Warning: This novel deals with the subject of organized sexual violence. If this topic is difficult for you, I recommend avoiding it entirely. The subject is handled respectfully and with tact, but it is one that speaks for many women.

  Chapter Three - Run Rabbit Run

  May 28th, 2014 - Nice, France

  The clock on the outside of the Gare de Nice-Ville train station was reading a quarter to four in the afternoon when Ryan led his small charge across the broad pza at a brisk walk. He had gotten ice cream for Béatrice as promised, and they had ridden the city’s tram network for half an hour to throw off any initial pursuit. In that time, He had received several missed calls from members of the team. It was clear now that their departure had been noticed.

  He had left his cellphone on a northbound tram after they had disembarked and changed to a bus. It was this bus that had eventually dropped them in the square across from the station. Thankfully, little Béatrice was more than entertained by the changing scenery to remain compliant enough. How much longer that was st was anyone’s guess.

  The time had given Ryan time to assess his situation. The killing of Abbas Ahmad, Marianne Laurent, and her son were crimes, that much was clear. There was no conceivable way that they could be justified as an operational necessity. Edwards had intimated that he would falsify reports, and the others in the command center had seemingly been willing to go along with whatever coverup was decided.

  It was clear to Ryan that escaping that situation was his only choice. That they had pnned to kill the girl to clean up that mess was all the knowledge he needed to be running with her now. The first and most important step he had to take before he could do anything about clearing their name and presenting his evidence was to get out of town, and quickly.

  Ryan had yet to work out where he was going to go and what he pnned to do when he got there. At this point, he was operating purely on training and hoping an idea would come to mind as he followed that protocol. Once you added juggling a small child to that mixture, it threw a spanner in most ready ideas.

  He had to get them out of Nice; that was clearly the first and most important objective. Losing any surveilnce and putting distance between himself and any subsequent pursuit would buy him time to evaluate his options. Once he had that time, he could work out what the hell he was doing, if that was even possible.

  Ryan frowned as he looked at the departure board mounted high in the station foyer. It was te on Sunday afternoon, which was clearly not the best day to travel. As such, the list of departures was more sparse than he would have liked. Other than the half a dozen local trains leaving within the next hour, there were only three long distance trains on the board.

  Two of the trains to Barcelona and Frankfurt were departing in over an hour, and that was far longer than Ryan was willing to wait in such a public space. Every moment they remained in Nice was a minute in which they could be caught. Departing as soon as possible was necessary, and that left only one option remaining that was to depart in twenty minutes. Ryan wished that it was going anywhere else in the world.

  The final remaining train was a TGV Express service that was leaving at a quarter past five. It was traveling through the French alps to its final destination of Min, Italy. On the surface, it was perfect for his requirements; a rge European city with a lot of opportunity to disappear and reset while he worked out what to do next. The only problem was that for Ryan, Min held a great deal of baggage. Baggage that he had hoped that he would never have to unpack.

  Ryan cursed under his breath before gncing down guiltily at the small child by his side. Béatrice Laurent was watching the stationgoers with the rapt interest of a child, and was paying him no notice at the moment. He was gd that she was still somewhat overstimuted by the day’s events; it meant that she was a lot easier to drag around without major compint.

  Ryan gnced back at the departure board and sighed. It was almost as if fate was pushing him back to Min. He knew that he had no other options if he wanted to get out of town quickly and make it a good distance away from Nice. On the bright side, at least he knew the city fairly well. Far too well, in his opinion.

  Shaking his head, Ryan squeezed Béatrice’s hand and led her across to the ticketbooth. After a brief wait, it was their turn at the desk. The worker, a Frenchman in his fifties, looked up from his computer before raising a Gallic eyebrow at Ryan, “Can I help you, Monsieur?”

  “One adult, one child for the Min train, please.”

  “The seventeen fifteen?” he asked, checking his screen. “Will that be First or second css?”

  “First,” Ryan offered. “Which ptform?”

  “Track one, Monsieur, the front of the train for your seats.” The man looked down at Béatrice, and his eyebrow twitched. “Have you any luggage to check?”

  “No, it’s just us,” Ryan replied ftly, doing his best to seem casual. “Day trip.”

  “Certainly, sir, you will want the return ticket?”

  Realizing that a negative would seem more strange than a single man traveling with a little girl and no luggage, Ryan nodded. “Ah, yeah, sure.”

  The clerk nodded and rang up the tickets. Ryan slid cash across the desk, not wishing to use his cards at the moment. After a moment, the clerk smiled thinly and slid a pair of tickets across the desk to Ryan.

  “Oh, can I get a pair of tickets for the Frankfurt train, too, please?” Ryan asked. “Adult and child, one way. Pay by card?”

