The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Is she safe?” Kevin’s father demanded flatly after he closed the door with exaggerated calm. The half hour dealing with the mess outside has left him in a mood that Kevin has not seen before

“Don’t sass us.” His mother hissed in rage, but to Kevin’s relief, it was not focused anywhere near him. “I don’t know what is going on, but that girl is not safe if her family finds her. So, is she safe?”

“Yes.” Kevin replied, seeing something different about his parents. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it both reassured him and scared him all at the same time. “I had to help. She was so scared.”

“He did it to help us.” Mid Chest spoke up from the couch. Her bloody nose had finally stopped dripping. “We asked.”

“We aren’t mad.” Kevin’s father said, sitting in his recliner. “Not at you any way. Are you alright Amina?”

“I’ll be ok.” She wheezed. “Feels like a collapsed lung. They’ll fix it.”

“A collapsed lung is nothing to play with. You need to get to the hospital.”

“Wil already called work. They’re expecting me. I might even make school today.”

“Is this what the UCA does?”

“Is what?”

“Rescue.”

“Some.” Amina answered him, evaluating. “What are you asking exactly?”

“Did you do that to the three punching bags out there?” He asked, motioning to the men being loaded into ambulances.

“Yeah.” Amina admitted. “I didn’t see the fourth. He got me solid. I think I bounced off something before I landed.”

“The wall.” Kevin informed her, pointing to some smudge marks.

“Is he in?” He asked, pointing his son.

“Only if he wants.” Amina answered firmly, both answering and evading the real question.

“Are you in?” Kevin’s father asked, turning to look him in the eye.

“Am I in what?”

“I have been researching the UCA lately. Since one particular weekend not all that long ago. You know the one, just after your sixteenth birthday.” He said looking hard at his son. “I have found that, despite their exterior, they take good care of their people. Yes they do some things I don’t want my son to be any part of. They also help a lot of lost, battered, abused or disadvantaged girls and women. Is that what you are doing now?”

“Doing now?” Kevin asked innocently.

“You aren’t that innocent.” He laughed. Kevin is shocked to see it is a real laugh. “You weren’t ever that innocent. Not even before these three put on their floor show. You know, the one for your late sixteenth birthday present from Wilhelm. The Mongoose over there is quietly disposing of the evidence of where you hid her.”

“Umm.” Kevin mumbled, shocked to hear his father use Amina’s UCA nickname.

“I’ll get that.” Small Chest said when someone knocked on the door.

“Hi. I am Agent Dressler with the FBI.” The man said holding out a badge and then pointing to the woman with him. “This is Agent Lynch with the CIA. Can we have a few minutes of your time please?”

“I’m just here to keep an eye on some domestic noise that may not stay that way.” Agent Lynch said, trying to sound friendly.

“Come on in.” Kevin’s father said without rising. Trusting Small Chest to have checked that the ID at least looked real.

“Thank you Mr. and Mrs Jones.” Agent Lynch said as they came in. “We understand that you have found yourselves in the middle of ... Mongoose?”

“Viper.” Amina tried to laugh but it came out hollow thanks to her cough.

“The UCA is involved?” Agent Lynch asked with an emotion Kevin’s parents couldn’t identify.

“Not really.” Amina replied, grimacing as she sat up straighter. “He’s in evaluation.”

“That explains some things.” She replied as both agents chuckled.

“Hey. I didn’t kill anyone.” Amina said innocently.

“This time.” Agent Dressler muttered.

“We were evaluating him.” Amina continued. She gestured at the tripps. “They were being brought in. Then we got distracted.”

“You have lost none of your talent for understatement, I see.” Agent Dressler said. Amina was referring to Vargas and a few other things that had happened shortly before Zahira’s escape. “It is just as well you are here. Your potential new member has found himself in a bad place. It ties to that warning we got about the suicide bombers over the summer.”

“What?” Amina demanded, blinking.

