“I’m in. I’ve gotta go.”
“Okay. Just remember—don’t be out pastcurfew, young lady.”
He hung up, and I scrolled through themanifest, my photographic memory seeing and cataloging theinformation in an instant. No livestock. Twenty new merchandise andone labeled auction. A zing touched my heart, and I just knew thecontainer had to be the one labeled auction. I captured thecontainer code and location. It had already been loaded. Crap! Iwent to the Internet and pulled up a guide on operating an onboardcrane on a ship. I scrolled through it, the much-needed informationnow trapped in my brain, but not yet understood. I clicked back tothe cargo manifest and stood up. If I were quick, I’d have thecontainer back on the pier before the man woke up. I hoped no onewould go into the office before then.
A fierce chill hit me. Carson stood by thedoor staring at me, betrayal and question all over his face.
Chapter 27
My first instinct was to reach for theknife, but I overrode my training and said, “Carson. Give me oneminute to explain, and then if you still want to you can alertsomeone to my presence after that.” Of course, I wouldn’t allowthat if it came to it, but I hoped it wouldn’t. He could help.“Alexander put a container of kids onto this ship to be sold asslaves. I’m here to save them. I found the container and with yourhelp I can unload it and save their lives.”
“What?” His eyes narrowed. “Who areyou?”
I knew repeating my name wouldn’t be enough.“I work with some people who are trying to bring down thebratva.”
He tilted his head to the ceiling andhuffed. “No wonder you went for one of the worst guys in school. Itdidn’t make any sense.”
“I’m sorry I lied to you, Carson, but theclock is ticking.” I looked down at the guy on the floor.
Carson took a step forward and pulled on adrawer. My hand grabbed his, and I stopped him, afraid I’d lost thebattle with him. He didn’t struggle, just said, “Whoa! I’m gettingsome tape.”
“Oh.” I released my hold. He was going tohelp.
In the drawer were all kinds of varioustapes. I grabbed the duct tape and taped the fallen man’s mouth andhis arms, attaching him to a locked cabinet. Carson grabbedsomething from the drawer and pocketed it. As we walked out of theinner office, Carson locked the door and looked up at me grimly. Heknew what he was sacrificing to do this. He knew the risks, and hewas doing it anyway. A new layer of respect for him fell overme.
“Thank you, Carson. I will do everything Ican to keep you safe.”
“I believe you want to, but I know you maynot be able to. I’ve been a coward my whole life. It’s time I breakfree and do something my conscience has been telling me to do for along time.” His look was sad and resigned, and yet totallydetermined. “I hate these guys. Let’s do something that will reallyhurt them.”
I smiled. “But let’s do it carefully and notget caught.” I moved around the counter toward the door that ledout of the main office.
“No problem.” He followed me.
Mikado still sat in the car. I wanted him tostay there, he was in the getaway car, so I didn’t approach him. Icontinued past the car toward the large crane, keeping my pace evenso I wouldn’t draw any extra attention.
I walked with purpose, like I belonged, andI hoped Carson was just as confident.
I was about to climb the safety escapeladder of the crane, when Carson put his hand on my arm. “Holdon.”
I turned to him.
“Do you even know how to operate one ofthose?”
“I read the manual.”
“Oh, man. It takes practice. Lots ofpractice, and if you expect to do it unnoticed, you need someoneexperienced.”
“I’m all there is, Carson.” I turned andstarted to climb.
“Get down. I can do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’ve filled in for crane operators abunch of times.”
I started down, then realized the craneoperator would need to be taken care of. “You can operate it, but Ineed to take the crane operator out.”
He pulled out a radio. “John. I’m seeingsparks from the underbelly. Come on down.”
Almost immediately, the box began to lower.I stepped off the ladder.
I nodded at him and thought, Please beready, Jeremy.
I crouched behind some large boxes to getout of sight.
“I can’t reach Grayden,” Carson said to thecrane operator. “I think he’s helping someone out in the dead zoneon the ship. Could you get him? I need to check in some cars realquick so we don’t fall even further behind.”
“He was supposed to have fixed this lastweek.”
“Yeah. I think someone may be searching fora new job soon.” Carson turned to go and so did the crane operator.After he walked a few more steps, Carson turned back to the craneand hopped inside. “Amber?”
I came out of hiding. “Yeah?”
“Tell me you know the container number.”
I gave it to him, and he wrote it down on asheet of paper. “I’ll hurry as fast as I can. I know just the placeto set it down.”
“I’ll be here.” I watched as he grabbed thecontainer with the hooks. It had been right by the bridge, Iguessed for easy access to feed the prisoners. I would have thoughtthey would have hidden the container so that the chances of itbeing searched would be less. He worked with precision and made itlook easy, even though I knew it couldn’t be. The precaution andtrouble-shooting sections of the manual had been quitedaunting.
Immediately after the container touchedground, Carson popped out and moved quickly toward the container. Icaught up with him and stopped him. “You’re done, Carson.”
“What?”
“I want you safe. You’ve done your part. Iknow where the container is. I’ll get the kids out. You go back toyour office, and as soon as you see Mikado and me drive out thegate, go free your cargo master.”
“Do you have one of these?” He pulled out atool from his pocket. It was the item he’d grabbed from the drawerafter handing me the tape. “You need it to
