Page 32 of Kyle (Gold Team #3)

“Total shitstorm,” Leo muttered.

He was not wrong.

The two of us had taken patrol on the south end of the compound where the girls were being held and what we found wasn’t what’d been reported.

It looked like a tent-city in the middle of an unused pasture.

“I counted seventeen being hosed off,” I told him—something he already knew. I was sure he’d counted the girls as they were dragged from the tents, forced to undress, then hosed off like animals.

The women had flinched and cried out as the undoubtedly ice-cold water had pelted their flesh, making my trigger finger itchy. Dropping a few of the men as they laughed at the women would do the soul so good. Yet I remained still and watched.

Seventeen women we could see. Maybe more in the tents. More than had been reported.

Ten guards. Again, that we could see.

There were nine of us, we could easily take out ten men. But the issue was, the property was in the middle of a small town. The sound of automatic gunfire would draw attention, and lots of it.

The other issue was, the compound wasn’t exactly hidden.

“There has to be more. The guard ratio is too high. And I don’t like how we can’t see into the house.”

“Panther, what’s your six?” Linc came over the radio asking our position.

“Southeast corner,” Leo returned.

“We’re headed your way.”

Lincoln and Colin had taken the north end of the property. Jasmin, Declan, Max, Thad, and Brooks had paired off to scout the town.

Leo and I went back to silently watching when two men and a girl exited the house, a man on each side of her holding her by the arms. They dragged her limp body through the yard toward the tents. Anger and bile rose fast and furious.

“Easy,” Leo growled from beside me.

He may’ve mumbled more words in an attempt to calm me down but my focus was on the girl’s bare feet as they towed behind her.

The depravity never failed to boil my insides.

“Two more guards,” Leo noted.

Two more dead men walking was more like it.

Two more motherfuckers I’d feel no remorse for when my bullet hit them square between the eyes.

Leo, Colin, Linc, and I made it back to the safehouse and were waiting for the rest of the team to get back from checking out the town.

The other three men were lounging on the couch but I couldn’t get my racing thoughts to settle. That girl being hauled out of the house loose and limp kept playing in a loop. Over and fucking over.

That could’ve been Anaya.

My gut clenched and chest ached.

“I’m gonna report in,” Linc said. “If Dec has anything else to add, he can call when he gets back.”

With my thoughts on Anaya I barely registered the phone ringing and Zane answering.

“We got problems,” Linc started.

“When the fuck don’t we got problems?” Zane barked.

“South end, at least eighteen girls and twelve guards. North end, we had visual on five girls, but there are three tents, could be more we didn’t see and three guards.”

“Fuck.”

“’Bout sums it up. Fifteen guards is a cakewalk, but as you know the property is five miles outside of town.

We start a shootout at the O.K. Corral people are gonna hear.

They hear, they’re gonna come investigate.

Don’t need a bunch of civilians running around but we really don’t need the authorities. Any suggestions, brother?”

“You think Landry’s got the locals on his payroll?” Zane asked.

“Has to. The camp doesn’t have a neon sign flashing girls girls girls, but it’s not hidden. If you get close, you can see the tents the girls are housed in,” Leo added.

“Let the transaction take place,” Zane instructed.

“Come again?” I entered the conversation.

“Let the buyer take possession of the girls and track ‘em. Hopefully the girls will be split up. There will be fewer guards during transport. I’ll leave it to you when you engage.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Colin said. “No way they’re gonna try to move all those girls together. ”

“Side note, Garrett followed Emerson’s lead on Monica’s disappearance.

Shit’s clicking into place and I’m not liking where it’s going but it’s making sense.

We’re closer to getting to the top. Tex is handling some of the low-level players.

Fuckin’ amazed at what that man can do from the comfort of his living room. ”

“No shit,” Leo agreed. “Tex scares the fuck out of me.”

John “Tex” Keegan was a damn superhero without the stupid cape and tights. The former SEAL could and did rule all things cyber.

Our IT guy, Garrett, was a badass, but Tex could still outperform. And much to Garrett’s annoyance, Tex did not share his secrets.

“What else did Garrett find?” I asked.

“The Tremblays were paid off. He’s still working on how that arrangement came to be.

Nothing in their background suggests they personally had any ties to Omni or any other trafficking ring.

Other than Beatrice working for Icon. Garrett’s resolute Icon has involvement with the group but so far he can’t prove his theory. Tex is taking a look, too.”

“Landry tied to Icon?” Linc asked.

“Harry Landry owns stock. Not a lot and that by itself doesn’t mean shit.

You’ve seen his portfolio, he owns stock in damn near everything from tech giants to small startups.

It would take us a decade to dig into them.

And those are the ones we know about. What’s more concerning is he was able to hide his ownership of Corella.

We don’t have time to look into surface shit.

I called Tom and he confirmed he knew about Corella.

That was one of the reasons we have the stand-down order. He wants Landry alive.”

“Tom thinks Landry will flip?” I surmised and my blood boiled.

I wasn’t sure what was worse for a man like Harry Landry, living out his life in a prison cell or six feet under. But what I did know was Thad was gonna hit the roof. Landry was behind Emerson’s kidnapping. Something that was still fresh in everyone’s mind but the burn was scorching in Thad’s gut.

“That’s what he thinks,” Zane confirmed. “But I doubt it.”

I glanced to the three men sitting on the couch and they all had matching looks of disbelief. Landry would not turn. It was going to be a waste of time but no one would question the president. If Tom Anderson wanted Landry breathin’ he’d be left breathin’, and that was that.

“Myles checked in,” Zane said. All thoughts of Landry and the case flew out of my head. “He confirmed the house was secure, Jeremy had everything under control, so he left.”

Before we’d gone out to patrol, Zane had called to tell me Anaya and Emerson had arrived safely in Connecticut, but news that Myles had taken off so quickly didn’t sit well. I knew he had a time-sensitive mission but I’d hoped he’d at least stay the night.

“And the girl?” Linc asked. “Did he say anything about Monica?”

“Said she looked like a caged animal. As soon as they entered the house, she’d retreated to a corner, curled into a ball, and had refused to look at any of them.”

Goddamn. That alone would kill Emerson and Anaya.

And not for the first or even the fiftieth time I wished I was with Anaya. Emotionally this was gonna gut her. And even though she hadn’t had another nightmare, if they returned, I wouldn’t be there. My arms ached to hold her.

“They’ll break her,” I told the room. “I have no doubt Anaya and Emmy can get her to talk.”

“I agree.” I was momentarily taken aback by the pride I could hear in Zane’s voice. “Anything else or can I get back to my wife?”

“Fucker,” Leo mumbled .

“Being the boss has its perks,” Zane returned.

Asshole.

He was in his bed with his pretty wife and newborn and we were sitting hundreds of miles away from our women.

“You know, there is such a thing as a resignation, asshole,” Colin told him.

“Right. I won’t hold my breath.”

Zane disconnected and Linc chuckled.

I didn’t. There wasn’t a damn thing worth laughing about while Anaya was off doing her thing and I was stuck in Canada.