Suddenly, Rickards noticed something moving in the background behind them, inside the men’s SUV.

The men turned, following his gaze inside of the truck’s darkened interior where a strange jumble of movement could be seen.  Something white or checkered flashed over the rear seat, until coming to a stop in the middle of the vehicle and peering out through the windshield at all of them.

A young girl.

In a sudden flurry, Badawi barked, yelling for the younger man to grab her.  The girl was already pushing the driver’s door open and attempting to scramble out.

The man moved like lightning, sprinting back to the vehicle and around the hood, but he was too late to grab the girl, who was already out and running and screaming, snaking between the densely parked cars.

Rickards seized the moment, instantly sprinting forward several steps, and launching himself into Badawi, who’d partially turned to witness the girl’s escape.  He reacted only a moment before Rickards’ airborne figure impacted him.

Badawi recovered quickly, rolling with the hit and scrambling out from under Rickards’ weight, pushing himself onto one knee and smashing his left fist into the American’s lower back.

Rickards was also moving.  He winced at the blow but continued forward, lunging back at Badawi and tightly wrapping both arms around the man’s legs.  He used his own feet to thrust forward and push Badawi off-balance. They toppled back down onto the hard concrete.

As fast as Saad’s man reacted, so did Rickards, immediately pulling Badawi close and slamming an elbow into the side of his jaw, followed by another blow.

“Saa’adinii!”

Behind them, Mona looked up when she heard the girl’s scream, and without a moment’s hesitation raced after her.

Another hit to Badawi’s face, and Rickards was virtually on top of him, spotting the man’s hand frantically searching his right side.

With one hand clenched under the man’s chin, Rickards forced Badawi’s face up and away from him while he looked down and found the weapon the man had been searching for just as Badawi’s hand found it.  Badawi pulled the gun free and into the open, forcing Rickards to grasp his wrist and drive it back down with all his strength, striking Badawi’s hand repeatedly against the pavement.

After another strike to Badawi’s face, Rickards was the first to climb back to his feet, pushing off from the man’s chest and yanking the gun away as he rose.

There was another scream, this time from Mona.  It was in Arabic and sounded more like a battle cry than wailing, allowing Rickards to pinpoint and run after them.  He found her on top of the second man’s back, pulling and scratching as the man desperately tried to yank the woman off.

At their feet, scurrying beneath the cars was the young girl trying to stay beneath the vehicles and out of reach.