by L. Ann Marie
He stops to answer his phone telling someone to wait. Switching out his glasses for the goggle ones he talks to Ops. I think those show him more–he keeps them on him all the time. He’s giving orders and answering questions. Something must be going on back home. For almost an hour I listen, but without seeing the grids he’s talking about I have no idea what’s happening. He looks at me and says, ‘yeah’.
A doctor comes in and I stand. Darren walks to him and he tells us no major organs were hit. Thank God. He needs to stay overnight, but should be released tomorrow. I’m so relieved I walk to the door and tell the guard outside. He smiles and tells whoever is on the radio with him. Darren is talking again and stands. “We’re being picked up.” I nod and walk out with him. At the door he tells the guard to wait with John and transport will get them to City Hospital in Mass.
“Why aren’t we going with him?” I ask in the elevator.
“Cloud is coming up with Samantha. They won’t let him go without a medic onboard. With him just getting out of surgery Prez doesn’t want him moved without the medic.”
I nod and follow to the roof. Jared is here and waits until the doors close to lift off. I’m no longer nervous or surprised he’s moving before I sit. It’s just the way it’s done. Darren talks to Ops the whole way home. I’m bored out of my mind.
I’m glad I put on cargos, since we’re dropped in the Security lot and Darren takes my hand walking me right into Ops. It’s busy here. I catch ‘Elizabeth’ and think oh Lord. If she was taken VP will go over the edge. I think he’s just barely holding on now. Josiah is sitting at a computer and I step closer to him. No one is talking to him so I figure I can ask. He looks at me before I open my mouth.
“A try on Elizabeth, but she surprised him fighting back. The boys jumped in and beat the fuck out of the pussy. He was alone, but had supplies to drug her. Connecticut plates, Outlaw ID.” He turns back and types.
Okay then. I stand against the wall and wait. That’s two more tries. Who the hell are we fighting? Where are these Outlaws from? All questions I guess I don’t need to know the answers to, but it would be nice to have a face.
Sheila comes in and tells me she’s got us dinner. I look at Darren, he’s busy so I follow her to the breakroom. Another salad plate. I love these. “Elizabeth is good?” she asks.
“Josiah said she fought back and the boys jumped in and beat the fuck out of the guy. Where was their Security?”
She looks away. “Dead.”
Shit. “I’m sorry seems like such a stupid thing to say, but my heart hurts knowing this touched you.”
She nods and starts eating without looking at me. We finish in silence and go back to Ops. It’s crazier than when we got here. Another run on the towns. Fuck. I get that the same thing is happening to the Baxters Compound and the MC. That’s a lot of damn people hitting everyone all together.
Prez turns to us. “Sheila, Eliza you have HS waiting outside. Get out there, shoot to kill. We have breathers on the way to holding.
We move and pick up ammo and a spare on the way to the door. We get helmets from the Prospect and I see our HS partner–Barry, Benny, something with a B. He was on my detail before. If you don’t have a road name you get a number. He’s a number. We follow Chevy’s orders and ride around shooting. It’s not the most pleasant job, but it’s a job and I’m pretty good at it. Hitting someone before their gun fires is a good motivator and we clear pussies pretty quick. Sheila is crazy, but the kind that gets the job done with little or no wasted time. She rides like a nut. Our partner stays right behind us, but he’s not as good a rider as Sheila. I’m doing everything I can to keep up and shoot before I’m shot.
Chevy sends us to the PD to reload. As we’re leaving my phone rings. Since it never rings unless it’s Darren I answer smiling. It’s Maryellen. She’s in a warehouse at the waterfront. Sheila stops and listens. Someone starts yelling in the background and Maryellen screams then she’s gone. Fuck! Sheila calls into Ops, but doesn’t get anything back. She tells them where we’re headed and why. Something is wrong. Chevy wouldn’t leave us, but we were reloading so maybe he’s on with another team. We fly out of PD and head to the waterfront with Sheila trying Ops again. She tells our partner to stop and call in with the location. “Something is off here. Let’s wait with him.”
She gives me a look and I know she’s not waiting. “She’s still going through that shit. I’m not waiting until they get her away or kill her.”
I’m not thinking we shouldn’t go, but we have no contact with Ops. “Why would they bring her back here?”
