Nodding, I look to King.
“Same man, we were after you and were tackled once the gun went off. We dispatched the men and reached the door at the same time as Shelly and Victor. Clint and Brand, too,” he adds.
I look to Clint. “Yeah, exactly the same thing, except Dean left out of a side door following the suited guy.”
“Derry.”
“Yeah, he followed him, obviously into an unknown number of hostiles,” Clint explains.
“Okay.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and think for a second. “Right, Shelly, Victor, Clint, and Brand, go get all the notes and go over everything. We need to find where they’re hiding, what their weaknesses are. Everything we can that will give us an edge.” They all get up and move out the room as one, only Shelly pauses to squeeze my shoulder as she goes.
“Arlo, King, kindly take Doreen and find out what she knows. Doreen, I know it’s early,” I say glancing at the time telling me it’s only just five-thirty a.m. “But I need you to connect with your people, find out what you can, but don’t say why. This needs to be under the radar.” She nods and walks out with them. I look back at the clock. The time is like a beacon flashing, but all that tells me is that they’ve had Via for an hour now. I’d like to believe they won’t kill her, after all she’s a commodity to them. The truth is, if they think having her will be more trouble than it’s worth, then when I do locate them, there is a very real possibility I could walk in to find Via with a hole in her head. I twist my neck from side to side relishing the clicks as I do.
“This is a shit storm,” Darwin complains clicking his fingers one by one. I watch him, his movements are fluid, but his body is rigid. I wonder for a moment if he’s the source.
“We have another traitor,” Darwin tells me, and I nod. “I thought that ended when Marcus was dealt with, but tonight something happened.”
“What?” I question.
“First, I wasn’t outside when you needed me. For that, I’m sorry. I saw what was happening, but I chose a different path.”
“Okay. Enlighten me,” I demand.
“There was another team in there with us.”
My back straightens at his words, not just because I’m surprised, but also because I didn’t clock them. “Black Ops?” I question.
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. Two of them I worked with years ago. I kept out of their sight once I saw them. Avoided being seen at all costs. There were only four, but it looked like they were there to help our targets.”
“Fuck.” The word claws its way out of my throat, and I want to punch something.
“I managed to follow them, and I got this...”
Darwin pulls out his phone and presses play.
“Proctor wants this to go off without a hitch. He said helping them now will set things up,” the first guy says.
“That’s Calroe. I’ve worked with him. I’m not surprised by this, he’s a dirty bastard,” Darwin sneers before pressing play again.
“It’s one thing to let some drugs slide, but this is too much, Calroe,” the second guy whispers, and Darwin nods at me.
“Stop being such a pussy, Steed. It’s a few whores here and there. No one will miss them. Anyway, we’ll be set for life, and Proctor will get rid of his wife. All’s well that ends well.” Calroe chuckles.
“That’s all I could get before they moved off, then I heard a gunshot so I came outside. You have to know, Proctor is another handler, like Doreen,” Darwin informs me.
“Fuck. All this shit. Kidnapping women… and who knows what drugs they’ve let slide, all because he wants them to kill his wife?” I scrub my palm down my face.
“Shall I go join King, Arlo, and Doreen and share what I know?”
I nod. “Yeah, I’m going online to hack whatever I can, I need information, and I don’t have time to make it careful or clean. If I leave a trail, I don’t care.” I shrug. “She’s in danger.”
“I have your back. Always,” Darwin tells me, and I feel another piece of tension break away.
“I’ve pulled everything I can from locked-down files in the database Doreen so kindly provided us,” Darwin says with a smirk and a glance to a visibly shaken Doreen.
“It looks like they’re holed up here,” he says pointing to a spot on a printout of a local map.
“Where is that?” I question.
The paper ripples as he turns it to face him. I try to memorize every little detail of what’s happening second by second. It’s the only way I can engage my brain and keep it busy, allowing me to turn off the scared, fucked-up part that wants to become a savage and destroy the fucking world.
“That’s Trent Close.”
“What’s there?” I ask, thinking back a few years ago and remembering the houses on that road being demolished.
“Not a lot. There used to be seven houses, but they’ve been torn down. The only thing still there is this building,” he says tapping the map. “It’s at the end of the street which is a cul-de-sac. I think it used to be a retirement home.”
“Clint, get me blueprints of the layout.” He turns and walks out, following his orders.
“We’re going to get them,” I tell the others. “The new intel says we’ve halved their numbers. They’re hurting, but they do have both girls as leverage. I estimate they have around fifteen to twenty men at most. But first, I have something else to deal with. Another Black Ops
