“You get their location?” I ask Trey who is currently typing on his laptop at an excessive speed.
“Of course. Getting the building’s specs right now. Go gear up. I’ll be done by the time you’re ready.” He doesn’t have to tell me. I’m over to the elevator and heading down to level four in seconds. Finding the tactical gear I need, I get dressed. Then I lay out everything Trey will need, plus a wide array of guns and other various weapons. By the time Trey comes down, I’m completely dressed, weapons selected and ready to go. He only takes two more minutes to get changed.
We don’t need to talk about what and how we are going to handle this. We both know exactly how to work an extraction like this one. We were trained first in the military, to do operations just like these, and we’ve worked so many together that we can work without talking now. The entire process is nothing more than second nature to us now.
Dressed from head to toe in tactical gear and armed to the teeth, we head to the parking garage and get in one of the cars. Trey pulls up the directions to the place the tracker phone traced from, while on his phone pulls up the schematics for the building they are in.
“It’s a storage building, but looking at their website, it’s just a front. You can’t actually rent a unit there, so this must be some kind of facility they use for who knows what. When we get closer, I can hack into their computers…”
“No, we don’t have time for that, we go in blind.”
“Okay,” Trey agrees. We both know we can’t waste time. We need to get to them before it’s too late. These people are not to be fucked with. Richards was simply waiting for a weakness, waiting for us to show our faces again. We should’ve been smarter, but what the fuck are we supposed to do? We need supplies, and we can’t remain hidden forever, no matter how much we think we can. My worry for Jessa and my brother mounts. Richards’ men are ruthless and don’t care who gets hurt. Innocent or not, if you get in their way, they will kill you and without a single shred of remorse.
“It’s one block down and then park behind that building,” Trey tells me pointing to a nearby building. I pull up behind the building, park the car and kill the engine. We get out of the car together and sneak around it, staying close to the wall and in the shadows as much as we can. The sun is slowly setting on the horizon, but if anyone sees us, I’m sure the cops will be here in a hot second.
“That’s it.” Trey points at the building. It looks like an ordinary business, but that’s how most of the world is. The darkness inside can only be seen when you pull back the layers, when you investigate deeper.
“I’ll take the front, you take the back. Soon as I get close enough, I’ll scramble their electronics, knocking out their surveillance. Come on,” Trey orders. It’s hard working without Wes. He’s like the glue that holds us together.
Nodding, I turn on the earpiece that will keep me connected with Trey. We move out at the same time but in different directions. I pray like hell nothing has happened to either of them. Wes is strong, he can handle an interrogation, the breaking of bones, the slicing of flesh, the demand for information. But Jessa, she’s not built like us, she’s never seen death like we have, never had to fight for her in life in a violent way and the thought of her being hurt. I can’t even stomach it. It turns the blood in my veins to ice.
Walking around the back of the building I find the first door. It’s a large metal door, but it’s older and has some rusted bolts. I know it won’t take much to get it open, so I grab the C4 and stick the explosive next to the doorknob. Stepping away, I take cover around the corner and push the detonator.
The explosion is so loud and powerful, it blasts the door right open. If they didn’t know we were coming before, they know we are here now. I bolt for the now open door, kicking it in the rest of the way. Then I storm inside with my M16 raised and ready to take out anyone who tries to stand in my way.
To my surprise, there isn’t anyone in sight. I can hear my pulse pounding in my ears, the blood rushing through my body as adrenaline courses through my veins. Where the fuck is everyone? Walking deeper into the building I take small steps. It’s dark, making it hard to see, but not impossible. I’ve done work in far worse elements.