I got the call I'd been expecting from Dan Cole, but there was a twist I didn't expect.
"Hey, the Sheikh is here," he said. "Why don't you bring Amber over to meet him?"
I never would have figured on that.
To catch you up, Cole had wrestled the truth out of Paula - that it was her who had arranged Amber's abduction and trafficking to Mexico, ending up in the hands of the cartel lord El Tiburon. That was a major embarrassment to Cole, and it led to El Tiburon finding out that Cole, an old college friend of his, had been skimming a large amount off a money-laundering operation the two of them were operating.
So Cole's decision on how to handle Paula's betrayal and evil deeds was that he was selling her to Sheikh Arif Maimun al-Hammad, the scion of an oil-rich family in Bahrain with whom Cole had done some previous business. The Sheikh was building a harem of girls and he was looking for a redhead, and it turned out that since Paula had been mostly sporting red hair since Cole had brought her in as a live-in maid and sex pet, she'd qualify.
That, and Cole was giving the Sheikh "a really good price," as he said.
But all that being said...
"What does the Sheikh coming have to do with Amber and me?" I asked Cole.
"You don't want to give Amber a chance to send Paula off? I bet she'd like that."
"I'm not so sure. But I'll ask her and let you know."
"Whatever you want to do," said Cole. "They'll be here at 2."
So I found Amber and broke the news to her.
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"Wait, hang on. He's SELLING her?"
"That's what he said, yeah."
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"That's not exactly legal, though, right?"
"Honey, nothing involving Paula for the last six months has been legal. But to answer your question, this is all highly illegal. I think it's kidnapping, it's definitely sex trafficking, it's almost assuredly slavery. My advice is we should probably stay miles away from Cole's house."
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"Oh, hell no. We've gotta go and see this. Don't you think?"
"I was afraid you'd say that."
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"I mean, I get to gloat as they take Paula away to Saudi Arabia?"
"Bahrain."
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"OK, whatever. She's gonna be a harem girl kinda like I was."
"I don't know the difference, but it sounds like it's maybe more strict over there. Bahrain is pretty hard-core Muslim and who knows what kind of rules Paula's going to have put on her."
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"Well, it's not like I'm gonna have much sympathy! I want to see her. I want her to know I'm still standing while she gets taken away."
"I'm trying to decide if I think this is healthy."
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"It's healthy, honey. Closure is healthy."
"Hmmm."
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"Dude, we're going. That's that. All right?"
"All right, I guess. I'll let Cole know."
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"Good. Hey, Oscar?"
"Yeah?"
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"Like, what do I wear? I don't have to put on a burka or anything to meet the Sheikh, do I?"
"I think you just dress kinda modestly. Nothing low cut, don't do a short skirt, but otherwise screw that guy. He's in America, we wear what we wear."
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"So just, like, semi-casual? Can I get by with like a blouse and a pair of pants?"
"Honey, I have no idea. I guess that's fine."
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She just gave me a look which told me she was thoroughly enjoying how queasy the whole experience was making me.
And after grabbing a quick lunch at the neighborhood dive, we made it over to Cole's - and just as we were heading inside, there was the Sheikh.
Beautiful Bountiful Beloved 
