Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
Andy willed Wilt to drive faster. As it was, his friend was already over the speed limit, but as Andy watched everything unfold on his phone, it felt like they were crawling.
“Fuck!” Shocked at what he witnessed.
“Was that a gunshot?” Wilt asked, not taking his eyes off the road.
“Yeah, Camille shot Margot.” He hadn’t recognized the woman initially, but then remembered she was the colleague Narelle had gone to Bali with. He was surprised he remembered her name. As she spoke, everything that happened over the last few weeks fell into place for Andy.
Camille must be responsible for Narelle’s almost kidnapping in Bali. He didn’t know if she was connected to the car accident or the incident at the hospital. The accident had certainly looked like an attempt to kill instead of another kidnapping.
Unless the accident wasn’t supposed to have been a severe as it had turned out? Maybe that was the reason why the car that hit Narelle had hightailed it away from the scene? Which would make the drugging at the hospital make more sense.
“Andy? Fucking talk to me. Is Margot dead?” Wilt yelled.
“Sorry, she was shot in the arm. She’s okay.”
“Where the fuck did you go? You say Margot’s shot and then nothing!” His friend was pissed at him, and he couldn’t blame Wilt at all. If the roles had been reversed, he would’ve reacted the same.
“I was going over all what had happened, trying to connect Camille to it all. I don’t think Narelle’s accident was supposed to be as bad as it was.
I’m thinking it should’ve been a minor tap.
They would’ve then encouraged her to follow them to a place where they could talk without disrupting the traffic.
Once they’d gotten there, she’d have disappeared.
But they had hurt her badly and had to swivel, which led to the incident at the hospital. ”
“Yeah, that tracks. What’s Camille’s part in it all? She wasn’t the nurse you chased. I found out who she was.”
“I’m not sure. It initially sounded like she’s a spotter and gets a fee for every woman she introduces to the traffickers, but she said something about being surprised that someone wanted Narelle.
I don’t know the connection. But once we get her, we’ll find out.
” He studied his phone again. “Fuck, they’ve gone. ”
They were still two minutes away from his place. The one person who could hack into traffic cameras to follow them was driving the car. And his laptop was at the office.
“Which direction?” Wilt asked, and Andy picked up on the subtle change in speed.
“East down my street.”
“You still have your computer at home?”
“Yeah, why?”
“When we get to your place, haul ass inside and get it. I’ll hotspot it to my phone and track them.”
Andy knew they were going to lose precious minutes doing what Wilt suggested, but it seemed like the best solution. “Okay. I’ll let the others know what’s happening. Camille was driving a small blue SUV. I don’t think you’ll be able to get a good visual of her plates as she drove away, though.”
“It will be fine,” Wilt assured him. Considering how savvy his friend was with computer, he didn’t doubt it.
The rest of the team were in pairs following them in other cars.
Andy activated his comms and relayed the information to the team.
Responses came firing back quickly. “Everyone’s going to wait.
Steve said something about continuing on, but I told him it was pointless, as Camille could’ve gone in either direction and it’s better that we’re all together and not separated. ”
“Good. With what I heard, we’re going to need all the manpower.” Wilt screeched to halt out the front of Andy’s place. “I’ll call the police and clue them into what’s going down. You grab the laptop.”
Andy was out of the car before Wilt had finished speaking.
The front door of his house was still open, and anger swelled when he saw the blood on his front porch.
He scooped up Narelle’s laptop bag and put it on his desk while he unplugged his laptop.
Ensuring the door was locked, he raced back to the car, where Wilt was in the passenger seat.
“Here you go. You know the password.” He gave a small wave to his colleagues and got into the car.
Every instinct had him wanting to gun the motor and get going, but there was no point in doing anything until they had an idea of where Camille was headed.
The longer they waited, the farther Narelle got away from him.
His heart was clenching at the thought of not seeing her again. Not laughing with her. Not kissing her.
He slammed the door on those thoughts.
He would see her again, and he would be able to do all those when he had her back in his arms.
First thing, he would tell her was that he loved her. He should’ve said the words this morning when he told her how important she was to him.
“Okay I’ve got them. When you get to the end of the street, turn left.”
“On it.” Andy pulled away and sped down the street, taking the corner faster than he normally would, but the urgency to get to Narelle was riding him hard.
He was hopeful that they would catch them soon, Camille couldn’t have got too much of a head start on them.
Andy carefully weaved through traffic, not wanting to endanger the general public, but maintaining a higher speed than everyone else, as he followed Wilt’s instructions.
“We have to be coming up to them soon, don’t we?
” he muttered. He trusted his friend implicitly, but they didn’t seem to be any closer to them.
“Yep, it looks like they’re turning right at the next intersection.”
