” Jeffrey asked. “What color it was, how big it was?”

“It kinda looked like one of those brown delivery trucks, except, it was … dark green, I think.” Her tone became excited. “Oh, wait, I remember something else. There was a faded sign on the side. Hang on, let me think.” She squeezed her eyes tight for a moment, then they popped open. “Wasan or Wasam Electrical Supply Company. Something like that.”

“That’s fantastic, Isla.” Maya patted her daughter’s knee.

“Was there anything inside the van?” Jeffrey needed as much information as possible. “Tools or equipment of any kind?”

“Actually, the only thing in the back was a bunch of flattened cardboard boxes covering the metal floor. And there was also an old smelly blanket they covered me with.” She scrunched up her face. “Wait, there was something hanging from the rearview mirror. It was shiny silver and it looked kinda like a miniature, curved sword. I remember because the sun shone off it right before they blindfolded me.” She turned to Jeffrey. “Is that enough to find them?”

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