“I’ve got eyes on two fuckin’ snakes to the right of the West entrance. Four more are stationary on the sofas in the common area.”
“Copy. Masks on, sending in gas.” Link said. A few minutes passed, and then he added, “On my mark. Three. Two. One. Go, go, go!”
I put my gas mask on and rounded the building to the West entrance, listening as the teams moved in, subduing and detaining Serpents as they went. The two ‘fuckin’ snakes’ had literally been fucking and were now passed out, compliments of the canister of sleeping gas Link had chucked into the room. Spade and Frog pulled the naked man and woman apart and dragged them to the banister to handcuff them. Wasp handcuffed two men to each other through the seat of a chair while Havoc and Specks handcuffed two men together in a rather obscene embrace.
The teams were quick, efficient, and damn near silent as they moved over the compound like locusts of justice. But instead of freshly cleaned bones, we left handcuffed criminals in our wake. Despite what we’d told Sasha, this wasn’t an extraction mission. We were blowing the whole operation wide open and making sure these motherfuckers never had the chance to do this shit again. And we were humiliating them in the process. My brothers didn’t take kindly to men who trafficked little girls.
“Basement has one sleeping prospect and two cages of girls,” Morse reported in my ear. “Eight girls in one cage, seven in the other.”
“I’ll get the prospect,” Zombie said.
We didn’t open the cages since we had other plans for that.
The girls were safe, which meant I had one other pressing matter to deal with. I hurried upstairs, with Team Alpha, peeling off to find Breaker’s room, the third door to the right on the second floor. I tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. Cracking it open, I rolled a cannister of sleeping gas in, closed the door, and waited.
After giving the gas enough time to take effect, I opened the door and crept inside. Taser in hand, I cautiously approached the bed only to find it empty. Turning on my flashlight, I swept the room. Nobody was there. Breaker was gone. I did find one of the water bottles full of the blue liquid Sasha had described, so I grabbed it and headed out.
Desperate to find the motherfucker, I hurried back out into the hall. The teams were silently moving from room to room, gassing and handcuffing occupants like there was a prize for it. I went around them and headed downstairs, still searching for Breaker, but unless he was sleeping in someone else’s room, he wasn’t at the compound.
Stepping outside, I called Morse.
“I’m a little busy here, Tap,” he said.
“Breaker’s not here,” I replied.
“Shit. Give me a minute. I’ll find him.”
My favorite thing about Morse was that he didn’t waste words and he usually knew what was needed before anyone even asked him.
A minute or two passed, and then Morse laughed in my ear. “Fuckin’ idiot has his social media location on. I don’t even need his cell number. Alright, I’m sending you the address.”
“Thanks, brother.”
I disconnected just as Morse’s text came over.
Breaker was exactly where I feared he’d be.
Sasha
IWAS A nervous wreck. Tap had only been gone for forty-two minutes, and I was already pacing his living room, staring at my phone, and ready to pull out my hair. I was wound so tight that when the doorbell rang, I practically jumped out of my skin. Sucking down a deep breath and forcing myself to chill the fuck out, I checked the peep hole to find Julia, Emily, Naomi, and Jayson on Tap’s front porch.
“Hey! We figured you could use some company,” Julia said as they entered with a couple of stoic prospects in tow.
“Hell yeah, I can.” I was so happy to see the crew, I could cry. Hugging each in turn, I said, “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but thank you so much for coming. I’m surprised Link let you out of the fire station.”
“That’s because you’ve never seen our girl Emily here in action,” Jayson replied. “There’s a reason prosecution attorneys fear her.”
Emily removed her coat. “I love Link, but I swear, he thinks I’m helpless. It’s gotten even worse now that I’m pregnant. He pounds his chest and roars, but it’s ridiculous. There is no reason we can’t be here. It’s a safe location, we have two prospects with us, you’re a cop, and the three of us are packing heat.”
Wondering which three of the four she was talking about, I looked them over.
“Not me,” Jayson said, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m far too cute for violence.”
I took their coats and invited everyone to find a seat in the living room. “So…” I said as I joined them. “I’m new to this whole thing. What do you all usually do when the men are out risking their necks and despite your police training, you’re forced to stay behind because the career you’ve put all your hopes and dreams in is corrupt as fuck and your boss has framed you and turned you into a wanted criminal?”
“Oh-kay,” Jayson said, crossing his legs. “Someone needs a drink.”
“It’s barely after 3 a.m. and I doubt Tap keeps alcohol here since he doesn’t drink,” Naomi said. Turning to me, she added. “And that’s never happened to the rest of us. I’m currently benched because, despite being a capable helicopter pilot who’s rescued hundreds of injured soldiers from combat situations, I have a womb that is currently occupied. And apparently pregnancy makes me incapable of doing anything other than eating, sleeping, breathing, and peeing every ten minutes.”
