Shadow Harvest (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #7)

by Emily Kimelman

  Missions like this, expensive and complicated, were at the heart of Joyful Justice. Never before had an organization attempted this level of interference on so many fronts. I'd always worried about its viability. But as I stood there watching the celebration in the room I knew that it could work. My part wasn't what I had envisioned though. I wouldn't be blowing doors off hinges, killing evil-doers, leading troops into battle. I was going to turn myself in to keep this going.

  The mood quieted before the next mission. Next up was kidnapping the head of a human trafficking ring. This would be difficult because his security was intense. We were not his only enemies. He had competition after all. The man lived in a villa, surrounded by olive trees, in a wealthy community in southern Italy. The screen was split up into twelve sections this time. The lead on our end, replacing Consuelo in the center of the control room, was a man named Harrison Gordon. He was not directly related to the case but had experience in leading groups over satellite, having worked with SEAL teams for twenty years.

  Leading this group on the ground was a friend of mine, Tanya. She'd been involved in the very first Joyful Justice attack back in Miami and was someone I spent a lot of time with while at our training camp in Costa Rica. Originally from Moldavia Tanya was a gorgeous blonde, an archetypal Slavic beauty. She had come to the United States following that same old dream of opportunity. But when she arrived on those hallowed shores she was forced into prostitution. With Joyful Justice's help Tanya freed herself and the other women being held with her.

  Tonight she was cutting through the darkness, her team behind her, weaving through the olive trees. The gnarled trees were not much taller than Tanya. Half her crew was coming up the other side of the villa. They were surrounding it. The house was lit up, a glowing mansion bathed in eerie green light as seen through the night-vision images. I could see three guards pacing on the wide veranda that surrounded the structure.

  The trafficker had upped his security since our warning. I'd suggested that the warnings were a mistake, that it was better just to go in guns blazing, but this was before I was on the council and my approach was considered too brash. We were fighting for justice and needed to give people the chance to correct the error of their ways before bursting into their homes and ripping them from their beds.

  The lights in the mansion went out. I could hear Tanya's voice. "Power down, moving forward."

  The nanny was one of ours, she'd informed us about the security. The power going out was her signal to get the children to a safe place. Hopefully, nowhere near their father. She felt that he'd fight, would rather die than be taken.

  Our team was once again armed with dart guns, sophisticated automatic weapons that could fire almost as fast as a machine gun. But they also had pistols with real bullets on their hips, just in case.

  "At perimeter," Tanya said.

  Harrison gave her the go ahead.

  "Move, stage two," she told her team.

  I watched as the twelve screens jerked forward. Tanya was near the veranda, gun up to her eye, shot fired. A man on the veranda, wearing a white suit that blazed in the night-vision effect, grabbed for his neck before dropping to his knees. Another man ran over and began to fire in Tanya's direction. The muzzle of his gun lit up with each bullet's expulsion. He fell, the gun arching up, one final burst exploding from the muzzle.

  On another camera I saw a team entering through the back door. A man was waiting, gun up. He fired, blasting white light into the camera. It went out. The video from the trailing team member showed the group’s leader dropping to the ground, revealing the shooter in front. Our team member started shooting, and the man grabbed for his stomach, sunk to his knees and tipped over.

  The first camera was still out, the screen blank. The second camera tracked from the fallen man to the team member on the ground. A hand extended into the picture, turning over the injured body, bulky in its flak jacket. I could see the face of a young man in a blackened helmet. A hand unbuckled the helmet and lifted it, removing the night vision goggles at the same time. There was a welt on the young man’s forehead that leaked blood but didn't look like a bullet hole. The hand lifted the damaged helmet, turning it over. The bullet had dented the helmet and knocked the wearer unconscious, but had not penetrated. The fallen team member was alive, and I could now see his chest moving under the flak jacket.

  I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Harrison ordered the injured man left where he was. They'd come back for him. They needed to keep moving.

  Without hesitation the helmet was replaced for what protection it still provided, and the camera continued down the dark hallway, lit by the night-vision lens into a green and ghostly world.

  My eyes flicked to the other cameras to see fighting happening all over the place. I couldn't keep it straight. I looked over at Harrison. He was calm, his body still but his lips going, giving them the information and encouragement they needed as they moved throughout the house, taking out the guards. Finally, Tanya was at the ring leader's office. The house had been cleared except for this room. By Harrison's calculations he was in there with four gunmen.

  Tanya placed explosives on the hinges and handles of the ornate double doors. It was a replay of what had happened only hours before but on a different continent.

  Tanya and her team backed up, slipping around a corner. The blast shook the house, dust rained from the ceiling, the night vision camera catching it like freshly falling snow. Smoke billowed. Our team had masks and they moved into the blinding smoke quickly and efficiently.

  The office doors were blackened and off their hinges, blown into the room. One lay across a couch, a man’s legs sticking out from underneath. The other door, what was left of it, was in pieces scattered around the room. Gunfire exploded, white flashes in the smoke. Our team fired back. Moments later there was silence. They approached the knocked out guards, taking time to investigate each face until they found the leader, our target. He was sprawled behind his desk with a dart lodged in his cheek. Arms lifted him and then they were all moving through the house.

  Three broke off and picked up the injured team member. He was starting to wake up, his eyes fluttering, looking like white orbs.

  Helicopters waited on the lawn and when all were on board another cheer went up inside the control room. Harrison pulled off his headset and embraced his assistant next to him. The room crowded around him in celebration. Another successful mission. Another bad guy taken down.

