Stakeout

by Karen Raines

  “Something doesn’t feel right.” He squeezes my hand as we walk back on the dance floor. We sway back and forth waiting for some intel.

  I look around and notice a back door that’s guarded. “Right behind you is a door. I have a feeling that since we can’t see Syd that that’s where she’d be taken.”

  “Fuck, she wouldn’t have wandered off on her own… she had to have been taken against her will.” Colby turns us to get a view of the door.

  “Agreed. I’m going to distract the guard and you need to get back there.”

  “I don’t like the idea of leaving you here by yourself.” Colby states.

  “I don’t like the idea of Sydney being alone with anyone in the Irish mob. I’m up here and I’ll make sure to stay on camera so the girls can see me, but I have a feeling I’ll be kicked out soon after you get through.” He levels me with a glare and I place my fingers on his lips to hush him. “No worries. Don’t forget, I’m trained to kick ass.” I smile to reassure him I’ll be fine.

  “Guys…” And the fake smiles wipe from our faces.

  “What is it Marcus? Did you find the shipment?”

  “That was the plan, but there’s no boat.”

  “What the fuck do you mean there’s no boat?”

  “I meant what I said. Not so much as a tug boat’s come up to the dock and it was supposed to come in an hour ago. Something’s going on.”

  “Stay where you are, we’re gonna try to get a look around and find Syd.”

  “Syd’s missing?” Cross booms and I wince from the pain in my ear.

  “Didn’t you hear us talking about it?”

  “The signal was spotty for a few minutes. We had to reboot our ear pieces, I’m coming your way.”

  “No, Cross stay put, we’ve got her and if we need you we’ll call you. Blowing our cover could be dangerous right now.”

  “Fuck, okay keep me posted.”

  I look over at Colby and nod my head. “Let’s do this.”

  “Chantel, split your tasks with Sky. One of you needs to follow Colby and the other has to stay with me in the party in case anything comes up.”

  “Got ya, no worries.” Is the response we receive.

  “Don’t be mad if I have to use some drastic measures to distract him.”

  “I’m not going to like this am I?”

  I roll my eyes and saunter away from Colby and over towards the guard. When I get a little closer I start to stagger my step. The big brute immediately zeroes in on me like I expected.

  “Don’t forget the guys tailing you. You need to make them lose you in the crowd before you approach the door.”

  “You say that like I’m a rookie. I’m wounded.” Colby laughs then goes silent. He loves a good challenge.

  When I get closer to the security guard, I know I need to give Colby a few minutes to finish his task of losing the security detail. If they’re as good as they should be, one of the guard’s eyes will be on me. With how packed the dance floor is it shouldn’t be too difficult to lose the others.

  “S’cuse me good sir. Can ya point me to the little girl’s room?” I slur.

  He crosses his arms, less than amused. He points to the alcove right next to him without uttering a word to me.

  “Silly me.” I pat his chest and wink at him.

  I run into the bathroom and stand there for a few moments before exiting back towards the guard. They need to think I was in here for a purpose. When I go to walk past him, I “trip” and topple towards the ground. Immediately hands are on me and I’m being lifted into the air.

  “I think you’ve had enough tonight. I’m going to call someone to get you out of here.”

  “But, why can’t you take me home big boy?” I wink at him and smile.

  “I’ll pass.” He’s about to lift up his radio when I grab his face and pull it towards mine. For a small girl I have some strength, so when he tries to pull away I hold him to my lips for a good 15 seconds before he’s prying me off of him.

  How gross, his breath is something I never want to experience ever again and I’m just praying that Colby got in there because I’m fairly certain I’m going to be ejected from this soiree like anticipated.

  “That’s it, you’re out of here. Hey man, get her outta here.” He yells to one of his buddies. When he tries to haul me out, I shake his grip from my arm and state that I can leave of my own accord.

  The guard is following me to the exit when I hear Colby in my ear. “I’m spanking your ass for that later.”

  I look around to make sure the guards not close enough to hear me. “You say that as if I enjoyed his putrid breath.” I fake gag. “Please tell me you’re in.”

  “I’m in, hang around in case I need back up.”

  “Of course, good luck.”

  “Shit I gotta go!”

  I look back one last time before I walk out the door and see my father directing Nadia through the same door Colby just snuck through.

  “Colby, Colm’s right on your heels with Nadia.” I try to warn him.

  Silence.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Colby

  Groaning, I try to blink my eyes open. Slowly they comply but my vision is more than a little blurry. Where the hell am I? I try to sit myself up, but the movement causes a blinding pain to erupt in the back of my head.

  “Careful, he hit you really hard,” Sydney whispers in a small voice.

  Rubbing at the back of my head, I’m not surprised to find my fingers red and tacky when I pull them away. “Motherfucker.”

  A small chuckle emits from my captive friend. I can’t see more than a few paces in front of me, but I can dimly make out shapes and the picture my head is painting isn’t a good one. Syd and I aren’t the only ones in here. If I had to hazard a guess, I think we’ve stumbled upon the missing shipment of kidnapped girls.

  “Colby, I can’t hear the others.”

