Chapter 22
COPPER
Cahir sends the PIN for where to meet them. I get there first, watching the dot on my phone like a hawk, making sure that if it moves, I move with it.
She’s not far from me—less than a mile. It kills me that she’s so close, going through who knows what, while I wait with my thumb up my ass.
But I understand. I have limited hardware with me, and I’m not sure what I’ll be up against. I know I can’t do this alone, but fuck me, I hate this waiting. I’m second-guessing myself every second I stand here, not making a move on her location.
“Hold on for a bit longer, Bee. We’re coming for you.” I whisper into the night.
My phone beeps with a text.
Cahir: We’re two minutes away. Wait for us.
Me: I’ll wait, but you need to hurry.
I press send just as headlights hit my rear-view mirror. A four-by-four pulls to a stop behind me, followed by three sleds.
Opening the door to the tow rig, I step out and meet Cahir as he walks towards me. He grabs me in a hard hug, then clasps the back of my neck, staring me in the eyes. “Thank you for listening and waiting.”
“I nearly didn’t,” I admit.
“I know.”
He squeezes my neck, releases me, and claps my shoulder. “Come on. Come and choose what you want from our hardware. Coal and your brothers are twenty minutes away.”
Following Cahir to their vehicle, my eyes widen. The specially designed rear of the vehicle features a sunken floor containing every kind of hardware we could need, including what appears to be hand grenades.
Silas hands me a bulletproof vest. “Gear up. Grab what you’re comfortable using.”
I pull on the vest and do as he says. I’m more comfortable with handguns, so it doesn’t take me long to make my choice, and I add extra magazines to the holsters provided. I’m strapping knives to my thighs and adding flash bangs to my pockets when I hear the roar of approaching sleds.
Relief fills me when I see my brothers pull up on their rides. Cahir and the Cursed Skulls are great, but there’s nothing like having your own brothers at your back. I’ve hated not having mine at my back for nearly a year.
Coal gets off his sled and pulls me into a hug, holding me tight. “We’ll get her, brother. Remember, she’s trained for this, and she’s strong.”
My throat tightens. “Yeah.” I wipe my eyes. “Yeah, I know.” Clearing my throat. “Thanks for coming so fast. You must’ve broken some serious speed limits.”
“We did.” Bolt chuckles, shoulder-checking Coal out of the way to hug me. “Sterling is handling that for us.”
Laughing softly, I release Bolt and move to Nickel before greeting the rest of my brothers.
“Gather round, Wraiths,” Cahir orders.
We don’t hesitate to follow his orders, not even Coal, who’s our President.
Cahir points to a schematic map on the hood of their vehicle.
“This is a map of the docks and the various warehouses. These are owned by Lloyd Eade’s shell company.
Bella’s tracker tells us this is where she’s being held.
She’s trained to do everything she can to keep them busy until we can get her out.
” His gaze flicks to me, a small smile playing around his mouth.
“If she hasn’t already taken them down herself. ”
I know all this. My woman is kick-ass and more than capable of looking out for herself. That doesn’t mean I’m not terrified for her. One on one, she can take any man down, but more than one, and she’ll be in trouble.
Nodding at him that I understand, he continues, “Blue and Silas, you’re both on overwatch. I want you here and here.” Cahir continues, showing them where to go. “Gear up and get into position now.”
Silas and Blue push closer, studying the map before they both nod.
“I’ve got everything I need. Thea made sure we were set up for tonight before we left,” Blue assures Cahir before turning to the rest of us. “See you out there. We’ll watch your backs.”
Cahir waits as Silas and Blue jog silently into the darkness, blending seamlessly into the night.
“Cai, take Coal, Brass, Bolt, and Cross and enter from here. I’ll come in from the front with Copper, Iron, and Nickel.
Ramzi will stay out here on comms and keep watch.
Thea and Jeanie will join him when they get here.
Thea messaged while we were travelling to let me know she has more gear if we need it. Are we all good with that?”
My brothers respond with a resounding round of “ayes.”
“The girls will be safe with Ramzi. Just like they’ve been on the other ops,” Cahir assures Coal and Bolt.
I didn’t realise Thea and Jeanie would be coming, but it makes sense to have them around to calm any women and children we free from this hellish situation. I’d imagine a bunch of large men wouldn’t.
“Thanks, Cahir.”
“No problem. Any questions?” Cahir looks at our group. “No? Good. Cai, take your team and head out. We’ll give you ten minutes to get into position at the rear. Let us know when you are in position.”
Cai gives Cahir a thumbs up, then makes a circle in the air for those on his team to follow him into the darkness.