“You were supposed to have been warned. One or more cells are recruiting in our area. They are purchasing brides for arranged marriages from within the Muslim community. That is a cover for their other operations. They are gathering intel and recruiting radicalizable youth.”

“I suspect it got lost in the mail with this ... other mess.”

“Is he in?” Agent Lynch asked again, nodding at Kevin.

“Depends on him. Those three would have been in already but we lack the resources right now. We are afraid of even trying our normal recruiting. Our cover is so thin. If we try to expand things with any speed, it is likely some things that can’t be allowed to leak, will leak. We are evaluating how to adapt for now.”

“This isn’t going to help.” She replied then looked over. “Kevin is it?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Is the girl safe?”

“Yes.”

“Care to share where?” She asked, obviously not expecting a reply.

“No.”

“Not surprised. The UCA only recruits strong people. I don’t know how they find you, but they do.”

“What do you want?” Kevin asked.

“Can you keep her safe?”

“I’m a kid.”

“Ok, wrong question. Can you keep her hidden?”

“Amina. You know our resources. Can we?” Kevin asked.

“Are they watching now?” Amina asked the agents.

“Yes. Her brother is apparently a larger player than we previously thought. We had believed him to be just a local hot head and moron. Now we find he is throwing a lot of weight around trying to find her.”

“Can you provide political cover if things go sideways?”

“Some, yes. Why?”

“I have resources I can call on. If those guys move on here again it could get messy.”

“This might be a terror cell network in the making. These are not slavers.”

“Let me say very politely.” Amina said smiling grimly. “That the people I plan to use, are annoyed and maybe a little pissed they can’t help the UCA with ... that other mess. They know what would happen if they did. And some of them want to help anyway.”

“You have that much sway with the alliance?”

“I took down Tigwin’s cousin and the other guy on my own, when your sting went sideways. I was unarmed.”

“So that was you.” Agent Dressler muttered.

“Yes Dan.” Agent Lynch said, “This is that snake. I think Mongoose is a much better name for her though. I have to commend ...”

“That isn’t why we are here.” Amina said right over her, though she grimaced doing it. “He is accepted if he wants in. She is safe for now and we can provide over watch. You are talking about using the girl, and our guy here, as bait.”

“Given your past operational patterns, I have to ask something because the answer matters.” Agent Lynch asked staring at Amina in a way that disturbed Kevin. “Why are today’s perps still alive?”

“What?” Kevin’s parents gasped. The earlier ‘jokes’ were bluntly revealed as uncomfortable truths.

“I didn’t have to kill them to stop them. I have been trying to be better.” Amina said and every adult in the room could see the echo of dark memories play out on her face. Echoes with a depth that belonged in no young woman, however grown up she tried to be. “To put the wild child behind me.”

“Someone has been a good influence on you.” Agent Lynch replied, smiling before turning her attention to Kevin. “How long can you keep it up? Hiding her. I assume she is in the house somewhere.”

“How long do you need?”

“Say ... Three weeks.” Agent Dressler answered, obviously expecting an explosion.

“Tight. She doesn’t have a lot of room to move. She will get restless.”

“This ties to the suicide bombers.”

“Rhea is safe. Erin has been disarmed.” Amina told him flatly.

“All three bombers were female.” Agent Lynch stated just as flatly.

“Suicide brides?”

“No. We believe only the ones who refused their new husbands were used in other ways.”

“Zahira is right. We have to stop using that word.” Keisha murmured.

“Another of yours?” Agent Dressler asked looking at Amina and Kevin both.

“No. Zahira’s friend.”

“Are you going to join the UCA?” Agent Lynch asked her.

“I am not sure. My parents are already unhappy with me. I am too independent in their eyes. Yet they do not try very hard to stop me either.”

“Short of us simply handing Zahira over, her brother and his friends aren’t going away, are they?” Kevin asked.

“No.” Agent Dressler replied sadly.

“Kevin.” His father said, getting his attention.

“Dad?”

