And like always, I’m here to fucking make sure she gets out alive again.Because I’m no hero–I’m the devil in the dark who’s always trying to trick you into doing something dumb–but when it comes to Brooks, I always end up playing some kind of stupid fucking white knight, riding in on my charger to save the day she’s trying to blow up with a hand grenade she got from some shady guy in a back alley.
I have never met anyone who tries harder to get themselves killed, and then calls it badass and convinces herself she’s immortal.
And fucking hell do I love the girl.I don’t think I ever realized how much before, but this has been growing in my belly since she disappeared from her father’s house, and at this point I’m finished lying to myself about it.The sheer panic of knowing she may have gone in again, and the bigger frenzy of realizing I don’t know how to get her back out again, is forcing me to admit the truth.
I love Brooks Landry.
Fuck, I’ve loved her for a very long time.I’ve just spent the last ten years pretending it wasn’t true, because loving her and losing her was too much for my ego to take.
But I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose her again.This time, when I find her, I’m tying her up and handcuffing her to my bed.I’m going to force her to marry me and then I’m going to tell her she’s never allowed to come up with any stupid plans again unless they involve sexy lingerie and her being in my bed.
I growl at the thought and throw open the door the moment the SUV stops, then gather my men and start going over what we do know.
“We only know about the one ship, so that’s the one we’re after,” I say firmly, looking each of the men in the eye.“I’m not sure whether they’ve involved other ships, but we can’t worry about that right now.The other girls are going to have to wait a second.Brooks knows what we know, which means she’ll be going after the ship we already have in our targets.We find her and we get her the hell out of here.Then we start working on how to take down their organization.”
No one responds to that, so I keep going.
“They have to get the girls here somehow.I’m guessing a truck drives right to the loading dock.But there’ll be at least ten minutes where they’re moving the girls from the truck to the ship.That’s when we’re going to make our move.”
Every man nods as if this is no big deal, and I feel a moment of pure love for them.Some of these guys have known Brooks since we were all kids, and some of them just met her.But they’re all willing to lay their lives on the line to rescue her, and that tells me everything about them.
These are good men.
And they’re going to help me make sure we get her home.
“We get in there, rescue the girls, and get everyone back out again.Get them to safety.No girl left behind.Hard stop.”
More nodding.No arguments.
I turn and look out over the water, trying to decide if there’s anything else.But there’s not.We know everything we’re going to know, and we’re the only ones showing up for these girls.I wish we had a better plan and more backup, but there’s no time for that now.
Every second that passes is a moment too long.Every second is one where those men could be hurting Brooks.
I glance at my watch and see that we have half an hour until we expect the trucks to arrive.We need to find the ship and find cover.I want the element of surprise when they arrive.If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to pick the guards off from afar, then rescue the girls without having to defend them from violent men.
I hope to God Brooks is with the group of girls we’re going after.I don’t know what, exactly, she has in mind–her note was light on details–but this is the only thing I can think of, and it makes sense that she would go back in.
After all, the best way to take an organization down is by infiltrating it.
Her father taught her that the day he tried to send her into the Boudreaux family as a mole.
And now, if I know Brooks, she’s trying to use what he taught her to send him to jail.
Devils, I love that girl.
“Let’s go,” I growl.
We take off into the night on foot, our eyes on the containers in the distance and our hands on our guns as we seek the ship that’s going to try to steal my girl away from me.
***
By the time we get to where the containers are stored, I’m starting to get suspicious.Everything in the port is quiet.The ships are at anchor and the containers are deserted.This place should be crawling with workers, and instead it’s a fucking ghost town.
What the fuck is going on here?Where are the dock and ship workers?Where’s all the noise that usually comes with the port, and where the fuck are the trucks that should be carrying the girls for the ship?
I look to the left and let my gaze run along the ships in their births, looking for the name of the ship we’ve targeted.It’s sitting right there, lights off and looking like it’s parked for the long haul.That’s not a ship that’s getting ready to head out.That’s a ship that doesn’t have a date with the open water tonight.
And suddenly I remember my earlier fear that the idea of this ship was a bait and switch.Hell, they’ve already thrown additional complications into the picture with those fucking auctions, and then canceling the auctions and deciding to ship all the girls out instead.These people evidently don’t believe in plans either, and like to change their direction at the drop of a hat.