  I turn and can just see Sydney a little off to my left. “I can’t either. I’m not sure if it’s just a communications nightmare in here or whether the blow to the head did it.”

  She shakes her head. “I wasn’t knocked out and mine has gone silent too.”

  Great. That means the devices are useless. “Did you see who did this?”

  “No,” she admits. “I think it was Gomez, but there was someone else in here too. Whoever it was, he must have been waiting by the door on the inside and whacked you the second you were through.”

  “Shit,” I grumble, knowing that the game has changed yet again and as always, not in our favor.

  “There’s something else too,” she whispers. “Look to your right.”

  I do, trying to ignore the throbbing in the back of my skull and come face-to-face with the stark open eyes of Nadia lying just inches away from me. For one breathless second, I think she’s dead and all sorts of insane thoughts run through my head. I don’t fancy trying to get myself out of a murder charge and here I am, practically lying on top of the body.

  She blinks, her eyes welling up and then I wish she was dead, for the wailing that floods the small space. Jesus, I change my mind, I would listen to the sex moans any day to avoid this crap.

  Muted pleads for her to keep quiet come from all around us.

  “Please, they’ll be so angry if they hear you…”

  “Don’t, I beg you. I can’t take another beating…”

  “Oh god no, shut her up, please…”

  So many voices, and they all sound so young and so scared. I don’t know how I’m going to get them out of here, but I need to think.

  “Sydney, I need you to tell me exactly what happened down here.”

  She takes a deep breath and begins. “Colm had just bought me a drink at the bar when Nadia arrived. He said he would be back in a minute and to wait right there. We were by the entrance to the hallway at the time, so I took the initiative and popped my head around the door when no one was looking. The light from the hallway shone on one of the girls and I admi
t, I lost my head and tried to help her. Stupid I know,” she berates herself.

  “I get it,” I assure her, beyond pissed that she hadn’t called it in but hey, I probably would have done the same thing in the heat of the moment.

  “That oaf Gomez was in there,” she drops her voice lower. “He was holding down one of the girls Colby. He was between her legs… I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “Fuck,” I hiss, my anger reaching an all-time high. The Mayor doesn’t want to be involved in this but one of his top security detail is enjoying the perks? Fucking dirty bastards, the lot of them.

  “I took my gun and held it to the back of his head. He stood slowly, and I thought I was going to have enough time to get him away, call for backup… but there was someone behind me. No idea who. He held a gun to my temple and told me to drop it or he would start shooting the girls. They looked terrified and I was outnumbered, I had no choice.”

  Nodding, I finally manage to get myself into an upright position but that’s as far as I’m going to get. My ankles and knees are bound together and attached to a length of chain that I suspect holds all of us together.

  “He blindfolded me and tied me up with the others. Moments later you opened the door, but they were already on edge. I only knew it was you because for a second my earpiece worked, and I heard Bri telling you to be careful.”

  I can’t think about Bri right now. She’s going to be pissed. Best friend and boyfriend, kidnapped in one swoop? Ah shit, she’s going to go crazy, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

  “He also told me I was going to be sold off with the other girls, so you know, I have that to look forward to,” she jokes but I can hear the tension in her voice. Over my dead body will she be taken like that. There must be a way of getting out of here.

  “So, we’re still at the party?” That will be easy enough for the guys to pinpoint at least.

  “No, they moved us. I’m pretty sure we’re in the back of a van. There was definitely a breeze and the door slamming shut behind us sounded deep, metallic. Plus, we had to climb up. I’m sorry Colby, I don’t know much more than that. It wasn’t until we were moved and left alone that I managed to work the blindfold down.”

  In other words, we’re fucked. We could be anywhere by now. “How far have we travelled do you think?”

  “That’s the thing,” she replies earnestly. “We haven’t gone anywhere. I have no idea what they’re waiting for.”

  Nadia’s sobbing gets louder. “Nadia, listen to me. That isn’t going to help.”

  “He lied to me,” she chokes out and I try to feel sorry for her but really, what did she expect.

  “Well love, that’s what the bad guys do.”

  “He said he loved me.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” I shrug and awkwardly pat her thigh.

  “I was ready to give him everything, all he had to do was say the words. Why did he do this to me?”

  “Look Nadia,” I begin, trying to hold onto my patience. “Colm is bad fucking news, it shouldn’t…”

  “Colm? I’m not talking about Colm.” She wails, her body shaking against me.

  My nose scrunches up and I turn to Sydney to check I’m not losing the plot. “It was Colm that put her down here… right?”

  “I think so…”

  “No,” Nadia sobbed. “Colm said Calvin was waiting for me down here, he brought me to the door and let me through, but he left.”

  Confused isn’t the word. “What are you saying?”

  “Calvin hit you, I saw him do it. He whispered something in my ear before he slapped me to the ground and left.”

  An icy feeling was seeping into my veins as the full weight of the situation hit me. “What did he say Nadia.”

  “He said, thanks for the fuck. We’re done with you now. You and the prick over there,” she sobbed. “You’re fucking dead.”

  “Fuck,” Sydney muttered, her fingers working uselessly at her binds. “We need to get the hell out of here.”

