Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“I will, luv.” I pecked his lips again, stepping back and asking Judy, “Please give ‘im a set of earwigs, Judy. Candy will need to talk to ‘im.”
She waved as I turned and headed for the door. “Will do, Mars.”
“Lock the door behind me.”
I held Cam’s gaze for a few seconds more before climbing down from the bus and shutting the door behind me.
CAM
I was both excited and worried, all at the same time.
If things went well, Josiah would be arrested in the next hour or so and my mother and I would be safe.
I hated the fact that Mars was putting his life on the line to catch the bastard, but there was nothing I could do but wait and watch while he and his friends did their best to take him down.
I was amazed by how many people they had on what Mars’ boss, Candy, had called an Op, but counting his Tac Team and all the people whom I’d met at the vacant fabrication warehouse this morning, there had to be thirty or more agents all working this single case.
Mars’ friend, Judy, gave me a set of earwigs similar to the ones I’d worn when we’d been chasing the car with Josiah’s guys in Vegas. I slid them into my ears as she pulled out a rolling, desk chair. “Have a seat, Cam. Can I call you Cam, or do you prefer Mr. Demarco?”
I smiled at her. “Cam is fine, thanks.” She began tapping her mouse again.
I could see numerous shipping containers on the ground all over the place and realized that the FBI must have tapped into some sort of closed-circuit security system which had to be located around the port in order to see what I was seeing on the screens.
There were several voices in my ear, and I tried listening to all of them at once, attempting to understand all the military jargon they were speaking.
I could hear them well enough, but they seemed to speak in a shorthand that only they knew, using abbreviations for things which I somehow thought I should know.
Maybe I’d heard some of it when I’d played video games.
Though since they had never held a whole lot of interest for me, I didn’t have a lot of experience with them.
No one could exactly classify me as a gamer.
The way they spoke, though, confirmed that Mars was part and parcel of a tight team. I’d seen them in action once before, when they’d swept in and rescued all of us in the helicopter in Vegas. They’d been then, as they were now, very professional, no matter how one looked at it.
Judy pointed to a container. “There’s Mars. See him?”
A man was climbing up the side of two containers stacked on top of each other.
He had a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder and he climbed fluidly.
I’d recognize him anywhere, even from a distance.
I watched him get to the top and then take up a position on his belly, situating the rifle in front of him.
He looked so professional and it struck me, perhaps for the first time, that he was truly in his element here with all his friends.
I checked for his boss—Captain Sorensen—on one of the screens as Judy pointed to the darkly clad figure.
He was situated about twenty-five feet from a container which seemed to be central to all the action, practically invisible in the dark.
Judy pointed to others and as I narrowed my eyes, I could make out several men, now that I knew where to look.
“Were you aware that Mars was a sniper?” Judy asked.
I shook my head, glancing back at my man. “No. Not until tonight.”
“He’s one of two snipers on the team. Rex is the other.”
I nodded, still watching the screen. “The Texan.”
“That’s right.”
“I’ve got movement,” someone said. The person had an Irish accent and I pictured the shortest man on Mars’ team, the guy everyone called Patsy. “Red Ferrari coming in fast. He’s following a white van.”
“Got ‘im in my sights,” Mars said, voice strong and confident.
I watched the screens, searching for whatever Mars was seeing. When the Ferrari suddenly came into view, I felt excitement flood my veins. I pointed and Judy nodded.
“Yep, there he is…the bastard,” she whispered.
“Keep a close eye out, Mr. Demarco. As soon as you see Josiah Sterling, please confirm it,” Captain Sorensen said.
“I will.” I tracked the progress of the Ferrari on several cameras as it drove toward the container.
It kicked up a cloud of dust as it stopped behind the van, and I narrowed my eyes as one of the monitors lit up with a closeup of the Ferrari’s driver’s door.
I wondered how they had that view, then realized the monitor was showing a view through a sniper scope.
I wondered if it was Mars’ rifle. I didn’t spend too much time thinking about it as the door opened and Josiah stepped out.
“That’s Josiah Sterling getting out of the Ferrari,” I said, getting a good view of his face as he turned toward the van and began walking toward it.
