Chapter 21 Zahra
ZAHRA
“Hmm, that looks a little off. Do you mind if I adjust it?” I reach my hand up, pausing right before I reach Declan’s face, and brace myself for the rush that will come with our skin finally making contact.
The fact that my body always had some kind of response whenever I came into contact with Declan is an incredibly irritating development.
Especially given the fact that very soon we’ll be living together.
“Go for it.” He leans his head to the side, giving me full access to the small speaker slightly falling from his ear.
With our height difference, I have to stand up on my toes to correctly place the earpiece. “Okay, you should be all set. Let's test it out.”
I walk away, putting a few yards between us and whispering into the mic embedded in my watch, “Declan? Can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.” His thick accent fills my ear. “Do you want to come back so we can go over the plan one more time?”
That would be sensible, though it did make my personal plan to put some physical distance between us a bit harder to achieve. I debated telling him we’re all set, but our mission is too valuable to have it go wrong. I’m embarrassed to admit that I keep feeling this magnetic pull toward him.
I walk up to Declan, leaving no less than six feet between us. “Alright. So we’ll scan the perimeter first, checking for any unknown vehicles or workers. Once we’re sure that’s set, Azula and Aidan will do a final check of all security cameras in the building. Then we’ll go in.”
I had contacted my Uncle Fergal, who’s been overseeing various trade routes for us, but he denied hearing or seeing anything suspicious.
Once we hit another dead end, we decided to finally clue Aidan into the rat problem.
He had refused to stay home, which is good, given that we shouldn’t barge into our warehouse without some sort of backup.
If one of our own has chosen to betray us, odds are high that they’re not working alone.
Azula’s voice comes through both of our speakers. “For the record, I still think I should be the one on the ground while you two are miles away in the surveillance van.”
“They won’t push back on two bosses coming in to check on their shipments. They will try to stall our seconds, though, in the hopes of covering their asses. We’ve discussed this.”
“Just because we’ve discussed this doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Azula retorts before going back to being silent.
My eyes lock with Declan’s and we give each other a nod before heading toward the warehouse.
One thing we agreed on is to stay as close to each other as possible during this time.
We’d only split up once we were inside, once he ensured all our staff were located in the main level, allowing me time to install additional high-camouflage security cameras in the loading dock.
We take thirty minutes to check the outside of the warehouse and install a set of cameras that would cover any blind spots the preinstalled cameras were missing.
From what we could tell, nothing on the outside was worth our attention.
Every vehicle and loading pod is set in place, which means whoever was stealing was smart enough not to leave any traces behind.
Walking side by side, we approach the two security guards at the front door, who immediately let us enter.
Declan’s voice booms through the warehouse a moment later. “LISTEN UP, I need everyone in this building front and center in the next five minutes.”
Few things were funnier than seeing a bunch of six-foot, two-hundred-plus-pound men scramble like headless chickens in front of us.
Marky, an Irishman who’s the acting leader of this group, is the one to greet us a moment later. “Boss, Boss.” He nods to me and Declan. “What’s going on? We didn’t receive a call that you were dropping by.”
“Nothing you need to be worried about. We’ve started doing surprise drop-ins at all our sites. Just to ensure quality control,” I lie. They didn’t need to know the real reason we were here. “I’m counting nineteen workers, but there’s twenty assigned here. Right, Marky?”
“That’s right, Boss.”
“Any idea where our missing soldier is?”
“No, Boss.”
My eyes lock with Declan. “Alright, nobody move until I find who’s missing.”
I pull out my Glock and turn off the safety as I enter the first storage room—empty. Rooms two and three are the same and I’m starting to believe that whoever our rat is long gone.
The final room I enter looks pristine. A little too pristine. As if someone has tried their best to scrub any evidence of them being here. Throwing the storage lockers open, I come up dry. Wherever the final soldier is hiding, I will find him and make him regret crossing me.