“I know this is all new and exciting. It is also dangerous.”

“I will talk to Zahira when I can.” Kevin announced. “If she wishes to take part, then I will as well. Beyond that, I am undecided.”

Kevin’s father gestured towards Amina. “Does she have the resources she thinks she does?” He asked the agents.

“Yes.” Agent Lynch replied without hesitation, though with a frown of indeterminate source. “They, the UCA, also move heaven and earth when something happens to one of them. We saw that over the summer. I imagine she can provide almost as good an over watch as we could, and draw far less attention doing it. The alliance people are ex law enforcement and ex military both, with some other bits thrown in for flavor. They are qualified for this, and truthfully, the UCA isn’t.”

“They have been going stir crazy. Over ... other events ... they can’t get involved with.” Agent Dressler explained. “If we don’t find something they can do soon, it will boil over. If we didn’t need things left as they are for reasons I’m not going into, they could probably clean up this whole group over the weekend, if we let them.”

“Dear?” Kevin’s mother said looking at his father. He looked back. A complex conversation of sighs, raised eye brows and shudders ensued. It ended in them holding hands and looking each other in the eye at something no one else in the room could see.

“We can turn a blind eye.” Kevin’s father finally said looking at him. “Don’t make us notice. Don’t make us see.”

“Not much going on right now.” Kevin’s mother said hesitantly. “I know gym class is not much during winter. That’s why we just did that conference together. Don’t forget dear, we have some reserve now, quite a bit in fact. How about we give the boy a break. Let’s go visit your brother over a long Thanksgiving. Kevin can stay home and concentrate on his homework. At least we can tell everyone that. He is far too polite to say it of course, but you know he hates it there. All they want to talk about is sports or girls or how skinny Kevin is. I shudder to think what they would say if they knew about those three. We can leave tonight if we hurry.”

“What happens if they come back?” Kevin’s father asked Amina.

“I stop being on my best behavior.” She replied flatly.

“Good enough.” He replied. He didn’t really understand what all was happening with his son. What he did know however, was that his son was finally engaged. He has always been a little blob of something that had never turned into anything. Now, he is finally becoming something. “I will inform the school that something happened here this morning. If you don’t feel like going back to school until after Thanksgiving then they can damn well live with it. It is not like your grades are going to suffer.”

“No sir. I swear, my grades will stay up.”

“Good enough.” He repeated, standing. “Do what needs to be done. If you need us, call.”

“Without hesitation.” Kevin promised.

“Agents.” Kevin’s parents said as they headed to their room to pack.

“How well will her hiding place stand up to a real search?” Agent Lynch asked to hide her surprise and shock at what Kevin’s parents just did.

“Very well.” Kevin replied.

“How well will Zahira hold up to a real search?”

“Well enough for now.”

“Is she UCA?” He repeated, to be sure.

“No.” Amina stated flatly. “She is no part of us.”

“Just checking.”

“Just wanting you to be sure.”

“How long will she play along?”

“I’ll ask her later when there is time. Do you think they will search the house again if we leave?”

“Very likely. Will she be safe if they do?”

“Yes.” Kevin replied flatly. “She will hold it together for at least today.”

“Good job fooling the dog.”

“Thank you. It was their idea.” Kevin said, pointing at the tripps. “They all helped. I just played along.”

“Get a burner phone.” Agent Lynch said holding out a card. “Have Zahira call me. This number will go straight through if you hit 435 at the prompt.”

“That was brave and stupid.” Wilhelm informed Kevin at lunch. “Also, Amina is sleeping in recovery at the warehouse. It was more than just the lung, but she will be fine.”

“Good. I was worried about her. I can’t believe what she did. I have never seen anyone move that way, or that fast.”

“How are you holding up? As hard as that was on Amina, she is used to that sort of stuff. Not the first time she has been in recovery.”

“I’m fine. Now I just have to keep telling myself that, until I believe me.”

“That was quick thinking by the way. Can you handle having Zahira there?”

