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Chapter 26
Blake
Travis makes the short drive to Woodlawn while I boot up my two computers and make sure the mics and earpieces that everyone is wearing are working right. I have a few guys hooked up with body cameras too. I’d have liked to have one on everybody, but I only had a few of them in my bag of goodies. When we left Spokane, I didn’t anticipate everything going sideways. Lesson learned. Not that situations like this are ever normal, but I would at least be better prepared for this.
Before anyone even attempts to approach the house, we do a drive by. The neighborhood seems quiet and the house is mostly dark. The big window facing the front yard is dimly lit with the flickering glow of a television. As we round the block, I get a glimpse of a light on in the back of the house and the glowing red tip of a cigarette says that someone is smoking on the back steps. Good to know.
We park along the tree lined road just inside the cemetery and everyone gets out of the SUVs, donning Kevlar vests and double-checking weapons and equipment. This is routine for those of us who are former military. They go through their checks like the pros they are before making sure that Xavier’s guys are set up as well, and ready to roll.
They are. I suppose it’s reasonable to assume that at some point they have all been involved in something like this. X looks like a businessman, but I know that he’s something else entirely. The only time the man doesn’t radiate restrained power and violence is when he’s around Ana. That enormously pregnant, tiny woman has this beast of a man wrapped tight around her pinky finger. It’s obvious that he knows it too and doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about it.
The assembled men split into teams of two and after a quick review of where everyone is supposed to be and what they need to do I give them the go-ahead to move out. They fade into the thick darkness surrounding them, and I’m left alone in the murky light of my dual screens. Their quiet voices are a low murmur coming through my earpiece, and I wait.
Everything happens fast. These things tend to. It always feels surreal watching video feed through a screen, like I’m watching a movie or video game. It makes it easier and harder at the same time. Every time I’m in this position, watching things unfold and having no control over them, I can’t help but remember every fucking time when things went wrong and brothers were lost on my watch. My fault.
But that’s not going to happen tonight. I remind myself. This is gonna be a cakewalk. These assholes don’t have a clue who’s coming for them.
I keep my eyes focused on Travis’ body cam feed. He’s taking point and leading the entry into the house. I know that Xavier is right beside him. Travis’ arms and gun fill my limited field of vision while shadowy images jump around my other monitor. His big black pistol is held ready in his hand. I watch as his booted foot connects with the cheap lock, splintering the wood before it lurches open. X moves into my line of sight, the Glock in his hand held easily, like it’s an extension of his body. Their abrupt entry stuns a man standing in front of an open refrigerator with a package of deli meat clutched in his hand. X points to a kitchen chair and the man sits without making a sound and Travis zip ties him in place.
While they question him, I check in on the other teams. Five more. The words come through the radio. Trav tells them to double that number. Good fucking call. I wouldn’t trust him to give an accurate count either, even if that number is what I originally estimated. It’s not worth taking a risk and being sloppy. Planning for more resistance should keep everyone on their toes and safe.
I switch my view to Geno’s body cam feed. He and Grayson have surprised a couple of gape-mouthed scum balls watching porn on a big screen in the living room. They go down without much of a fight to a soundtrack of slapping balls and fake sounding, high pitched moans.
I shake my head in disgust. What a way to go down. Without a fight and your proverbial dick in your hand. Maybe their literal ones too. I hope they’re ashamed of themselves. Hell, I’m embarrassed for them.
The call comes through, all clear, from the teams still outside. They are heading in to assist. Almost finished. I advise two men to man the perimeter of the property before I switch my attention back over to X and Trav. I watch as they proceed down an almost completely dark hall.
Too dark. I should have set them up with night vision.
All I can see are dark shadows moving along the walls. The steady sound of Travis’ breathing fills my ears. He isn’t out of breath; this whole thing is a walk in the park for him. I chuckle silently, straining to see something, anything in the poor light that would give me a clue about what they might be coming up against.
Two figures join them. Even in the poor light I can make out one of them carrying a sleek black 12-gauge shotgun. Mike. I was sure he would be heading home to his cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains. We were lucky he was close by after we were ambushed on our way here after Dominic’s men took Faye and Ana. Mike’s one of our best guys, but we usually only see him when we call him in to do a job. He’s a tad reclusive… At Travis’ silent direction he takes the lead with his sexy gun at the ready and kicks open the door to the first room. It’s empty. I figured it would be, or one of Dominic’s crew would be inside.
A bare bulb sheds pale yellow light at the end of the hall and finally I can see better as the armed group comes to a stop. There is a door on the right, that’s where everyone is, and a staircase to the left that leads into God knows what. Before he does it, I know that Xavier won’t be able to stop himself from heading down there.
“All good, X?” I ask as he peels off from the others and silently descends the stairs.
“Yeah.” His response is hushed. There isn’t anything I can do from out here to stop him. I wish I’d hooked him up to a camera. The sound of another door shattering divides my attention, followed by screaming voices that quickly turn to cries of relief as the kidnapped people realize that they are being rescued. It’s a wonderful sound.
Travis’ voice comes through the radio, “Bringing them out now, X. You need support?”
A few beats later X replies in a low voice, “I’m good, man.”
I take him at his word, even though I don’t like the fact that he’s gone rogue and taken off on his own. There’s a reason why we do these things in teams. Not having someone to watch your back in unfamiliar territory is bad news. I just hope it won’t be tonight. As I observe the first few victims being led out from their temporary prison, I don’t have any other option. I do make sure to stay connected to his audio so that if he needs assistance I will know.
As Travis and Mike lead people outside it’s quickly apparent that the vehicles we arrived in are not going to be enough to transport everyone. A phone call takes care of that problem and has another vehicle on the way. As much as I’d like to be of more help, with Xavier alone somewhere in the house, I have to stay glued to my equipment listening for any signs of trouble. I watch as several people are assisted into one of the waiting vehicles and drive away, the rest milling about anxiously while anticipating the arrival of their own escape.
“Come out where I can see you.” Xavier’s voice is hard as he barks the command. I’m so frustrated by the lack of visual that I step away from the computers for a moment and pick up a couple of small woolen blankets that were in the back of the vehicle and look for someone who needs one. I don’t stop listening though.
I cross over to the small yard of dirt and dry tufts of grass where Geno is standing uncomfortably patting the back of the nearly naked young man who is clinging to him for dear life. I offer the blanket to Xavier’s bulky head of security with a strained smile. He disentangles himself from the arms of the guy, who on further inspection is only a kid. Maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. He’s painfully thin and even in the dim light I can see the track marks on the insides of his arms. Street kid who fell in with the wrong people by the looks of it.
There but for the grace of God go I… It’s times like this that I’m most thankful that someone saw potential in me that long-ago day when I cockily walked into the Marine recruitment office. I was barely eighteen and had a chip on my shoulder big enough to weigh a man down. The Corps gave me more than a job and a place to stay. It gave me something I’d never had before. Security. A family. Something to be proud of. I hope that after this ordeal the kid can find something that gives him the same thing. A direction. A way to heal.
I drape the rough blanket over his thin shoulders, and he stumbles away from Geno mumbling his th
anks, using the corner to wipe his wet cheeks. “There’s another car on its way,” I tell him. The kid smiles weakly and joins the remaining victims, hugging a sobbing girl about his age.
“Thanks,” Geno mutters, “Wasn’t exactly sure what to do there.” He waves his hand toward the kid and sighs.
