Outside the office they were using as an operations center, his teammates had caught up to him before he’d made it halfway to the line of rental vehicles on the far side of the parking lot. They’d told him there was no way in hell they were letting him walk into a dangerous situation on his own. They weren’t thrilled to be working with werewolves, but they’d put up with it for him.
It wasn’t the ringing endorsement he’d hoped for and he doubted they’d be nearly as willing if they knew he was a werewolf, but it was enough for now. He only prayed they got more comfortable with fangs and claws soon because he couldn’t imagine making it through this situation without his secret slipping out.
Sawyer slowed a block from the building the guy with the long hair had disappeared into earlier that day, making a production of checking his cell for a message.
“I’m in position,” he murmured into his throat mic as he glanced around, looking for anything that might make him think the traffickers were aware of his presence. “We’re all clear here.”
“Copy that.” Jake’s voice came back slow and steady. “Stand by until everyone else is ready to move.”
While he waited, Sawyer played with his phone like he was sending a text. But really, he was mentally shuffling through the floor plans of the building the STAT support team had come up with. It turned out the shop Long Hair had gone into was an entry point to a complex rabbit warren of interconnected rooms, tunnels, and storage spaces. While there’d only been one sublevel shown on the city drawings, the analysts were quick to point out there could be more that no one had ever bothered adding to the drawings.
The satellite footage they’d gotten hadn’t made him feel any better. There weren’t any images of the bad guys dragging their captives off any of the numerous ships that had docked recently or leading them through back alleys. In fact, there’d been nothing interesting to see around this particular part of the city.
Either Adriana had been completely wrong about Casablanca being one of the stops along the human trafficking railroad, or the traffickers hadn’t brought the captives from Paris here. Of course, it was also a possibility that Adriana had been right and that they were holding the captives here but were so good at hiding them, they’d never left a trace.
Sawyer wasn’t sure which of those possibilities worried him more.
When Jake finally gave him the go-ahead, Sawyer started moving again. As he approached the same door Long Hair had entered, he noticed there were a handful of merchants in the nearby shops, some putting away the last of their wares, others merely chatting. Sawyer ignored them as he slipped behind the now-empty carpet racks and made his way toward the doorway. It said a lot that none of the merchants even glanced at him. In fact, they seemed to go out of their way to look in the other direction. That meant they were used to seeing foreigners coming and going from the place and that they were leery enough of those same foreigners to look the other way.
The first room he entered was unoccupied, and a quick scan of the place didn’t reveal any cameras or other security equipment that might alert anyone to his presence.
“I’m in,” he said softly.
The only lights in the room came from those inside the glass display cases along the walls as well as a single naked bulb near the main counter. The cases held what looked like cheap costume jewelry, while the racks that filled the remainder of the shop were filled with boring dresses and simple robes. Nothing in the place was as high quality as the stuff sold in the surrounding shops, which meant it was almost certainly a front. He was surprised there wasn’t someone guarding the place. Even if the locals were smart enough to avoid the shop, surely the traffickers would have put someone there to keep people out.
He heard Erin’s footsteps before she walked through the door. She was quickly followed by Harley, then Caleb. Jake’s plan had the four of them acting as shock troops coming in through the main entry, where they were most likely to be noticed. They would be the distraction while Jake and everyone else slipped in through one of the back tunnels and rescued the captives.
Strangely, Erin seemed to be rather pleased with the assignment. From her perspective, being sent in the front door with two of STAT’s werewolves put her on par with them—at least in the ability to commit mayhem. Jake had just met Erin and had already figured out how to work her. Of course, while Erin might be thrilled to be selected to go in first, she didn’t appear as warm on the idea of being partnered up with Caleb while Sawyer covered Harley. Sawyer would have laughed if the situation they were walking into wasn’t so dangerous.
Caleb slipped a large frame gun from the holster on his hip and jacked a round into the chamber. “Well, if they don’t know we’re here by now, they will soon.”
Sawyer dropped his duster to the floor and pulled out his own handgun, a Browning Hi-Power, the weapon he’d been carrying since his days in the regiment. It felt comforting and natural in his hand, familiar—like a friend. After chambering a round in the 9mm handgun, he slipped it back into the holster low on his right thigh, turning his attention to the shortened MP5 submachine gun strapped across his lower back. By the time he’d slid in a magazine and chambered the first round, everyone else was ready and looking in his direction.
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Let’s go be a distraction.”
It wasn’t difficult
