TWENTY-NINE
There are only a handful of people in the base. Otherwise, it’s been deserted. Hudson and Noelle are sitting at each head of the wide table, and the rest slowly start pouring in. Aria, however, is a bit further away, on the couch. It’s clear she’s there only to listen and be filled in and not to actively participate in the discussion.
Cove’s sitting next to Arlo, two seats away from me. Freya’s there, looking bored and fiddling with the ends of her hair. She doesn’t engage in any sort of chit-chat, no matter how many times people have tried to get a word out of her. Just like Cove. I don’t think he’s spoken more than four words in total in the past hour and a half since we’ve been here.
Two men, whose names I learned to be Lucas and Nikolas, Arlo’s uncles, are sitting across from me, with another two men who look to be around my age.
One of them, Raven Knight, looks like he’s a life-size doll. Dark, curly hair that reaches just below his shoulders, a build so good that I had to do a double-take. High cheekbones, arched brows, and plump lips, with a small heart tattoo right below his left eye. His eyes are in the lightest shade of blue, almost looking translucent. He’s the sniper that will be with us during the stakeout, hidden in plain sight.
Next to him is a man that could only be described as an enigma. I don’t know his name, and even his face is barely visible. He has a thick, dark hoodie on and a hat, effectively covering half his face, head hung low. He goes by the name – or latter letter – X. That’s it. Even Arlo couldn’t provide more details than that. Apparently, he’ll be sent inside Simmons’ operation as an undercover agent; hence, he’s here to listen. How they are planning to do that, I have no idea.
One spot remains empty, right next to Freya. Noelle’s phone buzzes, and with a sigh, she shakes her head, then locks the phone, putting it back in her pocket and glancing all around the table.
“Jewel won’t be joining us today,” she says.
“Of course she won’t,”
Freya snorts. That’s the most she’s spoken, and when all eyes fall on her, except for X, she rolls her eyes and explains. “The bitch poisoned herself. She touched things in my lab that she shouldn’t have touched, and now she’ll be puking her guts out for the next few days. She’s lucky she touched something curable.”
Noelle nods. “Are you sure you don’t need to check on her?”
Freya shakes her head. “No. It’s her damn fault.”
Noelle smiles and doesn’t push the subject further. Instead, her eyes glaze over every single person sitting at the table, then stop when she spots her husband. The two seem to have a silent conversation, and with a nod from Noelle, Hudson addresses us all.
“Arlo’s contact should send us the location soon,”
he starts. “In the meantime, I need all of you sharp, prepared to the best of your abilities. Meaning no drugs, no alcohol,”
he pauses, glaring at Raven. “If this operation fails because you couldn’t last a week or two without rakia, I will kill you myself. Understood?”
Raven only nods, though there’s slight defiance in his eyes. It pisses me off, because a lot is at stake here. My personal vendetta aside, a lot of people will die if we fail, and if it happens because Raven couldn’t stay off alcohol, not only will Hudson kill him, but more importantly, we won’t get a second chance.
“Now…”
Hudson takes a deep breath. “All of you know what the mission is. Get the girls out safely and capture those bastards. However, the priority is the girls. Once we confirm the location, your positions will be more clear. Raven will be hidden in plain sight, and through some connections, I’ve found a way in for X. He leaves tomorrow, and he won’t contact us. He’s our last resort if something goes wrong. We’ll have someone on the inside, our eyes and ears.”
X remains silent, head still hung low. He has leather gloves on, and no matter how much I try to catch a glimpse of his face, it’s impossible. I can only see the small part of his chin and the little stubble he has going on. It’s probably for the best not to see his face.
“Additionally, X will be poisoning them on the inside. Freya’s prepared quite a few things for him to use, and there’s a possibility he’ll need more.”
Hudson’s eyes fall on Freya.
She nods. “You’ll have double the amount by morning.”
“Good.”
“What else should we know about these bastards?”
It’s Raven who asks the question, and I see a vein of annoyance pop on Hudson’s forehead. We’ve all received a thorough report on the men this morning, and although it wasn’t enough time to remember every single detail, if he had only skimmed through it, he wouldn’t have asked the question.
Lucas is the one to answer, as if sensing the tension in the room. He has a buzz cut, his entire head covered in tattoos. It looks great, and I can even make an outline of Niko’s name just above his right ear.
“Paul Simmons, Nelson Adams, Edgar Flint, and George Woods have only one thing in common – they were all members of an exclusive golfing club in their youth. They’re all the same age, all attended the same private high school, and all come from old money. Simmons and Adams are in politics, Flint’s family has owned a chain of banks all across the States since the late 1950s, and Woods is an oil mogul.”
“Do we have any idea how long they’ve been trafficking people?”
Freya asks.
Lucas shakes his head. “At this point, we could only guess. There wasn’t a single way to trace any of the disappearances to them. Hence, I wouldn’t be able to tell you which ones were done by them and which were not.”
