by India Kells
It was difficult to see anything clearly through the body cams as everything became blurry and started spinning as they rushed out of the cars.
As he’d said, Kingsley announced their arrival fifteen seconds later. Malco remained as silent as Nicholas, although Frida believed she could hear him breathing.
His bodycam shook and jerked, and through the semi-darkness, she saw two shadows to the side and another one to the left. In front, the light revealed the car and the men as Mercy had said.
The air gun sounded, and JaKheel fell to his knees. Malco and Nicholas immediately caught him, returning him to their vehicle.
Frida searched for Mercy’s and Kingsley’s body cams, and then she heard gunshots. The second guy by the pump wouldn’t let them get away with their friend without a fight. With a calm voice, Kingsley ordered Malco and Nicholas to get away while he and Mercy took care of the situation.
James and Frida jumped to their feet, and Cleo gasped. The situation had deteriorated, becoming dangerous.
It was obvious Mercy and Kingsley were holding the two gang members back, giving Malco and Nicholas time get as far away as possible, securing their mission.
“King, fall back. I’ll cover you.”
It was unclear where Mercy or King were. The conference room was filled with the shouts of the two gang members and continuous gunshots.
From what Frida could see from Kingsley’s point of view, Mercy was hunched behind a parked car as she was rained with bullets.
“Mercy, I’m not in a position to cover you. Hang in there.”
James cursed, his eyes glued to what was happening on the screen. Cleo was grasping her chest.
“We need to leave, King. The police have been called by now. You have a clear path to the car. I’ll cover you.”
James cursed as if Mercy could hear him from beyond the screen. “Don’t do that, Mercy. Please, don’t,” he hissed, and Frida realized that for the first time, he was coming undone. What was between him and the wild Mercy?
“Get the damn car, King, so you can come get me. Understood.”
“Understood. Hang in there, Merc.”
Everything happened fast and intensified as they partially lost visual. From the noise, they could only guess what was happening. With the engine roaring to life, Frida guessed Kingsley had finally reached the car to save Mercy.
“Damn it, Mercy, stay down! I’m coming your way.”
The woman shouted. “One down. One to go.”
The screech of tires made it impossible to hear what was going on.
With a cry of victory, Mercy came back online. “Second shooter is down. Come and get me, King. Let’s get out of here. I can hear sirens.”
The palpable tension in the conference room melted immediately. Cleo let herself fall on the chair, and Frida followed her. James pushed his hair back with a deep sigh.
A gunshot tore through the speakers, followed by Mercy’s unmistakable cry and Kingsley’s furious shout, followed by a second shot.
There was a scramble and whimpers before the engine drowned everything else.
Malco’s voice came on as the four of them were still on the comms together. “Sitrep, King. Do you want us to come back?”
It took some time before Kingsley answered, making the wait almost unbearable for everybody on the line.
“We’re on our way back. It was a close call, but Mercy took a hit to her body armor. Stick to the plan. Over.”
Close call. Frida hoped she’d never hear those two words again when Malco and his team were facing such a dangerous situation. The second team had been successful, too, with their extractions going much more smoothly. In fact, they now had Tycen safe and sound.
Cleo shut off the screens and gathered the cups with shaking hands.
Unable to move, Frida sat down to take a breath and steady her nerves.
James didn’t say anything, but punched the wall, leaving a gaping hole before exiting the room.
Alone, Frida took deep breaths, calming her heart and pushing aside her dark thoughts. So much could’ve gone wrong, and Mercy could’ve died because of her plan. Her plan. Her crazy suggestion to shut down police corruption and protect a group of teenagers. Could she have lived with the death of one of Alliance’s agents? Probably not. But instead of wallowing on what could’ve happened, Frida steeled her resolve.
How many would die if she didn’t take risks? Another risk was coming her way as now came the most delicate phase of their plan. With several witnesses, she’d need all her skills to persuade those young criminals to follow her plan as well as all her talents as a lawyer to weave the perfect trap, so this madness ended once and for all.
Chapter Nineteen
“I want a fucking update right now,” Shane bellowed as he paced the conference room.
The team had assembled for a de-brief and update. Malco watched Shane pace with sympathy and guilt hounding him. This had been partly his idea, and if something had happened to Mercy because of him, he’d never have forgiven himself.
With a case like this moving so fast, it was imperative everyone stayed on the same page. James was leaning against the wall, one foot raised and resting against the stone, arms crossed over his chest. The normally playful grin he wore was gone, replaced by barely concealed fury as his eyes remained on Mercy.
“I had no choice, boss. If I’d moved, it would’ve exposed us, and we would’ve failed.”
“Fuck the mission,” James spat as he came off the wall, moving toward Mercy, who glared at him. Mercy, for her part, stood taller as she faced the angry man. It was like watching two bulls go head to head. Except for the first time, Malco noticed a distinct air of sexual tension around the two operatives.
“Is that what you would’ve done, James? Would you have risked mission failure or done what I did?”
Malco saw the man clench his jaw, his hands on his hips as he faced down the much smaller woman.
He sighed. “No, I wouldn’t have done it differently.”
Malco could feel the ‘but’ on his friend’s lips, but James wisely didn’t voice his thoughts.
