Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
COLE
Darkness doesn’t settle over the industrial complex in a slow wash, it drops down like a switch has been flipped.
It’s about damn time.
Street lights flicker on, but their circles of light don’t reach the warehouse. Conveniently, the closest lamps have been disabled by someone.
I know who.
I should thank them. After I spit on their graves.
Marshall comes over the coms. “Go time.”
We slide from the truck.
There’s a hush over the area. An ominous vibe. With the businesses now closed for the day, the entire industrial park is eerily quiet. If these bastards wanted to pick a place to torture someone at night, they’ve done a good job. There’s no one within miles.
Simona is grinning. “Now we’re talking.”
The night air turns electric with our combined anticipation of getting inside the building.
Sierra is very likely in there. If she’s alive. She’s alive. I have to believe.
“Cole, she’s okay. We’re going to get her.”
I grunt.
We move closer.
Dim interior lights are seeping out through the brick warehouse’s windows. They are high above the ground, their glass covered in metal mesh.
I check my gear. “Getting a look inside is going to be tough. The windows are high.”
Simona and I edge along the back corner of the property, following Roark’s commands in the coms. He’s got eyes on the building. The familiar weight of the tactical vest takes me right back to rescue missions.
Protective gear. Black clothing. Weapons hanging off of us.
Marshall’s voice enters the mix, crackling in my ear. “Sprite, ready to deploy cameras? Over.”
She hisses. “Affirmative, except you know I hate that name. I think I’ll call you Polecat instead of Wolf. Over.”
Marshall grunts over the intercom. “Polecat? What the hell is that? Over.”
Simona ducks behind a concrete cistern. “Look it up. Over.”
He grumbles, “Just do your damn job. Over and out.”
Keeping herself deep in the shadows, Simona approaches the building’s back wall, running in a low crouch. I follow as I cover her six.
She reports in. “Drone 1, ready. Bull, can you see it? Over.”
Roark, AKA Bull, replies. “Got visual. Going up now. Over.”
I let a tiny drone, no bigger than a baby sparrow, fly out of my upturned palm. Silently, the thing rises into the darkness, impossible to see or hear.
I take the lead this time and advance toward the other back corner of the building. “Moving to location two. Over.”
A small stand of trees offers the cover we’ll need. Running low, fast, and silent, I cut into the shadows.
Oh, fuck! Suddenly, the ground is racing at my face.
Only one thing takes a man down like that. Another man kicking your legs out from beneath you.
Tucking and rolling, I jump to my feet and shove my gun into the bastard’s skull. He might have had me at a disadvantage for a few seconds, but now I’m in charge.
He throws out a wrist and tries to dislodge my gun, but I evade and crack him with an elbow to the jaw.
He grunts and stumbles back.
I freeze as I stare at two nearly black irises. Eyes I know. Sierra’s brother.
The mother-fucker.
He looks bad. Bryan’s face is covered with a ratty beard. The hollows in his cheeks age him by ten years. But the eyes are unmistakable.
I snarl in his face, my voice low and lethal. “Where is she, you bastard?”
“Inside. She’s alive. Battered, but okay.”
My knees sag with relief. “You’re sure?”
He nods and turns to look at the building. His eyes hold a sheen of tears.
I fight the urge to destroy the man. “I ought to break your neck right here, like I should have that night.”
“Think this through, Cole.” Warns Simona from my right side. She’s got Bryan in her pistol sights. Her hands are steady, her eyes locked on him.
His voice is rough, like he hasn’t used it in a long time. “We’re on the same side. Sierra’s in danger and we need to get her fast.”
Same side? Not fucking hardly.
My anger nearly annihilates my control. The bastard’s lucky he’s not already sporting a new hole in his face or a weird angle to his neck.
I go off. If I wouldn’t draw attention, I’d be yelling. Instead, I hiss at him in a low voice. “She’s in there, thanks to you.”
“You think I don’t know, man? You have no idea what it’s like to see someone carrying your sister, her arms and legs bound, into that warehouse. And I’ll be sorry for what’s happened for the rest of my life. I need you to know they were drugging me and got me addicted. I was out of my head.”
Simona shifts. Her eyes slice to me before they land on Bryan again. “Cuff him. We’ve got a ticking clock. I need to get moving.”
Bryan shakes his head. “Let me help.”
I growl and get in his strung-out looking face. “You? Are you serious? You’ll never get near Sierra again if I have anything to do with it.”
“I understand. But I can get you in that building. And she is my sister. So listen to what I’ve got to say.”
The air crackles around us.
His dark eyes flicker in the dim light. When he continues, his voice is determined. “I escaped a few minutes ago and was going for help. I am in no shape to take down four men on my own, right now.”
Simona steps closer. “How did you get free and get out?”
“I think one of the guys is a plant.” He looks between us.
“The last couple of days, I’ve been getting clearer and clearer, mentally.
” He scrubs a hand over his eyes. “It’s like I’m not being drugged as much or something has changed with what they are using.
Then, a few minutes ago, I discovered my cage was left unlocked. ”
I choke on the word. “Cage?”
Bryan’s eyes burn with hate. “Sierra’s in a dog cage, a big kennel. Her hands are bound to her ankles with zip ties, and I couldn’t get her out without tools, so I did the only thing I could do, I got out so I could get help.”
My hands are shaking with my anger. I force my finger off the trigger. “If you make one wrong move, you’re done. Do you understand that?”
His eyes hold mine. “Understood.”
Simona summons the team. “Did you guys hear all of that? Over.”
Marshall replies, “Roger. Proceed with caution. Give us the updated plan. Over.”
Bryan points to the open window he used to escape. “That one.”
It’s far up, high on the exterior wall of the building. Quickly, he details the distance inside the building between the window and the cages. Then explains where the men are in the building. The three of us make a quick plan.
Simona’s already unpacking something from her cargo pocket. “Boost me up to that window. I’ll put a micro-camera in.”
She and I double-time it to the window. She’s light as a damned grasshopper when I hoist her onto my shoulder. Seconds later, she climbs down my back and lands lightly on the ground. “Camera 2 deployed. Bull, can you get a visual? Over.”
Roark grunts. “Visual confirmed. Target’s in sight. Confirming, our target is restrained in a kennel. She’s moving. No others in sight. Over.”
I’m both elated and horrified. I motion for Simona to move out. When the three of us are in the cover of the tree line, Bryan crouches so he can see the building. “What can I do? You know I’m former Special Forces.”
He’s a long way from top form. But he’s right. He’s got the experience.
I check my gear once more. “Go with the guys and Simona. I’ll be bringing Sierra out. She’s my focus.”
“Take this.” Simona passes him one of the guns from her holsters.
She hisses, baring her teeth at the man.
“I can’t believe I’m giving a gun to a druggie in the middle of a rescue.
I hope you’re telling the truth about being straight.
Don’t make me regret this. I’ll be watching you.
” With a final glare, she warns him, “I might be small, but I’m as lethal as a lightning strike. ”
Bryan glances my way as he takes the pistol and checks the clip with expert hands. “I’m helping you get my sister back. You’re not stopping me. And as I said, I’m good. My head is clear.”
Marshall speaks into our ear. “Proceed with plan. Over and out.”