We got on our bikes, looked at each other, and sped back down the very highway we’d just come from. The sun was now past its apex and would be set by probably the time that we got to his base, or shortly thereafter, but that just meant we were in for the hottest part of the day coming up.
Luckily, I liked a fucking sweat. Better a physical one than sweating out a dangerous-ass mission like this.
For the next hour or so, we just sped down the highway, jetting down the open road without a care for cops or anything else. We had enough gas to get us from here to there and back and not an ounce more. If we happened to run out of fuel before we got home, so be it. It wouldn’t be the first time that we’d been stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Really, I just needed enough fuel to kill fucking Snake. I’d walk a hundred miles back to Tlaxcala if it ensured the demise of that bastard. And besides, a hundred-mile walk was nothing. Try going two hundred miles and seeing how shit went. It was certainly something I’d done before, and I felt like after, I could have gone another two hundred fucking miles if I had to.
As the sun sat on the horizon, not yet dipping below but as if placed there, Scott motioned for us to slow down so we could get off at a nearby dirt road. We all reached back behind us to grab our guns, ready to fire and defend ourselves if needed.
We went off-road, down a dirt trail, over a hill, and saw a door. It was well-hidden amongst the rocky terrain, but working in this line of duty taught you to spot even seemingly inconsequential things being off, like a patch of land missing vegetation. Fortunately, this was much easier.
“Nothing around,” I muttered to myself.
Which means they’re likely to all be inside. I should have brought some fucking grenades.
We made a sort of triangle when we got within ten feet of the door, each of us covering part of a full circle. But there was no one in sight. When we turned our bikes off and listened, there wasn’t a single sound.
“This ain’t right,” I grumbled. “Snake should have men mowing us down right now.”
“Or he’s not here,” Liam said.
“Let’s go,” Scott said. “You know what to do.”
I stood just to the side of the entrance of the door, ready to swing and take out whatever got in my way. Liam took some steps back, covering my six. Scott stood by the door handle, ready to swing it open.
I nodded to Scott. Scott looked back and nodded to Liam. I took a breath. Ends here. Snake dies.
What the—
“Go!”
I charged in, roaring as I held my gun aloft, ready to mow down…
Emptiness.
Like, literal emptiness.
No guards. No traps. Not even beds or documents or anything. Literally the only thing in there were walls, a floor, and a ceiling.
“Fuck!”
“Empty?” Scott said, but he already knew the answer.
“God fucking damnit!”
This was especially infuriating. I’d come out here, abandoning Emily and a potential pregnancy behind, so I could try and kill Snake, and once again, the fucking bastard had eluded our grip. How the fuck he did this was beyond me.
“This is bullshit!” I yelled, kicking a wall.
“Hey! Goddamnit, Burke, get yourself together!”
Scott’s words only provoked me further.
“Burke.”
Liam spoke much more calmly. I still wanted to kick the shit out of something, but at least Liam had made me stop what I was about to do.
“Let it go, man,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about it right now. We’ll find out where the fuck Snake is, and we’ll kill the bastard. But you don’t need to break your foot kicking a bunker wall.”
“Fucking hell,” I grumbled, but I suppose he was right.
“Let’s sweep the place and make sure we didn’t miss anything,” Scott said, but even he said it as a formality, less as a hope and more as something we in DOM just had to do.
And sure enough, even after thoroughly examining the bunker, knowing where to check for false floors or false walls, even after looking in every room, every nook, and trying to overturn every tile or wall panel, we had nothing. Either our intel had been faulty, or they’d done a hell of a job evacuating in the time that we’d spent getting the truck of captured sex slaves back to safety.
“No denying it, they’re gone,” Scott said.
He looked like he had more to say for just a moment, as if it rested on his tongue, but he wanted to make sure he said everything as well as he could. Liam and I silently waited for him to speak.
“Here’s the deal.”
In those three words, I’d never heard Scott sound as heavy as he did right there. It was like whatever was coming next was going to be the heaviest thing he’d ever said.
“We know that Snake will emerge again; he can’t help himself,” Scott said. “We also know he’s likely to do something with in the same line of work. Kidnapping for ransom, selling women into the sex trade; it’s what he does. Kaylie always said he never did anything to her, and while I believe her, I also have reason to believe he’s gotten more aggressive and dangerous in the years since.”
He sighed.
“Which is why it pains me to say this. But the next time that Snake emerges as a target with a hostage, we have to ignore the hostage. We go for Snake.”
I imagined it being Emily. I imagined
