“That location was picked for a reason.”
“And this will help us figure out why?” If it worked, he wasn’t going to question it.
“Ah ha,” She said in triumph turning her head to look at him. “Do you see it?” She prodded.
“I do.” It was a screen. “What am I supposed to see?”
Shay scowled and pointed at one line of the grid. “This is a list of all the properties owned in the Vegas area. The property your team is at is owned by Sykes.”
Drew took another look at the screen. “I don’t see his name.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “He’s a smart business owner. He’s not going to actually put his name on the deed. If Sykes is even his real name.” The last part she muttered under her breath.
“Then how do you know it’s him.”
“The name listed is Flamkeyes Industry.”
“Okay,” He still wasn’t connecting the dots.
Shay sighed in frustration and pointed at the screen. “Keyes is an anagram for Sykes. Flam is part of the club he owns. Flamingo club. It’s him.”
Drew wasn’t as convinced, it could just be a coincidence.
“Drew, you have to call your men off. It’s a trap.” Shay pleaded with his earnestly.
Drew looked back at the screen. Djokovic stood right there, proudly. Almost daring someone to catch him. Drewwatched as people came out of the back of the van. They were covered in heavy black cloaks concealing their gender.
Nothing on the body cameras was proving useful. The light poles were on the outer edges of the overhang so they weren’t helpful to see any better. The one thing he could see was that no one appeared to be bound in any way or acting frightened. No one looked around. They weren’t acting like hostages. They acted like they were waiting for something.
Everything was wrong about the situation. Shit, Shay had seen it. Once again, he’d ignored that feeling in his stomach.
“Get out of there now.” If it was a trap his men were sitting ducks. There was no cover to the car.
Suddenly, lights came on around the property lighting his men up like beacons who were close to the structure. They were too open and exposed, then all hell broke loose. The cloaked figures tore off their cloaks to reveal men who were armed. Bullets sprayed across the land aimed directly at his teammates who stood out like sore thumbs. His men returned fire but they were outnumbered and outgunned. “Take out the lights. Jack, Barry get to the secondary location. Greg get to the car and meet them there.” He snapped out orders lightning fast. He’d made sure to plan for multiple exit locations if a situation like this arose.
Drew watched as his men aimed for the closest light poles around them blanketing them back into darkness then made their way to the rendezvous point. Jack stayed on the outskirts of the lights as he made his way to Barry. They stood back to back and picked off targets as they waited for Greg to arrive.
Drew could see him on the screen scramble up the hill to the car. Greg stumbled and grunted in pain but hobbled to the car. He raced to Jack and Barry and they left. “Status report.” Drew wrung his hands as he waited to hear if everyone madeit out okay. He was most concerned about Greg. When Greg stumbled Drew wondered if he’d been injured.
“A couple of scratches for me and Barry.” Jack stated. “Greg got winged but nothing major.” Drew hung his head in relief. Thank god for that.
“It was a damn trap.” Barry spat. The body cameras were still on, so Drew could see him set his gun down forcefully next to him. “Should’ve seen it coming.”
“No, I should have.” It was no ones fault but Drew’s. He was leader. The responsibility fell on his shoulder.
“Bullshit, man. Djokovic was there. The van showed up. How would you have known it was a set up.”
It was nice of Barry trying to make him feel better, but it was pointless. Drew still felt responsible. His team. His op. Everything was on him. “Meet back at my house.”
“Copy that.”
Drew pushed back from his chair, fists clenched at his sides. He’d been so stupid. He should have seen the trap coming a mile away. Instead he’d allowed his men to be endangered. Greg had been hit. Not bad from the sounds of it but it could have been so much worst.
He should have listened to his gut. He should have listened to Shay. He should have trusted her.
Shay watched him quietly from her seat. He wasn’t used to others saving him. He was a leader. He was used to making hard and fast decisions. He may not always be right but he prided himself on taking everything into consideration. He should have listened to Shay. She’d tried to help and he ignored her.
“I’m sorry.” He glanced over at her. He didn’t know what he expected to see. An ‘I told you so’ look. ‘Serves you right.’
