Chapter Seventeen
ANA
Arriving in Damascus, Syria wasn’t as frightening as I had expected. In my mind, I had pictured men with guns standing around everywhere just waiting to shoot people, but the airport was relatively calm.
“Why are you here?” the customs agent asked me in English.
My mind went blank as I stared at him. What would be a good reason for any woman to come to Syria at a time of war? I couldn’t think straight and the man quickly disappeared. He returned with a woman who spoke to me in German.
“I’m here with a charity,” I responded in English.
The woman shook her head at me and looked at my passport for what seemed like an hour, but was probably more like five minutes. She flipped through the pages of my passport as I had arrived from America. I was scared that I had done something wrong by coming to Syria. Did they have laws against women traveling there? Was I supposed to have my head covered? I didn’t know, and the longer I stood there, the more nervous I got.
“Come with me,” the woman replied in English.
She gave nothing away by her facial expression and I couldn’t tell if I was in trouble or not. My heart pounded with all the possibilities as I followed her to a back room. The room was bare, with one table and two chairs in it. It felt like some sort of investigation or interrogation room and I was nervous.
There was no one I could call for help, nothing I could do if they decided to detain me or arrest me. I had no way of getting a hold of Nate and no contact information for his boss back in the States. I did still have Chase and Jordan’s phone numbers memorized, but I really thought Stephano would be watching their house for me.
My hope was that Stephano would have given up on me and just let me go and live my life. But apparently he wasn’t the type of guy who would give up on anyone, or maybe he just liked keeping me scared forever. I had no idea. But I did know that I wasn’t going to stay afraid of him. Either he wanted to find me and I’d deal with that or he would give up trying to scare me. Eventually, something else would take priority for him, I knew it.
“Miss, you are traveling with only one backpack?” the female customs officer asked me.
“Yes.”
“You do not have your head covered. It is very dangerous here and you should have your head covered.”
“Okay, I will do that.”
I sat there with her and waited for her to ask me more questions or talk to me more, but it appeared we were waiting for someone else to arrive. We sat quietly for a few minutes and then a young man arrived. He looked to be in his early twenties, close to my age. He had on a red vest that was labeled “Red Crescent” and he smiled at me with a friendly grin as he shook my hand.
“Hello, I’m Timothy Anders; I’m with the Red Crescent International team and would like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
I looked at the woman and then back at Timothy Anders.
“Sure.”
“You are here to volunteer?” he asked.
“I’m helping a friend, yes.”
“What is the name of the organization?”
He knew I was lying. There was no doubt about it from the way he was talking to me and the questions he was asking me. But I didn’t know what to say or how to get out of the situation. I certainly couldn’t tell him I was there to help a private security team get employees out of a rebel-enclosed area; that would sound crazy.
My silence drew out over a longer than usual period and the man motioned for the woman to leave the room. I didn’t know what he was going to ask me next and I didn’t want to say anything that the customs people would latch on to as a reason to put me in prison.
“Miss, there are no non-profit groups allowed in Syria right now except the Red Crescent. This nice woman called me because she believes you are being sold into the sex trafficking world. Did a man pay for your flight here? Did he promise you love or companionship?”
I instantly burst into laughter.
After all I had been through with my ordeal in America, it wasn’t until I arrived in Syria that someone warned me about sex trafficking. No, I wasn’t being trafficked into Syria, but I sure had been tricked into in when I left my home and went to America. Why hadn’t a nice man like Timothy Anders showed up at the airport in Miami to warn me of the possibilities then? Why was it only in a war torn area like Syria that they actually noticed the red flags of me traveling alone, without luggage, etc.? It was comical and tragic, all at the same time.
“I’m sorry, Timothy. I don’t mean to be disrespectful. I was tricked into going to the United States by a man like that. I know the warning signs. I’m not being tricked into coming here.”
“Then, why are you here?” he asked with concern on his face.
“Can they hear us?” I asked as I looked at the window.
“No, there are no recording devices in here.”
“My partner works for a security firm that is trying to get some families out of here. I’m new to the company and it’s my first assignment. I wasn’t prepared when I arrived. But I know where I’m going, and I’ll be fine.”
He looked very skeptically at me as the information slowly set in. He was a good guy, who obviously was only trying to help prevent women from being sold into sex slavery. It was noble of him to have tried to protect me, and I appreciated that.
“So, you promise that you weren’t told to tell me that? You know girls have told me a lot of stories for why they were here, but never that they were coming to rescue people,” he said calmly.
