The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,42

Amal down there?”

He squinted into the tunnel just as Wendy’s panicked voice said, “We’re missing four girls.”

Remi peered down the ladder, just able to make out Wendy’s face below her. “Who’s missing?”

“Maryam, Tambara, Jol, and Zara,” Wendy said.

Remi recalled three of the girls running off when Nasha came to tell her about the car. “You’re sure they’re not here?”

Nasha squeezed in front of Wendy, looking up at Remi. “I know where they are,” she said, scrambling to the top before Wendy could stop her. “I saw them after I left the office.”

“Saw them where?” Remi asked.

“In the dorm. Miss Amal went to find Zara, and the girls followed her. But something happened to Miss Amal again. They couldn’t wake her.”

“A seizure,” Remi said.

Pete started to open the shed door. “I’ll go look for them, Mrs. Fargo.”

Crack!

The single gunshot echoed through the compound. Nasha ducked behind the raised trapdoor. The girls in the tunnel started screaming.

“Hush,” Wendy said from the top of the ladder. “Don’t make a sound.”

Remi moved next to Pete and looked out the door, thankful the courtyard was still empty. No doubt someone shot the lock off the gate. Putting her hand on Pete’s shoulder, she looked him in the eye. “Whatever you do, don’t come out until Sam comes back. He’ll know to look for you.”

“We can go together.”

“No.” Remi didn’t doubt Pete’s sincerity or bravery, but she also knew that with so many girls to care for, Wendy, Yaro, and Monifa were going to need his assistance to survive until help came. “I’ll be fine. I promise. Get that tunnel closed and keep them calm. Their lives may depend on it.”

“I will.”

Pete followed Wendy down the ladder.

Remi slung her pack over her shoulder, knocking her phone from her back pocket to the floor. Before she had a chance to retrieve it, she heard the sound of car doors slamming, then the crunch of gravel beneath booted feet as someone shouted, “Search every building.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can.

– ASHANTI PROVERB –

Remi glanced back, unable to see her phone in the shadows cast across the rough planking from the north-facing window. With seconds to spare before the men reached the courtyard and saw her, she slipped out.

“Where is everyone?” a man asked from somewhere out front.

“Keep looking. They’re in here somewhere.”

The deep, gravelly tone was undoubtedly that of the scar-faced leader of the ambush, Makao. She had no idea how many men were out there with him, all probably armed with the same sort of assault rifles they’d used during the ambush. As much as she wished she’d had the foresight to open the safe and retrieve the two she and Sam had recovered, she knew it would’ve wasted valuable time. Their goal had been to get the girls into the tunnel without being seen.

That goal hadn’t changed.

Her Sig Sauer was woefully inadequate, and, until she was able to get the four girls and Amal into the tunnel, she wasn’t about to risk getting into a firefight with who knew how many men.

She was relieved to find the dorm unlocked. Just before she slipped inside, she took one last look at the empty courtyard, praying it would remain deserted long enough for her to get everyone out and to the shed. She locked the door behind her and looked around for the missing girls, seeing nothing but bunk beds, neatly made, and a wardrobe against the wall between every other bed. A few wardrobes, she noticed, had doors partially open, and she checked the closest to see if anyone was hiding within.

Deciding the girls would have to be contortionists to fit inside, she crossed to the other end of the dorm, stepping through the bathroom doorway past the large, industrial-sized laundry hampers piled high with used towels. She quickly ruled out the open toilet stalls on one side, as well as the curtained shower stalls on the other. Her gaze landed on the two hampers. Before she had a chance to look, she heard someone rattling the handle of the exterior door, followed by a loud crash as someone kicked it open.

Trapped, she ducked between the hampers, holding her gun on her knees, listening to the heavy footsteps clomping across the floor. The top of the hamper blocked her from seeing out the door, which was to her left, but she had a partial view of the large mirror over the row of sinks to her right and