CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
BELLA
SIX MONTHS LATER…
“Detective, your two-block perimeter has been set. Headquarters has a command center set up just outside of that perimeter. All teams are in place and ready to go. They’ll hit when you make the call. 10-4?”
Bella brought her radio to her mouth and pressed the call button. “10-4, squad. Is ICE, EMS, Fire, and Social Services in place?”
“10-4. All agencies are on scene.”
“Thanks, squad.”
Bella stuffed the radio into her back pocket and walked over to her car. She reached in and grabbed her ringing phone from inside the vehicle. She smiled when she realized it was Lucas calling. She swiped the screen and held the phone to her ear.
“Hey, babe. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to remind you to be careful and to tell you how proud I am.”
Lucas’ voice warmed her all over. Bella turned around and leaned against her car. “Awe, shit! You proud of me, bae?” Bella beamed.
“Of course, Belladonna. You’re making the world a better place.”
Bella squinted at the dark SUV that pulled across the street. She pushed off of her car when the occupants stepped out of the vehicle.
“Thanks, honey. But I gotta go.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“I will.”
“I love you, Bella.”
Bella ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled. She loved when Lucas told her that he loved her because she knew that he meant it.
“I love you,” she whispered.
She disconnected the call and stuffed her phone in her bra. Bella crossed the street and walked over to the SUV. She smiled as she approached Victoria and her cousin, Natasha.
“Hey, y’all. Glad you could make it.”
“Hey, Bella. Thanks for the invite.”
“You deserve to be here. Both of you do.”
Natasha smiled and grabbed Bella’s hand. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I took an overnighter from Paris for this.”
Bella squeezed Natasha’s hand in return and smile. “Alright then. Let’s go and burn this motherfuckah to the ground,” Bella asserted.
“Let’s do it!” Victoria hailed.
Bella pulled the radio from her back pocket. She pressed the call button. “Hit it!”
Bella turned around and stood next to Victoria and Natasha. Together, they watched SWAT, one of the world’s best high-risk entry teams, breach the abandoned book factory located on the west side of Chicago.
After months of listening to audio tapes, produced by a paranoid sociopath, and meticulously tracking down every single lead, Bella was finally ready to annihilate the massive human trafficking operation.
Nothing could compare to the sound of the battering ram hitting the door and shattering a realm of fear, pain, human suffering, and oppression. She listened to the chatter on the radio until SWAT declared that the building had been cleared.
