The American Prince 12: Rahim

Colin looked at his father more closely than he’d done for a long time. “Oh my God!” he exclaimed. “They didn’t tell you, did they?”
“Tell me what?” Wallace asked, confused.
“Colin, I don’t know if this is the right time...” Jeremy offered.
“What better time?” Colin demanded. “My illustrious father is trying to get me to go home, and he doesn’t even know what he’s dealing with. I think this will settle the issue of me going home once and for all.”
“Colin, your father and I have talked a lot over the past few days. Give him a chance, Colin.”

“Ok,” Colin said. He was really angry now. The monitor attached to several places on his body indicated elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, even a rising temperature. “You want a chance, father? Fine, here’s your chance!” Colin threw back the blanket and sheet that were covering him, then pulled up the hospital gown he was wearing. Now he was fully exposed, what was left of him. The catheter tube was still emerging from his crotch, the old stitches had been removed and fresh ones applied where the damage from his kicking episodes had been repaired; but aside from those two exceptions there was nothing there except smooth skin.

Wallace gasped. “Colin!” he exclaimed. “What in the unholy hell! Your genitals! They’re... they’re...”
“Yeah, Dad, they’re gone. Maybe it’s right that they’re gone. Now you don’t have to worry about what I do with my dick because I don’t have one. You don’t have to worry about anyone wanting to get into your precious little boy’s pants ‘cause there’s nothing there that’d interest anyone. I thought you’d be happy your son’s a eunuch.”

For the first time in his life, Colin saw his father cry. He totally missed the reason Wallace was crying, completely missed the point. In his rage he was glad he’d hurt him, but at the same time he was hurt. Now, he knew, he would have no problems refusing to go home. Now, he knew, his father wouldn’t want him. He could not produce heirs, could not give his father grandchildren to ignore like he’d ignored his own son, could never marry or be normal, whatever that word meant. “Steve and Gary are like this too,” he said to his father. “Now you know why I can’t leave them. We’re gonna need each other, and I’m not gonna leave them now. They have no one but me, Dad, and I’m not gonna let them down. Their parents let them down, the system that’s supposed to protect them threw them away, and I’m not gonna do it to them again.”

“Colin, that was cruel!” Jeremy said. “You could have found a better way to tell him.”
“No, Jeremy,” Colin said. He was on a roll now, and all the anger and frustration, rejection and desperation of the past few years had boiled to the surface and it was coming out. “What’s really cruel is that this happened at all. What’s really cruel is that I LIKE being this way! Those parts had become nothing but a liability for me, and I’m GLAD they’re gone!”

“I don’t think you understand,” Wallace said when he had somewhat recovered. “I know how you were making a living on the streets, but that was MY shame, not yours. I was ashamed when I realized that I had driven you to it. They have already told me that the guy who kidnapped you and your friends will be in jail for a very long time; but I realize that I was the one who really emasculated you, not that sick monster. And I will go free. I’m the one who should be in jail, not him. But I’ve been given a second chance, at least by circumstances and events. But now I need YOU to give me a second chance. Come home, Colin! Let me prove myself to you. I have already lost my little boy, but I don’t want to lose my son. Let me prove to you that I can change.”

“I already told you, I cannot leave Steve and Gary,” Colin argued.
“I’m not asking you to,” Wallace said. It suddenly struck Colin that he had never seen his father like this. Gone was the overbearing, the authoritarian, the self confident man who always got his own way. Gone was any sign of the man Colin had left only a few months ago. This was the father he remembered from when he was a very small boy. This was the man who had taught him to swim, reveled in his every accomplishment, doted on a very happy little boy. “I want to fill that big house in Jacksonville with kids who need a home, Colin. I can’t do it alone, but you know those kids. You know their needs and you speak their language. They’ll trust you, and they do need a home so very badly. I’ll take Steve and Gary, and if it turns out that Paul’s situation doesn’t work out for him, I’ll take him too.”

Colin looked at his father, his mouth hanging open. Wallace Frank had never shown any compassion for people less fortunate than himself. Colin had never dreamed that his father would ever think of such a thing. Did he mean it? Was this yet another promise that would somehow fall flat? Colin didn’t believe for a second that his father would outright lie, but he wondered if the man was really committed enough to follow through with a project that was bound to be full of risks and hassles. And what of his eunuch brothers? Would they go for such a thing? Would they not rather have their freedom, as they saw it? Suddenly he was overwhelmed with the idea. He pictured in his mind living at the beautiful home in Jacksonville. He had loved that home, his life there so very much. He saw himself and his brothers swimming, fishing, going to school at Willowcrest and excelling in all the activities the school had to offer. Then as suddenly as the vision had formed, it was snatched away from him again and he was alone, his companions gone, and Colin started to cry. “You’d do that for me?”

