“Still no sign of Abena?” I murmur.
“No. It’s all clear over this way,” Kenya says.
“It’s five after eleven.” I frown. “Abena should’ve been here.”
I raise my head, reasons why she hasn’t arrived yet flying through my mind. This is her meet. She should’ve been here before her clients. Something—
“Abort mission,” I hiss, and start breaking down my rifle with practiced, quick motions. “Get out of here. Now.”
Radio silence meets my order. No one questions it. The fact I know where each of my Seven is situated is the only reason I catch glimpses of their hurried movements. I pack my M24 and scurry down the side of the container. As soon as my feet hit the pavement, I take off toward our meeting point, sticking to the shadows.
I run flat out for half a mile, and only when the black Ranger comes into view do I slow down. Grabbing the driver’s door, I fling it open and throw myself behind the wheel. After reaching under the seat, I snatch the keys and jam them in the ignition. Only seconds pass before the passenger and rear doors are jerked open, and Nef, Sienna, and Maura jump inside. I don’t even wait until their doors close before I slam on the gas and haul ass out of there, trusting the rest of my Seven have made it to their ride and aren’t far behind me.
“The fuck happened back there?” Nef asks as I turn onto Drydock Ave.
“Call Tera,” I rasp out. “Make sure they got out of there safe and then put her on speaker.”
Moments later, Tera’s voice echoes in the Rover’s interior.
“Yeah,” she says. “We’re good here. Not far behind you. What happened? Why did you call it?”
“We weren’t alone out there,” I let them all know. Falling quiet, I clench my teeth, jaw throbbing. “I saw movement right under where Doc was posted up. Whoever it was hadn’t been facing the water where the meet was supposed to go down. That tells me they weren’t there for that. Everything in me is saying they were there for us. They knew we would be there and were waiting for us to make a move so they could take us out.”
“How many?” Nef asks, voice flat. Deadly.
“I only saw the one, but that just means the rest of that team was well hidden. And there had to be a team. One person couldn’t eliminate all of us.”
Silence permeates the inside of the Rover, and not a peep comes from over the phone. Someone had to betray us. Not one of my Seven. I trust them with my life, and their loyalty to me is unquestionable and unwavering. So who?
The other person in this equation is Laura, but hell, she’s the one who put us on. Still… Something about her hadn’t stopped gnawing at me. A familiarity. A sense of… unease about the whole situation. But damn, she had the recording. And her story was credible. About her niece, her family…
Family.
“Holy shit,” I snap.
“What?” Nef and Tera demand at the same time.
“That Laura chick. She was wearing a wedding band and ring.”
“Yeah. And?” Penn presses.
“Abena was wearing the same ring yesterday. Minus the band.” I chuckle but ain’t shit funny. “She played us. Shefuckingplayed us.” I slap my hand against the steering wheel, ignoring the sting in my palm. Laughing again, I shake my head, instantlyrealizing why “Laura” struck me as familiar. I was related to her. “I gotta give it to the bitch. She’s good. The getup, the story. She deserves an Academy fucking Award.”
“Are you sure?” Tera asks.
“Yeah, one hundred percent sure.”
“You know what that means, don’t you?” Sienna asks. “Abena got to Dakari. He helped her set us up.Fuck!” I glance in the rearview mirror in time to see her pound the side of her fist against the window. “How long? How long has he been in her pocket and potentially feeding her information about us?”
Quiet once again descends between us.
“I don’t know.” I tighten my grip on the steering wheel until my fingers start to tingle. “But I’ma find out.”
I approach Elysian, the warehouse where we host the underground fights. At least that’s what we use it for on those particular nights. Right now, at one o’clock in the afternoon, we got different business to be about.
The steel door slams shut behind me, the sound echoing in the vast space. In just a few hours, this place will be filled with people screaming and shouting, eager to be entertained by blood, gore, and death. I mean, who am I kidding? It is a good time. But at this moment, the ring is empty, the concrete floors are bare of chairs.
Well…
