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“Get their phones and any other electronic devices they have on them,” Blaze said over the headset with evident glee. “I’ll have lots of data mining to do tonight!”
“And we’re looking forward to hearing the results of it,” Julius said dryly.
Talon hustled over, and together the three of us heaved the bodies into the back of the truck where they wouldn’t be visible to any incoming vehicles, including the soon-expected plane. Then we patted the men down, pulling phones out of pockets and a small tablet out of one guy’s vest. Blaze would have a field day with this.
We were just clambering back out with the devices in a bag when one of the phones started to ring. I froze up, but Julius immediately jerked his arm toward the cabin.
Garrison sprinted over, holding out his hand for the phone. Working with the people we couldn’t kill yet was his specialty, after all. I fished the phone out and thrust it into his fingers. He yanked it to his ear, managing to smooth the slight rasp of the exertion out of his voice with impressive control.
“What?” he said, putting on a gruff tone that barely sounded like him at all. Even his stance changed to mimic the new tough-guy persona he was putting on for this performance. He paused and then let out a huff. “That’s five minutes later than expected. What’s the hold up?”
I raised my eyebrows at Julius, wondering if we should really be hassling the people we were waiting for, but apparently it fit a strategy our commander agreed with. He shot me a flash of a smile.
“Fine, fine,” Garrison grumbled. “Yes, it’s all clear down here. You’re good to land. Just try not to dawdle anymore. We’ve got places to be.”
He hung up, his aggressive façade falling away with the gesture, and grinned at us. “No problem. They’ll be here in ten minutes.”
Julius motioned to the cabin. “Why don’t you take the rest of the phones in there so you’ve got access to all the communications equipment at once. We don’t want to be caught in the lurch if anyone else checks in.”
Garrison gave him a jaunty salute and then glanced at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Without warning, he swooped in and gave me a quick but firm kiss. Then he was jogging back to the cabin. I could feel his smirk even with his back to me, but I couldn’t say the gesture hadn’t sent a flare of heat through me that’d melted even more of my uneasiness.
We were halfway through the job. The Blood Hunter had obviously been running this operation for so long without interference that it hadn’t occurred to his employees that anything could go quite this wrong. But we didn’t know exactly what to expect from the plane’s passengers or crew.
“We’re going to need to approach the plane with more caution,” Julius said as if his thoughts had headed in a similar direction. “We don’t want to harm any of the girls while we’re dealing with the men who are holding them, and they’ll probably come out in a group, making sure the captives are under control.”
“And we don’t know how many men there’ll be,” I said.
“We don’t.” He frowned, considering the situation. “I’ll get in position to shoot the pilot and anyone else in the front. Talon, you and Dess switch to blades. Let them start walking the women out, and when you have eyes on all of the targets and know you can reach them, dive in there. Cut them off from the vehicle and take them down as quickly as you can. I’ll get in as many shots as I’m able to safely.”
His gaze slid to me. “They might try to take one of the girls as a hostage if we can’t get to all of the men fast enough. Are you good to maneuver in a situation like that?”
Would I be able to act with a clear enough head to land a killing strike even when a woman’s life was on the line in front of me, he meant. I nodded with a jerk of my head. “It’d be my pleasure to show anyone who tries it that they can’t get away with using their victims as human shields.” I knew every vulnerable spot on the human body, and no person could cover all of them.
“Good.” He spoke into the headset again. “Blaze, as soon as you see that the plane’s arriving, I want you over here by the truck. We need them to see someone waiting for them so they don’t get suspicious as they’re disembarking.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” Blaze said. “That means I’m on my way right now. There’s a small cargo plane just getting in position to come in for a landing.”
Julius motioned to me and Talon. We darted across the runway to the swath of grass in the middle of its rectangular formation and flattened ourselves in a dip approximately where the back of the plane should end up. Julius ducked back into the thicker shadows behind the shed.
The roar of the plane’s engine reached my ears. I spotted its light like a shooting star against the darkened sky, growing as the plane descended. Bracing myself, I tucked away my pistol and pulled out a knife in each hand. Talon already brandished his usual curved blade.
“We’ve got this,” he said abruptly. “They’re all going to fall, and we won’t let one hair on those girls’ heads get hurt.”
“Right,” I said, a twinge of affection filling my heart. Talon wasn’t much for emotions, but he could obviously tellIhad a lot of feelings about this situation. It meant a lot that he wanted to reassure me.
The plane soared out of the sky. Its wheels thumped against the asphalt with a couple of bumps before it totally connected with the runway. There was a whirring sound as the pilot hit the brakes. Just before the vehicle blocked off our view of the parking lot, I saw Blaze standing in position next to the back of the truck.
Talon and I stayed low as the plane rasped to a halt. “The hatch where they’ll come out is on the other side,” he murmured to me as our eyes focused on the vehicle in the dim light. “We’ve got to move.”
As we scuttled across the grass and then dashed to the side of the plane, using it for cover, the hatch opened with a creak. We slipped around the tail in time to see three men ushering out a stream of girls and women ranging in age from preteen to twenty-something. The captives’ wrists were bound, their mouths gagged. Their postures were slumped and defeated. Several were trembling.
Another man followed in the middle of the pack. We couldn’t be sure that was all of them, though. Chances were that at least one would be bringing up the rear.
With my heart thumping louder than their footsteps, I held myself still until two men emerged with no more women behind them. As one reached to close the hatch, Talon and I sprang forward as one being.
Julius fired at the same time, the cracking of glass telling us that he’d hit his mark at the front of the plane. I launched myself at the man by the hatch, slamming one knife into his neck and shoving the doorway the rest of the way closed with my shoulder. We didn’t want them having any avenues for escape.
Talon had already ripped his knife through one of the other guards’ chests. I flung a smaller blade at a man who charged at me, and it sank straight into his heart. He keeled over.