Wallace sighed, a long and labored sigh. “No, Colin, I wouldn’t do that for you,” he said. “I would do just about anything in the world for you. I’d buy you the moon and take you there; I’d gladly give my life for you any time, any place! But I wouldn’t take a human being and make him a part of our lives for you. That would make me no better than that Rahim guy, buying and selling boys like so many used cars. But I’d do it, and I’m going to offer because I think I know what kind of boys they are. I know you love them and they love you, and I think I can learn to love them too. I’ll do it because they need a home desperately, and I have one. I have money and resources to take care of their needs, and I know it’s tough to place a boy their age in an adoption situation at the best of times; now that they’re eunuchs, it’s extremely doubtful that they would ever find a home, and as I’ve watched them in the waiting room day after day, while you were in a coma, flirting with death, in the OR fighting for your very life, I got to know them pretty well. They’re fine boys, and they’re made of pretty good stuff. I’ll adopt them, if they’ll have me, because of who they are and what they can become.”

Colin was so shocked he could hardly breathe. This was not the father he had come to know, or not know. This was the man he’d known as a very little boy, but hadn’t seen for years. Then he started to cry harder. “It sounds like a dream come true, Dad,” he wailed. “God, if only it were true!”
“It’s true, son,” Wallace said. “Believe it.”
“It wouldn’t work, Dad. I’d give anything if it could work, but it just wouldn’t.”

Jeremy got up to leave, somehow sensing that this was a time for a father and son talk. “Check with the other boys,” Wallace whispered. “Ask them if they would like to live with Colin and me.” Jeremy said he would, then he left and closed the door.

“Is there something you’re not telling me, son?” Wallace asked the crying eunuch. “I sense that there’s more to this story.”
“Well, yes there is,” Colin cried. “Dad, when I first became a prisoner with Mark, Steve had already had his surgery and was pretty well healed. At first it was pretty obvious to me that he had been brainwashed because he was actually happy he’d had everything cut off. He was happy that he was headed for the middle east to be a sex slave to a man, along with Gary and me and God knows how many other boys. He was happy about it, Dad! And later when I met Gary, he was excited about it too. I couldn’t imagine them being happy about it. At first I thought it was just because at last they were gonna have some sort of home, but that wasn’t it. I finally figured it out. They’re gay, Dad! And the thoughts of what was going to happen to them sexually was something to look forward to. They no longer had their male sex organs so they would not have to endure all the pressures of male female stuff, and they could still do what they wanted to do, in fact they’d be expected to do it.”

“Makes sense,” Wallace observed. “But I still don’t see what that has to do with...”
“Dad, you gotta know this. When we made our escape, we all had second thoughts. I mean Steve, Gary, and me too! We all thought of what we were giving up. We found the idea of being penetrated by a man, the same man all the time, was something we were looking forward to. Dad, I’m gay too. I always knew of the possibility because I really did love Tony, but I still wasn’t sure. I’m sure now, Dad. I just don’t think you can live with that. I don’t think you’re the kind of man who can live with three gay sons, maybe four, because we’re gonna be wanting sex, and it’s gonna be gay sex.”

“Colin, have you ever... I mean...”
“You mean have I ever had a man that way? No, Dad. I have sucked more cocks than I can remember, but I have never been penetrated that way and neither have Steve and Gary. Rahim would not have wanted us if we weren’t virgins. But we want to, and we will when the time is right. It’s all we have left now and we’re kinda looking forward to it.”

At that last remark, Wallace started to cry again. Colin wasn’t at all surprised this time. Wallace was a very proud man, and he had just been told his only son, his only child, was not only completely nullified as a male but he was happy about it because now he could see his way clear to live his life as he wanted: as a gay man who would submit to penetration by other men. But again Colin had completely missed the point. His interpretation of his father’s tears was so far off the mark, he had never dreamed of their real meaning.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Colin said as he cried even harder. “I wish I could tell you it’s not true ‘cause I know you can’t deal with it, but it is true and I’d be lying if I said I wanted to change it. That’s just who I am, and now that I couldn’t be a man in the sexual sense even if I wanted to, I’m glad I’m gay! I know I can’t live with you or be your son, but I’m hoping you won’t hate me.”