  The clerk gave him an odd look, but rang up the ticket before handing him the additional ticket. “‘ave a pleasant journey monsieur, whichever you take, au revoir.”

  Taking the tickets quickly, Ryan escorted his young charge back out toward the ptforms. The other ticket bought on his card would likely fg to the Agency. If they bought it, it might buy him some valuable time. Every little helped in their circumstances.

  “Where are we going?” little Béatrice asked as they walked. “Are we going back to Mama yet?“I’m hungry. When is it time for dinner?”

  Ryan’s heart clenched, “Your Mama wanted me to take you somewhere, we’re going on a little trip, an adventure, isn’t that fun?”

  The girl seemed to consider this for a moment. “I like adventures.”

  “We’re going to have dinner on a train, isn’t that exciting? We’ll eat dinner, then we can sleep, and we will wake up in Italy!”

  Béatrice looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. “Is my Mama coming?”

  “Ah… ter,” Ryan bluffed. “She has some things to do with your brother first, then she’s going to follow us, ok?”

  Ryan felt awful lying to the girl, but he simply couldn’t think of a good time to expin to her that her entire family was dead. He certainly couldn’t broach the subject until they had far more privacy than even a train provided. Children could be extremely resilient, he knew that, but they were also potentially extremely vocal. For now, he hoped. That a few little white lies wouldn’t hurt too much.

  He knew that eventually he would have to tell her the truth. She was four years old, she was at an age where she could reason and ask questions. She was going to start getting suspicious soon if he wasn’t able to expin things to her. Hopefully, he could manage to get them somewhere private first.

  The sleek, blue and silver express train was waiting on the ptform as promised. Finding the right car, Ryan got them both onboard before locating their seats towards the rear of the first carriage on the upper deck. It was a quieter area, and one he knew they would both be needing. They had a long journey ahead of them and a long night.

  Why did it have to be Min? As far as Ryan was concerned, fate had a cruel sense of humor. In his moment of need, it was Min that was presented as his one shot at salvation. The one pce he had avoided for his own sake, the one pce that filled him with shame.

  He had st visited the great Italian city many years ago, right at the start of his career with the Agency. He had been so green back then, so full of hope and patriotism. He had been so ready to do what his country asked of him, so excited to get his foot on the dder and gain experience. He should have been a hell of a lot more careful about what he signed up for.

  The city held memories, but it was one person in particur that he was afraid to see again after all this time. A woman, a very special woman that he had once grown close to. In many ways, she had come to know him better than he knew himself. She had helped him when he knew nothing, guided him when he was lost. When he had left for his mission, he had failed her, and it ashamed him.

  Perhaps this was fate’s way of telling him that it was time to get over himself. Maybe it was time to pay her a visit in this time of need. If fate was sending him to Min, it meant to send him to Francesca Ricci’s door. Afterall, the child sitting beside him would need help, more help than he could provide. Gncing over at Béatrice, Ryan knew that the right thing wasn’t always the easiest decision.

  At five fifteen precisely, the train pulled out of the station and began its journey eastward towards the foothills of the Southern Alps. As they began to accelerate out of Nice, Ryan allowed himself to rex for a moment. He knew that they were far from safe, but he had bought them time, and sometimes, time was all you needed.

  The train left the urban sprawl of the French Riviera and accelerated into the rolling hills beyond. Ryan Knight had no idea what was going to happen; he just knew that it was enough that they were alive. He had acted without thinking about the ramifications to himself or his career. As soon as Edwards had pulled the trigger on Abbas, his priorities had shifted. It only took one gnce down at the child beside him to tell him that whatever it was, it was the right thing.

  Ryan closed his eyes and mentally evaluated his situation: By now, he would be listed as missing, and they would suspect, quite rightly, that he had taken the child. This would be elevated to a search, and they would be operating on whatever information Edwards chose to put forward. That meant that there was every chance that some or all of the events of the day could be put on Ryan to deflect attention.

  He had no way to prove that Edwards had not acted without authorization, but it was extremely likely. As such, going directly to his superiors without hard evidence was out of the question. He needed to find a neutral intermediary that he could use to test the waters back at Langley. Perhaps, with their help, he might have a better idea of what course to take going forward.

  The cell phone that he left on the tram and the ticket for Germany would throw them off for a short while, but it would not work long-term. Eventually, they would manage to access CCTV and work out which train he boarded. That might be today, or it might just be te enough that it would be the next morning. Regardless, with a ten-hour journey ahead of them to Min, it was more than possible that they would be waiting when he arrived.

