Feminine Intuition

Chapter Four

On the short drive back to the hotel, Joff outlined his thoughts for their next step. "I think Mr Collins will be a dog with two tails when he tells his department head that he might have a lead on the funds." Gina shook her head.

"We still have no real proof of any of this. I still don't know what 50 camels mean. If anything? Gina mused, "but We did piece together that Rahim or 'Ricky' was a potential money man and hence the trip to Frankfurt to disperse the money he was funnelling for his bosses." Gina counted off her fingers for each point she made, "and I am now pretty sure that he placed money in accounts that would have entered the money, which would be dirty and so would have laundered the proceeds" Joff nodded and then frowned.

"You know if you are right, it might make you a bigger target." The car pulled up at the hotel, "if anyone were to think you had any additional information, you would be quite an asset to them."

"Really? Do you think we aren't safe?" Gina's alarm was clear in her voice.

"Well, I don't think we should stay here for too much longer, I'll arrange to have us move to another location tomorrow." Joff and Gina got out of the car and made their way to her room." We should get you packed and then get away nice and early.

"Do we have to pack straight away, I wondered if we might have a little time before we left??" Gina smiled suggestively. Joff returned her smile, pleased that his lustful thoughts had been reciprocated, opened the door and they walked in.

Then, all was chaos. Joff had no time to react.

The hotel door opened and, in a flash, three figures rushed them despite Joff pulling him down and clubbing him viciously any attempt to fight them was useless and he was subdued almost immediately. Gina, too shocked to scream aloud, jumped back against the wall and tried to escape. She was easily caught by two of their assailants, Gina was sprayed in the face with a fine clear vapour and then a hood was placed over her head and within moments, Gina lost consciousness. The figures bundled Gina out of the room, dragging her feet across the carpet. Joffrey was left on the floor of the room. One of the figures loomed over him and aimed a black matt automatic Glock 23, complete with a suppressor.

"Usanū chaḍō" One figure called to another."Leave him!"

The figures fled and closed the door behind them.

Ayaan Ziahad 12th March 2022 - 11:05am

The unmistakable whistle of an aircraft in flight stirred Gina out of her drug-induced unconsciousness. Her mouth was dry and tainted with a heavy cloying sour taste. She coughed and slowly opened her eyes. Through the fog, she looked directly at the figure of a dark-skinned woman in a generic cabin crew uniform of yellow and blue. The woman smiled and offered Gina a clear plastic cup of water.

"Please. Drink. It will help." The woman's voice was smooth and lightly accented.

Gina drank it down and blinked. She looked around the plush interior of a large private aircraft. Gina had seen examples of the privately hired aeroplane and had even flown in a few in her time as cabin crew. The interior was clean and well-furnished. As the female cabin attendant walked down the cabin, Gina saw two men sitting in luxurious leather swivel chairs. Two men were dark-skinned and wore beards and were talking quietly, in a language she didn't recognise.

One man nodded to the other and the second man looked over at Gina. Gina became aware that she was clothed. She wore a simple rich cream Pakistani women's suit, short trousers and simple flat-soled shoes and a cream dress on top. They looked and felt expensive. She felt under her dress and could feel the padded cup of a bra. Suddenly, the memory of Joffrey and the abduction. She shivered and became anxious as the second man walked over to her.

His face was slender, with a neat black beard upon his face and an aquiline nose. He was not more than 40 and handsome. Gina watched him approach and take a seat opposite her.

"Please, Mrs Caine. Do not be alarmed. You have not dressed appropriately for our destination, you were dressed by Selma." The man nodded at the female attendant, who brought over a tray of cups with a coffee pot and small neat biscuits." Allow me to introduce myself, I am Aryaan Zaihad. I am the caretaker of Kurram and Sibi on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan." His voice was calm and polite, with only a hint of an accent.

"Why am I here?" Gina said simply. She tried and failed to overcome the nervousness in her tone.

"That is a simple question, requiring a simple answer." Zaihad smiled." You are seeking an illicit fortune and so am I."

Gina sat up. "I'm not seeking anything. I am a British subject and you have abducted me. You've kidnapped me!" Gina tried to sound outraged. "Where am I exactly?"

Zaihad looked over to his accomplice. "She has fire, doesn't she?" The other bearded man nodded and sipped at a tall glass.