“Lucas will stay here,”
Noelle says. “He’ll be our main point of communication, our eyes and ears on the location. We’ll be split into two teams. The first team will be Hudson, Cove, and myself; the second team will be Aria, Arlo, Niko, and Blair. There will be a third team; however, they’re none of your concern. They’ll be at the back supporting us.”
I take a deep breath. My heart is thumping against my ribcage, and although this moment is something I’ve been waiting for years, I cannot shake off the slightest unease I’m feeling. Arlo sneaks his hand under the table, taking my hand in his and interlocking our fingers. Slowly but surely, my heartbeat returns to normal.
“The cleanup crew will also be on standby, so don’t be scared of getting your hands dirty,”
Noelle sighs. “Now, there’s just one thing… While we’re on the inside, keep an eye out for a girl. She should be around twenty years old.”
Raven’s brows narrow a little. “Anything else?”
“By now, you all know of my personal relations to Adams and Simmons. When Adams killed my sister, her daughter went missing. She was ten.”
“Not to sound cruel,”
Freya interjects and leans forward. “But if they’re known for quick rotation of women they kidnap, the chances that your niece is alive are almost zero.”
“I’m aware,”
Noelle’s voice is cold. “I’m not saying she is in there, or that she is even alive, but you just need to keep an eye out for her.”
“Anything else to go on? Maybe what she would look like? Anything to recognize her?”
I ask and try to make my voice as soft as possible, not wanting to irritate Noelle.
“Her given name is Luna Collins. She has a scar on her nape, in the shape of a crescent moon. Aria accidentally hit her with a pipe when they were kids, and the scar remained. She also has a beauty mark on her forearm, and it’s just a big, red mark.”
I nod.
“The plan is very simple, so for the love of God, do not fuck this up. Arlo’s team will attack from the back; we attack from the front. Exactly a minute after we attack, the backup team will come forward. Raven will be doing his job, but if you have a clear shot on either Simmons or Adams, do not kill them. Just wound them.”
“Do we have any idea what kind of building we are talking about here?”
Niko asks. “Any ideas where others were kept, since he’s always changing the locations?”
Hudson shakes his head, leaning back against his chair and sighing out deeply. “That’s the thing; we don’t know if it’s a warehouse, a manor, a residential building… it could be anything.”
“They aren’t stupid,”
Freya adds. “I highly doubt that the place they’re using is under any of their names. They have lackeys for that, in case anything happens. They won’t risk having it traced back to them.”
“Exactly,”
Noelle nods. “We’re going in blind. I need all of you to trust your instincts. If you think you should shoot, take the shot. No hesitation and, most importantly, no mercy for the bastards.”
“How many people will be in the backup team?”
Arlo asks.
It’s the first time he has spoken since the conversation has started. He rubs soothing circles on the back of my palm, his eyes glued to his mother’s face. His expression is stoic, his lips pulled together.
“Twenty. They’re the brute strength we’ll need.”
Arlo nods. “Once I get the confirmation of the location, I’ll forward it to everyone.”
Raven leans forward, the tips of his hair falling onto the wooden table, head tilted to the side. “How can you be sure you’ll even get the location?”
Utter silence falls upon us. Everyone’s looking between the two, apart from X, who is still staring down, and Cove, who is as silent and unbothered as ever. In fact, I’m starting to question whether or not he was even paying attention to the conversation, given how bored he seems. He even yawns a little, hiding it behind his palm.
Arlo’s brow twitches. If he hates anything, he hates being questioned. Over the time I’ve spent training with him and his family, I got a little curious. I learned that his nickname is the Ghost, and I did a little research on him.
A phantom.
Unlike the ghosts from horror stories, this one is very real. Once he sets his mind on a target, there isn’t anything that could ever prevent their death. If the Ghost sets his eyes on them, they’re just dead people walking, waiting for their doomsday.
It’s one of the things I find fascinating about Arlo. His duality. The way he’s able to flip the switch between the vicious, murderous persona and the sweet and gentle man he’s always showing me.
Arlo’s mouth opens, and he’s about to speak when his phone buzzes. With a deep breath to calm himself down, he pulls the device out of his pocket and skims through the messages. He turns the phone around, and I skim through the contents.
The first message is an address.
“Next Friday, midnight.”
I read the message out loud, and Arlo turns to look at Raven with a faint smirk. “Don’t question me, Raven. As you can see, we have the location and the date.”
Next Friday.
That’s in five days.
Am I ready for this? What if I fuck up? What if this is all Zoe’s way of fucking us all over and she’s never been on our side? What if I try shooting and don’t manage to hit a single person? What if I cause the operation to fail?
My mind goes into overdrive.
Too many questions, too many insecurities, and doubtful thoughts swirl through my head. The conversation continues, and I force my focus onto the words filling the room. Arlo’s hand squeezes mine as a silent assurance that I’m not alone.
I have Arlo by my side.
Now and forever.