to Bakirkoy. It was about a four-hour drive. Ben introduced Lynda to his assistant. His name was Terry. Lynda was all set to distract the guard as soon as they got there, but there was no ship at the pier. They went and got two hotel rooms a block from the port. They each carried their own bags in.
At about four o’clock they heard a ship’s horn and drove back to the pier. The Chinese ship was just arriving. “They will probably unload tonight. That makes our job easier,” Ben said.
They went back to the hotel and all took naps. They were up at dusk.
Lynda was dressed up. She went to Ben’s room. He showed her a bottle of cheap whiskey that was sitting on his table. He said, “Take a couple of swigs and splash some on yourself. You need to smell like a drunk.” Just the two swigs of the cheap whiskey and she could feel a tingle in her brain.
Lynda asked, “Should I take my gun?”
Ben said, “Sure, but don’t use it unless our lives are in danger. We don’t need an international incident.”
Terry came up to Lynda and said, “You need to show more cleavage, and tie the blouse in a knot at your stomach so that your tummy shows some. You need to act very sexy. This won’t be the guard’s first time at someone trying to divert his attention.”
Lynda pulled the blouse down and had to tear each side to get it where she could tie it.
They drove down to the dock, and drove past the guard shack. The guard watched them drive by. They stopped about a block away. Ben and Terry were dressed in all black with black face-paint on. They both looked thuggish.
Lynda got out of the backseat. She was scared to death. She began walking down the street. Ben called out to her, “Lynda, you’re supposed to be drunk.”
They followed her to the dock. The pier was barely lit. You had to be careful where you stepped. Lynda began to swagger. She flung her purse from side to side. She began to sing to herself softly. She stumbled occasionally and pretended to catch herself each time.
When she got to the guard shack, she tripped and fell, tearing her panty hose. She let out a little yelp. The guard came out and helped her up. She slurred, “Do you speak English?” She looked at the guard with a wide-eyed stare.
He helped her to a chair. She saw Ben and Terry slip by the edge of the shack.
The guard said, “English, yes, a little!”
Lynda smiled at the man. “I am an American. I am lost. Where am I?”
“American, you are at Dock C of Pier 3, where are you going?” the man asked back.
“I went for a walk at the hotel, and got lost. I can’t find my way back,” she slurred. She tried to belch.
“You need the police.” And he picked up the phone.
She was too quick. “No police! You show me the way back to the hotel.” She stroked his arm. “I will be very grateful!” She pulled her blouse down some more.
The man said, “I cannot leave my post. I am sorry.”
“Me,” she burped, “me, party girl. You like to party?”
The man smiled with crooked teeth at her. “Yes, I like to party.”
She looked around the room. “Music, we need music!”
He brought a cheap, old radio out of the desk, and turned it on. Static filled the room. He turned the dial, and strange music played. Lynda jumped up out of her chair and started dancing. She looked out the window, but could not see Ben or Terry. She grabbed the man by the arm, and danced all around him. She looked at him with nearly crossed eyes and said, “You like party girl?”
The man nodded his head and started dancing with her. He got brave and touched her hair. She moved back quickly, then moved closer to him. He had scared her, but she recovered quickly. He was shorter than Lynda and she had to pull his head up to her chest. She rubbed his face all across her chest. She pushed him away, and grimaced. “You no like party girl!”
He stood up straight and said, “Yes, yes, I like party girl. We party.”
She asked, “Don’t you have anything to drink?” As luck would have it, he pulled a bottle of alcohol out of the desk. Lynda could not tell what kind it was. The guard took a big swig, wiped his mouth and handed the bottle to her. Lynda was not sure what to do with it. She wiped the opening off with her blouse and took a small drink. She said, “That is better; you party boy.”
He took another swig. He exclaimed in a loud voice, “Me, party boy!”
Lynda danced some more, but could not find the beat to the music. She just gyrated her hips and bent over in front of the guard. It was obvious that he enjoyed the show. When she had her back to him he would pat her bottom. Lynda gritted her teeth. She watched the window closely.