“It was the tripps who thought of it. All I had to do was take a shower with two girls and wash them down.”

“Then not panic when a confrontation nearly turned into a gun fight, with a state trooper of all people. That is going to be interesting. He is claiming you were confrontational and instigated the attack.”

“Hashtag thug cop or hashtag silly puppy.” Kevin replied.

“I saw.” Wilhelm replies darkly. “Filming like that can backfire.”

“I wasn’t aware of it until the last moment.”

“Probably why it worked.” Wilhelm commented. “Is Zahira healthy enough to survive until Saturday if you simply leave her there?”

“Easily. Three days is the same as the tripps did, and it was no stress at all for them. I made sure she drank plenty of water, and I put wicking workout shorts on her. The worst she should have to deal with is a wet blanket.”

“They already broke back in and re-searched your house. The alliance over watch people found them already inside when they arrived.” Wilhelm informed him and then dumped the rest in one lump. “One of your neighbors called the cops before they arrived. Your parents were called. They said you can stay at my place tonight if you wish. They are thinking about putting in a house alarm. You should be getting a note about the break-in this morning. I have arranged for a couple of cops to give you a ride home after school. Go through the house and let them know if anything is missing.”

“What about the tripps?”

“They’ll be home after six.”

“Can you have them home sooner. Preferably while the cops are still there?”

“Why?”

“So I can ask them if anything in their room is disturbed.”

“Right. I forgot. You have them in the den. That will look weird to the cops. I’ll try to have have someone with a federal badge stop by as well. That way the locals will feel better. The Federal Agent will say that your parents asked them to poke their nose in to see if they needed to come home.”

“I’ll have the tripps start using the shower in my parent’s master bedroom as well. I suppose Zahira’s brother’s people are still watching, despite coming up empty handed twice.”

“You bet. They are watching your house and the alliance people are watching them. Also, Agent Lynch will be by on Sunday.”

“Any idea why?”

“Let me know.”

“I will.”

“How are you three doing?” Kevin asked the tripps an hour after peace had returned. Everyone from the cops to the friendly federal agent had left. Surprisingly few questions had been asked by the cops about the girls sleeping in the den, once the girls made it clear that Kevin had his own room.

The anticipated note had arrived as had the discussion with his parents. The offer for them to return had been just that, an offer. The choice had been his. Amina’s Uncle had already given his parents an outline of events. How they had managed to know Amina’s Uncle, or talk with him already, was something Kevin didn’t allow him himself to think about. He just didn’t want to know. What he was right then was confused. This was in no small part because his parents had never allowed this much to happen to him before. At least not without putting themselves in the middle of it.

“We are OK.” Mid Chest said, thinking about how trashed the house was. The intruders had looked everywhere, very little was where it belonged.

“We’ll live.” Small Chest said, smiling nervously.

“We’re better off than the house.” Big Chest said, not looking forward to the cleaning. “Mind if we huddle in your room tonight?”

“I can live with that. It beats trying to make my bed.” Kevin said. “How about we distract ourselves with Batman Begins followed by Ironman, back to back?”

“Thank you.” Mid Chest said, looking at the house.

“I’ll have Angelique call one of the cleaning services we use for the UCBJ. They can put the house back in order tomorrow.”

“I’ll cover that.” Mid Chest said softly. “This is all my fault.”

“No.” Kevin said flatly. “You saved a girl. None of us considered the situation the way that you did. You hurt yourself bringing it up. However, I personally am glad that you did. If you hadn’t fought the conditioning to force the words out, then she would have been taken by the trooper and been delivered by now.”

“How do you think she is doing?”

“She is fine. Also, Amina let me know that you passing out is the normal end game of the talking restriction.”

“Thank you.” Mid Chest replied with visible relief. “That was terrifying. But I couldn’t let myself stop, I had to do something. That was all I could think of, to do with what we had.”