  Calvin had double crossed us, and I had no way of telling Bri. I just hope they’ll find us before it’s too late.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Briella

  I’m furiously pacing the path just outside the building. What the hell could be going on? What the fuck is taking so long?

  Just a short twenty minutes ago I got kicked out of the party and Colby and Sydney have been radio silent. Something must have gone horribly wrong and all I want to do is march back into that party and find them. But that sort of thinking can get me and the team killed. So, I stay put against my better judgement.

  “Found them!”

  “Where?” I nearly shout and head back for the building ready to attack.

  “Outside. Colby just got carried out the back door and placed in a large white cargo van. We haven’t seen Syd yet but I’d bet all my money on her being in there too.”

  I’m running towards the entrance and realize there’s no way they’ll let me back in. Not to mention god knows what will happen once I’m in there. They need me to rescue them, not end up shits creek like they are.

  I decide to go down the side of the building because going in is not an option. “Sky, tell me there’s a side door, or hell a window, that I can sneak into. There’s a fence that’s practically as tall as the building and there’s no way I can climb it. I look down at my gown and make a quick decision. My hands grasp the side and rip it to mid-thigh. Then I take a knife that’s hiding snuggly next to my gun in a hidden holster and rip the fabric straight across. It’s still not ideal, but I don’t have time for a wardrobe change right now. It’s making me channel my inner Buffy… the movie not the show.

  “There should be a door five feet before the fence.”

  As she says it I can see it in the distance. I send a prayer begging for the door to be open… but I’m not that lucky. As I’m turning around ready to scream in frustration, I hear my name called.

  “Bri, wait up!” When I turn around I see Calvin trying to catch up with me.

  “What the hell’s going on Calvin? Why didn’t you warn us?”

  “I had no idea. But I know how to get them, come with me.”

  He knocks three times on the big door before a behemoth of a man opens it. Calvin runs through but I stay where I’m standing not knowing who the hell to trust at this point.

  “Bri, let’s go.”

  A war wages in my head. On the one hand I can fly blindly through this door and trust the man I’ve known since infancy and pray it all works out. I’m not a blind faith type of person, but I can’t forget that my friends are in serious trouble. The other option is to reconvene with what’s left of the team and make a game plan on how to get them back. But by then Syd and Colby could be long gone… forever.

  That makes up my decision right there.

  “Colm’s out back and if he sees you it won’t be good. He knows who you all are and he’s less than pleased.”

  “Shit, are Colby and Sydney okay?”

  “They’ll be fine if we hurry. We don’t have much time.”

  I run in the building behind him and he leads me down a hall. I look back and don’t see the guard, he must have stayed at the door. When we reach the end there’s a heavy metal door that Calvin cracks open and peaks outside.

  “The coast is clear. We only have a few minutes to get your friends out.”

  I take a deep breath and pull the gun from the holster strapped to my thigh. “Let’s do it.”

  We rush out the door and straight for the creepy ass van.

  “I’ll cover you. Hurry up.”

  I pull the door open and am met with over a dozen eyes all locked on me. My eyes immediately lock with Colby’s and thank fucking god he looks unharmed for the most part. He’s towards the back and there’s a lot of people in this small van to maneuver over.

  “I’ll get you all out, just give me a minute.” I don’t know how I’m going to get them all out so fast, but I’m determined to do
it.

  I grab my knife and cut the rope from Colby’s legs, then do the same for Sydney who is thankfully right next to him.

  “Fuck, how’d you find us.”

  “There’s no time to ask questions. We have to go now. Calvin’s right outside the van.”

  “That son of a bitch.” Colby growls as he dives through the mass of people and out into the night.

  There’s a few grunts outside the van that have my adrenaline pumping, so I pass my knife off to Syd to start untying all the women. As she starts to work on Nadia’s restraints, I rush to see what’s going down. I find Calvin in a heap on the floor with his hands up in surrender as Colby aim’s his gun between his eyes.

  “You thought you could double cross us?” Colby booms.

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t betray anyone.”

  “Is that the lie you’re going with? Nadia told us everything!” Calvin winces as Colby nails him with the butt of the gun.

  “Fucking whore… can’t trust women.” He looks at me and smiles. “Any of them.”

  “So, this was your operation all along? You just tried to pin it on Colm?” What the hell is Colby talking about? Calvin just helped me get to him, surely this can’t be true… but then why is my gut telling me to brace myself?

  “Well…”

  “What the hell is he talking about?” A door creaks and we all look towards the giant metal door Colm is walking through. “What the fuck Calvin?” He takes in the scene in front of him and pulls his gun from the holster. His eyes furiously shift person to person unsure of who to train it on but ultimately going with Colby. He clearly needs more confirmation his brothers a dirty scoundrel. Cue the eye roll.

  “Oh dear brother,” Calvin laughs condescendingly before throwing a look of disgust at his brother. “Did you think I was your lap dog? Bending to your every whim without question?”

  “What are you talking about? What the fucks going on Cal?”

  I’m starting to get the impression that Colm is just as in the dark as we are. Either that or he’s a damn good actor because confusion is written all over his face and dare I say I believe him?