She saw three forms moving down the dock. They were all huddled together. She was not sure what to do. Why were there three forms? Were these other men? Lynda was confused. She just continued dancing.
She grabbed the man and rubbed his face across her chest again. He kissed her on the neck and chest. He was trying to work his way down when she backed up from him, suddenly sober. She had seen Ben leaving with the other two forms. Lynda grabbed her purse and walked out of the shack. Her being drunk routine was over.
The guard was yelling, “Wait, wait, come back, party girl!”
Lynda walked straight down the street toward the car. The guard followed her for about twenty feet, and then returned to the shack, mumbling to himself.
At the car she found Ben, Terry, and a very young, very thin girl. Ben said, “Slave traders. This is an American girl. We need to get out of here and call the authorities. They are in large boxes. This is the only American that we found. There were about sixty young girls.”
The young girl said, “Who are you people?”
Lynda smiled at her. “We are American agents. Who are you?”
The young girl said, “My name is Kathy Miller. I live in Connecticut. I was abducted from my school. I am fifteen.”
Lynda asked, “Were there any other Americans with you?”
The young girl said, “No, not that I know of.”
They went to a public phone and called the police. As Terry was Turkish, he talked to them. They stayed near the pier until three police cars pulled up. Lynda watched the guard try to convince the police that he was not drunk on the job.
Ben pulled a satellite phone out of the glove box. He called Tom at home. He handed the phone to Lynda. She smiled back at him, and took it. Tom said, “Yes!”
Lynda told him about the slave boxes and the American girl that they had rescued. Tom said, “I will notify her parents and the police. Did they get the other girls out?”
Lynda responded, “The police are there now. They seem to be doing a good investigation. Hopefully they will find all the girls.”
Tom said, “Good job, Lynda. Escort the young lady home.”
They went to the hotel and all ate a late meal. Then they went up to the room, and let Kathy take a shower. She had been wearing the same clothes for five weeks. They stunk. Lynda gave her a bra and panties, as well as a tee shirt and shorts to wear. They threw her clothes away. Once everything had calmed down, they placed a call on the satellite phone to her parents. It was an awesome phone call. The parents had never given up on her being returned home.
The next morning they took Kathy back to the center. Lynda took her to the clothes store and bought her five sets of clothes to wear. The Istanbul newspaper had a story about all the slave girls that been found on a container ship that had docked. The girls were being returned to their country of origin. The rescue effort of Kathy was never publicized.
They got a flight out of Istanbul that went to Germany. The two young women spent the night in Germany and then flew to Chicago. Kathy’s parents were at O’Hare International Airport waiting on her. Her father really pumped Lynda’s hand. It was a real family reunion. It really made Lynda smile. Lynda flew on back to Dallas.
Marilyn picked Lynda up at the airport
and drove her back to the office. All the team plus a new member were on hand to greet Lynda. The new member was Ted Pointer, an ex-Army Ranger. He was twenty-four years old. He would be Marilyn’s new partner. Bobby would be Lynda’s partner for a while.
The next four weeks of training were specific to the CIA. Ted and Lynda were being trained together. They learned more about computers than either really wanted. Bobby, Marilyn and Wayne all reviewed the cases that they were working on.
Lynda was watching CNN one night, when a news story of interest came up. Three American teenage girls had disappeared in Aruba, a country with a history of missing Americans.
About an hour later, Lynda’s phone rang. It was Tom. He said, “Pack a bag and get to the office.” Lynda did.
The entire team was there when she arrived. Tom was already into his spiel. He said, “We believe these three young girls have been taken by slave traders. The FBI has asked us to help by using our contacts. I want you guys to all go and try to figure out what is going on down there, and see if you can find those girls. We need to stop this crap!”
“What crap?” Lynda asked.
“American girls disappearing!” Tom said, and then added, “A few years ago an American teenager disappeared and a massive search was made for her. Nothing was ever found.”
Ted was in charge of weapons. He took a complete arsenal. Tom was not going. Wayne, being the senior member, was in charge. Everyone reported to him.
They flew on a company jet to Reina