“Yes, it’s the truth. I’ll only be here a couple of days and I’m meeting up with my guys as soon as I leave here. I’m trained at this. I know what I’m doing, despite getting held up here.” I rolled my eyes and looked around the room. “The guys won’t let me live this down when they hear about it.”
“Let me get you a scarf for your head. Do you know where you’re going? I could drop you off. It would be safer than trying to travel alone.”
“I’m going to the Resolve Oil, Incorporated building. You certainly could give me a ride; that would be great.”
His eyes got big when he heard the name of the building where I wanted to go. He knew I was telling the truth about being there to rescue people when he heard that building. I saw fear in his face.
“Those families have been hiding very well for the last few weeks. I don’t even think the rebels know they are still there,” Timothy said. “I’ll drop you off at night a block away. I can get word to them that you are arriving. How many men do you have with you? Will you be able to get them all out?”
“You know the families?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes, one of my co-workers has been sneaking in food and water to them, and we were trying to figure a way to get them out. The rebels will kidnap them at the first chance they get, purely for the ransom that the company would pay.”
“How are they still hidden?”
“The barracks has a hidden wall that is behind one of the bunks. It is a small room, but they are spending nights in there. During the day, they are out in the rest of the barracks and only hide when they hear rebels in the neighborhood.”
“Thank you for taking me,” I said.
I was grateful for his help and the information he had given. The problem was that I still needed to get a hold of Nate to let him know I was there. I had no idea how far along he was in his rescue attempt and I wanted to give him the information I had. But it was looking like I would have to just wait for him at the office building and then help once he arrived.
“How are you going to get everyone out?” Timothy asked. “There are over fifty people.”
The shock on my face was evident. When Nate and I had been talking, it sounded like they expected twenty people, not fifty. The number was large and it was going to make it much more difficult to get everyone out at the same time.
“More than we had expected,” I said calmly. “But we will get them out.”
“Here’s my card; if there is anything I can help with, please call me. The line is as secure as it gets around here.”
“Great, thank you. I just might have to do that. What time will we leave?”
“Let’s get you a scarf to cover your head and some food to bring with you. If you are going there anyways, it would be safer to just have you bring the supplies.”
“I can’t bring food for 50 people with me; that’s a lot of food.”
“Trust me, we don’t have a lot to give. I’ll give you a backpack full and a couple gallons of water. It will be tough carrying it all, but you can do it.”
I wasn’t exactly sure I had the strength to carry all that he was asking, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell him no. It sounded like they were only bringing food to the building a couple times a week and I couldn’t imagine how one backpack full of food was enough to feed fifty people for very long.
“Thank you,” I said as I tried to sound more confident. “I’ll carry in whatever you can get me. No worries.”
Timothy brought me out to a more comfortable area and delivered a black scarf that I could use to cover my head. Within a few more minutes, he brought me over a large plate full of food and a soda from the vending machine.
“You look too young to work for one of those contractors. You must be very good at what you do.”
“I’m new at it, so not as good as the other guys. But I’m trying.”
There was no way I was going to tell him the truth: that I didn’t work for anyone and shouldn’t even be there at all. The lie didn’t seem all that huge to me and I did want to help rescue the people that were in the office building. But I certainly didn’t have the firepower or experience to do too much for them. I needed to get in contact with Nate and his guys.
The only way I knew to get a hold of Nate was to contact Jordan and Chase. It was a risky move, but I decided to make a phone call to them. I couldn’t risk something happening to me and no one knowing where I was at. I also couldn’t risk that Nate and his group had found a reason to abandon their plan and I would be stuck in the office building with the fifty other people waiting to be rescued. I got Timothy to let me use his phone and I dialed Chase.
“Hello,” he answered cautiously.
“It’s Ana. I’m safe. Can you get a message to Nate and tell him I’ll be waiting at the office building?”
“What? Ana, what are you talking about? Where are you? What office building?”
“Nate will know what I mean. Just get the message to him please. I can’t tell you any more than that. I just wanted you to know that I was all right and I really need that message delivered to Nate. Do you think you can get it to him?”
“Yes, I can. I’ll Skype him right now. It would be better if you called him though…”
“No. I only have access to this phone for a minute. Oh, and tell him there are 50 people not 20. I have to go.”
“What? Wait!” Chase said, but I hung up the phone.
