24. Wynn
WYNN
W e had just pulled in front of the marina in two separate armored vehicles when the panic attack hit.
My chest constricted, and my breaths went shallow. My eyes squeezed shut while I tried to breathe my way through it. I was ready for this. I swore to myself I was, but the wound on my stomach throbbed in disagreement.
Ciel was the first to notice. His eyes hadn’t left me ever since our argument in his room, where he’d sworn to stick close to me. I appreciated his help, but I was once again burdening him. I could handle myself. I wouldn’t be the weak link anymore.
I shoved my hand into my pocket, grabbing my brass knuckles. My fingers clenched around the weapon, letting the metal dig into my hands as I closed my eyes and took deep, steadying breaths.
Willow’s voice was in my ear, telling me to breathe. To ground myself in the here and now. To get it under control.
Ciel’s hand brushed against my thigh, the look on his face questioning. He was in the backseat next to me, and he was supposed to be tapping into the marina’s security camera feeds .
“I’m fine,” I hissed. If Ryuji or Obi saw my panic attack, they’d call off the mission. Ryuji had barely spoken to me in days, and accusing glares burned holes in my back. I knew he blamed me for what happened to Leona, and he couldn’t be the only one of my brothers who felt that way. I did too.
I had to get this under control so we could get vengeance. I had to show Leona and my brothers that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.
Ciel’s palm landed on my thigh and squeezed as he leaned over. His breath tickled while he whispered in my ear. “You’re not fine. I’m done pretending you are.”
My head snapped up, but he was already looking at the tablet. Instead of his hand, his thigh firmly pressed against mine.
“I looped the feeds,” he said, to my complete surprise. I had a flash of fear that he’d tell the guys and ruin everything. “The ship is docking now. I see a few other cars pulling up. They’re driving right up to the dock. I’m guessing it’s Orik Vokshi.”
All six of us wore our earpiece comms. Ciel, Obi, and I were in this car. Ryuji, Cas, and Leona were in the other. We’d brought two just in case we needed a second exit strategy. The guys weren’t taking any chances with safety tonight.
Obi’s voice came through the comms. “We’ll slip through the shadows once they dock and the crew starts moving. Engage with stealth as long as we can. Prioritize the safety of the trafficking victims.”
I inhaled and exhaled through my nose. I’d been on hundreds of missions just like this. I knew what I was doing. The calm overtook the anxiety, and the pulsing heartbeat in my stomach dissipated.
Ciel held up his tablet. “Orik Vokshi is confirmed. There are six men with him. Add the ship’s crew, and we’re expecting at least fifteen.”
On the cameras, Orik and his men waited while the crew from the ship pushed down a gangplank from their open hatch to the waiting dock.
“It’s a lot smaller than the Red Talon ,” Ciel murmured. “Hopefully, it will be quick and easy to take them out and get the victims free.”
From our car in the marina parking lot, I gazed at the ship out the window. The view was partially obstructed by the pallets of cargo and containers between the dock and us, but my mouth went dry imagining what it would have been like for Leona to be alone on a ship much bigger than this one.
“Remember,” Obi said. “We need to capture Orik Vokshi. We need to get as much information from him as we can before we kill him.”
Trafficking was only successful when each part of the process worked effectively.
The victims had to be taken without getting caught.
The traffickers needed elusive methods of transport to move victims from place to place.
They also needed multiple locations to hold victims in captivity: to use them like in a brothel or to wait until they sold to other organizations or individuals.
Larger trafficking organizations like the Vokshi were difficult to dismantle because they had extensive resources to transport and hold victims, and to evade detection while doing it.
In our case, we knew that one way the Albanians were bringing their victims into the city was on their ships, but we did not know how they were moving them after the ship, or where they were taking them.
Were they using corrupt local authorities to stay under the radar?
How were they moving the victims on land?
Where did they keep them? How big was their reach?
We needed intel from Orik Vokshi to get the bigger picture. Without it, we’d always be on the defensive.
“Dibs,” Ryu blurted. “Dibs on information gathering.”
Cas snorted. “Did you just call dibs on torture?”
I couldn’t see it, but I could hear Ryuji’s grin through my earpiece. “I’ll arm wrestle you for it if you want it that badly. ”
“All you,” Cas chuckled.
“Just don’t kill him before we get anything useful, Ryu,” Leona admonished.
