He cracks his neck. “Still. We could at least be there in a supportive capacity. Can’t be easy, managing dozens of traumatized people between the two of them. Just having the extra bodies would help. Or, hell, what if they’re needed in two places at once? I mean, it’s not like we can’t defend ourselves if things get a little hairy.”
I think he’s oversimplifying and, perhaps, gunning for an excuse to punch a human trafficker in the mouth, but I don’t hate the idea.
Bringing up my knee, I connect with Levy’s hip, causing him to spin to the side and back again.
“Look, they’re not going to agree to that without seeing what we’re capable of.”
He gets me with a few body blows, but I pull away before he can do too much damage. Breathing hard, he responds, “They’ve seen our self-defense classes. They’ve seen us spar. Surely they know we can handle ourselves.”
“I suspect handling oneself in a controlled environment and handling oneself in dangerous situations are two separate things.”
Levy stops and runs his knuckles over his chin. “What if we joined them on a search and rescue? Aren’t they saddling up to search for that girl who went missing over by Vidor?”
“They can’t saddle up,” I say, pushing his shoulder to get him back to sparring. “It’s all marshland. They’re bringing Moose to track with the other bloodhounds, but everything is on foot or by boat.”
“So they’ll need even more bodies to cover the area,” Levy says, going in for another leg sweep.
I trip but maintain my balance, gesturing for him to come at me. We go on like this for another twenty minutes, sparring and debating our involvement with their operation. By the end, we’re both dripping with sweat, and he’s convinced me to at least chat with Charlie when he gets back from his honeymoon.
* * *
“Hey, guys, come on in,”Charlie says, affable as always. He’s wearing his usual linen shirt, Wrangler blue jeans, and scuffed leather boots with leather bracelets and a long pendant.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” I say, offering him my hand. He shakes it and moves on to Levy, who pulls him in for a hug.
“Mazel tov.” Levy slaps his back, and Charlie grins at the aggressive affection.
“Thanks, you two. Means a lot. I…uh. My mom is pretty mad that we went off without telling her and Dad.”
Scratching my chin, I ask, “Have either of you talked to Ant or Nacho yet?”
He grimaces. “Not…yet.”
Levy laughs. “Good luck with that. You better hope they don’t join forces with your mom.”
He lets out a long breath. “Yeah…we may have fucked up with how we handled that.” Gesturing it aside, he turns back to us. “Looks like you’ve got something on your minds. What’s going on?”
I start us off. “We think we could be valuable to you on the ground in these ops where you encounter highly traumatized people. Both Levy and I have had to navigate and de-escalate dangerous situations with our clients, and we’re capable with self-defense. At a minimum, we’d be an extra set of hands. And with the help of the translation app, we could provide some support when needed.”
“You two want to go with me and Erik to these warehouses? Do you even know what you’re asking?”
“Not entirely. But you and Erik are mostly doing this all on your own, and you don’t have to.”
“This is not an area where I’m willing to do a lot of experimentation, guys. I hope you understand. I’m sure your experiences in prison and in the hospital system are invaluable, Bram, but I can’t afford to bring you in on a mission only to discover that you freak out when shit goes wrong.”
“We assumed you would feel this way,” Levy says, running his hand over his beard the way he does to calm his nerves. “Totally reasonable since there are ways in which we are untested. Sparring in a self-defense class doesn’t always translate to a calm head in a crisis situation. We’d, of course, pursue any training you feel would give us an advantage. But there’s another obvious solution.”
“And that is?”
“You’re gearing up for that East Texas rescue. That’s not a dangerous situation. We could go with you.”
Charlie drums his fingers on his desk. “Wecoulduse some additional bodies on the search. Frankly, I suspect the mother and father are so distraught that they may impede the search unwittingly.”
“We’d be happy to run interference with the family and whatever else you need,” I offer.
More tapping. “Okay, fine. Erik and I could definitely use your help on this. That doesn’t mean we’ll be magically convinced you’re ready. These trafficking ops are mostly rescue missions, but there are days when they feel like combat missions.”
“Did you have combat experience prior to this?” Levy asks.