I walk to the first shipment box in the center of the room that appears untouched. Sifting through the materials, I realize dozens of computer chips and a handful of guns are missing.
“Motherfucker.” The curse is out of my mouth when a sharp stinging pain hits the back of my skull and I fall to my knees.
My gun is kicked across the room before I can regain my composure.
Two large hands wrap around my neck and squeeze.
Even if I wanted to scream, I can’t. Instead, I preserve as much oxygen as I can, digging my nails into my attacker’s arms and rolling our bodies forward in an attempt to gain the upper hand.
Now on top of my assailant, I’m able to take in his face.
His expression is a mix of anger…and fear.
As if he knows he has to kill me if he wants to live.
His hands squeeze my neck tighter and black spots form in my vision, followed by a painful burning in my chest from the lack of oxygen.
The grunts of the man strangling me start to sound distant.
Think, Zahra, think. A final rush of adrenaline hits me as I release one of my hands and reach for my knife that’s tucked away in my pocket.
With my last bit of strength, I unleash it and stab my assailant right in the thigh.
I feel a rush of warm, sticky blood leak from his leg.
Sweet, sweet, oxygen floods my lungs a second later as a loud howl leaves his lips.
What an amateur. Any soldier worth his salt would never have given up so easily.
I pull my knife out of his leg and he manages to kick me off.
Reaching out immediately, my nails dig into his shirt, partially ripping it, but refusing to let go.
The room door slams open but I have my eyes fixated on the man—or should I say boy—in front of me.
My knife stabs into his other thigh, and I relish in the sound of his flesh ripping, effectively incapacitating the traitor.
I plan on leaving it in initially, not wanting him to bleed out before I can get answers from him, but with his shirt ripped, my eyes immediately go to the tattoo of a vulture on his chest. Not again.
All I see is red as I yank my knife from his thigh and aim it at his heart.
“Who are you working for? Tell me, NOW!” I demand.
He says nothing.
“Tell me or I swear I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you live, just so I can spend everyday of the foreseeable future torturing the information out of you.
I’ll break bone after bone, and stick you back together, just so I can do it again,” I spit, grabbing his head and banging it against the concrete floor.
That manages to enrage him. “A woman could never break me.”
“A woman has already broken you,” I seethe, applying pressure to one of the stab wounds, drawing another screech from him. “At least this way you get to choose how you are broken. You still have some pieces of you left. I promise that won’t be the case in a few months.”
“I choose THE KING. A princess will die, and THE KING WILL RISE,” he screams, wrapping his hand around my wrist and shoving my knife into his heart before I can stop him. The color drains from his face immediately, his limp body falling to the ground in a thud.
“NO!” I slam my hands down on his bleeding chest. “TELL ME WHO SENT YOU. TELL ME. TELL ME.” I pull the knife out of his chest and continue to slam my fists into his lifeless frame, screaming as I realize once again I’ve gotten closer to the truth, only for the rug to be pulled out from under me.
“Zahra, breathe, I need you to breathe.” Declan’s face hovers a few inches from mine, as I realize he’s kneeling right next to me. His voice softens as he adds, “I’m going to pull you off him, will you let me do that?”
My fists relax at my side and I give him a small nod. He lifts me with ease and pulls me into his lap.
“I had him, Declan. I had him right in my hands. I just saw the tattoo and I lost it. I just lost it,” I groan, adrenaline fading as my head starts to pound.
“I know you did. I promise you we’re going to figure this out, but right now we need to get you cleaned up and have your head checked out.” He reaches out and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Can you walk or do you need me to carry you?”
My body screams for him to carry me, but I can’t let my men see me like that. They need to see me strong. Undefeated. Unbroken. I pick my words carefully. “I need to walk out.”
Declan’s eyes harden as he understands my unspoken reasoning. He gives me a nod before grabbing the arm of my assailant and dragging his body along with us.
The soldiers standing in the center of the room part as I walk through. I say nothing, opting instead to look them all in the eye and let the bloodied corpse speak for itself.