Page 64 of Caught in the Crossfire

I inhaled and exhaled through my nose. I’d been on hundreds of missions just like this. I knew what I was doing. The calm overtook the anxiety, and the pulsing heartbeat in my stomach dissipated.

Ciel held up his tablet. “Orik Vokshi is confirmed. There are six men with him. Add the ship’s crew, and we’re expecting at least fifteen.”

On the cameras, Orik and his men waited while the crewfrom the ship pushed down a gangplank from their open hatch to the waiting dock.

“It’s a lot smaller than theRed Talon,” Ciel murmured. “Hopefully, it will be quick and easy to take them out and get the victims free.”

From our car in the marina parking lot, I gazed at the ship out the window. The view was partially obstructed by the pallets of cargo and containers between the dock and us, but my mouth went dry imagining what it would have been like for Leona to be alone on a ship much bigger than this one.

“Remember,” Obi said. “We need to capture Orik Vokshi. We need to get as much information from him as we can before we kill him.”

Trafficking was only successful when each part of the process worked effectively. The victims had to be taken without getting caught. The traffickers needed elusive methods of transport to move victims from place to place. They also needed multiple locations to hold victims in captivity: to use them like in a brothel or to wait until they sold to other organizations or individuals. Larger trafficking organizations like the Vokshi were difficult to dismantle because they had extensive resources to transport and hold victims, and to evade detection while doing it.

In our case, we knew that one way the Albanians were bringing their victims into the city was on their ships, but we did not know how they were moving themafterthe ship, or where they were taking them. Were they using corrupt local authorities to stay under the radar? How were they moving the victims on land? Where did they keep them? How big was their reach?

We needed intel from Orik Vokshi to get the bigger picture. Without it, we’d always be on the defensive.

“Dibs,” Ryu blurted. “Dibs on information gathering.”

Cas snorted. “Did you just call dibs on torture?”

I couldn’t see it, but I could hear Ryuji’s grin through my earpiece. “I’ll arm wrestle you for it if you want it that badly.”

“All you,” Cas chuckled.

“Just don’t kill him before we get anything useful, Ryu,” Leona admonished.

He fake-gasped. “Excuse you, I am a professional.”

“Focus,” Obi interrupted, getting us back on track. He looked at Ciel’s tablet before handing it back to him. “They’re engaging now. It’s time.”

Obi opened his front door and slipped out. I reached for mine just as Ciel nudged me again.

“Are you good?” he asked.

I nodded tightly. I had to be. There was no other option.

After we exited the SUV, the six of us met up at the fence. We were all dressed from head to toe in black combat gear, armed to the teeth. My fingers itched to slip on my brass knuckles, just so the metal could ground me again, but guns were the better choice at the moment. If we had to fight up close, I’d switch to my knuckles.

My stomach twinged with discomfort, but I shoved it away. My time in the gym was already rebuilding my stamina. I’d agreed to stay at the back of our group with Leona, but I was more than capable of holding my own in a fight.

Obi looked at each of us. “Be cautious. Remember the plan. Do not split up.”

Ciel had the bright idea earlier today that we stick in pairs throughout this operation. A buddy system. Leona and I had rolled our eyes when we agreed. They were babysitting us.

“The pairs are Obi and Leona. Cas and Ryuji. Me and Wynn,” Ciel said. “If we get separated or lost on the ship, we bail. If anyone gets hurt, we immediately bail.”

“Got it,” Leona said as she gripped her Hellcat. Two knives were strapped to her thighs, one on each side. Her hair was pulled back into a tight French braid. The scar on her face was still red in the dim light of the marina’s periodic streetlights.

That scar was proof that I’d let her down. I couldn’t erase it from her face, but I could earn redemption.

Obi gave the signal to Cas, and he cut a hole in the fence with bolt cutters. Each of us slipped through.

This marina wasn’t as large as Port Elizabeth or some of the other maritime terminals across the East Coast, so we at least had that on our side. Secured by only a fence and a guard shack, it was easy to slip inside. We kept to the shadows, maneuvering around the cargo stored throughout the marina and avoiding the streets used by transport vehicles. TheIron Ghostwaited at one of the farther docks.

Ciel and I walked side by side, each of us holding our rifles. His tablet hung by his side, but he frequently held up the screen before signaling that we could move forward.

“They’re moving cargo off the ship,” Ciel murmured into our comms. “No sign of the girls yet.”