Page 29 of Caught in the Crossfire

Ciel’s tablet connected to a strap, which he let hang at his side while he tightened his gloves on his hands. He dug a thumb into his injured palm, but attached the repel gear to his chest and legs like the rest of us without saying a word.

“She’s waiting for us,” Ciel said as he picked up his hook gun, then handed me mine. “Whatever happens, we get in, we get her out.”

“They’ll know we’re coming,” Obi added, aiming his harpoon. “We must be ruthless and efficient.”

“Let’s fucking go.” I fired the hook at the lip of the bow, and it hooked over the edge. The rest of the guys followed suit, and it only took a few minutes for us to shimmy up the ropes. The ends of the rope were attached to our boat, so our RHIB was secure to the side of the ship. My feet landed on the bow with a thunk, and I turned to clasp Ciel’s good hand to pull him up the rest of the way. Behind me, Obi had his scope to his eye, making sure we were alone on the deck.

“Here,” Ciel said, leading us to a door. He’d started studying the plans of the ship as soon as he’d learned its name. TheRed Talon. The ship would never reach its destination.

We breached the entrance to the ship as quiet as ghosts. The hallways were eerily lit by fluorescent lights, but the ship was quiet. Cameras with flashing red lights blinked in corners as we ventured farther inside.

“Ciel, any luck connecting to the cameras?” Obi murmured. Iled the pack, with Obi behind me, then Ciel protected in the middle as he tapped the tablet, and Cas behind us all.

“It’s a closed circuit,” he responded, dropping the tablet and picking back up the weapon strapped to his other shoulder. “No Wi-Fi. I’d need to plug into the system somewhere.”

We rounded a corner and came face to face with a group of two men. I put a bullet in each of their foreheads. Even with the silencer on the end of my assault rifle, the sound echoed through the ship.

“Well, now they know we’re here.” I stepped over the two bodies, pushing forward. My heart was a drum against my ribs, but if there were men this way, she had to be near. “Shouldn’t we be seeing more crew?”

“They’re probably running on a skeleton crew since they’re trafficking,” Ciel answered. “Head closer to the crew areas. We might find more clues. She could be anywhere.”

My jaw tightened. She could beanywhere. My blood ran through my veins like lava at the thought of her being hurt.

We carried on, searching each room we came across as we explored farther into the ship. Cas took out another man, and Obi slit one’s throat as we came up behind him, but besides that, we’d seen no one else.

“Why is it so fucking quiet?” I growled. “Where is everyone?”

Despite how much we’d run around the ship, it was still fucking frigid.

“Stay focused, Ryu,” Obi said, voice level. He nodded towards a door. “That’s the last room in this part of the ship. We’ll move down a level after this. Perhaps she’s being held farther below.”

My hand gripped the metal handle, and I pulled the door open with a grunt. It screeched so loudly I flinched.

As soon as it opened, I sucked in a breath.

“Is that a fucking cell?” I stalked forward, heart in my fucking throat as I spotted a body laying on the floor. It was a man, muchtoo big for Leona, but there was blood, both old and new, covering the floor.

“Look,” Ciel gulped. We all whirled, following his gaze to a small, bloody handprint on the wall.

My eyes went wide. “Cas.”

He stepped forward, reaching his hand up beside it to compare the size. He looked back at us over his shoulder, face draining of color.

He didn’t have to fucking say it. It was the same size as hers. “Fuck! Where is she?”

“She’s alive,” Obi said, looking down at the corpse. “Knife wounds. She’s fighting.”

My grip on my rifle tightened. The knife. She had the knife I gave her.

“Let’s go,” I urged, spinning for the door. The four of us made our way back the way we had come. A distant sound of shouts had my head whipping in the other direction. “Wait.”

They stopped.

Thunk. A female scream.

My heart choked my throat. “This way!”

I ran, keeping my semi-automatic steady on my shoulder in case I needed to fire. Their footsteps pounded behind me as we leapt down a stairwell, then immediately rocketed up another.