Anticipation and a hint of fear combined inside of Andy. Anticipation that they were going to get close enough to Camille to stop her, but fear that the woman would notice that she was being chased and decide to shoot both Narelle and Margot.
Considering how she was thinking how Margot could be another paycheck, he didn’t think so, but she’d already shot her once, so who knew what Camille’s thoughts were? She was also angry at Narelle for still being around, she could decide that his woman wasn’t worth the hassle and eliminate her.
Andy gripped the steering wheel tighter.
He wouldn’t let that happen. At the end of it all, Narelle would be safe.
Margot would be safe. And Camille would pay for what she’d done.
They would get the answers they needed as to who Camille was working for.
If it became apparent that person was associated in any way, shape or form with Viktor Koznovi?’s organization, between them and Alliez Security, they would thwart their trafficking operation.
Taking a Bratva leader down completely wasn’t possible, as the backlash from that would be fierce.
But crippling one part of his empire to save men, women, and children from being bought and sold was a win.
“They’ve stopped at a small park about five hundred meters down the road,” Wilt announced, his fingers dancing over the keyboard.
“Anything around to suggest that they’re meeting anyone?” Andy slowed down. With not knowing the situation, there was no point driving right up to them. They had to be careful so that no one else got hurt.
“Not that I can see. There aren’t too many cameras in the area that I can hack into. I was tracking them through the car’s electronics.”
Andy had no idea how Wilt did half the stuff he did, but he was grateful that the guy had the skills.
“We should approach by foot, then.” And hope that Camille didn’t drive off while they were coming up to them. Andy had to believe there was a reason for Camille to stop where she did.
There didn’t seem to be any other cars around indicating Camille was meeting anyone, but it could mean they hadn’t arrived yet.
“We need to surround them so that we cut off their escape routes. I’m going to message the others and get them to move to different points. We’ll have them cornered,” Wilt said.
“Sounds good.” Andy itched to get out of the car and storm to Narelle, needing to hold her. If he did that, though, it could be a huge mistake, and it wasn’t one he was willing to make.
“Everyone’s in place.” Wilt stilled Andy’s fingers which were drumming on the steering wheel. “I know you want to race in there and get her, but you need to keep your head. Block out the emotions and treat this as any other mission.”
Under any other circumstance, Andy would be annoyed at Wilt lecturing him, but his friend was only doing what Andy would’ve have done if it was one of the other guys whose woman was in danger.
Hell, Reed had dragged himself out of hospital after he’d been shot and had to have surgery, to get to Lauren after she’d been taken.
When it was the person you loved in danger, anyone would do what was necessary to keep them safe.
Andy blew out a breath. “I hear you. You take the lead.”
His friend nodded, and they both got out of the car. Through the comms he could hear when the other members of his team were in position.
“Where are the police?” Andy queried, as they slunk down behind a tree that bordered the park. Camille’s car was parked about a hundred feet in front of them. Three heads were clear through the tinting, but he wasn’t sure about what was happening in the car.
“They’re about fifteen minutes out, we’ve cautioned them not to come in sirens blazing, as we don’t want to give anyone a heads up so they can disappear on us,” said Wilt.
“Roger.”
Andy watched as the rest of the team got into position. Adrenaline kicked in as it always did before they breached a building or took down an enemy. He latched onto the feeling and locked away his feelings for Narelle. For her to survive, he had to be the absolute best version of his soldier self.
“We go on your call, Wilt,” Steve’s voice came over the comms.
“On my count of five.” Wilt started the slow countdown, but Andy didn’t hear it. All he heard was the rhythmic beat of his heart. Slow and steady. Like he would be. “One.”
Andy jumped into action after Wilt. They came up behind the car, and he went to the side where he knew Narelle would be.
Wilt sprung up and tapped the butt of his gun on the driver’s window. “Game’s up! Get out of the car!”
In a blur of motion, Camille shoved the door open, causing Wilt to jump out of the way.
“You aren’t going to stop me!” Camille screeched and fired her gun.
Wilt went down, and Andy reacted without thought.
He fired his own weapon twice. Once at Camille’s hand holding the gun, the next shot in her leg to bring her down.
As much as he wanted to do a kill shot, he still had the forethought to know that any information Camille had would be valuable, and they needed to get it from her. He trusted his team to subdue Narelle.
“Andy!” Narelle’s plea had him yanking her door open. She fell into his arms. He held her tight, his breaths coming out in ragged gasps as the realization that she was alive sank in.
“I’ve got you, honey. I’ve got you.” He kept saying the words over and over.
All around him action was happening. Someone was looking after Wilt.
Reed had Camille, who was screaming loud enough that the people in the far north of the state could likely hear her.
Damon had Margot. But none of that mattered to him.
All that mattered was the woman in his arms.
She was safe, and he was never letting her go.