“You don’t understand, Colin,” Wallace said as he tried to regain his composure.
“No, Dad, it’s YOU who don’t understand. It’s just... it’s just the way I am.”
“So what are your plans?”
“I dunno. I need to talk to Steve and Gary, and I’m hopin’ that one of us will come up with an idea. It’s kinda hard being the oldest, and I’m only 15. They kinda look up to me as their leader, almost guardian in a way; but kids younger than us have made it, so all we can do is try. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll find some man who likes boys that will keep us ‘till we’re old enough to make it on our own. I don’t want to go back to the streets if I can help it. I really do want to finish school, even if it’s public school.”

“Are you thinking of perhaps calling Tony? He’s been in touch with me so I know he still cares for you.”
“No, not Tony. I don’t think that would’ve worked in the long term, and I know it won’t now. Too much has happened, Dad.”
“Colin, it was my fault that he went away. I tricked him, Colin. And when he found out he was furious.”
“I figured as much. But it doesn’t matter any more. It’s over with him and me. If he had really loved me as much as he said he did, he wouldn’t have just gone away like that.”
“Maybe you could give me a chance?” Wallace pleaded. “There are some things I had hoped I would never have to tell you, but it looks now as if I have to.”
“What kinda things?”

“Colin, the first thing you need to know is that I have not had sex since your mother left. It seems she was the only woman I was ever attracted to, and I loved her so much. When the fighting started, I started staying away more and more because I could not stand to fight with her. I think I’ve known for a long time, but I just wouldn’t allow myself to admit it. I think I’m gay too, son! I could not bear the thoughts of you being gay because I didn’t want you to go through what I’ve been enduring for years. But even more to the point, I could not bear the thoughts of anyone else being intimate with you, especially another man. I love you as a father, Colin, but that’s not the only way I love you. Do you really think I spent so much time away from you because I wanted to? I didn’t stay around you because I didn’t trust myself, Colin! You have always been so beautiful to me! And then as you began to grow and develop, you got into all sorts of athletic activities which only served to enhance your already perfect body, I knew if I had spent any time with you, I would be doing things I knew I should never do. As your father I loved you enough to just stay away.”

“You... you wanted me? ME?” Colin said as the shock rebounded around in his head.
“More than I ever intended to tell you, son. I never would have told you, but the thought of you going off on your own, then getting yourself into the bed of some guy who might not be clean, might not be disease free, might be abusive... it scares me to death! Your life isn’t over just because you’re a eunuch, you know. Your life hasn’t really started yet, and neither have the lives of your friends. We can all live together and be very happy, and I promise now that my secret is out, it won’t be the way it was. I have already taken steps to hire someone to do my traveling for me. I want to be close to you, Colin! I want to salvage what’s left of your childhood, and if that means I have to become your lover, well, I’ll do that too.”
“But what about Steve and Gary? I mean, we’re... well...”
“You’ve been intimate with them, haven’t you?”
“Well, yes I have; we’ve done just about everything we can do, given our... er... limitations.”
“And young Paul?”

“No, Dad. I have no idea what his sexual interests are, or if he has any yet. We all just wanted to get him outta there before the same thing happened to him. And I’m not about to try to influence him one way or the other.”
“Perhaps he’ll get back with his mother, so it won’t be an issue.”
“I don’t think so, Dad. He told me he was going back with her because there really wasn’t any alternative besides a foster home. But his mother drinks really heavy, and he doesn’t think it’ll be any time at all before she’s drunk all the time again.”

There was a light knock on the door, and Jeremy stuck his head in. “I got three boys out here who are simply not gonna take no for an answer any longer,” he said with a smile. “They want to see you, Colin.” Before either Colin or Wallace had a chance to even consider the question, the door opened suddenly and three boys entered the room. They were all scrubbed and polished, their hair cut, and they were wearing new clothes: good clothes; designer clothes. They were all absolutely stunning, and all smiling broadly. Colin looked at his father who said nothing, but his red face said it all. No wonder he wanted them. They were all gorgeous!