“Exactly.” Mercy stepped forward and poked him in the chest. “So. Get. Off. My. Back.” She enunciated each word with a poke to his chest, which had James’ lips turning up in a smile.
“Whatever you say, Merc.”
“Can we please stop with the fucking drama and you tell me what exactly happened. I know what I saw on the camera, but I need to hear it from you.” Shane leaned his hands on the back of a chair and eyed Mercy and Knight.
Knight and Mercy gave their account of what happened, which was pretty much what Malco had heard over the comms.
“Fine.” Shane nodded and turned his eyes to Malco. “Are the HVTs secure?” Malco was familiar with SEAL speak, so he knew HVT was High-Value Target.
“They are. We’re keeping them separate for now until we can interview them in-depth and find out exactly what they know. Frida is with Ward and Emme in the observation room.”
“Including JaKheel?”
“No, Mason and Alex took him to a separate site. I didn’t want to risk having them all together.”
“We have the compound locked down so nobody can enter or exit the premises without us knowing.” Shane took the safety of his team very seriously.
“Does the girlfriend know?”
Malco shook his head. “Not yet. We plan on telling her when we know he’ll cooperate. I’m conscious of not getting her hopes up given what she’s already been through.”
“What about Tycen’s mother?” Mercy asked.
Malco nodded his chin. “Yes, she knows he’s safe, but Frida and I talked to her, and she knows she can’t tell anyone yet. The minute the Blood Razors know their men are gone, the shit is going to hit the fan.”
“We have back-up from internal affairs and the FBI now. With the corruption we’ve already uncovered, it’s enough for a special FBI task force to look into this.”
“Can they be
trusted?” Malco wasn’t entirely happy Shane had taken this outside the team. He recognized they need support on the streets, and with no way to know how far the corruption went, the FBI was the only way to go.
“With what we have and Chief Randall being the person who instigated this in his own department, then yes, I believe we can. A task force has been set up to respond to major incidents involving gang violence.”
“Are we still the lead on this?” Malco asked, knowing they could easily become involved in a battle for leadership.
“For now. So, let’s get this done before they decide to take it away.”
Malco nodded and moved to the door. He slung his arm around Mercy as he did and kissed her head in a brotherly way.
“No more giving me a heart attack, Merc. I think I lost ten years of my life back there.” She wrapped her arm around his waist before elbowing him in the guts.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
“Being sexist. When Mason got hurt, you never acted like this.”
Malco frowned and looked at his friend, the girl he thought of as a little sister, and considered her words. He’d never considered himself to be sexist in any way. When Mason had been hurt, he’d spent his fair share of time at the hospital waiting for news, worried sick the man wouldn’t make it, and that had been near the beginning of the Alliance Agency. Now they were a few years in, and these people were no longer colleagues, they were family.
“It’s not sexist, Mercy. Not at all. I’d feel the same if it were anyone else because Alliance isn’t just some place where I work. It is pivotal to my health. The bonds we share, the friendships, mean everything to me. So, if you got hurt, it would devastate me, just as it would if it were Alex, Caitlin, or Nick.” He watched her features soften as she heard what he was saying.
“That said, what I feel isn’t the same as what James felt. What he was feeling went so deep that he’s struggling to know what to do with it. So, ease up on us a little, we know how capable you are, more so than a lot of us, but that doesn’t make it any easier to watch you walk into danger.”
Mercy swallowed, and Malco waited for her to speak as they stood alone in the corridor.
“You’re a good man, Malco, and I hope you and Frida can make this work.”
Malco looked toward the door as the woman in question poked her head out and looked for him, her eyes going warm when they found his.
“So do I, Merc, so do I.”
With that, he squeezed her shoulder and moved toward the woman who had become his true north.
“Is Mercy all right?” Frida asked as he pushed gently into the room where they could monitor Tycen with Ward.
“Yeah, she will be.” Frida seemed to accept that, and they both turned to the boy that had started this huge investigation.
“How is he?” Malco observed the boy. He had been beaten, his face carrying evidence of bruising.
“Okay, considering. He’s frightened as you would expect and worried about blowback on his family.”
“Did you reassure him they’re safe?” Frida turned to him arms folded and raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. Malco grinned and backed up. “Sorry, I was just checking.”
“Well, don’t. I’m exceptionally good at my job, and this isn’t my first rodeo.”
Malco abandoned that, knowing it was the better option. “Would you like to stay and be involved with the reunion between him and his mom or come with me and interview JaKheel?”
Frida wrinkled her nose and tipped her head, and he could see she was as torn as he was. Part of him wanted to stay and watch, knowing that their own families hadn’t had the same happy outcome.
“I want to stay, but we need to get JaKheel to talk. Kasten most likely already knows what’s happening, and the Blood Razors will really want blood now. We need to wrap this up as soon as possible.”
“Agreed.” He moved closer to her and watched her head tip to his, her pretty eyes never leaving his. Malco wrapped his free hand around her waist and leaned in close, causing her to arch back as she kept eye contact.
“I missed you,” he breathed, so close to her lips he could almost taste their sweetness.