“We’ll find out. Ops will send backup.” She speeds up and I follow. Fuck. At the waterfront we leave the bikes a warehouse away from where we are headed. At least I’m tracked. She goes around the first corner in front of me and I see her fall. I turn and shoot.
Fuck! She’s out. I sit holding my hand to her head and call Ops. I get nothing. I hear a bike and hope it’s our partner Benny or Barry. There’s a sting on my arm and I don’t move fast enough. Fuckin’ pussy used the bike noise to get behind me. It dawns on me that wouldn’t be our bikes. Shit. His arm is holding me still while he empties the needle in my arm. I lay Sheila’s head down and push back with everything in me. He slams on the ground and I hear his head hit. Another is waiting when I try to get to my feet. I pull my cuff and make like I’m going around him, I throw it at the building and see it fall as I sway to the other side. At least they’ll know where we are. Why is there no backup? I’m too damn dizzy to get by this guy and he’s on me holding me steady. I heard a bike so I’m fighting and yelling, but the guy just laughs. That’s the last thing I hear before I feel like I’m falling.
***
Darren
“What the fuck do you mean they’re gone? Gone where?” I listen to him stammer. “There’s no tracking for anything but the fuckin’ bikes. HS is on the way.” I look at Chevy. “How long?”
“Eleven minutes from when the tracking dropped.” He’s watching the boards.
I look at Bull. “Find me anything on them. Get the MC on tracking Eliza’s cuff.”
“Why were they headed to the waterfront?” I’m back on with HS37.
“Something about a woman, Kicker said Maryellen and She Dog was pissed. She tried calling in three times but didn’t get anyone. I stopped to use the phone to call in.”
Prez moves to my station. “Three teams are headed there. Start with the bikes and move out searching for them, stay to the back of the warehouses so the teams can find you.”
HS37: “Roger Prez.”
“That’s what I had him doing.” He nods at me.
“I want you down there with Taylor.”
I give my headset to Bull and grab my helmet from the shelf. Taylor follows me out. We fill up with ammo and I get my spare. My old lady is missing and I want to kill their HS for leaving them. He followed Sheila’s orders, she was lead, but his orders from Prez were not to let her out of his sight. I get on my bike and pull up the ramp.
“Sniper and VP roll out when you’re ready I’ll follow you on feeds,” Josiah says.
“Rolling out Ops 1,” I say flying out of the lot.
Prez: “VP, Driscoll has patrol scouring the dock. Two HS are with 37.”
Me: “Roger Prez.” I’m thinking a lot of fuckin’ good that does.
At the dock I pull to the warehouse past the bikes where Brothers are moving against the building here and the next. I drive to the front and shut it off. There’s a puddle at the corner and I pull my light. “It’s blood.”
“Here too.” I look over at where he’s standing. Fuck.
Prez: “VP, Geek has her cuff tracked right where you’re standing.”
What? I look around then go back to the bike shining the light to the corner. “Fuck. It’s against the building. Where’s the rest of her tracking? It’s on fuckin’ everything.” The one thing tracked from MC is off her. Jesus.
The building looks empty. Taylor is at the door. I
nod to him and he kicks it in. Since I’m not in the fuckin’ mood to play, I flip the lights on and keep walking. He checks the office. “Dead guys in here, two, one dead center of his head the other looks like it’s bashed in.”
Head shot is shoot to kill for HS so I’m hoping that’s them. As we walk farther I feel a noise and slow down. Taylor signals he’s moving to the other side. At the end of the row of crates I swing my gun to the right. A woman is hanging from the pallet fork of a Bobcat. “Prez I need medical.” The woman moves. “Are you Maryellen?” She doesn’t answer, but I show ‘grunt.’
Prez: “VP you have two HS coming up behind you. They’ll get the woman. Clear the warehouse.”
Me: “Roger Prez.”
I keep moving until I get to the back. A door is open and I flip the light. It looks like a cell for more than one person. Pallets are going up one wall like bunks with no mattresses. Fuck. Trafficking. “Are you seeing this?”
Prez: “Roger VP, I see Sniper’s view too. Same thing.” I hear him pull in a breath. “VP we show one bike entering the warehouse road, but nothing leaving it. Pussy was an Outlaw.”