Zaihad looked back to Gina. "You are approximately 30,000 ft above the ground, on the way to my little residence on the border with Pakistan" His tone was light and friendly, which put Gina into a higher state of anxiety.

"Why am I here?" Gina repeated.

"You were looking into the events of 2002. You were the courageous young lady, who stopped an outward flight in a busy airport on a hunch. You were contacted by a.Mr Collins and asked to lend your view on those events."Gina stared at him and waited. She maintained a neutral expression. There was nothing she could do. She was here and was at their mercy.

"Please, I will not harm you. I apologise for the manner, in which you have been brought here, but I am... not always welcome in your country."

"Not welcome?" Gina narrowed her eyes.

"Yet. To some in your government, I am undesirable. You see, I am, what your free press likes to describe as a warlord!" Zaihad smiled. "A rather romantic notion, I agree."

"You're a criminal?" Gina's voice tightened.

"Yes." He was annoyingly matter-of-fact. "But a polite and respectful one. Do not feel ill at ease. You are safe and if when we have a little time together. You might feel the label is unjustified." Zaihad smiled warmly and stood up.

"I doubt it." Gina remained defiant but somehow, she believed that she was under no immediate threat.

It took another four hours before the aircraft started its landing cycle and Gina got to look about the window. The scenery was certainly impressive. Mountains, valleys and rich colours of desert terrain, broken up by greenery and few roads. The aircraft made a smooth landing and when the fuselage door opened the heat made Gina gasp. The sun was strong, and the air was dry. Beyond the small airstrip, with few buildings, Gina could see sparse villages in the distance and as they taxied, Gina saw three black 4x4s rolled up to meet the plane. Once they disembarked, and she was courteously helped into the first car, the motorcade moved off. Gina noticed immediately that no passports were furnished or checked.

An illegal flight. No one would know she was here.

Gina's anxiety returned. Bedside her, wearing a similar outfit to hers, sat the cabin attendant. Gina had surmised, that she was also part of this man's outfit and was simply playing a part. The woman turned to Gina. "I am Selma Al Moudhood, I am Colonel Zaihad's associate." Selma smiled and offered Gina a metal screw cap bottle of water. "Please, you need to stay hydrated, we will be ascending the mountains and the air is dry."

"Selma, what is going to happen to me?" Gina dropped all pretence but accepted a long draught from the flask.

"You will be Colonel Zaihad's guest. You will be completely safe here with us. Zaihad has ordered it so. You will soon learn that Western stereotypes and false news, of savage bandits, with no morals and bent on rapine and plunder is not to be trusted." Selma took the flask and sipped from it. "You, see? It is not drugged, and you are not cast into a harem or sold to traffickers. That is the Westerner's way. The way of the Outremer.

"Outremer?" Gina questioned.

"'The overseas'. The people that come and take. The Crusaders in the 9th century and the Russians in the 20th century and finally the US and British Military in the 21st century." Selma looked out of the window.

"You're Taliban?" Gina asked. She didn't want an answer.

"No. We are free and will remain so." Selma answered cryptically and saw the driver turn around.

"It will be another 6 hours before we are home." The heavily accented man from the plane called out.

Gina felt her stomach twist and lurch.

'They will never find me.' Gina pondered. Not sure, who they would be looking for her anyway. She had no idea about Joff and she was very, very alone.

Joffrey Mokrani Stansted Airport 13th March 2022 - 2.34pm

The day has been wearying. His patience was almost at an end. With Gina being taken, Joff's anxiety level was made began to splinter his professional detachment and his temper was frayed. Even the slightest delay, felt like sandpaper on his skin. He was relegated to running around gathering as much information about who the abductors might be. He had a good idea, but he needed solid evidence to push forward an action plan and take it directly to Collins. On reaching the main security offices and being redirected to three different people, he was tense and irritable. Joffrey had finally spoken to the private flight people and had been informed of the number of private flights that had taken off from the airport within the last 12 to 36 hours. The fat security coordinator had shrugged and wiped the sweat from his forehead as Joffrey used all the influence he could muster.

"I cannot give out flight details or manifests. You are not police, are you?" The security officer shrugged again. Joffrey was exerting all his control not to take the man by his throat and threaten bodily harm.

" I understand that you have certain legal restrictions but you can tell me how many flights and where they originated from and perhaps where their flight plans were? Come on man, a British citizen must be abducted and when it goes public that your security was so poor that kidnappers took Mrs Caine and you didn't help, you know what the papers will make of this!" Joffrey pointed an accusing finger at the security officer.

