Hannah waited for everyone to take a seat and open the folder in front of them.
“The group we’re following have a base just outside of Moscow, but they rarely go back there.” She began. “They have properties in Ankara, Turkey, in Sofia, Bulgaria, in Zagreb, Croatia, and in Stuttgart, Germany, to name but a few that we know about. If you look at the map, you’ll find that the locations are strategically placed to be on the delivery route from Turkey to Holland. Rotterdam, to be specific. The victims are kidnapped or collected from various countries, and then shipped to Ankara to start their journey across Europe. The pictures in the folders are of the properties we know they use, as well as the trucks they use to haul the containers across the continent.”
Hannah pulled up a map and cast it to the big screen in the conference room.
“If you look at the monitor, you can see the exact route they’re following. Apparently, it’s been successful for more than two years, with a shipment on average every two to three months.” She pointed at a red line. “From Rotterdam, the women can be put on a ship to the UK, or anywhere in the world.”
“How are they transported?” Kellen asked, glancing up from the folder in front of him.
“Mostly by container, on the back of a truck.” Hannah confirmed. “It makes them easier to offload onto a ship when they get to Rotterdam. Occasionally, if they’ve picked up women in Eastern Europe or central Russia, they’re transported in smaller numbers in trucks until they reach Sofia, where the cargo is joined up and put in the back of the larger unit already travelling from Ankara. If they’re from southern Russia, they’ll be transported to Ankara either through Georgia, or by boat across the Black Sea.”
“How many are transported from Ankara in any one shipment?” Yuri asked, frowning at the map.
“For the past eighteen months, the shipments would average between fifteen and twenty women. The last two shipments have been larger, and we recently received intel that says the next shipment could be anywhere from eighty to a hundred.” Hannah replied, trying to keep the growl from her voice.
If there had ever been a time when she’d wanted to be a man going on a mission, this was it. But then again, she’d probably shoot first and ask questions later, which wouldn’t be much good for the operation.
“And do we know where these women come from?” Hollywood asked, looking extremely agitated.
“The ones being shipped directly from Ankara could be from Asia, or they could be from Iraq or Iran.” Hannah explained. “Some will be Russians, and there’s a strong likelihood that there will be quite a few from Syria. There are tens of thousands of displaced Syrians trying to travel north into Turkey, thinking that it’ll provide them with a stepping stone into Europe. Unfortunately, they think that if they travel in groups of three or four women together, that the larger numbers will keep them safe. It doesn’t. The traffickers pick them all up, kill the older women and traffic the younger ones.”
“What age range are the women they’re moving?” Kris asked. “And are they all females?”
“The youngest we know about are nine or ten, and while the older ones are more likely to be female, the younger ones, the children, could be either male or female. The traffickers cater to several markets, each one more sordid than the last.” Hannah explained, trying to keep her voice controlled. “They’ll keep the older ones in their forties and fifties, using them to keep the younger ones from causing trouble along the way, but generally, if they’re forty or over, they’ll sell them as domestic slaves once they arrive in Rotterdam.”
“Fucking assholes!” Hannah heard the grumble from the other end of the table, but she couldn’t really tell who it came from.
“So, how do we know all this shit?” Evan wondered. “I mean, traffickers don’t usually publish their itinerary.”
Hannah smiled.
“No, they don’t.” She agreed. “We have two sources of information. Firstly, the official channel, from whom we get the details they want us to have in order to facilitate their business. That’s the contact we’re dealing with to set up the auction at the other end, in Rotterdam. They obviously don’t sign their name to anything, but I have a hunch I’m probably dealing with the sister of the man who runs everything. Then we also have someone on the inside who is leaking information out. They’d already contacted me, even before the Guardians ever existed, and they’ve been communicating with me constantly for the last six months. Between the two of them, they’ve given us enough information not only for us to get a foot in the door, but to actually come up with a credible plan to rescue the women.”
“What sort of foot in which door, and what’s the plan?” Logan asked.
“Ok, well it won’t come as any surprise to anyone that there’s a lot of money in trafficking.” Hannah confirmed. “And where the Guardians come into play, is that we’ve managed to use one of David’s informants to get us into the right circles.”
“Trafficking circles?” Kellen clarified.
“Yes. But not just any circle. The one we’re dealing with is based in London, and we’ve managed to get an introduction to the traffickers who believe we are facilitators. Go-betweens, if you will.” Hannah explained.
“So, what are we going to facilitate?” Hollywood asked, staring at Hannah over the top of the folder.
“An auction.” Hannah answered simply. “We’ve promised them that we can supply some very rich clients who are looking for a particular type of product. Middle Eastern, European, and American clients, as well as others. We’ve promised them that we can have an auction set up by the time they get to Holland.”
“So, how does that get us close enough to the cargo in transit to be able to rescue them?” Logan asked, his Scottish accent thankfully not so thick as to make it hard to understand.
“Part of the deal we’ve agreed with the official contact, is that if we’re going to all the trouble of putting on the auction and bringing in buyers from overseas, then we get to insert some of our own security people from the beginning, to make sure the cargo reaches Holland intact, and undamaged.” Hannah explained.
“So, we’re going to be acting as bodyguards to the women being trafficked?” Evan snorted. “Somehow, I don’t see that being a believable scenario.”
“Not bodyguards to the women, no, although you will have to make sure the other men in the trucks don’t get out of line with them.” Hannah scowled. “Officially, you’re there as protection to defend the trucks if they’re attacked by a rival criminal gang or get caught up in a police swoop.”
“So, how reliable is our contact on the inside?” Evan asked. “Do we know who they are?”
“By all accounts they’re right at the top table, with direct links to the boss of the organisation.” Hannah confirmed. “But they’re keeping a very low profile. All of our contacts with them are through text messages or e-mails. Nothing audio or visual.”
“How do you know you’re talking to the right person then?” Logan asked.
“We’ve given them a code-name.” Hannah smiled. “I call them my Angel.”
Hollywood chuckled.
“I like it. The guy who’s helping us on the inside is the ‘Guardians’ Angel’!” He shook his head at Hannah. “Let me guess, was it you who thought that up?”
Hannah shrugged, but she could feel her cheeks heating up.
“It seemed most appropriate, don’t you think?”
She glanced around at the heads nodding, and felt relieved, not least that nobody seemed to think the name was stupid.
“Look, there are plenty of reports you need to read through in the folders in front of you.” She pointed out. “Spend a couple of hours learning everything you can about the type of organisation you’re going to be dealing with. Make sure you familiarise yourselves with the routes and locations of the properties. And think about the people you’re going to come into contact with. They’re literally the scum of the earth, capable of extreme brutality, even against women and children. You have to be prepared to see things no decent human would want to see. David wasn’t exaggerating. You need to brace yourselves to see those things and not respond in any way. That’s going to be the toughest part of your job.”
She watched the men glance at the folders.
“We’ll meet back here at two o’clock this afternoon, when Danny and Abbey will have stuff to talk through with you, to prepare you for the emotional side of what you’ll be seeing.” Hannah explained. “They can give you first-hand accounts of what it will be like.”
None of the men looked up from the folders, so Hannah quietly left the room.
As tough and as physically capable as the six men were, she had the feeling that none of them really had any idea of what to expect.
Hopefully, Danny and Abbey would be able to rectify that this afternoon.