Chapter 416 - Find the girl (2)

"Shit, Baby! Shit!" Aiden cursed and kicked side table. He took a minute to calm down just enough so that he can talk without cursing or raising his voice. "Where are they?"

"Let me confirm." One minute later Sarah closed her laptop. "Basement. Stairs are at the end of this hallway." She started walking out.

Aiden pulled her back. "Where are you going??! … Wait! It's one thing to get there and to beat up two guys. What after that?"

"We get the girls out…" Sarah spoke like that was expected.

Aiden was getting angry again. "Didn't you see all those guards?!! Are we going to take all of them out while protecting the girls??!"

"Not all of them, only the ones which are in the way…" Sarah smiled, ignoring his anger.

He looked at Sarah in disbelief. "So far I thought that you are reckless. Now I found out that you are outright crazy."

Sarah knows that he only wants to discourage her from getting into danger, and she will not allow herself to get into an argument with him. She decided to defuse situation and shrugged. "Reckless, crazy, hasty, brilliant, prodigy, violent… all those are just labels. You know who I am. And I want to save those girls." After a second Sarah saw that he decided to accept whatever is coming. "We don't have time for a full plan. So, let's take this, one step at a time. First, we go to the basement, and take care of those two men. Then we will see what's next."

Aiden exhaled and gave a small nod.

Sarah moved toward the door and he pulled her into his embrace.

He held her tightly, not willing to let go.

"Aiden… don't do this… don't hold me like it's the last time. It will be OK, and we will hold each other when this is over." Sarah felt that he loosened his hold on her. Sarah gave him a light kiss. "Let's go."

On the way to the basement they knocked out three people and pulled them into the side rooms. Basement was not guarded. Sarah guessed that those two men who were harassing the girls were supposed to guard the basement.

Sarah and Aiden stormed inside and without much effort knocked them down.

Sarah looked inside simple prison-like-cell and counted seven girls. Oldest one could not be more than fifteen years old. Youngest one was about ten years old.

"Do you want to come out?" Sarah asked them, wondering if they will respond. They all nodded. Sarah asked the girls if they understood her question. The oldest one stood in front of them and answered that all of them attended a school led by a British missionary, so they speak English.

Sarah smiled and turned to Aiden. "Now we need to figure out how to get out of here."

Before Aiden could respond, they heard a small voice. "Excuse me… " One of the girls took a step forward. "I worked here as a maid before bandits came. There is a passage that can take us out.

Sarah looked at Aiden and flashed a big smile.

Aiden was not convinced. "How do we know it's not a trap?"

The young girl lifted her chin defiantly. "Bandits killed my parents. They keep me here waiting for a buyer, so they can sell me off. Why would I help them? I want out of here."

Other girls stood behind her. "Bandits killed our parents also. We all want out."

Sarah felt that her heart was breaking. 'They are just little girls…'

Aiden looked at Sarah and thought that he can't go against her. He exhaled. "OK. Where is the passage?"

Little girls' eyes lit up. "It's here in the basement! There, behind…" The girl led the way, and they started walking toward the other side of the basement when they heard a faint voice from behind. "Wait… don't leave me…" It was the daughter of the businessman.

They are already taking seven girls out. What is one more? They opened her cell door with keys one of two unconscious men had dangling from his waist and took her with them.

Narrow tunnel took them out of the villa, just as the girl promised.

Aiden called the man who was their guide, and he joined them as they walked toward the plane. When they reached the plane, they met with bodyguards who work for the businessman. Businessman's daughter recognized some of the bodyguards and was happy to leave that place with them.

Jeff called Aiden as they were planning to board the plane.

As soon as Aiden answered, Jeff's furious voice was booming. "I told you just to locate the girl! Not to waltz in the den of armed wolves!"

"The girl is safe… mission accomplished." Aiden defended himself. "If you have a problem with execution, talk to Sarah!" He gave his phone to Sarah.

Sarah puffed her cheeks and mouthed, "Traitor!" She took a deep breath. "Sorry, brother-in-law. But there was some trouble that we could not avoid. And it ended up that we saved the girl also… hehehe… You can't be angry, right? It all ended well. We are out, safe and ready to go home. I'm sure we earned lots of money for you. Right?"

Jeff exhaled. "Well, as long as both of you are safe, then it's fine. Have a safe flight."

"Thank you, brother-in-law. See you when we get back." Sarah grinned victoriously and handed phone to Aiden.

Aiden could not believe it. "He yelled at me!"

Sarah stuck her tongue out as she walked toward the plane and teased him. "Maybe he likes me more."

Aiden tapped her shoulder. "I think you are forgetting something…" He pointed with his head toward back.

Sarah turned around and faced seven pairs of big eyes staring at them. She cleared her throat. "We are going now. You girls are safe… go back home."

All girls lowered their heads. One of them spoke. "We don't have home to return to…"

"Oh…" That was the only sound Sarah could make. After a while she found her voice. "So… what are you going to do?"

The girls ran to Sarah and Aiden, grabbing them by waist and legs… whatever they could grab onto. "Please, take us with you…"

Aiden lifted his arms up in the air. "Hey, hey… don't look at me. Saving you was her idea." He pointed at Sarah. "She is the Boss."

The girls from Aiden switched to Sarah who was not able to react. They were hugging her arms, legs and two were around her waist. They all begged. "Please, Boss, don't leave us behind! We have nothing here! We can be useful… do your dishes, and clean… whatever you need. If we don't know it, we will learn…" They sobbed and pleaded without taking breaks.

Sarah looked at Aiden who was not helpful at all.

Aiden had an amused smirk and 'I-told-you-so' expression. He told her not to meddle. He told her to walk away. But she didn't listen. He is happy that she didn't get hurt, but still, she needs to deal with whatever came out of it. And somehow it ended up with seven girls clinging onto her.

Sarah made all girls stand in line to face her and shook her head helplessly. "What will I do with seven girls?"

The smallest one took a step forward. "What if some are boys?"

"What?" Sarah and Aiden said in unison.

The smallest one looked at Sarah with fear in the eyes. "Boss, when bandits came to our village, they gathered all kids. Boys got beatings, and girls were taken away. I didn't want to get a beating, so I told them I'm a girl."

The boy had a pretty face, almost girlish. And he was still young so no difference between genders was shown. And all girls wore pants and tops and had short haircuts… there was no obvious way to differentiate them.

"I see…" Sarah mumbled.

"Me too." One more person took a step toward Sarah.

Sarah was stunned. "OK! OK! How many of you are girls?"

Five of them raised their hands. That left two boys who previously stepped forward as boys. Sarah exhaled. "What will I do with five girls and two boys?" She looked at Aiden hoping for help and saw that he is enjoying the show.

Sarah was frustrated that he is not helpful at all, but still asked him. "Should we take them with us?"

Aiden laughed. He enjoyed the show and had no intention to help her. She got him stressed and upset when she went into the danger recklessly. Now she needs to suffer as well. "What will YOU do with them?" He grinned.

The girls and boys started talking at the same time again saying that they can clean and help her with whatever she wants them to do. Sarah waved her hand gesturing them to stop. They calmed down after a minute, all of them eagerly looking at Sarah, waiting to see what she will do next, and hoping that she will not leave them behind.