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“Shot. Point-blank. Right here.” She pointed to the center of her sternum. “Thank God for Kevlar.”
It was a risk everyone in law enforcement faced. No matter the strength or specific purpose of tactical gear, there was always a chance any one of us would not come out alive. My gaze met Ares, and I knew without asking he was thinking the same thing I was.
30
ARES
Twenty-four hours prior to the raid, there were close to two hundred people convened in Burgas, a seaside city situated on the Black Sea, approximately seventy miles from the Todorova compound in Lesovo.
Those agents and operatives were divided into three units—for the compound and the two roadblocks—then broken down into smaller groups.
Thirty agents and operatives were assigned to each of the incoming and outgoing routes.
The remaining were placed in five teams of twenty each, responsible for raiding the warehouse itself, plus another twenty standing watch on the perimeter of the property.
The units raiding the warehouse were made up of teams from the five coalition members—the US, the UK, Malta, Switzerland, and Albania. Marchand had also arranged for air support via several Black Hawks. Doc and Merrigan had organized medical teams to be on standby the same way they did for the op in Felixstowe.
At fifteen hundredon the day of the raid, three hours before it was to be executed, I issued the call for all teams to move into position. In another hour, I’d issue a call for all units to begin implementation of their op’s plan.
I felt as though I hadn’t had much chance to talk to Nem, and I doubted we’d have more time to do so between now and deployment. When I saw her a few feet from me, I walked in her direction.
Once I was standing only inches from her, I turned off my comms. “As Mayhem said, Godspeed, Nemesis.”
“Godspeed, Ares.”
Even outfitted head to toe in tactical gear, the woman was heart-stoppingly beautiful. “What do you say we arrange a dinner date on the other side of this?”
“I’d like that.”
“Stay safe.”
“You too.”
We walked away, each returning to our teams, but when I glanced over my shoulder, she did too and our eyes met one more time.
Ten minutesbefore I made the call to move out, four of the semis that had been at the loading docks, pulled out of the compound, heading west. Almost simultaneously, an equal number arrived from the east and backed into the docks. I considered this a good sign. In what we saw in the days we’d been monitoring movement, it wasn’t always that simple. Sometimes, semis pulled in from, or left in, both directions.
Based on what we’d been able to piece together from the overheads on the days leading up to the raid, there were anywhere from twenty to thirty people working inside the warehouse at any time. Doppler devices carried by a member of each unit confirmed we were close in our estimation.
The other thing we knew was these assholes weren’t overly armed. We’d counted a handful of assault rifles but, otherwise, very few visible weapons.
Also from the overheads, we’d determined only one person exited each rig after it pulled in. What we didn’t know was whether there were additional guards inside the containers, and if so, how many.
My team and Nem’s would be the first two to move into position inside the warehouse itself. Once we got a read on what we were up against, the other three teams would move in.
“On my count of three,” I said through the comms.
The first thing that became apparent once we were inside was the victims I could see from my vantage point appeared heavily sedated, some unable to walk on their own.
Tank and Blackjack crept around the container closest to us. “Counting approximately fifty victims inside, all bound and gagged. Four men, including the driver, carrying them out,” Tanks reported through the comms.
“Guards positioned around it?”
“Negative. They’re not expecting company. Just another day at the office for these motherfuckers.”
“Same over here,” reported Puck, who was on Nem’s team.
I crept around the dock and saw some victims being carried into a pen-like structure while others were being taken directly into containers on the opposite side of the warehouse.