The boys all exchanged greetings, then hugs when Colin assured them he was not in pain. Then Paul, his little body overflowing with affection as usual, crawled up in Wallace’s lap and hugged him warmly, kissing him on the cheek. “Is it true?” he said in the most plaintive voice any of them had ever heard. “Mr. Jeremy said you want to be our father... all of us! Is it true?”
“Well, Paul,” Wallace stammered, “I dunno, son. I mean, what about your mother? I thought...”
“Uhh, Wallace,” Jeremy interrupted, “I got word this morning that we haven’t been able to contact Paul’s mother because she’s in prison. It seems she got into some sort of a drunken altercation and ended up killing someone. She is more than likely in for life. DFS has made Paul available for adoption.”

There was a lot of excited chatter among the three boys, demanding details of Colin’s life and why in the world he would ever have left such a wonderful man. Then they suddenly fell silent when they noticed the somber look on Colin’s face. Jeremy noticed it, as did Wallace. “Let’s leave our three eunuchs alone to discuss this,” he suggested to Jeremy. The two men rose to leave, Paul still clinging like glue to what he hoped would soon be his new father, and they left the room. “Ok, Colin, what gives?” Steve demanded. “You got a problem with us being your brothers?”
“No, it’s not that,” Colin said pensively. “It’s just... well, there’s so damned much you don’t know...”
“Then why don’t you tell us?”

So Colin did. He told about his life as a very small boy, how his father had made millions and had worked that into a fortune beyond imagination. He related how he and his father grew apart, about Tony and all the background leading up to his running away. He summarized the conversation he and his father had just finished, and their current situation. “So I don’t see the problem,” Steve said, getting visibly excited. “Seems to me like we could have the best of both worlds. We were all kinda looking forward to being eunuch slaves for a boy lover. We didn’t like the idea of being slaves, but I was really looking forward to the sex part, and it seems like we might just have that after all, only it’ll be our choice. So what’s the problem?”
“Don’t count on that,” Colin said. “I think my dad means well, but I’m not at all sure he can carry it out. He might try it once or twice, but then he would feel so guilty that he’ll never do it again. I got a strong suspicion that he’s not capable of messing with a boy at least until he’s 16 or older. He’s just got too much class for that.”
“Guess it’s up to us to be sure he don’t feel guilty,” Gary suggested.

“There are other things,” Colin said. “I mean, the world I come from is really a different world. I mean, well, I’m not sure how to put it, but my dad and I live in a world like you’ve never seen before.”
“You mean ‘cause you’re rich?” Gary said. “I don’t think that’ll be hard to get used to.”
“It’s not just the money, it’s all that goes with it. I mean, there’s private school, and manners, and dressing up for dinner, social events, not to mention all the things you’re expected to do; like music lessons, and sports, all that sorta thing. We don’t just sit around and get waited on and spend money you know.”
“Sounds like fun to me,” Steve said. “Those are all things I thought were only in the movies. So what’s the problem?”
“I dunno, it’s just all the things you’re expected to do.”
“You make it sound like you’re royalty or something,” Gary suggested.
“I guess it is kinda like royalty, American style. I remember when we first got all that money and moved to Jacksonville. I had a lot of trouble adapting, and I was always wishing I could go back to the way it was till I got used to it. I used to think of myself as sort of a Prince, and it took a lot of getting used to.”

“You don’t think we can do it, do you?” Steve said. “You think we’re too... too uncivilized.”
“It’s not that,” Colin defended. “I just don’t know if you’ll like it. And there’s so much to learn!”
“Do you like it?”
“Well, yeah, I do. Willowcrest is great! It’s so much more businesslike than public school. It seems whether you’re in class or in the pool, or on the soccer field, everyone there is expected to do their best at whatever they’re doing. We have fun times, like dances and parties and stuff; but when we’re working, there’s no foolin’ around. There aren’t any goof-off’s like in public school ‘cause it’s just not tolerated. Anybody that isn’t part of the group in every way either cleans up his act or he’s out! They always tell us it costs a lot of money to send a kid to Willowcrest, and that’s what we get for our money. They just don’t tolerate all the monkey business that goes on in public schools.”

The two boys started to grasp what Colin was saying. They looked at each other, and there seemed to be some sort of communication between them. “You’d be there to help us, right?” Steve asked.
“Of course,” Colin said. “But it’s gonna be hard. People think bein’ rich is just lyin’ around all the time doin’ nothing, but it’s not like that - at least not in my dad’s home.”
“Living on the streets is no piece of cake either,” Steve reminded him. “Is there something else? I mean, are you ashamed of us?”“NO!” Colin said. “I just don’t wanna get you guys into something that’s gonna change your lives more than you want to change them.”“Bein’ a sex slave in the dessert isn’t exactly a small change either, Colin. But even that sounded better to us than livin’ on the streets, with all the drugs and sex and abusive tricks, the sickness and people lookin’ down their noses at us. Shit, man, we can do this with our eyes closed!”
“Yeah,” Gary added, “I could deal with bein’ a Prince!”