“You three did fine.” Kevin replied. “I watched over you the whole weekend when you were ‘stored’ the way Zahira is right now. She’ll be thirsty come Saturday morning, but she will be safe.”

Kevin woke just before dawn with three nude girls snuggled into him. Splitting the bathroom getting ready for school was so normal to him now, that he missed his own reaction. It was not until he was talking with Angelique about arranging the cleaning crew that it hit. That was when he really he realized how unusual his morning had been. He had woken to the girls taking turns kissing him and being caressed by him.

With no prompting by him they had serially kissed him and presented bare breasts for fondling. They had placed nipples in his mouth and gone down on him until he was close to climax. Then finally Mid Chest had mounted him. He had climaxed in her as she rode him. While Small and Big Chest had placed his hands on their bare breasts. All while they split a kiss. Another hour had passed while they lay snoring in orgasmic exhaustion. School had seemed a small annoyance after that kind of a start to his day. The whole thing was so normal to him, that the lack of oddness was almost scary.

One moment there was nothing. Then there was something. Self became. Awareness became aware it was. Slowly awareness realized it had an identity. That identity became real. It acquired a name. ‘Zahira’ echoed. Awareness became thoughts as the fog lifted.

‘I am Zahira.’ She realized while identity gained coherence. ‘My name is Zahira. I am somewhere safe.’

Lacking any of the conditioning that normally guided waking up from this kind of a state, Zahira struggled to find herself. Pieces kept getting lost and re-found later. Slowly though, she kept more of them bound to her central awareness.

‘I am warm.’ was a thought that stuck. Then ‘I am comfortable’. Followed by ‘I am safe’ in yet another form. They let her stay relaxed as the jigsaw of self became structured.

‘If I am warm then I have a body.’

‘If I have a body then my body should have eyes.’ Zahira realized, opening them without another thought.

“Oww. Bright.” She heard someone say as the bright went away. Only then realizing that the dry feeling that went with the sound was her own throat. That the words, and their raspiness, were hers.

“You are safe.” A gentle voice told her.

“I am Zahira.” She said, opening eyes that blinked before staying open this time.

“You are Zahira.” The face she saw agreed. The world around him grew brighter. ‘Kevin’ a stray thought told her.

“You are Kevin.”

“I am Kevin.” He agreed. “I am glad to see you waking up properly. Take your time. There is no hurry.”

“Thank you.” Zahira said when she blinked. She found herself in a bathtub of warm water being held by Kevin.

“You are waking slowly. The tripps and I have to apologize. We did not anticipate you having this much trouble waking up.”

“Are we nude?” She asked, feeling his hands on her stomach.

“Yes.”

“Oh. Ok.” She sighed wistfully as the warmth of the water comforted her.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be embarrassed about all this later. You will also remember I am not taking advantage of your current state.”

“Ok.” She giggled, completely unconcerned as she drifted further, enjoying being relaxed.

“Can you stand ?” Got Zahira’s attention, reminding her that she should be trying to stand up.

“Yes. I’ve got it.” She said as she cussed the robes someone had put on her.

“Good.” Kevin said as she finally got her feet under her. “When you feel up to it, some people want to talk to you.”

“Later, that would be fine.”

“Sounds good.”

“I am sorry Zahira.” Mid Chest said hesitantly. “This was my idea. I am to blame.”

“No one knew this would happen.” Kevin told her. “No one even suspected.”

“What did happen.” Zahira asked as she finished her eighth step.

“None of them knew that using the headgear on you would be dangerous.” A new voice said.

“It never occurred to any of us that it could be.” Kevin admitted.

“Will I be OK?” She asked.

“Yes.” The new voice informed her. “By the way. I am Mark. Not that Mark, a different one. Things like what they used on you are one of my areas of specialty.”

“Oh.” Zahira said as she sat. Feeling better than when she had risen. The lingering taste of food and drink she didn’t remember starting or finishing, readily explained to her why she was recovering so quickly.

