Call me ASAP!Pixel had texted both he and Drew.Important!!!
Was something wrong with Finn? That was, of course, Joe’s greatest fear, but he forced himself not to hit the speed dial for Chris. He headed to their room instead, not surprised that Drew had beaten him back.
“I hope this isn’t bad news,” he said, holding up his phone. “Nothing better have happened to Finn!”
“I think we’d be hearing from Herc if that was the case,” Drew said, placing a steadying hand on Joe’s shoulder. “My guess is Pixel found something.”
The nature of Joe’s relationship with Drew had been slowly changing over the course of the last week, since they’d bonded a bit over their shared interest in gay romances. Joe had found himself actually starting to relax in Drew’s presence, and oddly enough, the warm weight of Drew’s hand gave Joe a bit of comfort. “I hope you’re right.” He dialed Pixel’s number, putting the call on speaker so Drew could hear.
The phone barely had time to ring before Chris answered, his words tumbling out in high-pitched excitement. “IthinkI found your dude!”
Joe glanced at Drew. “Really? Which one, Chris?”
“The cab driver,” Chris said. “I managed to hack into the local camera system, and I’ve been tracking him for the last couple of days. He dropped different people off in the same area—not conclusive, right?. But get this—dude picked up a known trafficker and took him to the same place. They got there maybe five minutes ago, and dude parked the cab and got out with the trafficker.”
Joe’s heart began to hammer. “That has to be him! Drew, we have to get out there right now. This could be our chance!”
“Well, let’s get a move on,” Drew said, his eyes alight with anticipation. “Get the stealth radios, and we’ll go.”
“On it.” Joe hurried to his room, retrieving his radio, taking a few moments to double check his weapons and pick up extra magazines. The weather was too hot to get away with wearing a jacket to conceal the clips, but he, like Drew, was wearing pants with specially designed hidden pockets. Just as their ballistic armor was made to be conformal and virtually undetectable under their T-shirts, so the pants let them carry a good deal of equipment without appearing scary enough to spook civilians.
Drew called for their driver, since the location Pixel had given them was across town. They were dropped off a couple of blocks from the actual location, and Joe gave the driver instructions to take a break and wait for their call. Sending him away was a calculated risk, since it removed one avenue of a hasty departure, but at the same time, Joe was sure that if they had to get away quickly, it wasn’t going to involve taking a chauffeured sedan.
Pixel helpfully let them know the locations of the cameras he’d managed to hack, so they avoided them as much as possible as they moved closer to their target. Joe doubted that Abassi’s people were using them to monitor their surroundings, but they couldn’t take the chance.
The area was definitely industrial, but there was an odd lack of vehicular traffic, almost as though it was a weekend instead of a normal workday. That in and of itself was suspicious, but considering how much money the trafficking ring and their handlers controlled, it was likely they’d rented out several of the surrounding buildings as a buffer against having their activities detected. As Joe and Drew moved closer, they began to hug the sides of buildings, taking care to watch for guards.
They finally drew into sight of their destination, and Joe grimaced, noticing the fence around the area. “I only see the cab, no other vehicles. That doesn’t mean it’s just Abassi and his passenger inside. Do we storm the building, or wait for them to come out?”
“If we wait, we won’t catch them in the act,” Drew said. “We don’t want another daycare situation. Let’s get inside and look around before we move on Abassi.”
“Right.” Drew had a good point, and there was also the possibility that if they were in the building, if they turned out to have the wrong man, they could simply wait until he left before departing themselves. But Joe’s gut was telling him this was their guy, and that there was a chance he could put an end to the threat to Finn and himself once and for all.
The fence was at least ten feet high, which ruled out being able to climb over it without being noticed. A quick look around the area, however, revealed that there was one building close enough to it that they could jump over and down from its roof. After making sure that they were unobserved, Joe and Drew gained the roof and then quickly jumped down, moving to the side of the building they wanted and hugging the wall.
The building was made of cinderblock, the windows were of glass brick that was both thick and unbreakable. It was two-stories, with two access doors, as well as a tall metal roll-up door that would allow a truck inside. This didn’t seem like a place where the traffickers could hold people for long periods, but it did have all the signs of being a transshipment point, where human cargo was transferred between vehicles.
The doors were, of course, locked, but from what Joe could see they weren’t alarmed. He removed a lock-pick set from one of his pockets and made quick work of the lock.
“All set?” he asked softly, pulling his gun.
Drew gave a curt nod, holding his gun at the ready. Joe opened the door, and they stepped into the building.
Inside it was dark. Only faint, red emergency lights providing illumination, but there were several vehicles visible in the dimness. Joe closed the door quietly. He gestured for Drew to fan out so they could clear the area before determining their next move. Joe crept up one side of a line of trucks that filled the loading area, checking the space between each. He could see Drew doing the same thing from the other side. They met up again at the end of the row.
“Nothing.” Joe pointed upward. There was a stairwell close by their position, obviously leading to whatever was on the second floor.
“You’re the stealthy one,” Drew whispered, giving Joe a teasing smile. “Lead on.”
Joe rolled his eyes, but he made his way to the staircase. He kept his gun at the ready as he mounted the steps. The second floor didn’t cover the whole of the building. Instead, it extended over half, almost like an oversized loft, with windows overlooking the floor below. Fortunately for them, the windows had either blinds or curtains obscuring them, though now that his eyes were fully adjusted to the low light, Joe could see illumination around the edges, indicating there were lights on. He kept his attention on the door at the landing, trusting Drew to keep watch for anyone who might enter behind them.
When he finally gained the landing, he waited for Drew to join him, using the time to press his ear to the door. He could hear the voices of two men beyond the door, both raised as though arguing, but he couldn’t make out the words. It was anyone’s guess about how many other people might be inside, but Joe knew they were going to find out, and soon.
By the time Drew was in place, the voices had receded, as though the men had moved deeper into the room. That was fine with Joe, since it meant their attention might not be on the door, and perhaps their entry might go unobserved. Drawing in a deep breath, Joe gripped the doorknob, turning it slowly to make sure it wasn’t locked.
Amazingly, it wasn’t. Joe glanced at Drew, giving him a nod and a silent three count. On the final number, he pushed the door open. They slipped into the room, trying to be silent.
Unfortunately, there was a guard by the door, and he turned with a shout of surprise, his hand going to his gun. Time seemed to slow down at that point. Drew stepped in to deal with the guard, clubbing him on the head with his gun. Even as the guard started to fall, Joe was moving away, deeper into the room, looking for Abassi.