“So you want to do this?”
“Yeah, man!” they both chorused.
“Cool!” Colin said with a wide smile, holding out his arms for a hug. “Let’s do it.” He got his hug, then Steve called the others back in.

It took all of the next three weeks for Wallace and his battery of lawyers to effect the adoption of three homeless boys. Steve was from New York City, Gary from Philadelphia, and Paul was from Boston. The diversity of locations certainly didn’t help make the legal proceedings easier, but by the time Colin was released from the hospital, his stitches and catheter out, he had three brothers. Now there was only one thing left to do before they could return to Jacksonville: the capture and prosecution of one Rahim whats-his-name. This was not going to be easy, and the three boys were going to play a key role. Mark agreed to help set the whole thing up on the condition of a lighter sentence, to which everyone agreed readily. After all, what was the difference between 300 years and 500 anyway? As it turned out they decided not to use Mark’s help in case he somehow betrayed them.

The three eunuchs had a lot of fun participating in the preparations for the big event. They worked with a man named Tom, a seasoned undercover veteran who had studied Mark’s emails back and forth to Rahim, making sure he had used the same writing style, characteristic misspellings, etc. He showed the boys a lot of the dialogue as it was exchanged, which shocked Steve to his very roots. He had already been convinced that becoming Rahim’s slave would have rewards beyond his wildest dreams, and he’d been right, except that it went in a somewhat different direction than he’d been told. Tom, AKA Mark, wrote Rahim that his three eunuchs were looking forward to their new life in a boy harem. Rahim had written back telling how pleased he was because he thoroughly enjoyed beating and otherwise abusing his new catamites out of their beliefs that slavery was a good thing. His primary objective other than the physical sex seemed to be to make sure all his slaves were absolutely miserable.

Tom wrote that he had told the boys how well rewarded they would be after their services as sex objects were no longer required; Rahim wrote back to agree, saying in very clear terms that they would indeed welcome death after the five or ten years he expected to get out of them. There were other exchanges, including very explicit arrangements concerning how the boys would be presented at the small airstrip, how the exchange would take place, who would be there and who would not. Tom told Rahim that he could not be there personally, but his brother would. Rahim had expressed some doubt about this development, but Tom had assured him that he trusted his brother with his life, and that he had other pressing matters that demanded his attention for at least a week. Holding his breath and hoping the offer would be refused, Tom offered to delay the delivery. “I knew you were anxious to take delivery so I made this alternate arrangement,” Tom said in an email. “But if you would rather I be there in person, we can delay the delivery for another week.” To everyone’s great relief, Rahim replied that he’d already waited long enough, and that he would live with the setup as is even though he didn’t like it much.

When the big day arrived, it was cold and snowing. It was only a week before Christmas and everyone was anxious to wrap up the sting before the Holiday so everyone could go home and relax. Colin, Steve and Gary were dressed in pure white clothing, probably similar to what they would be wearing in the harem. The pants were a light cotton with a cotton drawstring, much like surgical scrubs or a boy’s pajama bottoms except that the legs were much more baggy with loose elastic draws around the ankles. The tops were also something like scrubs: the same light cotton pullover style, low cut at the neck, but with very baggy sleeves. They wore no underwear or socks. They wore light sandals on their feet, and a modified turban on their heads. They were restrained with handcuffs and leg irons, a chain around their waists with a short length of chain fastening the three together about three feet apart. Their bonds were all applied in such a way as to be very obvious to anyone looking from inside an airplane. If the boys had had penises, all three would have had raging erections.

“That’s fine,” Wallace said making no effort to hide his distress at seeing his boys so helpless. “Just remember, you three, I don’t want you putting one foot on that airplane, or the steps leading up to it.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Frank,” Tom said as he got himself dressed. “If Rahim so much as tries to get them on the plane, whether or not our business is finished, there will be more artillery aimed at his head than he’s ever seen before. If anything at all goes wrong the boys have been instructed to hit the ground so we’ll have a clear shot at everyone else.”

The rest of the operation went as smooth as silk. A very worried Paul watched from a small peep hole with Wallace in a bulletproof van parked fifty yards away on the tarmac; his brothers were standing in the wide doorway of an empty hangar, shivering in the cold, as the little private jet landed and taxied to within 100 feet of them. As planned, Tom herded the boys out onto the tarmac as soon as the engines shut down. The door of the plane opened, and two turbaned servants emerged and secured the steps.