  Ryan ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He was tired, but he knew that this mess was only just getting started. Looking down at the girl beside him, he smiled. He had no idea why he had done what he did, but he knew that it was the right thing to do. For the first time in his career, perhaps even in his life, he felt a powerful urge that he was barely able to comprehend. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that protecting this girl was worth everything he had.

  *        *        *

  September 2nd, 2007 - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  Regaining consciousness felt like swimming through syrup with only a vague recollection of which direction was up. Alessandra blinked and groaned as the world around her slowly returned to light and color. Her head was spinning, and her mouth felt as dry as the New Mexico desert. Whatever they had given her, it had been strong stuff.

  When she felt slightly more alert, she eased herself up onto her elbows and tried to focus on the room she found herself in. She was lying on a bed in a space that resembled a small hotel room. Unlike a hotel, this room cked any windows, meaning that her ability to tell time or location was severely hampered. The room was furnished in pinks and golds, and the trim seemed more gaudy than stylish. There was a wardrobe along one wall and a door that led, she presumed, to a bathroom. The room’s other door looked like any normal hotel door.

  They had drugged her; it was the only thing that made sense. The st clear memory she had was the nightclub where she had been waiting to make contact with the traffickers. She remembered fshes of other memories: a vehicle of some sort, a loud throbbing sound, and a metal room. The drugs had certainly done their job; she had no idea where she was or how long it had been since she had been taken.

  She had no idea how long it would be before the team struck and set her free, so she had to py the role of startled, groggy innocent. Whoever had left her here likely had cameras watching, so she needed to act appropriately at all times unless she was positive that she was alone. She should be timid, scared, and weak from her ordeal; it was what they would expect.

  At least one of the three she didn’t need to fake; her entire body felt weak and disjointed. Eventually, she managed to ease herself upright and slipped her feet over the edge of the bed. The floor under her feet was carpeted and soft, a strange feeling for what she was guessing was equivalent to her prison cell. Somehow, she suspected it wasn’t for her personal comfort.

  Making it to her feet somewhat unsteadily, she padded across the carpet in her stocking feet and examined the door. There was no peephole, and the slip chain and deadbolt were both missing. All that she found in its pce was a keyhole, one she suspected only locked from the outside.

  Staggering into the bathroom, she flipped on the light, bnching against the harsh brightness. The girl looking back at her looked a mess; she was still wearing traces of the makeup she had put on st, and her hair was pointing in several directions at once. She was still wearing the same dress she had worn that st night; a deep green babydoll dress in a sparkling metallic material. She was almost sad to see there was a tear in the skirt. Her skin was bruised around her upper arms and wrists, and her stockings were torn. Whoever had moved her had not done so gently, it seemed.

  Spshing water on her face, Alessandra tried to assess the space around her without being obvious about it. The bathroom was small but reasonably appointed; it was already stocked with toiletries and cosmetics, seemingly waiting for her occupancy. Leaning forward, Alessandra made as if to brush aside a smudge on the gss with her fingertip. The reflection touched her nail as she did so, telling her that the gss was a two-way mirror. Whoever these people were had a well-oiled machine in pce, one far more sophisticated than they had predicted in their pnning.

  The pn for Operation Orsino had been fairly simple; she was to py a transgender student in Rome. She was to attend parties and clubs where she would become known. Rome had been one of the cities in which girls had vanished, so it seemed a likely hunting ground for the traffickers. Once they took notice, they would allow them to take her and start moving her through the organization’s pipeline. That would lead them to the group's network. Once they had, the team watching over her would strike.

  Her handlers had prepared her for the possibility of being drugged, but the reality was beyond any expectation she might have had. Alessandra swallowed hard, biting back a wave of nausea. The reality was unpleasant indeed.

  Cupping her hands under the tap, she gulped down water to soothe her rebellious stomach. As she did so, she spotted the bruising on her wrist. The color was fading, suggesting the bruise was several days old. Had she been out that long?

  Alessandra’s hand absentmindedly reached for the small scar on her thigh where the GPS tracking chip had been embedded. The tiny device had limited battery life and had to be charged wirelessly, and it only sted for a week. If she had been gone long enough for bruises to be healing, its small battery could already be drained ft. If that was the case, it was all she could do to hope that they had tracked her location before it stopped transmitting.

  A thought made Alessandra’s blood run cold: Did the battery die before she reached her present location? If it had, did the team shadowing her manage to follow, or were they even aware of her current location? If they had lost her, how would they pick up her trail? The very idea that she might be out here on her own was a sobering thought, one strong enough to clear some of the narcotic fog from her mind.