Even if Stephano’s people had been listening, I didn’t think they would have gotten enough information to actually know where I was or how to find me. And I hoped that Chase could actually get the information to Nate so he could be better prepared when he arrived to rescue the employees.
“You ready to go?” Timothy asked me.
“I’m ready if you are.”
I took a few deep breaths and mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do. Nothing about the days ahead was going to be easy, and there was a small part of me that thought I might be suicidal or something like that. Although I didn’t feel like I wanted to die. What I felt was that I wanted a purpose to live.
I missed Nate and couldn’t wait to see him. My anxiety was up as I thought about how he was going to react to me being there. It was pretty insane that I had come there and I felt like he was probably going to flip out, but what I wanted him to do was wrap his arms around me and kiss me when he saw me. I missed his touch, the gentle feeling of our bodies moving together, and I couldn’t wait to have that again.
My life hadn’t been all that easy and I could count on my fingers the number of people I truly cared about; Nate was one of those people. Sure, he was bullheaded and hard to get along with sometimes, but so was I. When this was all over, I was going to make sure I told Nate how much I appreciated everything he had done for me. I was going to make sure he knew that I cared about him.
As Timothy drove along the streets of Damascus, I made mental notes of all the roads along the way. We were going to have to get the group of people back to the airport, I thought, so I wanted to try and remember the route we were taking. The airport seemed well operated and safe, so I hoped we would all be able to get out of town easily once we got there.
“I have the food and water in the back. You’ll want to get it loaded onto you before we get there. Just recline your seat and get yourself ready. It should take about five more minutes.”
In the back seat was one giant backpack and two large bottles of water. They looked like they held around three gallons each and had straps on them to carry over my shoulders. I flipped my personal backpack around to my front and slid the large backpack on and then the water bottles. The weight of everything made it hard for me to even sit up straight and I wasn’t sure I would even be able to stand up when I tried to. But I had eaten and drank plenty over the last twenty-four hours; the people stuck in the office building might not have had any. I would be just fine.
Timothy pulled into a dark alley and I knew it was time.
“The Resolve Oil building is straight at the end of this alley. Walk quickly and keep your head down. Stay to the edges near the walls. Walk around to the right of the building and there will be a small, blue door. Knock three times and then wait ten seconds and knock three times again. Someone will open the door. Tell them I sent you, and they will let you in. Then you can connect with your group from there.”
“Great, thanks,” I said as I turned my legs outside the car and prepared to stand up.
The load I was carrying was heavy, but I wasn’t going to let Timothy see me struggle. My adrenaline was pumping, and I stood up slowly and used the car to steady myself. The weight was difficult, but not impossible. I only had one long block to walk, so it would be manageable.
“Remember to keep your head down and good luck,” Timothy said before he sped away.
I did as he advised and walked straight to the large, white Resolve Oil building. I didn’t look up and I didn’t look around. My focus was set on getting to the side of the building and knocking on the door as I had been told.
To my left, I heard what sounded like a door close and it took all the will power I could muster not to look that way. Instead, I continued straight and stood in front of the door before I looked up and down the street and knocked three times.
I counted to ten and then knocked three times again before the door cracked opened and a man looked out at me. Before he had a chance to slam the door shut, I blurted out that Timothy had sent me.
“I’m friends with Timothy Anders. I have food and water,” I said as I pointed to the large jugs of water on either side of me.
“Why are you here?” the man asked me.
“I’m here with your supplies.”
“Why are you here?” he asked again in a more agitated tone.
My mouth went dry and I thought that he might not have been one of the office workers who was trapped in there. The man standing on the other side of the blue door could have very well been a rebel who had taken over the location or was hiding out there as well. But it was too late; I was standing there with nothing to protect myself.
“I’m with a group that Resolve Oil hired to rescue you all,” I said in an effort to get him to open the door.
My lies about working for Nate’s company had compounded over the last few hours, but if they kept me safe, I would just have to continue with them. And the lie worked, because the man quickly opened the door and pulled me inside. He locked it behind me and led me through the building quickly as we made it up to the fourth floor.
What I saw made my stomach seize in pain. There were dozens of women and children in the room sitting all around the ground. I counted 12 men in the group. All of whom were armed and several were on alert and looking out the windows.
The man grabbed my food pack and handed it to the women who got to work preparing and separating everything out. He then took the water from me and handed one to the men and one to the women. I just stood there in shock as I looked over the group and wondered how on earth I was going to be able to help them.