He fake-gasped. “Excuse you, I am a professional.”
“Focus,” Obi interrupted, getting us back on track. He looked at Ciel’s tablet before handing it back to him. “They’re engaging now. It’s time.”
Obi opened his front door and slipped out. I reached for mine just as Ciel nudged me again.
“Are you good?” he asked.
I nodded tightly. I had to be. There was no other option.
After we exited the SUV, the six of us met up at the fence.
We were all dressed from head to toe in black combat gear, armed to the teeth.
My fingers itched to slip on my brass knuckles, just so the metal could ground me again, but guns were the better choice at the moment.
If we had to fight up close, I’d switch to my knuckles.
My stomach twinged with discomfort, but I shoved it away. My time in the gym was already rebuilding my stamina. I’d agreed to stay at the back of our group with Leona, but I was more than capable of holding my own in a fight.
Obi looked at each of us. “Be cautious. Remember the plan. Do not split up.”
Ciel had the bright idea earlier today that we stick in pairs throughout this operation. A buddy system. Leona and I had rolled our eyes when we agreed. They were babysitting us.
“The pairs are Obi and Leona. Cas and Ryuji. Me and Wynn,” Ciel said. “If we get separated or lost on the ship, we bail. If anyone gets hurt, we immediately bail.”
“Got it,” Leona said as she gripped her Hellcat. Two knives were strapped to her thighs, one on each side. Her hair was pulled back into a tight French braid. The scar on her face was still red in the dim light of the marina’s periodic streetlights .
That scar was proof that I’d let her down. I couldn’t erase it from her face, but I could earn redemption.
Obi gave the signal to Cas, and he cut a hole in the fence with bolt cutters. Each of us slipped through.
This marina wasn’t as large as Port Elizabeth or some of the other maritime terminals across the East Coast, so we at least had that on our side.
Secured by only a fence and a guard shack, it was easy to slip inside.
We kept to the shadows, maneuvering around the cargo stored throughout the marina and avoiding the streets used by transport vehicles.
The Iron Ghost waited at one of the farther docks.
Ciel and I walked side by side, each of us holding our rifles. His tablet hung by his side, but he frequently held up the screen before signaling that we could move forward.
“They’re moving cargo off the ship,” Ciel murmured into our comms. “No sign of the girls yet.”
The six of us ducked behind a row of pallets within eyesight of the ship. Two semi-trucks and a line of commuter vehicles waited in front of the vessel.
“Semis? Is that how they’re moving them?” I asked.
Leona caught my eye. “We need to search them before we leave. Just in case.”
We watched the men work, transferring more cargo off the boat, to the ground, before a forklift picked up the pallets and moved them onto the semis.
We could see Orik directing them, pointing to determine which pallets went where.
He shouted in Albanian, growing agitated.
The light of his phone glowed eerily on his face as he checked it time and time again.
“He’s eager to get out of here,” I said. “They must be on a timetable.”
“Any sign of the girls yet, Ciel?”
“Coming now,” Ciel said tightly.
My head snapped up to see the Albanians leading a row of twelve young women down the gangplank. Their hands were bound, and they flinched when Orik shouted and pointed his gun.
“We have to—” Leona started.
“Hold.” Obi’s order was firm and clear. “Wait until it’s clear.”
My heart pounded in my chest. We had to get them free, but if we started attacking now, they might hurt the victims. I’d seen plenty of stray bullets do massive damage.
Orik waved his pistol around, directing the women to line up in front of the commuter cars. Behind them, both semis jolted to life, their engines roaring through the otherwise quiet night.
“He’s going to load them up,” I said, voice tight through the comms. “We must act.”
Obi didn’t respond, but I crept closer. A Vokshi man worked unwrapping a pallet only thirty feet in front of me.
It might be dangerous to attack now, but Orik continued to shout orders, and the longer we waited, the easier it would be for them to move the women.
If those women got on the semis, we’d lose them. We had to catch them off guard now .
“I’m engaging,” I murmured. I didn’t wait for anyone to confirm or deny the action. I let my gun drop to my side while I slipped on my brass knuckles.
No one said a word as I silently stepped up behind the Vokshi man. One of my hands closed over his mouth, the other positioned around the back of his head. I yanked my hands in opposite directions. The snap of his neck felt electrifying under my fingertips, even as my torso jolted in pain.
The pain didn’t matter. I had to focus on the next man in front of me.