“Fuck! They left by boat. What’s leaving the harbor?” I ask walking to the front of the warehouse. HS is getting the woman down.
Prez: “Eagle Eye is up and B Squared is lifting off now.”
“Get me on a chopper Prez.”
Prez: “Roger VP. B Squared is on his way to you now. HS will clear the rest of the warehouses, but they left by water is what I’m getting from the MC.”
“Sheila’s cuff is still on?” I ask praying for a yes.
Prez: “Negative VP. Eagle Eye is over where it’s showing. There are no boats around.” Fuck!
Taylor tells me ‘chopper’ and I look for it. I get on my bike and ride up to the road. Taylor is right behind me. We board and are over the water in minutes. I look at my watch. We’re at an hour. This has been the longest fuckin’ hour of my life. I watch Prez guiding both choppers then see Blackhawk and Eagle Feather. One shows and I’m surprised, but fuckin’ happy to see him. Anything extra we can get is good by me. Two is further out and they split the search into grids. We have to refuel, but get back to the grid where we left off.
I’m not seeing anything from anyone for a while and Prez calls Jared and Eagle Feather in. “VP we’re not stopping, but the pilots need some sleep and we’ll send them back out.” I close my eyes. I can’t look at it.
Sniper: “Copy Prez.” I see when I open my eyes. I look at Taylor he grabs my arm and holds it. He knows. Jared drops us at Security. “Get some sleep. You have four hours and you’re up with Dakota,” Prez says as soon as we walk in.
I turn around and head downstairs to the bunk room and pace. ‘Eliza help us out here babe. Give me something to find you.’ I think over and over.
Taylor comes in with an armful of clothes. “Get some sleep Brother. They’ll need us when we find them.”
I drop my clothes on the next bunk and lay down. Her nightmares play through my head, but I sleep.
Chapter Thirteen
Eliza
I open my eyes, but don’t move. My arms are killing me holding my weight and I want to move my feet under me, but look around first. Someone is on the side of me but I don’t see or feel anyone else is in the room. I slide my feet up and release some of the pressure from my arms. I look up and see I’m hooked to a chain that’s around a pipe. It’s an actual hook connected to the center of the cuffs. I turn and see it’s Sheila beside me. She’s out. “Sheila.” I try to keep my voice low. When she doesn’t move I reach a foot out to her. I tap the back of her knee and she sways on the chain. Fuck, she’s really out. I look up again and think about the best way to get the hook off the chain. If I jump the chain will jump too. I wiggle my arms and open and close my hands for a good five minutes. The pins and needles sting, but I feel my fingers again. On my tippy toes I wrap one hand around the chain and hop pushing the hook up. I drop down and try to keep my excitement quiet. It’s good I’m not hanging, but I’m cuffed and a little woozy. It’s something. It looks like we’re in a storage room. It’s small, but empty except for us. I hear noise and lay on the floor with my eyes closed. The door lock clicks and I level my breathing.
“What the hell? Hey.” I’m kicked in the side but don’t move. He bends over me and I sit fast putting my hands around his head. I get my feet under me and he yells.
I twist with the hook in my palms and know when it sinks in. “Shut the fuck up or I’ll end you right here,” I say at his ear. He shuts up and I pull back and up fast. I can’t hold him and let him drop bending with him. Shit. This is gross. He’s bleeding all over the place. It takes me a minute to get the hook out but I do and feel his pockets for keys. I have to lay on him to get my hand in, but I finally pull the keys. No cuff key. I feel his other pocket and know it’s in this one. I lay across him getting the key out and take forever getting the cuff off. We need training for this shit. I roll him and pull his gun. He has no ammo on him so I push him over and move to Sheila.
“Sheila. We need to get out of here before someone else comes in.” Her eyelids move then she opens her eyes.
“Stop hitting my face.”
Shit, I stop. She’s taller than me so reaching the cuffs is out. I pull the guy over and lean him against her legs. “Hold him steady so I can get the cuffs off.” I stand on his side and get her un-cuffed leaving them hanging.
She wrings her arms then puts a hand on her head. “My fuckin’ head feels like it was hit by a sledge hammer. Where the fuck are we?”
“I thought it was the drug, but the whole room is swaying so I’d say a boat.”
