Maizyn
Chapter Twenty-Four
Atlas
I wrap my arms around her from behind, dropping my face into the crook of her neck. “What can I say to convince you to stay behind?”
She slams the pantry door shut, pausing with her hands still gripping the handles. “That question doesn’t even deserve an answer.”
I let out a long exhale, placing a quick kiss on her temple while squeezing her a bit tighter. I hesitate for a moment before letting her go and stepping away. “No, I guess it doesn’t. I had to try at least, though.”
She turns to face me, running her fingers up my chest, tangling them into my hair.
Her eyes swirl with every emotion she is trying to smother back down.
She is as scared as I am; I just hope I hide it a lot better than she does.
She runs her fingers through my hair. I soak in this moment like it could be our last.
“We are in this together. Gavin helped you bring me home and I’m going to do the same for him. Wherever you go, I go.” She says it wholeheartedly, meaning every word.
I nod my head, expecting her answer to be along those lines. “Just please be careful; I can’t lose you too.” I try masking my apprehension. I can’t blame her for refusing to stay home when i would do the same thing.
“You won’t.” The words leave her lips, but they lack conviction. Which only makes me want her to stay behind even more.
A sound chimes through the kitchen as we both turn to look at where my phone sits on the counter. We both race to grab it, only beating her to it by a few seconds and opening the texting app.
“What does it say?”
“All it says is to dress in all black and then gives us a set of coordinates. That's all.”
“Okay, then let's go change, so we can get going.” We both quickly change before rushing out the door.
The coordinates bring us to what looks like a normal realty building. When we walk inside, it's an entirely different story. Everyone's already dressed in full gear as we are ushered into the acting strategy room.
The room is full of computer screens with a table in the center hosting a bunch of maps and scribbled notes.
Ramos takes one look at Maizyn, “Absolutely not. What is she doing here, Atlas?”
“I'm going. You can't stop me.” Her chaos is showing in the tenor of her words. While it’s not a bad thing, I can no longer decipher if it’s bravery or fear driving her.
“And you're okay with this.” He throws both hands up in disbelief before pointing in her direction and gesturing to the room around us.
“It's not worth arguing over. Nothing we say will change her mind.”
“Look, let me make sure it's okay with the boss; it's their mission. If they say it's fine, then she can come.”
“Okay, that seems fair.” Maizyn relents, probably realizing that while she can fight her way into the room, she can force herself into the mission without the boss’ approval. Her words lack the same amount of boldness as her previous answer.
I catch up to Ramos before he gets too far. “Hey, I need to ask you a favor.”
“What can I do?”
“Don't push for her to stay behind. If the boss gives the green light, then let her go on the mission. But if anything happens, please make sure Maizyn gets out safely, even if you have to leave Gavin and me behind. If the choices are her or us, I need you to promise me that you'll pick her.”
“You have my word.”
I return to where Maizyn was standing while Ramos talks to two people already fully dressed in gear. I can’t see their faces under their face masks, but I assume one is the boss and one is second in command. They talk in hushed tones for a few moments before Ramos walks back over to us.
“The boss said you can go, but you can't wear that. We will round up some tactical gear for you to change into.” He doesn’t sound happy about it but he doesn’t have a say in this anymore than I do.
Another man in full gear enters the room with a stack of clothes, handing them over to Maizyn, instructing her that there is a bathroom off to the right where she can change.
She takes the clothes from him before skipping away like she knew she would get her way.
I think we all knew she would. She prances back into the room a few minutes later, somehow looking adorable in the gear. “What do y'all know?”
Everyone in the room turns to face her, probably not expecting her to be asking the question.
Ramos and the two others all share a look before the shorter one nods their head.
Ramos takes the nod as his cue to fill us in.
“As I told you over the phone, he was on the call with me when his car was hit. Two gunmen forced him from the car. I was able to confirm what happened by pulling the surveillance video of the intersection from the bank across the street.”
