Chapter 26
“The DEA and ATF need to hurry if they’re going to stop Ali,” Adalyn growled as she stared at the multiple feeds on Hailey’s screen.
Ali and a small crew had arrived at Winters’ warehouse fifteen minutes ago. Then five minutes after that, a truckload of unknowns had been guided into the warehouse. The buyers.
Rowan had managed to get a good shot of their faces and Hailey had IDed the four occupants almost immediately as members of a local gang that was attempting to expand their area of operation.
“They’re moving in now,” Tiago said over their comms. Then the drone he was manning swiveled slightly and yep, a bunch of SUVs were barreling down the street, heading straight for the warehouse. They parked at a neighboring building in almost a perfect row.
Four men spilled out of the first SUV, this one with a Saints sticker on the back.
“Three of those guys with the NOLA PD are part of their ESU. Other one is with the vice squad,” Hailey murmured as she captured images of the four NOLA people before they tugged balaclavas on.
Adalyn watched Hailey’s screen, found herself irrationally annoyed that they weren’t the ones busting into Winters’ warehouse. That they had to sit back and just watch things unfold. “These drones have amazing quality,” she said as she eyed the feeds.
“You can thank my husband for that.”
Jesse just grunted from the back seat.
Another group of men and women wearing tactical gear poured out of the next SUV, already wearing balaclavas. “Those are DEA,” Adalyn said on instinct. She’d only worked with the DEA a few times in the past, but the fact that they already had their masks on told her a lot about them. And they just moved a certain way—and their boots were all scuffed. Definitely DEA.
“Yep.” Hailey nodded once. “And this must be the ATF crew.”
Adalyn watched as twelve men and women poured out of the other vehicles, also masked and in dark tactical gear. There was another SUV that parked with them, but no one exited so likely whoever was running point and dissecting the video feeds of their body cams was inside. One person was giving orders, one of the ATF people. A woman, Adalyn realized, given her smaller frame. Everyone simply nodded to whatever she was saying and touched their ears, likely to test their comms.
Then one person who was holding bolt cutters broke off, raced to the neighboring fence that separated the two properties, and started cutting quickly with clear practice and ease.
“They’re organized,” she said, almost grudgingly as she watched them fan out. Definitely not their first rodeo.
Hailey didn’t look up. “That’s a good thing.”
“I know.” She simply wanted to be on the ground, not stuck a couple blocks away as a spectator.
“I’m pulling the drone up so it’s out of the way.” Rowan’s voice came over their own comm line. “But I’m going to follow them inside the warehouse once they breach. Unless anyone objects?”
“Nope,” Hailey murmured. “Just don’t get caught.”
“I’m keeping my drone outside,” Tiago added, his feed steady on the front of the warehouse, up high enough that they had a wide visual of it and the surrounding area. These new drones were so quiet that they’d be difficult to hear over the normal city sounds, even in this industrial area which was quieter due to the time of day.
Hailey had turned the volume off on their end so it was surreal to watch all the movements with no sound.
The original fence cutter made another cut, then peeled the fencing back. At once, the teams of men and women moved fast, sliding through the openings.
They rounded the building, took out the two exterior guards (there really should have been more), then encircled the building. After, they breached multiple entrances of the warehouse, with some hanging back in case anyone tried to run. Which, given Adalyn’s own experiences, she knew was a big probability. These people weren’t just going to give up without a fight.
Smoke billowed up from one of the breach spots, a huge hole in one of the rolling doors. Suddenly a motorcycle flew out of the opening, the masked rider gunning it, then out of nowhere Tiago’s drone dropped lower, angling right for the driver.
“No way, asshole,” Tiago growled and she could practically hear his grin as he steered it right at the runner.
The feed went wild, everything going blurry as it dive-bombed the driver’s face.
The driver’s head jerked back and they tried to swerve, but their bike tipped, skidded along the pavement as one of the ATF guys ran at them, shouting orders she couldn’t hear.
But the driver turned onto the ground, palms stretched out before they were cuffed.
More SUVs poured through into the parking lot, effectively blocking anyone else who wanted to try to escape.
The camera switched without warning to Rowan’s drone, which was high in the warehouse, angled downward at a bunch of pissed-off people—including Omar Ali, who was hiding behind a crate of grenades.
He reached inside to grab one—then flew backward as half his head disappeared.
Only years of training stopped her from physically reacting. “No coming back from that,” she muttered.
“Nope. And good riddance.” This from Rowan.
And okay, she wasn’t saddened by Ali’s death, but she’d wanted…more. Namely answers. And she’d wanted him to go to jail, to be locked up and have all his rights taken away. For some people that was the worst kind of sentence. A slow death.
“They’ve got this under control,” Hailey murmured as she started to shut her laptop. “It’s time to get out of here.”
Nodding, Adalyn started the SUV without a word.
“Call in the drones. We’re rolling out in two minutes,” Hailey ordered over the comms.
And that was that. Mission accomplished.