Chapter 389 - Underneath The Gloves

Sasquatch held his breath. For the first time that day, he was finally about to see Lotus' hands and he didn't know what to expect.

The unpredictable woman slowly slipped the gloves off and placed them on the child's bedside table. She then pressed her left hand to her forehead and put her right hand on the child's cheek with a serious expression.

From the foot of the bed, Sasquatch ran his eyes across both hands and almost choked.

Scars...

Her hands were indeed covered in scars! Just as Halia had said, these scars were left from thin, deliberate cuts, like some kind of branding...

Sasquatch was horrified!

Normally, when Sasquatch caught a criminal, he would feel hatred and disgust, but today...he actually felt pity and sympathy. How did Lotus have these scars? Why did she have these scars? Who gave her these scars?!

"Oh, sweetie, you've got a fever," Lotus said softly to the child in front of her. She then looked at Sasquatch and asked gently, "Bernard, can you help me get some medicine while I fetch a towel and some warm water?"

Sasquatch snapped out of his daze and nodded his head. Regardless of who she was, he couldn't make a scene in front of the children and frighten them. So, he tried to remain composed as he walked over to the medicine cabinet.

When he returned, he saw Lotus sitting beside the child's bed, wiping his face with some warm water. "It must be the cold weather," the other volunteer said quietly as he walked over to Sasquatch and saw him looking at Lotus. "Lotus recently donated some money to have the heating system in the orphanage upgraded. They're planning to install it in the next few days."

Sasquatch wasn't that afraid of the cold, so he didn't take notice earlier, but the orphanage was relatively cold. He looked around and saw the other children huddled up in bed with thick clothing. The other volunteer also had a down jacket on, even though they were indoors.

Suddenly, it no longer seemed so strange that Lotus was walking around with a scarf and gloves all the time.

He was actually the strange one in his t-shirt and windbreaker.

Sasquatch glanced at Lotus again. This woman actually donated her money to the orphanage! He was already viewing her differently to the criminals he had dealt with in the past, now that he knew what she did for the orphanage, he suddenly felt bad that he was about to arrest her. 

But...he was a professional... He knew what had to be done. If she was a passport forger that worked for The Organization, no amount of charity work could excuse her for what she had done. So, he pulled out his phone and sent an encrypted message: 'Woman with scars located. Send back up.'

...

Halia was back in her secret office when she received Sasquatch's message. Dinner was amazing but she had serious work to do, so they did not stick around for too long. Avaleigh was a little disappointed but she did not force the couple to stay. She simply offered for them to take the pot of pork knuckle, black vinegar, and ginger stew to eat for the week. Halia really enjoyed it, so she did not refuse. She was truly impressed by Avaleigh and already treated her like family.

Halia read Sasquatch's message and immediately contacted Trisha to send a small team to Sasquatch's location. While they were on the phone, Trisha revealed what she had learned about Amun from Boginya. "Amun is one of the other founders of The Organization. His real name is Ali Gamal and he used to be an agent for the Egyptian State Security Investigations Service (SSI) which got dissolved in 2011 after a revolt. That agency did not have a good reputation and was widely detested, so even when he was working for them, he was already running The Organization on the side in secret. According to Boginya, he has his own secret base in Morocco where he is practically treated like a king. The founders agreed not to question each other's methods as long as they made money for The Organization and helped it grow bigger and more powerful, so she's never actually investigated what goes on inside Amun's base. Just like the way that her base in Mongolia was a complete secret, she has no idea of the exact location of Amun's base. Every time she met him, it would be at a different spot within the Fez medina and he would blindfold her before taking her to his base. However, she does know that he's narcissistic and likes to brand his people with cuts. She said that if we find one of his people, we may be able to find him."

Halia nodded her head, "Let's hope Sasquatch got something..."

After she got off the phone with Trisha, Halia checked the time and made another call. This time, she was calling Israel. It didn't take long before a chirpy voice answered, "Hey, babe! It's so good to hear from you. Let me find a quiet spot." In the background, Halia could hear some loud music and Hummingbird saying to some people, "My friend is calling from Australia. I'll have a quick chat and be right back."

A little while later, the music got quieter and quieter, and eventually, Hummingbird whispered into the phone again, "Hi, Captain, you called at the right time."

"Did you discover something?" Halia asked.

Hummingbird nodded her head, "I went to the bar you told me about and snooped around a little. The woman that visited the prison in China is a courier that works for one of the largest crime organizations here in the middle east. They are a completely separate entity to The Organization. If I have to make an assumption, I think The Organization hired them to deliver weapons to Boginya with their own courier. That way, we wouldn't be able to trace the woman back to their base. It is practically a dead end here in Israel."

Halia furrowed her brows slightly, but she was not fazed. "That's fine. I want you to leave Israel and fly to Morocco. There's something much more important for you there..."

"Morocco? What's there?" Hummingbird asked with interest.

"Another founder of The Organization has a base there. We need you to find it..."