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Before Shep and Aaron leave, Shep clicks him in the skull with the butt of his knife and shoves him into a closet so he’s not found right away when Yuri comes into the office.
Good night, dick wagon. I wish you the life that you deserve.
Chapter24
Deal or no deal
KLEIN
“And that’s how it’s done, boys,” Kri quips as she climbs into the van, dusting imaginary lint off her shoulders.
She deserves her gloating moment for flawlessly executing her mission.
Kri flirted with the tangos for less than ten minutes. It was so believable I worried about Shep’s position in her life. She wasthatconvincing. Throughout the conversation, she fed us the code words we needed to ensure we were in position at precisely the right time.
When she did her walk-through upon arrival, she found an unattended back door at the end of the hallway past the restrooms.
That’s where we grabbed the guys. She led them out with the promise of smoking a joint with them and hinted she was down for some otherfuntoo. She cooked up this story about catching her boyfriend cheating on her and how she was itching to get even with him.
Either they saw her as an easy mark for their operation or wanted to take turns with her. The thought sickens me despite knowing she wasn’t in danger with us at her six.
As she led them out the door, we pounced, knocking them out with chloroform, then tossing them in the back of the van, where they were hogtied and gagged.
Kri was downright giddy while she restrained them, which makes sense, considering she was tied up in the back of a van at the hands of Lenkov’s men a few short weeks ago.
Jonesy smoothly exits the parking lot, driving us to a remote location a few minutes away. Once there, we’ll wake them and get the location out of them. How much blood is shed in the process is up to them. With any luck, we’ll be on our way to extract Violet within the hour.
Tomer’s calm voice crackles in through our comms. “Nice job, alpha team. We’ve wiped the cameras from the rear of the bar and nearby restaurant. So there won’t be any trace of you left behind.”
“The other team?” Jonesy asks.
“Bravo’s mission was also a success. We have a potential location, and we’re working on an extraction plan. Proceed with your mission to ensure the locations match. I don’t want to risk it being a setup.”
“Shep’s good?” Kri asks him.
Tomer responds, “A little bit of blood on him, but it’s not his own.”
“He got to kick ass? Lucky.” Kri’s cheeks pinch with her grin. “Is Val okay too?”
“She’s fine. Good taste in movies.”
My head cricks to one side, but I let the comment go, focusing on my own loved one.
I fish out my Redleg phone and send Mia a text to check on my mother. She replies a few seconds later with a thumbs-up. A whoosh of air expels from my chest with relief.
I’ve been on countless ops, and aside from the missions on my first deployment, I’ve never been this fearful. Not to say I was cool with the idea of dying, but in the past, I knew my family would be fine without me. Eventually.
But now? I abhor the thought of leaving my mother alone.
I slip the phone away and focus on the mission, surprisingly returning into operator mode in a flash. Knowing Mia is watching over Ma soothes my worries.
Tomer informs us of how the other team got the info from Yuri’s guard and left him unconscious, bound, and in a closet. They’re hoping it buys them enough time to get to Lettie before he alerts his comrades that we’re on the way. Then again, if he sounds an alarm, the other traffickers will know he talked, which won’t end well for him.
Hopefully, fear keeps him quiet.
We drive to a wooded area off the beaten path with minimal vehicular traffic. No structures around, meaning no surveillance cameras.
Ready to act, we all jump out as soon as Jonesy pulls the SUV to a stop.