  Wandering back through to the main room, Alessandra sat down on the end of the bed. Her safety net was gone; she was entirely off the reservation now. If her identity as an intelligence officer was discovered, it was highly likely that she would be killed. That meant that her only recurse was to keep her head down and sink herself into the role of Alessandra De Luca, college exchange student and transgender woman. Anything short of that, and she risked it all.

  They would come for her, she knew it. It could be as little as a matter of hours, and she would be free again with this entire ordeal behind her. They had pns and contingencies for every eventuality. To the CIA, this was nothing but a speedbump, a slight misstep that could be corrected on the fly. They would come for her.

  They would come, wouldn’t they?

  They had to come…

  Alessandra was scared. She had not felt fear like this since she was a child. Every sense seemed heightened, and her skin prickled against the chill of the air conditioning. She was in real danger, and she was going to face it all by herself.

  A set of keys rattled in the lock, making Alessandra jump. Her heart lept and she fought the urge to whimper in fear as the door swung open. The light outside in the corridor was bright, but she could just about make out a tall, stocky figure of a man standing in the doorway.

  They had to come…

  *        *        *

  May 29th, 2014 - Near Turin, Italy.

  Ryan Knight snapped awake with a start, his hand reaching instinctively for the pistol tucked into his waistband. His heart was hammering against his ribs, and his skin felt cmmy. He gulped down air as he tried to calm himself, as images of cwing hands and shadowy figures still hung in the edges of his vision. Pushing the damp hair out of his eyes, he began to recognize the train car and remembered where he was. For a second, his mind had taken him back to a far darker pce.

  “Rienne?”

  Ryan looked down and spotted the worried expression on little Béatrice’s face. Her hand was hovering near his arm as though she was almost afraid to touch him.

  “It’s ok, chérie,” he smiled, trying to reassure her, still breathing heavily as he recovered from his nightmare. “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

  “Are you ok?” the girl asked earnestly.

  “I’m fine,” Ryan shrugged dismissively. “I had a really bad dream, and now I’m doing a lot better.”

  The girl nodded slowly, seeming to accept the expnation, “I have bad dreams sometimes; they’re scary.”

  The lights in the train were dim, and it seemed as though most passengers around them were sleeping. Outside the window, dark shapes flew past as the train hurtled onward through the night. Finally feeling more normal again, Ryan brushed a lock of hair out of the girl’s eyes affectionately, “Bad dreams suck. Just remember that no matter what, they can’t hurt you, you know that, right?”

  Béatrice nodded and yawned theatrically, “My Mama told me that dreams can’t hurt big girls. Sometimes, I still want a cuddle when I have a bad dream. Do you want a cuddle?”

  “I uh, I…” Ryan stumbled as the girl cuddled into his side. “Uh, thanks.”

  “It makes me feel better, and the scary thoughts go away,” Béatrice offered, leaning her head against him. “Where are we going?”

  “Uh, Italy, I think,” Ryan offered, checking his watch. “We’re on our way to a really special pce; it's all an adventure.”

  “Where?” the child asked, climbing up and looking out of the window at the darkened scenery as it sped past.

  Where exactly? Ryan wondered to himself. He did a little mental arithmetic and ran through the options before settling on the only choice he had, the only choice that made any sort of sense.

  “Well, first, we are going to go to a pce called Min in Italy. After that, maybe Switzernd.” Won’t that be fun, Béa?”

  “My mama calls me Béa,” the little girl grinned brightly. “Where is Swizzynd?”

  “It’s Switzernd,” Ryan repeated. “It’s just above Italy and next to France; it has lots of mountains.”

  Béatrice looked thoughtful, “Like Mount Bnc? That’s the best mountain.”

  The kid was smarter than Ryan had given her credit for; he would have to take that into consideration. Dealing with children like this was something entirely outside his realm of experience. Was he supposed to treat them like kids or little adults? Did she still need diapers changing, or was she too big for that?

  “Yeah, like Mount Bnc,” Ryan agreed. “But Switzernd has a lot more of them. It’s a really pretty pce.”

  “Mama will like Swizznd,” Béatrice decred

  Ryan felt a stab at his heart. The coming days would be difficult for the girl as she adjusted to her new reality. He had no idea how the heck he was going to expin to a four-year-old that her entire family was dead, but it had to happen, sooner than ter. That was for her own good, whether it hurt in the short term or not.

  Beyond that difficult conversation, he had no idea what he was going to do to care for a small child, nevermind doing so and protecting them both at the same time. Regardless, he was going to do his best; he owed her that at the very least. She had suffered enough, and he would not allow her to face any further hardship. Wrapping his arm around the girl, he settled back down and closed his eyes. As Béatrice cuddled into his side, Ryan felt a strange sense of warmth spread through him. No matter what happened, he would make sure she was safe for the rest of her life.

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