As they walked down the street, Zack was still holding Masika close while his hand firmly held onto her shoulder. She wanted to remind him to let go and walk in front, but the policemen already saw them like that. And they also told them that they are tourists, and that she is his wife so… it's OK. Probably.
Masika glanced toward her left. It seems that Merve is there (or at least that is from where the signal is coming). They are almost outside of the light provided by the streetlamp, but Masika can see a small dilapidated building. Based on the wood stacked next to the outside wall, she assumed that it's some kind of storage. Not a bad hiding spot, if they are not using it often.
The signal points there, but because it's weak, it is getting lost, occasionally it jumping up to a hundred meters in various directions, so she can't be completely sure. Masika wanted to go and check if that is the right place, but she can't do that with these two policemen behind them.
Luckily, they spoke to Zack, so Masika was able to focus on observing surroundings and coming up with a plan. Unfortunately, all her plans included for these policemen NOT to be there, but it didn't seem that they are willing to leave on their own. No matter how much she planned, the confrontation is inevitable.
"How will you get in touch with your driver?", the policeman asked.
The more policeman asked, the more Zack was getting nervous. Aren't these too nosy? And they are walking only two steps behind them.
Zack tried not to worry about it. He was already prepared to take them out, but since they should not attract attention, if these two can leave them alone, that would be the best.
He glanced at Masika and their eyes met, and they shared a silent understanding that the two policemen have no good intentions.
Zack told himself to be cool.
"I was supposed to give our driver a call, but the signal is bad, so we decided to walk a bit until I get a good reception.", Zack responded.
Masika moved to the left, and Zack followed. And so did the two policemen.
When Masika stopped walking, Zack knew that it is time... He got his phone. "Ah, the signal is good. I will call the…"
He didn't finish the sentence, when two policemen charged at him with their truncheons.
The policemen didn't get a chance to make a sound, and they were already on the ground, unconscious. Zack took out both of them.
"Stupid. Did they really think that is enough to take me down?", Zack said through his teeth smugly while keeping his phone back in the pocket. He hoped that Masika saw that he used only one hand.
Masika looked at Zack and blinked. "If you are tourist, staying in Bursa, this would be more than enough."
Zack squatted and removed pistols from the holsters of policemen, while Masika kicked the truncheons away.
"Too bad for them that they didn't want to risk waking up the neighbors." Zack put the pistols in his side pant pockets and looked at Masika who pulled her scarf down, revealing her face.
Zack thought about Masika's words and about the fact that they pretended to be tourists and were attacked by two police officers in a dark alley of a Turkish village.
"Did they try to rob us or…", Zack didn't finish his sentence. He remembered how two men ogled at Masika lecherously.
"They were going to knock you out. Probably kill you. Then they would have their fun with me. No one would know how two tourists disappeared in a remote place like this.", Masika said while doing her best not to show how disgusted she is by this situation.
Zack was not so good at keeping his cool. He kicked the closer guy in the head viciously. "Bastards. Let's kill them."
Masika shook her head, indicating her disapproval. "This is not why we are here. The whole system is corrupt and killing these two would be a drop in the ocean."
Zack kicked the other guy as well, he will not discriminate.
He observed Masika before asking: "How can you be so calm about it?"
"I am not. The difference between us is that this is not my first time to encounter police abusing their power to the point of being criminals. Let's go. The signal is that way."
Zack followed after Masika with a complex expression on his face. Part of him admired Masika for keeping her cool and thinking rationally while staying focused on the mission, and the other part felt sorry for her. She is only fifteen years old and she should be carefree and not roaming dark alleys while avoiding lecherous policemen. Zack confirmed to himself: this is the reason he is with her, to protect her just how she protected him that day when they met.
Just as Masika guessed, the signal led them to the small dilapidated building she spotted earlier.
They jumped over the wall and a second later they heard angry barks approaching them. Masika spotted a dog running toward them, a mixed breed of German Shepherd and something else.
She squatted and hit the dog with tips of her fingers at the side of his head while avoiding his teeth.
"Sorry for this…", Masika whispered while patting the head of the dog which was lying unconscious on the ground, like he is in a deep sleep.
They observed surrounding and exhaled in relief that no one woke up due to the noise the dog created.
Their destination was only a few paces away. They looked inside and confirmed that it's a storage shed of some kind with various tools and few boxes, but they didn't see a girl.
Masika pursed her lips and stepped outside while checking the coordinates and the distance again. "She should be right here. No more than two meters away, in front of us…"
Masika got on her toes while trying to see on top of the roof. The ground of the shed is hard dirt, so there is no way there is anything underground, and the boxes are not big enough for a person to fit inside.
"Is it possible that she dropped the beacon?", Zack asked. "But we should at least find the beacon…"
Masika shrugged. "It's a size of a coin so…"
She stopped talking and held her breath because she thought that she heard some faint sound which didn't come from her or Zack. Masika slowly walked to the side of the building, where wood pieces are stacked.
Masika switched to heat signatures on Eve-lens and saw that there are two figures within the pile of wood. One figure is curled up, almost seating, and the second one is smaller. The image is fuzzy as the bodies are overlapping because the smaller one is sitting on the lap of the bigger one. But no matter what, there are two people hiding under that wood.
Masika remembered the dog. If the dog didn't attack these two who are hiding on this property, it means that he is familiar with them.
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