We hear footsteps. I move to the side of the door and Sheila stands with her arms up. “The orders were untouched, you fuckin’ douche. I told you not to fuck around with them.” A guy in a cut walks in and I hit him with the gun.
He falls forward and Sheila puts her hands on his head and twists his neck. Fuck that’s gross too. She pats him down pulling a knife and gun. He’s got some bullets in his pocket. She hands me some and pockets the rest. “We’re supposed to be kept untouched. They’ll think before they hurt us. Use that. We need to get the fuck off the boat or get the crew off. Since I’m not into swimming at the moment let’s get them off. Pick up whatever you find and use it to get rid of these pussies that have to drug us to take us.” I nod. I guess that’s the plan.
She cracks the door and motions me to follow. Like I was planning to stay with the two dead guys. We make it out and hear music; she tells me to go low. She swings right in and I’m amazed she’s standing up with the bump on her head, being out so long, and hanging from her arms. Now she’s moving like a Charlie’s Angel. I follow lower and see a man facing the other way. Sheila comes up behind him and smashes his head with her gun. Damn, I guess her arms are good. He falls and she uses the knife she took to make sure he doesn’t come back at us. I watch hoping there aren’t too many people on board. Death is becoming an epidemic on this ship.
We find ammo and load the clips stuffing ammo in our lower pockets. She hands me the knife and I give her a dirty look then wipe it on the guy’s shirt. It’s a filthy mess. I wouldn’t hand someone a knife full of blood like that. She rolls her eyes and walks out the door. We clear this deck hitting two more and climb up to the next. We’re on the open deck and stay behind truck boxes. There are two that we move around. I return to the back and motion I have two. She has three. She tells me to shoot on her three. I have no headset. I tell her and she moves to me. “We’ll go up the middle and shoot together. It will draw more fire so be prepared.”
Great. At least on a bike you can move. We’re on a fuckin’ boat. There is no getting away unless we jump. We walk right up the middle, aim and shoot. All head shots they’re all down. Nothing moves. She pushes me and I hear an automatic. Fuck. I scramble around the box and duck. I see a man run and I shoot. I know I didn’t get his head, but I got him if his yelling means anything. I don’t see Sheila,
but I hear a chopper. Please be Princes. I’m repeating in my head. I step around the box and a man is waiting with his gun pointed at me. Fuck. Sheila said they’ll think twice so I pull the trigger and he’s down. She was right. I promise myself if I find her I’ll tell her.
There’s shooting at the front of the ship, but it’s not Sheila’s gun. I see debris flying and back up so it doesn’t hit me. I’m grabbed and swung around. As I’m pulling my gun up it’s kicked out of my hand. Damn! I duck and swing my leg around. He catches it. Fuck! He twists and I hear it snap with a pain that runs right up my leg. He falls backward. Sheila lifts me to standing and we hear voices. Fuck not again. I’m clenching my jaw and lean against the box. Crying isn’t a good idea right now. She walks away and I close my eyes. Shit. This is almost as bad as the burns. My arm is hit and I open my eyes hoping it’s not another guy. She hands me my gun and I’m thinking she’s lost her mind for real this time. “Stay alert.”
“Okay.” While my leg feels like it’s going to fall off any second now, I’ll stay alert.
We make it to the front of the boxes with me hopping and the top of the boat explodes. Sheila pushes me to the side and wood flies in between us. Fuck! When I fall something falls on me. It feels like a whole fuckin’ boat. Can this day get any worse? I hear men yelling, but I’m fighting to stay alert. My leg feels like it’s burning right the fuck off my body. I try to yell then find a small something, it feels like a piece of wood, and hit what’s on top of me. I hear Taylor and hit harder. Darren is here or I’m dead and seeing him above me.
***
Darren
Sheila said she was near the boxes. Taylor tells me to stop, I do then look at him. He points and I move. There’s a huge chunk of the wheelhouse and he pulls, I get the other side and see her body. Her eyes are open, but she’s not moving. No. I drop to my knees and my glasses say she moans. I breathe. Fuck. She blinks. “Babe.” She doesn’t say anything, but moves her hand and touches me. “I’m real. Let’s get you out of here.” She closes her eyes and a tear falls. I’m so fuckin’ happy to see that tear. I look at her body.
