The whole affair took only seconds, and then the house fell eerily quiet.
Over comms, Rodriguez said, "Two hostiles eliminated in the rear."
Adrenaline had Cade's heart pumping hard as he took his own weapon back from the thug and demanded, "How many guys here besides you?"
The guy eyed the gun and spat out, "Two."
Believing that was probably true, but definitely not trusting it one hundred percent until he verified himself, Cade told him, "Hand over the keys and your phone."
The man reluctantly complied, and Cade pocketed the items and pushed him toward the kitchen. When they entered the room, Cade tossed a quick look at the motionless bodies, feeling nothing but satisfaction over the elimination of two more pieces of shit. He motioned for his guy to sit in a chair and barked out orders.
"Watch him while we sweep the house," he told Taylor as he handed him the thug's gun. Brandishing his own Glock again, he instructed Tag, "Check down here, just in case you missed a heat signature. He says it was just the three of them, but I want to make sure. Rodriguez, you're with me. We'll check upstairs, confirm it's only the girls up there."
Ignoring Tag's sneer at the implication he might have missed something, Cade climbed the stairs with Rodriguez close behind. He unlocked Natalie's door before tossing the keys to the other agent and opened it slowly with his gun out but pointed down. Natalie jumped to her feet again.
"Anyone here except you two?" he asked, nodding toward the dark-haired girl.
Natalie shook her head, but he still checked under the bed and the closet, and upon finding them empty, told her, "I'm a friend of Tristan's. We'll get you out of here, but we need to make sure it's safe first. Stay here until I come back, understand?"
Her eyes widened, but she agreed, and Cade exited into the hallway, where Rodriguez told him, "First room's clear. One girl."
"Mine too. Two girls."
After Rodriguez unlocked the next door, Cade took the keys from him and accessed the final bedroom. A blonde girl lay curledup on the bed, bruised face, vacant eyes, not reacting to his presence. Her catatonic state made his stomach twist.
"Are you alone?" he asked as he opened the closet, finding it empty, and then under the bed. She didn't answer him, but he had already concluded she was.
"We're going to get you out of here, but wait until someone comes back and says it's safe, okay?"
Her eyes slowly slid to him, but her face held a blank expression, and she didn't move. Swallowing a curse, he exited the room and found Rodriguez.
"All clear. One girl. You?"
"Clear, two girls."
Tag's voice came through his earpiece, "Downstairs is clear."
"Understood," Cade responded, and after they verified the bathroom was indeed empty, he added, "Upstairs is clear as well. Verified six girls. I'm coming down."
Leaving Rodriguez to stay upstairs with the girls, Cade met the other two agents back in the kitchen. Tag leaned against a counter with his arms crossed over his chest, and Taylor stood with his weapon trained on the hostile, who looked bored even though he had to know he would be dead within minutes. Cade didn't have high hopes for getting intel on the Handler, but they could get lucky.
"What do you know about the Handler?" Cade asked.
"I know he pays me," the man snarked.
"Where is he?"
"No fucking idea."
Hoping to intimidate enough to shake loose something they could use, Cade stepped closer and growled, "Where is he?"
"I don't fucking know. I'm not his keeper." This asshole was annoying as shit, and Cade was losing his patience. He wanted to get this over with and get back to Tristan.
"What's his real name?"
"Fuck if I know."
This was turning out to be a waste of time.