“I was so scared for you, Malco.” She admitted it, and he knew how much it had taken for her to open up to him and admit that.
“I know, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to say sorry for being the kind of man who puts his life on the line for innocence and justice, Malco. Just promise you’ll come home to me.” Malco pulled back slightly and grinned.
“Was that a proposal?”
Frida’s eyes went wide, and she laughed. “Of course not.”
Malco felt light even in this dark situation they found themselves. He kissed her hard, tasting her sweetness, reveling in her strength. He pulled back when they were both breathless and looked at her—her every feeling was on full display in the openness of her expression.
“It was totally a proposal.” He let her go and walked for the door, loving the sound of her chuckle behind him as she denied it vehemently.
“It most definitely was not a proposal, jerk-off.” Malco spun, eyes wide as they exited the building.
“Jerk-off?” He smiled at her, but a fraction of a second too late, he registered the horror on her face before gunfire pierced the joyous sound behind him, and pain lanced through his body.
Chapter Twenty
Before she knew what was happening, Malco had tackled her backward, knocking her down with such force she lost her breath. Wheezing, she got to her knees, a hand pressed to her stomach where his elbow had made contact. There had been gunshots, at least two, before Malco had pulled her back inside. More sounded, but they only made contact with the closed door and outside walls.
When she regained her breath, she saw Shane and the rest of the team running toward the entrance. And the blood on her hand.
It took a moment for her to realize it wasn’t hers.
“Malco!” Frida crawled to him as he half-sat beside her, holding his side. Pain twisted his handsome face, but if the wound was severe, she knew time was of the essence.
As she pushed his hand, she saw the blood soaking his shirt. “Don’t worry, mi corazón. The shot went through the fat.”
She arched an eyebrow, bracing herself. “What fat? There isn’t an ounce of it on you.”
And without waiting for any more of his nonsense, she pushed his hands aside to peel back the soaked cloth and reveal the wound. The blood was abundant, but from what she could see, the bullet had grazed his side, which was a small blessing.
Frida tore her top into a makeshift dressing and placed it against the wound, pressing hard. Malco cringed but didn’t say a word.
Shane came beside them. “How bad is it?”
“It grazed his side, must have been a high caliber.”
Malco’s voice was harsh. “Flesh wound.”
“A bloody one. You’ll need stitches, but I guess we were lucky.”
Shane cursed. “Lucky the shooter didn’t have better aim. Unlucky someone targeted us, it means they know who we are. That’s what concerns me the most.”
While Frida kept pressure on the wound, Shane helped Malco up just as James joined them.
“I checked the perimeter, and they’re gone.”
The three of them supported Malco as they went to the infirmary where Emme and Mercy were waiting for them inside. Once Malco was seated, Emme took over. Frida wanted to stay, but after a kiss on her temple, Malco shooed her away.
Despite the initial fright, she knew that Malco wasn’t in immediate danger, and after some stitches, he’d be okay.
Shane pulled her away, and James reappeared with a sweatshirt for her and she realized she was only wearing her bra.
It would have been so easy to crumble, but she wouldn’t allow herself the luxury. Danger had come faster than they’d expected.
“Do you know who it was? I’m guessing the Blood Razors, but I hope I’m wrong.”
&nb
sp; Shane shook his head. “It’s difficult to know because we don’t know how big the gang is or who its members are. But my guess is as good as yours. What concerns me most is how they knew it was us. We were careful. They couldn’t see our faces, and our plates were covered. We didn’t use our own vehicles, and took detours to get back here.”
Frida said the words but prayed she was wrong. “Could there have been a leak? Not intentionally, but could someone have overheard something and shared it? I trust your team, Shane, every one of you, but it’s a possibility we need to consider.”
The expression on Shane’s face was feral, but just when she thought he’d punch the wall, he turned back. “You’re right. We need to consider every option. But security is paramount. From now on, all information will only be communicated in person or via secure methods. No more using phones until we’re sure the leak isn’t from there. We’ll debug our homes and vehicles, too, just to make sure. James, coordinate everything and communicate my instructions to every member of our team.”
“What about others like Ward or Tycen’s mother? Should they be informed?”
Shane looked at Frida, but his intentions were clear. “No. Not for now. Only the core team. Also, we’ll up security on Ward and Tycen’s family, as well as on our safehouses. I’ll call in a few favors from trustworthy friends. I still have a few SEAL friends who might like the extra money. I’ll make a few calls. I want Tycen and his family moved to a safe house that nobody but the team knows of. King can coordinate that. Ward is with Danie, and I’ll put extra people on them too, but keep them out of sight. I don’t want her spooked.”
James nodded and disappeared with his orders. Shane started pacing. “We won’t be able to contain this for long, Frida. Our resources are stretched, and there are too many enemies to keep an eye on.”
“I agree, Shane. I need to talk to JaKheel and convince him to testify. Once the accusation is out, it’ll force Kasten and Pool to keep a low profile and ask Bullet to do the same. It won’t hold long, but hopefully, at least until I can cut off a few heads. Once Kasten is down, Pool will follow. With the MPD clean again, they’ll keep the Blood Razors so busy I don’t think they’ll have time to worry about Alliance.”