Cahir turns to me. “Copper, your rig. Do you feel up to driving your rig through the security gate? We need a distraction.”
“Yeah, but it’s not mine. It’s a company one.”
“We’ll have it replaced with the relevant paperwork. Your boss is one of ours, so he won’t be a problem.”
I nod. “Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.”
“We’re setting it up to blow. Once you’re through the gate, you need to jump out as fast as possible. I’ll give you the detonator, but make sure you only press it once you’re clear.”
My eyes widen. This is like serious-movie-type stuff.
Nickel slaps my shoulder, chuckling at my expression. “You’ll be okay, bro. Just make sure you’re clear before you go kaboom.”
Cahir smirks. “Do what I tell you, and everything will be fine.”
“Fuck! Okay. Show me what you need me to do.”
“Remember, press the button when you’re clear,” Cahir reminds me, handing me the detonator once he and Iron have set the charges on the tow truck. He pauses, listening to something on his earpiece. “Cai and his team are in place.”
Cahir hands me an ear com, which I slip into position.
“Silas, Blue, check in,” Cahir says.
As I fit mine, I hear Silas responding. “Overwatch one in position at the rear. Four guards patrolling.”
“Overwatch two in position,” Blue responds. “Two guards at the gate, and four at the front of the warehouse.”
Cahir nods and turns towards Ramzi, who’s set up in their vehicle. “Comms check, Ramzi.”
“All clear.”
“Check your comms with Ramzi, Wraiths.”
“Iron checking in.”
“Nickel checking in.”
“Copper checking in.”
“Read you all loud and clear. The rest of the teams are good to go. Be safe, brothers.”
Cahir nods at me. “Load up. We’ll see you inside. Let’s get your Old Lady and kill some motherfucking assholes.”
If I thought Cahir wasn’t emotional earlier, I was wrong. His entire demeanour echoes concern for Bee and vengeance against those who’ve taken her. And fuck me, I am so behind that.
Pulling myself up into the cab of the tow truck, I start it up. It takes a bit, but I finally get her up to speed. I keep my headlights off until I see the security gate. The guards are taken by surprise when I switch on my brights. They heard the truck but didn’t see it.
Flooring the accelerator until she’s going as fast as I can get her to go, I run straight into the gate, taking it with me. I ignore the yells and the scream of the guard I’ve just driven over and keep going, aiming for the cars in the parking lot.
At the last second, I leap from the rig, tucking and rolling as I hit the ground the way Bee showed me. It hurts, but not as much as I thought it would. Gaining my bearings, I press the detonator, grinning as the tow truck explodes in a ball of flames.
“That was fucking awesome, man,” Bolt says through the earpiece, sliding to a stop next to me. “Fucking love it when Cahir gets the bombs out. Come on, let’s go fuck up some more shit.”
He claps a hand on my shoulder before he takes off.
I shake my head, but I follow him, and we watch each other’s backs like we have our whole lives.
I glimpse our teams fighting as we work our way around the warehouses.
The explosion has drawn more of Eade’s men, and they swarmed out of the warehouse.
Eventually, I lose sight of Bolt and hope he’ll be okay. He’s been training, too, and he seemed to know what he was doing.
I fire off shots, taking out Eade’s men, and one of them veers toward me.
I grab him before he can take me down, put my gun to his chin, and pull the trigger.
He slumps to the ground. I’m running low on ammo in the gun I’m using, so I take a second gun from my holster with my left hand and fire as another trafficker runs past me.
Never thought I’d be so glad that I’m ambidextrous.
As I make my way down the side of a warehouse, I hear Bee taunting someone.
My blood freezes.
I need to get to her.
It’s as if now that I’ve found her, every fucking one of Eade’s men wants to get between her and me.
Fucking hell. Where the hell are they all coming from?
I wonder as I shoot another one. Behind me, I hear shots going off, shouting and screaming. But my main concern is getting to my woman. I know she’s close. I drop another trafficker with my last bullet buried in his head. Kicking him out of the way, I slam open the side door of the warehouse.
I don’t even think about ducking in case someone takes a potshot at me—my only concern is getting to Bee and making sure she’s okay.
And there she is. My gaze roams over her, cataloguing her injuries. She’s beaten to shit and barely standing straight, but she’s in one piece. That’s all that matters. She’s alive.
Her eyes find mine. Her lip wobbles. Then she’s moving towards me. Or I’m moving towards her—I’m not sure which. We don’t stop until she’s in my arms. Only then do I realise that she’s carrying a child.
“Cop,” she whispers, lifting her face to mine.