"I can't say anything..but I do need the loo." The security officer walked away, tapping a log book of flights in neatly written aircraft registration details including flight origins and destinations.

Joff scanned the eight flights. "Two domestics," he muttered as he read. "One, two, three European and," He scanned down to the bottom of the page, "Two had middle eastern flight plans." Joff took out his phone and photographed each entry on the log. He closed the book and made his way out towards his car. He dialled a number and waited for an answer.

"Collins here." Joff switched hands and placed the phone on his left ear while fishing for his key fob.

"Two flights took off; I have the details of the flight numbers. I hope you know what you are doing. sir?" Joffrey's voice was tense. He had hated letting Gina be taken, but Collins had assured him that his Pakistani contacts would be professional, and Gina would be unharmed." I want to accompany you when you meet with this Colonel Zaihad." Joffrey's tone is firm and unequivocal.

"Of course, Mr Mokrani. I can use your assistance with the next stage of our little adventure. I will be with you in three hours and an RAF plane has been secured for our use. See you at RAF Northolt and see you at dispersal.

The RAF flight was ready to depart within twenty minutes of Joff's arrival. He caught up to Collins at the dispersal building, while he was enjoying a cup of tea and looking over his iPad.

"Ah Mr Mokrani, you have just made it in time. We will take off in only a few minutes but enough time to talk to you."

"About what exactly?" Joff was immediately on the defensive. He didn't like Collins and he just knew that the next twenty minutes would not endear him to Collins.

"We are on a very difficult course Mr Mokrani, to quote one of those US superhero films kids love so much 'I am tasked with glorious purpose'. Collins smiled at his clever pop-culture reference. Of course, he had no family and children at home and had never seen a single film that wasn't made after 1993." We are going to talk to one of the HM government's off-the-books assets near Pakistan. It will be an arduous journey but the effort will be worthwhile."

Joffrey looks at Collins and felt revulsion and a sense of foreboding. "What exactly is going on here?"

"Let me tell you a little tale. It's full of twists and turns and much work and effort by myself over the last 15 or so years. Miss Crowe, that's Mrs Caine to you who had inadvertently stopped a pipeline of illegal funds from Afghanistan and other opium-producing regions. As you know, the whole area has been an ulcer in the side of Western powers from the 1880s and the British Empire's involvement." Collins was enjoying lecturing Joff.

"I am aware of the region and its history, Mr Collins," Joff interjected.

"Ah yes, I'm sure you do, but my story starts in 2002 with the redoubtable Mrs Caine who stumbled on a courier and his handlers. She stopped an entire aircraft, and they are taken into custody. I was on that case and I knew straight away what it all meant. The bagman had been educated in this country and then was recruited to move money around from illegal drug deals by Afghan drug growers and of course, their corrupt little government. The whole system was designed to keep armaments flowing into the hands of the Taliban and any other blood-thirsty natives. Fast forward to the US and British involvement and well, you know full well the events of the late 2009 and early 2010 with Helmand province occupations in Operation Moshtarak."

Joffery know all about this operation, as he had been in a support role as a young Lieutenant on attachment with the 2nd battalion of the Yorkshire regiment. His mind was filled with memories of the fighting and the death he saw. "I was there Mr Collins," he stated simply.

"Ah yes of course." Collins swiped his I pad and showed Joff a series of photographs of the main players in his story and then showed him other photographs of men he didn't recognise. " Well Mr Mokrani, what you did not know is that the monies that Mrs Caine, perhaps we might call her Gina, don't you think?" Joff shuffled in the chair, uneasy that Collins might have worked out that he had become closer than his profession allowed. "Gina has been most impressive, she worked that the bag-man had successfully funnelled money into the banking system in the Pakistani banking system and a part of the Aga Kahn Foundation. This makes it very difficult to seize and recover assets. I am 100% convinced that no one had been able to get to these funds especially after we managed to intercept Ricky al-Moud after his release but an unknown heart condition cut short our interview." Collins looked up at Joof and watched for any reaction. Joff made no such reaction, he knew what governments and the shady world of international politics were capable of.

"Go on.." Joff replied. He looked up as a uniformed Raf officer walked up to Collins and informed him that his flight was ready.

"Let's continue this on the plane, shall we?" Collins stood and placed his empty teacup on the side as Joff followed him out of the plane.

End of Chapter Four.