Rahim turned out to be a very unimpressive man, not that much taller than Colin. He was dressed in traditional Arab attire complete with baggy cotton pants, somewhat voluminous robe, fancy shoes and a turban. He walked with an air of royalty until he saw his new purchases at the bottom of the stairs, and then Tom and the eunuchs could see the lust in his eyes which seemed to increase with every step he took. He had already made it very clear that all three boys would be well deflowered before they got off the plane in their new home, and it was clear to all that he was anxious to get started. His downright animal lust was such that he threw caution entirely to the wind. Tom expected him to be constantly watching this way and that for any suspicious movements, but he never took his eyes off the delicious looking boys at the bottom of the stairs.

Without saying a word, Rahim walked up to the boys, a lecherous smile on his face, and groped them all roughly. Colin had all he could do to keep from flinching because he was still tender in the area, not to mention that he found the sensation of this disgusting man groping him downright repulsive. Satisfied that there was nothing there to grope, he said in perfect English, “Very good! Let’s get them on the plane, then we can complete the transaction.”
“We’ll complete it here,” Tom said defiantly.
“That’s not the way I’ve done it with Mark,” Rahim said as he motioned his two goons to herd the boys up the steps. “We always get the merchandise on the plane, then Mark counts his money while we enjoy a glass of wine.”
“I’m sorry, but Mark said nothing about that,” Tom said, trying not to hide his nervousness. “I appreciate your hospitality, but the snow storm is getting worse and I have sixty miles to drive back to Boston. We shall have to complete the sale right here or I don’t deliver the boys. If you want to do it your way you’ll have to wait until Mark can be here.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist,” Rahim said, obviously not accustomed to being spoken to in such a forceful manner.
“I’m sorry, I guess you’ll have to wait for Mark,” Tom replied. “Come on boys, back to your rooms in the basement. You don’t get deflowered today.”

Tom turned the boys around and started them walking back toward the hangar. Colin and Gary started to kick up a fuss, demanding that he go along with Rahim. They wailed that they’d been waiting so long, that Mark had refused to touch them after having had them all enema’d and cleaned out, that he’d promised that they would finally have a man cock up their behinds before they slept again. As they had hoped, the boys’ staged disappointment at not getting raped today, their frequent references to their virgin butts and how ready they were to have them violated, had its effect on Rahim. “Very well,” he said with a loud sigh. “Get the briefcase out of the plane,” he ordered. Tom turned the boys around again and faced the plane, this time three steps further away.

The “briefcase” turned out to be more of a suitcase, and a heavy one at that. One of the two servants placed it on the snow covered ground at Tom’s feet. Tom had positioned himself in front of the boys, and as he stooped to open the suitcase, he looked up at Rahim. “Mark told me to inform you that there are no guarantees,” he said. “We are providing these three boys, as far as we know in excellent health, in return for fifteen million dollars in addition to the five million you have already paid. They have been repeatedly tested for TB, AIDS, Syphilis and other diseases detectable in the blood. They have no broken bones and no mars on their bodies, and their genitals have been removed. They have all claimed to be virgins as far as anal sex is concerned, and Mark’s examinations have confirmed this to the best of his ability. But once you have paid for them and taken them back aboard the plane, they are yours. Is that your understanding?”

“Yes, yes,” Rahim said impatiently. “Now can we please complete this transaction so we can be on our way?”
“This will just take a few seconds,” Tom said as he opened the suitcase. As soon as he saw that there was a lot of money inside, he closed it again.

“Aren’t you going to count it?” Rahim said.
“That won’t be necessary,” Tom said as he nodded. About fifty police officers, all heavily armed, seemed to appear out of thin air and Rahim and his two henchmen were trapped. The pilot, watching from the cockpit, started to fire up the engines of the little jet. Five policemen pointed their rifles at the window and yelled for them to stop. Seconds later a large truck arrived with another bunch of police on the roof. The truck stopped inches from the nose of the plane and motioned the pilots to get out of the plane. Wallace breathed a sigh of relief as Tom ushered his eunuch “merchandise” back into the hangar where he removed their bonds. “Take them home,” Tom said to Wallace. “You guys did a hell of a job! Go home and have a GREAT Christmas. We’ll be in touch.”

To be continued...