Dark hair, pale skin, eyes wide with a stubbornness that feels familiar even through a still image.
A name appears under her file.
SALEM BLOOM.
I can feel the emotional temperature drop the moment the wordtraffickingbecomes real instead of theoretical.
Rae’s voice goes quieter.
“Salem was taken three weeks ago. We believe she’s being moved through a private auction pipeline. High bidder purchase is scheduled within forty-eight hours.”
“Forty-eight?” River repeats, disbelief sharpened into anger.
Rae nods. “Location is not confirmed, but we have a lead on a staging property outside Halo City. The same handler chain ties back to Serafina’s financial architecture.”
Gage’s fingers tap once against the table.
A tell.
He’s pissed.
I don’t blame him.
Knight’s hand tightens on my knee, just slightly.
“Who’s close to extraction?” Dean asks.
Ozzy’s head lifts. “I am.” He says it like a fact.
I glance at him.
Ozzy Oliver is chaos in a designer jacket—sharp smile, quicker brain, and a moral compass that only points true when someone weaker is in danger. He’s the guy who jokes his way through stress. The guy who will flirt with a loaded gun if it looks lonely.
But right now? There’s no humor on him. Just intent.
Arrow leans forward. “We’ll stage a quiet pull. No fireworks. Not yet.”
“I’m not sure. I think I’d feel better using trained men,” Dean says.
“I don’t,” Ozzy says. “I think I can blend better. Maybe go in as an interested buyer. Your BRAVO team screams military. I don’t.”
Dean weighs his options. “This little misfit crew has proved helpful,” he says more to Arrow than anyone else.
Rae flips to a schematic.
“Primary objective: Salem alive and untracked. Secondary objective: identify transport chain. Tertiary: smoke out Serafina’s local coordinator.”
Knight speaks next, calm and precise. “Ozzy goes in as a distraction with a shadow tail. We cut cameras three minutes before breach. We isolate the exit route.”
Riggs nods. “I can blind local traffic cams. Give us a clear corridor.”
Poe adds quietly, “And I can pull false plate data to cover the vehicle swap.”
River turns to me. “Lark, you and Knight run perimeter?”
Knight answers before I do. “We’ll be close enough to intervene, far enough not to spook anyone.”
Sawyer coughs like he’s choking on the wordintervene. Then he points at Ozzy. “You bring her to a safehouse immediately. No detours. No hero nonsense.”
