Our time at Chayton's ranch was far too brief. Just enough for him to inspect the buffalo cows Mauro accepted delivery of yesterday. He started small. Half a dozen of them and all of them pregnant with next year's calves. Exactly what Malia was hoping for with the nannies she was going to buy for milk.

The elk calves were growing, and Shelby gathered the antlers the males shed. They were part of another side project she was planning. The woman was a fountain of small side branches for the ranch business. This time it was supplying artisans with raw materials.

Surprisingly, old sun-bleached bones were also in demand, and cleaning them up was a constant chore in the fields and pastures. I agreed with her, might as well make a profit off them since artists were demanding them as canvasses for decorative work.

I started reorganizing my wallet on my cell phone as we headed to Luke Air Force base. New policies of issuing digital identification rather than wasting valuable trees for paper was much to my liking. The world needed to keep its trees if we wanted to keep oxygen to breathe. I placed my new private investigator permit at the top, ahead of my driver's license. Once I finished, I brought out the other cell phone I would be using. Our personal effects would go into storage at the military base before we left on our mission.

In the new wallet, Mrs. Alyana Adakai's drivers license, travel insurance, and birth certificate were front and center. I had her passport in my fanny pack along with paper copies of the rest of her ID. It had a spot for her cell phone as well. I winced at the thought of leaving mine behind.

I couldn't believe the elegant suits and gowns they procured for me. Shelby helped me with the makeup provided. Emphasizing my eyes and high cheekbones, the face staring back at me in the mirror made me think I was a movie star. Chayton whistled long a slow when I came out of the bathroom with my new look.

"Wow! But I like you better without the mask. I'm scared to kiss you." His touch felt like he was handling fragile glass when his hand brushed against me.

"I hate it. But it's a believable alias, and you in a top end suit? You look like a multi-million business tycoon."

"Which is exactly what we want to portray."

"It's disgusting, this cover. I don't know if I can pull it off," I said. "We're shopping for a slave for shit's sake."

"A well trained one as well. The idea is to get a look at as many as we can, searching for our missing women. The special ops guys will go in to rescue them after we located them. Another group will be tasked with shutting them down in their entirety later. Identifying the supplier is paramount. Deringer always sold to the same place. It's apparent in the forensic audit."

"So, the key to this, is to find someone along the way who can identify them." I swallowed the stomach acid burning in the back of my throat. I was physically ill at the thought.

"Not my idea of a walk in the park either, Alyana. But this is the closest we've gotten to shutting down a major human trafficking pipeline."

I stayed silent, studying the solitaire engagement ring snuggled up to the band Chayton gave me. It looked out of place and I wanted to twist the huge cubic zirconia fake to the inside of my finger.

Chayton reached over to me and did it for me.

"You don't have to look at that until we start on the hunt. Think of the other buyers we might spot. The intelligence gathering side of this mission will go a long way to finding more branches of this mess. Edith said we will share information with Inter Pol. The Europeans are experiencing issues as well."

I nodded. "Several South American countries are looking as well. On the bright side, we have Abuelita's rescue to look forward to. I'll hang on to that as a reward for getting this over with." I was getting sleepy in spite of the long nap we took earlier. Yawning, I covered my gaping mouth with my hand, hoping I didn't infect Chayton.

"I'm tired too. We've got barely thirty minutes until we get to the base. Hang in there. I found out this is a medical plane. There will be places for us to sleep. They're going on to pick up injured from other conflicts. The president wants to show solidarity with Israel and Ukraine."

I groaned. "I guess we should be grateful for the political mess, but I wish the people of this world would learn we all bleed red. Differences should be celebrated, or this would be a very boring planet."

"Let's do our little bit and forget about the rest. It gives me a headache every time I try to understand the reasoning behind some of these disputes, let alone justifying an all out war." Chayton squeezed my hand before he put his back on the steering wheel.

I still hadn't seen the itinerary we would be following in the U.A.E. From what Edison said, the NSA was able to get us into some pretty exclusive events. Intercepted messages showed they were fronting secondary illegal undercurrents. It was definitely a cross agency effort to gather the clues.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"There," I whispered. "See her?"

Chayton nodded. "That's the third one. Is there some way to talk to them?"

"I don't think so. I'll ask our hostess." We were at a dinner party. The girls serving drinks and canapes were dressed in harem costumes.

The woman was dressed in a stunning Versace gown. My own was almost identical except for the color. I had my hair up in an intricate braided coronet. I hated the hour I lost in the hotel beauty salon while the hairdresser worked her magic. I had a tiara and all the matching costume jewelry.

I turned to Chayton. "I think it would be best if you accompanied me. I haven't seen any of the women here talking without their husbands there with them."

He nodded. "I'd like to make some arrangements with our host as well. I think he's our ticket into the slave market. Too many of our girls are popping up here."

"I hate this," I whispered as we made our way through the couples attending. Chayton stopped to speak to several men along the way, and I felt like an accessory, not a person. The culture here was a shock.

"Me too," he bent down to whisper in my ear. "Put your mask on. It's time to play the roles we were hired for."

We were at a small table with several plates of finger food appetizers. I felt like I should curtsey as this was one of the many Emirs who banded together to form the country.

I smiled brilliantly as we waited for him to notice us. His wife stared it me with cold, dark eyes. I wondered if she was the problem and not her husband.

"Yes?" The Emir inclined his head toward Chayton.

I felt him squeeze my elbow and lowered my eyes.

Show time.