“You can get away with that once. If you do it again too soon though, it will take you much longer to wake up, and there will be other issues.”

“Longer? Other issues?”

“Yes. You will be another day waking up the rest of the way. Do it again to soon, and it will be days instead of just one day.”

“You also said other issues.” Zahira asked in a whisper.

“While waking, you would be very persuadable, and stay persuaded for some time after you finished waking up all the way.”

“Persuadable? Persuaded?” She asked nervously.

“Let me choose some different words then. Try biddable or convincible instead.” Mark explained frowning. “If they got you started responding to something, you would stay responding to it.”

“How long?”

“If it took a day to fully wake, then you would stay responsive for one to three after you finished waking.”

“Can you give an example please?” Zahira asked in fear, remembering how comforted she was having Kevin hold her when she woke, and how agreeable she had felt.

“For instance. If you were persuaded that being offered a sucker meant giving him a blowjob, then even after you woke, you would continue to do so.”

“Even if I didn’t want to?”

“You wouldn’t think about it. It would just be. You would act on the trigger without any thought. The action would seem like a totally normal thing to do. It probably wouldn’t even bother you later when it wore off, you just wouldn’t respond to it any more.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t need to worry about Kevin though. Not only is he a good person who would never think of taking advantage like that. He has three live in cheerleaders. He has all that he could ever want, with much more enthusiasm and experience than you have.”

“Oh, ok then. I’ve wondered. My brother. His friends. Are they still watching?”

“Yes.” Kevin informed her. “We are also watched over. So your brother can not come in.”

“Ok.” Zahira said as she sat back to relax, promptly sleeping.

“So what happens now?” Zahira asked when she woke to the sound and smell of dinner. Looking around, she found herself in the living room. Still in her robe, cocooned in blankets in a recliner.

“A lot of that depends on you.” A strange woman said from another chair where she sat facing Zahira.

“Who are you?”

“I am Agent Lynch. I am with the CIA. My temporary partner, Agent Dressler with the FBI, will be back from the bathroom in a minute.”

“Where is, umm.” She tried to ask, but the name of the man from earlier slides away.

“We are all here.” Kevin said putting a chair down to sit beside her. On her other side sat Keisha, and the tripps formed the rest of a circle.

“Oh good. You’re finally awake. I’m...” A man said walking in.

“Dressler.” Zahira said staring at him. Having Keisha and Kevin beside her was a comfort she allowed herself to wallow in. “She already told me.”

“I’ll get it.” Mid chest said when someone knocked.

“Sorry we are running late.” Wilhelm said as he, Amina and Angelique expanded the circle.

“Now that we are all here, I have no idea where to start.” Agent Dressler laughed.

“We start with: what do you know about Zahira’s brother?”

“He is a member of ‘Sahar Golanar’ which has kept us from taking them very seriously.” Agent Dressler said, frowning. “He wants to be a real terrorist, but none of them are interested in him in the slightest. So he started trying to do fund raising for them instead.”

“Really?” Keisha and Zahira laughed almost as one. “That means ‘Pomegranate Dawn’.”

“That could also mean frag grenade.” Wilhelm observed dryly.

“We caught that.” Agent Lynch admitted, without saying which.

“Eventually.” Amina laughed.

“Can we get serious for a minute?” Agent Lynch asked.

“You want me as bait for my brother because he will not stop looking for me.” Zahira stated flatly.

“I don’t want to say it that way, but yes.”

“I understand and I agree. I have conditions, however.”

“No one has decided to actually ask this of you.”

“Agent Lynch. I have a twelve year old sister, Lalah. If I vanish, then she is next. What will you do for her?” Zahira asked angrily.

“We can’t officially do anything without tipping our hand.” She admitted. “This is insane. I am talking to a bunch of teenagers about them helping me hunt a wants-to-be terror cell.”

“This is also reality.” Agent Dressler spoke up. “Does the UCA have any resources left?”