  Dan hugged me, lifting me off the floor. I smiled at him. "This is all going so well," I said.

  "You almost make that sound like a bad thing," he grinned at me. "Relax, Sydney. It's going well because we trained for this, because we are super-prepared."

  "You're right," I smiled. "I'm very proud of everyone."

  Dan hugged me again before going to congratulate Harrison. It was his first mission working for us. I pushed through the crowd, following Dan until we reached Harrison. "Great job," Dan said, holding out his hand.

  Harrison shook it, his smile happy but tired. "Couldn't have gone smoother," he said.

  Dan turned to see me standing next to him. "Have you met Sydney?" he asked.

  "Not yet," Harrison said, extending his hand.

  "Congratulations," I said, shaking his hand. "You did a great job."

  "Couldn't have done it without this amazing equipment and crew," he said, smiling.

  "We're lucky to have someone with your experience."

  "Feels good to be here," he said before his attention was swamped by the others waiting to congratulate him.

  Dan and I moved back through the crowd and up into his office. Merl joined us soon after. He was smiling. "Good day so far."

  "Very good," Dan said.

  "No casualties on our side and none we know of on the others. Though that guy under the door might be in some trouble," he said with a frown.

  "Hopefully he'll make a full recovery and think twice before going against Joyful Justice again," Dan sa
id with a smile.

  "Or engaging in any wrongdoing," I said with a small laugh.

  Dan sat down at his desk and woke up his computer. "We're almost done hacking into the accounts, too," Dan said, referencing the bank accounts of two CEOs we were stealing from.

  "So, just the ships left," I said.

  "Yes," Merl answered me. "We won't have live feed from that but there will be video footage."

  I nodded. "Sounds good."

  "We'll have a meeting of the council tomorrow?" I said. "To go over everything."

  "Yup," Dan answered, absorbed in his computer screen.

  #

  I watched the footage of the ships alone in my room later that night. Dan invited me to watch it with him in the main room but I begged off. Not ready for another celebration.

  Blue sat next to me on the couch, his head towering above mine. I hit play on the TV. The screen showed a single shot, from a distance, of a quiet and dark marina. It was home to seven large boats, their paint chipping, their holds big enough for thirty but used for a hundred people. It was estimated that over 10,000 people had died on ships like these during illegal crossings to southern Europe.

  I understood desperation. The willingness to risk life and limb for the promise of something better. Or at least something different. I'd never been a refugee and could only imagine the untenable circumstances that found them climbing onto those rusting ships. They put themselves and their families at risk to the open sea, the cruelty of heartless smugglers, and the distinct possibility of being caught and returned to the place they'd risked everything to flee.

  But I knew about risking everything. I'd resent someone taking that option away from me. Yet that's what we were doing here. Blowing up these ships was another mission I didn’t take part in planning. I understood that the man who owned them and the crews who operated them were reprehensible and deserved to lose their livelihood, but it seemed that we were cutting off a way out for desperate people. Even if it was a bad way, it was something.

  The first ship blew. Even without sound I still jerked with surprise. The next one went. And down the row. A fiery, black-smoke-pouring catastrophe. I leaned toward the screen, filled with bright orange, deep red, pitch black, shocks of blue, and almost felt the heat of the flames on my skin. It was a hellscape.

  I thought of my mother then. Her gray eyes so like mine and my brother’s. She believed in hell. She thought her gay son James was there, roasting in flames like the ones on the screen. And that I was headed there as well. What she didn't know is I was creating hell right here on earth.

  This is who we were. Creating infernal mayhem for our enemies. Eventually, there would be hell to pay. What kind of hell? I wondered. In my case, I’d know the answer in two weeks.

  <<<<>>>>

  Want More?

  THE SYDNEY RYE SERIES

  UNLEASHED (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #1)

  DEATH IN THE DARK (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #2)

  INSATIABLE (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #3)

  STRINGS OF GLASS (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #4)

  THE DEVIL’S BREATH (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #5)

  INVITING FIRE (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #6)

  SHADOW HARVEST (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #7)

  THE GIRL WITH THE GUN (A Sydney Rye Mystery, #8)

  THE KISS SERIAL

  by E.J. Kimelman

  Season One Available Now

  The Kiss Omnibus: All Six Episodes

  One Kiss

  Two Kiss

  Three Kiss

  Four Kiss

  Five Kiss

  Six Kiss

  About the Author:

  Emily is the author of eight mysteries in her best selling Sydney Rye Series about a brave female protagonist and her giant dog, Blue. She also writes dystopian, paranormal romances under the name E.J. Kimelman. A traveler, mother and all around bad ass chick, Emily is always happy to hear from readers. Connect with her on Twitter @ejkimelman, Facebook, and at her website www.emilykimelman.com. Visit Emily’s website and sign up for her Readers’ Group to receive four FREE ebooks including the first book in her Sydney Rye Series, UNLEASHED. You’ll also get special offers, new release announcements and more.

  A Note from Emily:

  Thank you for reading SHADOW HARVEST. I'm excited that you made it through my whole bio right here to my "note". I'm guessing that means that you enjoyed my story. If so, would you please write a review for SHADOW HARVEST? You have no idea how much it warms my heart to get a new review. And this isn't just for me, mind you. Think of all the people out there who need reviews to make decisions. The children who need to be told this book is not for them. And the people about to go away on vacation who could have so much fun reading this on the plane. Consider it an act of kindness to me, to the children, to humanity.

  Let people know what you thought about SHADOW HARVEST on Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads.

  Thank you, Emily