“Can we see the video?” Her eyes are pleading with Ramos, even though I am not sure why she is asking.
“I don’t-”
She cuts him off before he can finish his sentence. “Please, Ramos. I need to see him getting out of that car and being taken alive. I need to see him alive.”
Fuck. I rub the ache in my chest at her request because now it makes sense.
She is hurting but knows this mission is only worth doing if there is a chance he is still alive.
The entire room remains silent while Ramos pulls the video up onto the main computer screen behind him.
We intently watch the scene play out. The video starts just as Gavin’s car is hit from behind, being pinned between the guard rail and the car that hit him.
Airbags deploy and block our view of Gavin.
Two men with handguns exit their car, approaching the driver's side of Gavin’s.
The video doesn’t have audio but you can tell they are screaming something.
They pull the car door open, push the airbags out of the way, and pull Gavin from the car.
They hold him at gunpoint, restraining him with zip ties before dragging him to their car.
“Thank you, please continue with the plans.” Her words lack any of the warmth that I am used to hearing from her.
Ramos nods before turning off the video and begins talking again.
“We believe he is being held at a warehouse off of Walnut Ave. We were able to track traffic cameras, tracing the getaway car back to this vicinity. I dug through public records and pulled a blueprint of the compound.” Ramos points at the map of the building layout in front of him before continuing.
“A few years ago, Vin had it converted to be more of a house on the inside.
We assume he'll be held in one of two places.
There's a guest room situated by itself in the right wing of the building and a bunker-style room in the middle.” He points to the two red circles drawn over the area.
Another man steps forward, then glances over Atlas and me before he begins talking.
“We don't want to ambush with a full team if we don’t have to.
We think the smartest idea will be to try to get in and out with as little gunfight as possible.
The entire compound has four exits. We think we'll be most successful if we split up and breach the two exits here and here.” He indicates the exits by circling them with a yellow marker.
“The original plan was to go in with only five, but since Maizyn is tagging along, we'll go on with six.
Ramos, Atlas, and Maizyn will be a team.
We will be another. You three will breach the west entrance closest to the center location.
We will breach through the south entrance and head towards the room on the right wing of the compound.
This is supposed to be a stealth operation.
So don't go in guns blazing. If you have to eliminate someone, try to opt for a quieter option before firing your weapon.
We move out as soon as it's dark. That gives us about two hours to finalize plan B and plan C, so we have backup plans in place in case we need them. Any questions?”
I grunt no while Maizyn simply shakes her head.
She plops down into a chair in the corner and pulls out her knife, fidgeting with it.
Trailing her fingers down the open blade.
I want to be there for her, but it’s hard to give her my undivided attention and focus on all the commotion around me.
We've gone over the plan. More times than I can count.
It's ingrained in my head at this point; this will be an easy rescue mission as long as things go according to plan.
Maizyn
As soon as it becomes dark, we load up the SUVs. Guns, gear, water, and any supplies that we could possibly need are loaded into the trunks. Once they double-check all of the gear, we begin climbing inside our designated vehicle. The taller masked man stops me before I climb inside.
“Once you climb into the SUV, there is no backing out. You understand what you're getting into, right?”
“I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I am not some weak girl who is in over her head. I know what to expect.”
“As long as you are aware. But take this with you.” He hands me a small rectangular box, no bigger than my palm. I flip it over in my hand, inspecting it. But other than one single button, there's nothing to it.
“What is this?”
“Think of it like a pinning button. If things go bad, once you're inside, if one of you gets captured or in a situation you can’t get yourselves out of, press the button.”
“What happens when I press it?”
“It will alert the backup team to move in and give us your location. So we can track you and evacuate you.”
“Can't I just radio for help?”
“No. With Ramos jamming the cameras and Wi-Fi, there's too big a risk of interference on your side.
“Okay, I got it. Anything else?”
“Nope, just be careful, and we will see you on the other side.”