Page 119 of Chasing Sarah

There are women and children of all ages huddled in small groups around the massive, empty room. Not one of them is wearing a dress or something that would indicate they were going to be auctioned tonight. Nausea curls in my stomach when they cower in our presence.

“This isn’t all of them,” Sarah whispers, tears rolling down her face.

No, it mostly certainly is not.

She steps further into the room. The captives watch her movements with wary eyes. “My name is Sarah.” Her voice is soft and warm. She kneels in front of a woman who holds a little girl, no older than 8, in her arms. “We’re here to help you.”

She gestures toward where Declan, Liam, and I stand.

We remain still, allowing Sarah to assure them we’re not here to cause harm in any way.

The woman curls herself protectively around the child. “We’ve been told that before.”

Sadness fills Sarah’s eyes and I watch as her lower lip quivers. “I promise. We’re here to get you out of here,” she croaks, scanning the room. “All of you.”

The faint sound of gunfire continues in the background, pulling the attention of a few of them.

Climbing out of her lap, the little girl moves to face Sarah completely.

“Isa, no.”

Ignoring the woman, she studies Sarah. “Where will you take us?”

My heart clenches at the defeat in her little voice. These people have been broken in so many ways. I only hope they’ll let us help them.

“You see that man in the middle?” Sarah points a finger at Declan. The little girl - Isa - nods. “He is my friend. Two people who are very important to me and him were in your situation almost two years ago.”

Declan’s hand clenches at his side.

“He has space for all of you to come with us. To escape this place and live a new life, if you want.”

The energy in the room thrums as we wait for Isa, or someone else, to say something. Isa throws her arms around Sarah, nearly causing her to topple over.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

* * *

We lead them down the hallway and out of the building. Multiple trucks, vans, and buses wait outside to transport them to the airstrip where Declan has multiple planes on standby.

Yes. He’sthatloaded.

“Wait!” A young woman runs and grabs Sarah’s arm. “My sister.” She chokes out a sob. “They took her just before you came. Please, we need to find her.”

“What does she look like?” Sarah asks.

The woman describes her sister. Sarah meets my eyes and I nod. Sarah slips her feet into an extra pair of boots, then the two of us enter the building and begin our search.

There are bodies sprawled on the floor. The walls are riddled with bullet holes. Our men work to clear out our dead and wounded. The guests we apprehended fight to escape. Declan has ordered a few of the government officials to be transported back to the estate.

He plans to expose their despicableextracurricular activitiesto the public and bring them down brick by brick.

I follow Sarah down another set of stairs, separate from what we had taken. We come to a crossroads of hallways.

“Something is telling me to go left.” She strides in that direction, her red gown swishing with her determined steps. She stops abruptly. Her entire body is still as stone.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Something’s wrong.”

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