“Positive ID on Josiah Sterling,” Captain Sorensen said in the earwig. “Hold your positions until we’ve verified they’ve got the heroin.”
I watched as two men jumped down from the cab of the van and opened up the back doors. Several men jumped down, all holding automatic weapons. I knew from firsthand experience how deadly those weapons were, and it sent a shiver through me.
“There’s a second vehicle approaching from the east,” Patsy said in the earwig. “I’ve got eyes on two Hispanic males in the cab of a gray van.”
“Roger,” Sorensen said. “They could be cartel. Hold position.”
I watched, awed by how bold Josiah was, just standing there waiting for his cartel contacts to arrive.
The gray van made its way to the clearing in front of the containers as two of Josiah’s guys went over and unlocked one.
They threw open the double doors and went inside.
Seconds later, a late model McLaren reversed out, and Josiah sauntered over to it, pretty as you please.
He bent down and said something to the driver as the gray van with the Hispanic men pulled up.
He approached them and shook their hands. Then everyone descended on the McLaren.
Josiah’s men swarmed over the vehicle, like it was at a race pit stop, carefully and skillfully detaching the inside door panels of the car, the bumpers and something in the trunk.
One of them handed Josiah a brick shaped object which appeared to be wrapped in some sort of dark plastic.
He grinned, holding it up to show the Hispanics, then sat it on the hood of the car.
He pulled out a knife and poked it into the package then gestured to one of his men who handed him a case. He pulled out some sort of tube, and Josiah slid the knife into the tube, adding a dropper of something. Capping it he shook it and held it up for the Hispanic men to see.
One of the men shone a torch on it, examined it, poked around in the case and gestured to the other man who removed two, large, metal suitcases from the back of the van. He set one on the ground before opening it.
I couldn’t see what was in it until one of the Hispanic men reached in and lifted something.
He held it out to Josiah who took the bundle and fanned it.
Only then did I realize it was a stack of money.
The entire case was full of money. I was witnessing a cartel drug deal going down right in front of my eyes.
“That’s it!” a female voice said in the earwig. “Captain Sorensen, it’s all yours.”
Seconds later, men were in motion, running out from their hiding places as the screens lit up with bright lights.
I realized the FBI guys were throwing some kind of explosives into the clearing.
They flashed bright, making the screens white out for a split second, before all hell broke loose.
Rapid automatic gunfire filled my ears. I gasped as Josiah’s men started firing their guns at the FBI guys who’d charged into the clearing.
Josiah grabbed the metal cases filled with money and threw them into the front seat, before jumping into his car, and starting it with a roar.
Several bullet holes appeared in the driver’s window. The car sputtered and died.
I looked up at Mars, noticing how flashes began lighting up the end of his sniper rifle, and I knew he was shooting at Josiah.
Even though I couldn’t be sure that’s what was happening, I just knew it.
When a sudden pounding came on the door to the bus, I jumped, glancing at Judy.
Her eyes were wide as she stood up. I got out of my seat to go over to the door.
“Cam! Wait!”
But it was only SA Anthony at the bottom of the steps, flashing her badge, and I opened the door. She smiled, and I returned it as she climbed up the steps.
“Special Agent Delaney Anthony.” She showed Judy her badge. “There’s a communications issue. Can you unplug your headset, please for a minute. See if we can sort this out.”
“Sure,” said Judy, disconnecting it.
“Special Agent Anthony, what’s—
Judy’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
When I turned back, the agent had a gun pointed right at my midsection.
“What the…” I trailed off, fear clawing at my throat.
“Who the hell are you?” Judy yelled.
“You can call me Livinia.”
“Lavinia…Moss? Josiah’s partner?”
I felt a chill run through me as I recognized the danger I was in when she stepped closer.
“That’s right. I’m Josiah’s partner.” She turned to me. “You’re a pain in my ass, you and that little boyfriend of yours.”
“Cam?” I heard Mars’ voice in my ear. The earbuds. I’d forgotten them. “Cam? You okay?”
“You’re the woman who tried to get to us in the elevator earlier today?” I needed Mars to understand the danger Judy and I were in.