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“Looks like we’ve caught a break, boys,” I tell them as we huddle up in the woods near the warehouse. “From what I can tell, Melissa is alone. As long as we can keep these assholes distracted, you can grab her and take her home, Bones.”
I look up at my friend, my brother, who looks truly hopeful for the first time all day. He nods and waits patiently for the rest of my instruction. A small miracle indeed.
“We’re going to start shooting on the west end of the building,” I say to the others. “Bones, don’t go in until you see the men come out. It looks like there are about a dozen of them, so try to keep count as best you can. A few might run over to grab Melissa, but you’ll be there first. Understand?”
He nods again, silent and buzzing with anticipation,
“We go on my signal,” I say, motioning for the others to follow me to the west end of the building as Bones splits off and goes to the east.
The Houston Kings pull out their pieces first, ready to shoot on my signal. Hex and Pocus move to the side door where we hope the men will start pouring out, ready to fight back. They’ll get the stragglers as they come out. As everyone gets in place, I give the order to fire.
The Houston Kings begin shooting on the side of the building, some bullets ricocheting off the metal, but most going in and making purchase in the wall. From outside, we can hear shouting, and within seconds, the door opens and two men come out.
I can see on my screen that most of them are still inside taking cover. The cowards. Unfortunately, just as I suspected, I see one heat signature running in the other direction, toward Bones. I creep my head around the corner to see that he hasn’t waited, instead going in on his own. Typical, but hopefully he’ll get there before the other man does.
The two who’ve run out of the warehouse start to fire at us, but Hex takes them both out before they get a chance. He shoots one man in the leg, causing him to immediately go down. The other, he simply knocks out with the butt of his gun. He’s not one to spill unnecessary blood if he can help it. He pulls out zip-ties and start binding the men while Pocus pats them down for weapons.
The Houston Kings fire again, and I see one heat signature creeping out of the warehouse through a back way. He probably intends to sneak up on us, but I run to the side of the building and shoot him myself, not giving him the chance. One of the Houston Kings, a man named Rebel, comes over to take care of him so I can continue monitoring the device. He drags the man over to where we’ve already apprehended the other two.
“Rebel, you and Spider go to that side of the building in case anyone else tries the same move,” I tell him, monitoring the device to see how Bones has fared.
Melissa is still alone, and I see two heat signatures not far away from her. If I know Bones at all, he’s giving the man a run for his money. There’s chaos amongst the other signatures, they’re all moving around frantically on my screen. They must know they’re surrounded with no other choice.
Both exits are now covered, so no matter which way the men come out, they’ll be taken down by one of our men. Bones is who needs me now. I run past the main entrance, shouting to Pocus to cover me as I go, just in case. I’m halfway to the other side of the warehouse when I hear the sound of the main door opening and look behind to see a few of the men spilling out. Perfect.
I make it to the other door and wrench it open, where I see Bones struggling. He’s hovering over a man on the ground, his hands pinning him down, but I can see his gun a few feet away from him. The man is scrappy and fast, actually managing to evade Bones’s punches. I recognize him as one of the first assailants Snake pulled up.
“Ricky,” I call, drawing the man’s attention away from Bones. He looks over at me confused, and Bones manages to land a hard punch, causing him to groan in pain. He tries to wriggle away from Bones, but I’m closer now, my gun pointed directly at his head. “I wouldn’t move if I were you,” I tell him darkly. “Bones, go, I’ve got this.”
Bones gets off the man and stands up, straightening his clothes. He walks over to his gun and picks it up, replacing it in his holster. He looks at me for assurance and I nod, motioning for him to go get his girl. He turns toward an unmarked door and pushes it open.
I turn my focus back to Ricky, whose hands are up in surrender. He looks terrified and defeated, but I don’t trust him not to try and run. I need to get him away from this area so Bones can safely get Melissa away.
“Get up,” I tell him. “Start walking.”
I keep my gun trained on him, marching him toward the door. He goes quietly, his head hung as he walks back out through the open door. Outside, all hell has broken loose as the rest of the men are trying to hold their ground and fight back. They’ve managed to create a barrier between themselves and my men, shooting back at them from inside the warehouse. I have to admit, they’re smarter than I gave them credit for.
I march Ricky to where Pocus and Hex are guarding the men they’ve apprehended, and zip-tie his hands behind his back. I pat him down just to be sure and find no weapons on him. I hear a sound from behind me and turn to see Bones is carrying Melissa out, getting her away from the fight. No need to hold back now. I tell Hex to keep Ricky conscious. I’ll need to talk to him when we’re finished.
I grab Pocus and pull him away from the gun fight, and back into the warehouse. We run to the other side where the men have locked themselves into what is apparently their breakroom. Pocus shoots around the doorknob, effectively breaking it. Together, we kick in the door.
Most of the men are focused on the main door outside, so our presence takes them by surprise. They try to shoot at us, but we have the advantage. We take out the two main shooters by the door first, so our men on the outside can get to the rest. It takes just two minutes to disarm and apprehend them all. Four of the Houston Kings are able to enter the room and we tie up the rest of them and get them all sat inside.
Some of them look young and green, like this may be the first time they’ve ever held a gun, let alone gotten shot at. Davis really went for the low-hanging fruit when he put together this team. From the intelligence we gathered, Ricky was the first one to be hired, which means he has the seniority. If anyone knows where Davis is, it’ll be him.
Pocus and I grab him and march him through the warehouse to the room where they’d kept Melissa. There’s nothing more inside than a chair bolted to the ground, two pair of handcuffs that are unlocked on one side, and some rope on the ground. My blood boils at the thought of her in here, and I turn to Pocus to see the same look of fury on his face.
We push the man down into the chair and handcuff one of his zip-tied wrists to it. See how he likes being locked up. If things go the way I’ve planned, he should start getting used to the feeling. His face goes pale at the sight of us, especially as Pocus looks more fierce than I’ve seen him in a long time.
“Where’s your boss?” he asks, his tone low and dangerous.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he cries out, his voice shaking with fear.
Pocus lands a punch on him and he screams in pain, his hands gripping the chair.
“Wrong answer,” I tell him authoritatively. “See, we know all about you, Ricky. You’re nothing but an unsuccessful thief with a rap sheet a mile long. Nothing’s ever stuck to you, though, so you must feel pretty lucky. Is that why you placed that ad on the dark web?”
There’s a beat of silence and he glares up at me through his swollen eye.
