Crew
The fire crackled in the fireplace of my office as I continued to wait.
I sat in an oversized armchair in the center of the room, elbows on my knees, head lowered, and jaw so tight it was giving me a migraine.
This waiting shit was for the birds, everything in me said to take the biggest gun I could find and head into the hollow guns blazin’ and air that shit out.
But my common sense told me I needed to be meticulous about this.
That was the only thing keeping me in this chair, in this room.
Black leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, eyes dark and assessing.
Blue sat at a long folding table with three screens pulled up, fingers flying across the keys in near silence except for the occasional click.
The last of the tortured men they'd dragged into their office hours ago was long gone, dissolving in a dumpster of hydrochloric acid behind the warehouse with a broken neck and bullet in his skull.
But his words still echoed in the silence.
"Big old house in the woods. On the outskirts of town. The hollow used to be a hunting cabin. She’s there. I swear she’s there."
Blue exhaled through his nose, watching the property records crawl across the screen. My gaze never left him, though my fingers drummed slow and lethal on my knee. Black spoke first, low and grave.
“Anything?” He grumbled.
Blue didn’t look up, just grunted, fingers tapping. How did August stand these niggas. They never really talked, just grunts and one-word answers unless it was absolutely necessary. But they were loyal so I would have to get used to it.
“Patience.” Blue sighed.
Black’s eyebrow twitched, his only sign of annoyance.
“If you’re playing games with me, Blue…” I groaned, cracking my neck in agitation.
Blue’s fingers froze. He slowly turned his head, expression flat as a blade.
“Don’t.” He said.
He was right. I trusted them. Had to. But the fury in me was a live wire sparking off every nerve. I gripped the bridge of my nose and let out a heavy sigh. “You got it.”
Blue’s eyes flicked to another screen. He scrolled deeper, faster, chasing something.
We watched, trying to read the man’s mind, but Blue was an unbreakable vault.
Then he paused. His pupils narrowed and for one fleeting moment, something unreadable flickered across his face.
His eyes caught mine for a slit second before they went back to his screens.
Unable to keep quiet I asked if he found something, anxiety getting the better of me.
“Did you get it?”
“Property listed under shell company. The Harris family owns it.” Blue said, giving a tight nod.
“The Harris’,” Black repeated, voice like gravel, jaw tightened.
Blue nodded once more.
“They buried it deep under layers of names and offshore bullshit. But it’s theirs.” Blue said.
My knuckles whitened as I leaned forward in the chair. The Harris’, Kyle’s family was behind so much in this city it didn’t surprise me that they owned the place Kyle was keeping Nova. “Location?” I ask.
Blue pulled it up on the biggest screen. A satellite image of an overgrown patch of forest, bisected by an old logging road. A single building sat in a clearing like a rotted tooth.
“Here.” He said.
“Access?” Black said, pushing off the wall and walking over as he peered at the map.
Blue zoomed in. “Old branch road. It's mostly overgrown. I’m Picking up five vehicles hidden in the dense trees. There are three exits that I can find.”
“Perfect for a trap.” I growl.”
“Yeah.” Black grumbles. We fell quiet, studying the image for anything else we could use to get Nova out safely.
“What’s the plan?” Black asked, clearing his throat.
I stood and started pacing, my boots scraping across the floor.
“We go in quiet, taking out all his men on the outside after they check in. No live fire if we can help it until we have Nova secured. Nothing else matters but my wife. I want Kyle and his sister but if they put up too much of a fight kill them.”
Black nodded once.
Blue didn’t speak. He just tilted his head slightly in agreement.
“Any more intel.” I asked, stopping my pacing and pointing at the screen.
Blue’s fingers moved faster over the keys of his keyboards.
“Thermal imaging will be garbage there. There’s too much tree cover. We’ll need eyes on everything. Drones’ll help, but they’ll hear them if they get too close. The best approach is on foot.”
“We’ll split up.” Black said, scratching his beard.
Blue nodded.
“We’ll use two teams. Entry and extraction.”
My eyes flickered with dark satisfaction. “We hit them from both sides. Wherever they are hiding, Nova will be the most secure. He’ll expect us to breach the front. We flank. Cut them off. Get her out.”
“Messy.” Black said, giving the ghost of a smile.
“I want it messy. I want it to be a message for anyone that thinks that they can take something from me.” I said with an equally savage smile.
We all fell silent for a moment. Outside, the wind howled through the trees, reading the night for the storm that would cover our tracks. Blue looked back at the screen, meticulously searching for anything that would help us. He scrolled in on the property lines, marking potential approach paths.
“Entry points.” Black asks.
“South window. Old cellar door.” Blue said, adding markers to the image to pinpoint the area of entry. “Northeast corner has a blind spot. From what I can tell no cameras.”
“That’s our in. I’ll lead extraction. Black, you hit their flank. Blue you watch our six. Anyone who runs gets dropped. No hesitation.” I command.
Black just nodded.
“Understood.” Blue confirmed tapping the table twice.
“I owe both of you for backing me on this and for keeping my daughter safe. I don’t take that lightly.” I said.
“You looked out for our cousin Del. That matters.” Black said, nodding once.
“We don’t help just anyone. But you did right by our family. That’s enough.” Blue shrugged.
“I appreciate it. More than I can say,” I said. I exhaled hard, running a hand over my beard, trying to calm the rage churning inside me. “We hit them tonight. No more waiting. Every second she’s there, he could be hurting her,” I said.
“I’ll set drones around the perimeter. I have a few quiet ones with visual only.” Blue, said.
“I’ll get the men ready. They been a little blood thirsty since the ambush.” Black said, cracking his knuckles.
“Good. They can have get it,” I said.
The room went quiet again. The plan was forming with brutal clarity. I sat back, finally pausing, letting my eyes close for half a second, gathering myself. When I opened them all I could see was red.
“We have maybe twelve hours before they move her,” Blue said.
“Why.” Black asked.
“Patterns. It wouldn’t be smart to hold her too long in one spot. Especially since they lost men in the kidnapping. It’ll get too hot, and we know Kyle’s cautious.”
“Then we hit them hard and fast,” I said. “No more talking. Prep and gear up. We leave in an hour.” I said, getting up from my chair and stalking out of the room. Black followed on my heels as Blue shut down his monitors. It was time to get my wife and bring her home.