“No, not really.” Wilhelm replied, frowning. “I personally am tasked out. I shouldn’t even be here. Neither should Amina or Angelique. We need to do two years of double recruiting just to handle what we have now. And we would still be behind when we got done. We also can’t do that much recruiting because we will draw attention. That many sixteen and seventeen year olds going missing for weeks at a time, it would destroy us.”

“We know why the alliance won’t touch ... that other mess.” Agent Dressler said, looking at Wilhelm. “Even though most of them are former military or law enforcement, they are hobbyists. They don’t even maintain the bait to hunt their prey. They come to you for that. Even looking closely enough to get an accurate outline would destroy them.”

“More or less what they said.”

“We can’t divert enough manpower to help here without giving away what we are doing either.” Agent Lynch lamented.

“Will your brother report you missing?” Agent Dressler asked Zahira.

“Yes. He would have by now.”

“No. He spoke to some people on his payroll. Just for peace of mind, that includes the state trooper that was here that day. He is actually working for us, infiltrating them. Despite the part he plays, he is no real danger to any of you. Please continue to act like he is though, it will help with his cover. Will your brother actually file paperwork? For real?”

“I believe so.”

“I see.” Agent Lynch almost laughed. “I take it Mr. Giles, that your parents and siblings remain in the dark as to your real employment?”

“Yes, and very.” Wilhelm replied darkly.

“Good. Very good. Amina. I need your opinion on this. Would your Uncle consider taking part of the alliance enforcers above board.”

“Above board?” Amina asked.

“Yes. Would he go legitimate?”

“I would have to ask him.”

“Just spell it out. What do you want?” Wilhelm asked, frowning. “Not what do you think we can be convinced to go along with. What do you really want?”

“Cards on the table then.” Agent Dressler said, sighing. “If wishes were horses. We keep them focused here. Keep her here and let them have a glimpse once or twice a week or so.”

“For how long?”

“Till the first of the year.” Agent Lynch admitted after nearly a minute of awkward silence.

“Why so long?” Zahira asked in shock.

“This goes no further.” Agent Lynch said glancing at Dressler. “We have confirmed that some real terrorists have their hooks in state law enforcement. That is why that trooper was recruited by us, so he could be recruited by them. We were turned onto these guys by the cartels. It happened at a recent sit-down they had over some border problems. Hell yes, they smuggle drugs and some people. No way in hell do they smuggle terrorists. Blowing up your customer base is bad for business. They told us about a couple of routes they are not using right now. We started there.”

“And we have liked nothing we have found so far.” Agent Dressler broke in, looking straight at Zahira as though she were the only one in the room. “Normally graft, corruption, bribery and the like follow time honored patterns. In addition to the expected links to shady banking, we also have another pattern. Under the surface so to speak. Right now the only way we have to monitor it closely, rather than from afar, is your brother. He isn’t a player, but he keeps bringing the real players money which they can’t afford to ignore. If we can keep him angry and engaged looking for you, then we can watch who he contacts. I mean it. He is nothing, no one at all. He is still able to contact some real problem people, however, because he keeps offering them the money that they need.”

“You will help me, Kevin.” Zahira stated flatly. “I am assured that your way of hiding me will work long enough for them to get what they want.”

“So I am told.” Kevin said, staring.

“Agents.” She resumed after turning to them. “My sister gets a new name and a new home far away from all this. She is a child, she is no part of this. She also gets a nest egg for college. I am not asking for a huge amount. Just enough to help if she applies herself.”

“Ok.”

“You take them down. All of them, all the way. My brother especially.”

“We will do our best.”

“No. You will guarantee it. None of those that set foot in this house gets to live. They do not live to spread their kind of hatred, repression, or the sexual slavery they call marriage. Every single one of them that stepped foot in this house dies.”

“We do not just kill.”

