Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
PARKER
"You good, brother?" Logan bumped my shoulder and stood in front of me.
"Yeah. Just got off the phone with Caden. He knows who tampered with Molly's car. He's got a guy at Boston PD pulling him in for questioning. Hopefully by the time we get back, the problem will be dealt with."
"So then why do you look worried?"
That was a good damn question. "No clue. Maybe it's our line of work, but I feel like it was too simple. Too obvious."
Logan snickered. "Yup, that's definitely the job talking. We're too used to seeing the worst in people, so when something easy comes up, we feel the need to overanalyze. Take the win while you can."
"Yeah, maybe you're right." I resituated my vest and checked that I had everything I needed. We were set to roll out in five minutes. "Good work finding the rest of the shipment."
Logan nodded but looked like he was off in his thoughts.
"Are you good?"
If anyone looked like they needed to be asked that question, it was Logan.
"Yeah, just trying to make sense of some of the intel we got."
"We've got a few minutes. Why don't you talk it out with me?"
Logan sighed. "Our sources are conflicting, but something one of the guys we spoke to said got me thinking."
"Okay . . ." The anticipation was killing me. "Are you going to make me guess what it is?"
Logan hadn't said anything about this during the debriefing, so I had no clue where he was headed with it.
"One of the guys swears there's a woman helping move the women and children."
I let out a low whistle. "Are you sure his information is correct? That's pretty shitty if it's true."
"I don't know what to think but I intend to find out." Logan looked more determined than I've ever seen. I hoped like hell the information was wrong though.
"Let's move," Matthew hollered across the open-plan house we were using as ground zero for this assignment. It was the same one we had used the first time we were in Vegas. Black was always good at finding us a decent place to hang low while we were working.
The location we were given was about three miles from our home base in an abandoned storefront.
Recon showed the place was boarded up with bars on the lower windows.
Based on the records we found, the place had been empty for the past five years, but the owners were out of state and had abandoned it to rot.
Either they paid the taxes or the county had yet to hold a tax sale.
"We'll stop one mike out and move in on foot. Oxford, stay with the van. We'll radio in once we have confirmation."
"Roger that."
We stopped in an alley about a block away. Matthew stepped out of the passenger door while the rest of us filed out of the back. Tonight we were using a large cargo van with a logo that claimed we were from an electric company. If anyone saw us, they would know we weren't electricians.
Thankfully this was a shitty neighborhood. Most of the businesses had long left, and the few that remained open closed before dark. The alley was empty for the most part except for a few homeless people. Most of whom didn't pay us any mind.
"Caden checked the area. There are only a few CCTV cameras, but we don't have to worry about them. He hacked into them and is monitoring for us," Matthew advised. "Comm check."
We all checked in that our comms were working and then filed out.
We kept to the shadows and moved as one down the alley that would connect to another strip of closed-down stores.
The plan was to hit the place from the rear of the building while two of our team members monitored the front to ensure no one escaped.
The bars on either side of the building would deter anyone from escaping out the side.
"Cobra One to Cobra Four. In position," Matthew radioed to Graham who was at the front of the building with Rhett.
"Cobra Four, I copy."
We waited for confirmation that Graham and Rhett were in position. An uneasy feeling slithered up my neck. I chalked it up to what Logan said before we rolled out. If there was a woman helping the traffickers, then I hoped she was here so we could take her out.
"Cobra Four. We're in position."
"We move in three."
Matthew counted down with his fingers, and the three of us busted through the door. We spread out throughout the large empty building. There wasn't much to clear, considering we could see straight across to the front and side to side.
The building was only one story, so there wasn't anywhere up they could be hiding someone.
"Bad intel?" Rhett asked when the five of us circled in the middle of the open space.
"I don't think so. My source was positive they would be here for a few more days." Logan's lips turned down in aggravation.
"Wait, do you hear that?" I held up my hand and silenced my team. I could've sworn I heard banging. Like someone hitting something metal.
"It's probably just something outside banging around," Graham answered, but I waved him off.
Then it happened again. This time, there was no mistaking my team heard it because we all started to look around.
"Check for hidden walls or trapdoors. It's definitely coming from in here somewhere," Matthew ordered before moving to the right.
We all fanned out in different directions. Except now, when we did the sweep, we took more time. Running my hands along the walls and kicking around dirt, I heard the noise again, but it was farther away.
It was Logan who finally hollered, "I've got something over here." We moved toward him as he was pulling a large steel door up from under the linoleum.
"How the hell did you find that?" Graham stepped over to help.
"One of the pieces wasn't flush. When I kicked it, it moved. Then I realized they all shifted."
Sure enough, there was a pile of linoleum pushed away to make way for the door.
The first thing that hit us as soon as we had the door halfway open was the smell. Piss and feces. It wasn't the first time that smell had hit us. It was usually a good indicator we were in the right place.
"Bring that flashlight over here." Rhett brought it over so Logan could go down into the hole.
It wasn't a basement. More like a subfloor or crawl space. Standing straight up, the main floor was even with Logan's chest. My teammate squatted down and cursed.
"How bad, man?" Matthew asked.
"Bad," Logan whispered. "Call the local DHS field office and get someone out here now."
"You know they're going to ask for details, man. Tell me what we're dealing with."
"Dozens. Maybe fifty or more. Women and children. And from what I can tell, they've been down here for a couple of days."
Son of a bitch! This job never got easier, but shit like this pissed me off.
Matthew made the call, and it took hours before we were able to leave.
Watching the women and children who climbed out of the hole took a piece of my soul.
From what Logan described, there were cages lined up throughout the space barely big enough for large dogs.
Sometimes there were three women to a cage and multiple children packed in together.
The filth they were forced to endure was horrible.
I hoped this never got easier to stomach. If so, that would be the time for me to give up the job.
It was well into the early morning before we got back to the house. We would meet in a few hours at the local field office to debrief before we could head back home.
All I could think about after what I saw was the fact that I wanted to get lost in my wife. I needed something good. I don't know what I did before Molly came into my life, but I was sure glad I had her now.