“You will, my brother and all his ilk.” Zahira stated coldly. She sounded like a high pitched Amina in full ramble mode. “I am American. I will live free. I can and will do this until he is removed from ever being able to attack me, or my sister, ever again. He dies. Hopefully all his friends die. Maybe let some of them flee so they can tell of their horrible defeat. Make sure they know it was bunch of local Muslim girls who out-thought them, who out-planned them, who broke them, who beat them, and humiliated them. Let them fear ever coming here again because we are not slaves in this country. And we never will be.”

“We can not guarantee...”

“My brother dies.” Zahira repeated flatly. “Every one of his friends that set foot in here dies. Let them learn that the women here can defend themselves. Let them die afraid. Let them all learn to be afraid. Make them teach those that follow them to be afraid.”

“Wow.” Agent Lynch said, blinking at the cold venom in her voice.

“In return I will play this game. I will keep up this charade. I will parade myself out as a target for them. I will make and keep them incensed beyond the reach of words. They will not think, just react.”

“Umm.”

“I do not mean for a week, or three. I will stay here as live bait for months, as many months as it takes to get them all. I will tease them with glimpses. I will taunt them by them knowing I am here. I will be a ghost they search for but never find. They will look for me where I am, seeing nothing and no one else as long as it takes.”

“Kevin, can you handle caring for her?” Wilhelm asked in the ensuing silence.

“Yes. Some mods will need to be made. Your expert indicated he could fix the glitches.”

“I thought he could.”

“Expert?” Agent Dressler asked.

“One of Mindy’s outside resources. She arranged for him to contact us. Before she went off on whatever this latest mission of hers is.” Wilhelm answered offhand. “Zahira, what we discuss here needs to stay secret. No one can know. We need to speak plainly because we can not chance miscommunication. Can you handle that?”

“Yes sir.” Zahira said looking Wilhelm in the eye. “You have my word.”

“I thought we knew everyone?” Lynch asked staring at Zahira staring at Wilhelm.

“Thank you Zahira. No Agents, he’s not from around here. He came in from Bangkok with a few shipping containers of supplies we needed.” Wilhelm replied. “He had to bring it all in personally because of critical refrigeration needs for part of it. We now have enough supplies to make another hundred slabs, once we have the other parts. A drop in the bucket, but a big enough drop to make a splash. I hope anyway.”

“Then all those parts you have ordered through dozens of places were a distraction?”

“The vast majority of those parts will be distributed to school electronics programs.” Wilhelm laughed, grinning. “Our second shipment, this one of bulk drugs and regular pharmaceuticals, already left Bari. We are hoping it will be enough for another hundred, but I doubt it. Vargas is going to set us back, resource wise. It is already crippling us people wise. We still hope to be prepared when Mindy dumps her latest project on us, however.”

“Holy shit.” Dressler and Lynch said in near stereo.

“To be fair. These supplies were not intended for Vargas. They were intended for her current target. We will be back in scramble mode if she gets back too soon. Some of those parts and other supplies take time to acquire. There are absolute limits on production, especially on the organics.”

“Your parents are proud of you.” Agent Dressler said, turning to Kevin. Obviously still thinking about what Wilhelm had just told them.

“A suggestion.” Amina broke in. “I know a white slaver. He owes me a large favor. It will be terrifying for Lalah, but I know how to get her out. I have her kidnapped. A ransom tape will be made. Then they drug her and deliver her to us, unconscious. We keep her that way. She wakes up in Vargas with a cell phone so she can talk to her sister. Then they both know that the other is OK.”

“And we get to see if he calls the cops and how the cops handle it.” Agent Dressler said, looking closely at Amina. More questions were obviously hiding in his gaze, yet remaining unvoiced.

“She gets away safe. They get a ransom tape from a terrified girl so there are no questions. They get to wonder how she was chosen.”

“God you are a cold one.” Agent Dressler said glaring at her.

“How soon can we set all this in motion?” Agent Lynch asked.

“After I hang up from reassuring my sister I am safe for now. As soon as they can safely hide me again.” Zahira said flatly. “Let my brother rage as he wonders where I called her from.”