by January Bain
“Great. Talk later.”
“I’m moving us farther away right now then Celine and Beau can move in closer. We’ll be able to follow the van with impunity. Great idea, Gabby, I’m impressed. The gang will think we’re still here, fool them into thinking we aren’t listening in if they suspect it, and we can follow.”
She nodded, a wave of intense feeling rushing in, making her aware the worst of the rollercoaster ride was just beginning. Too many unknowns, too many variables to be sure of who knew what, who was fooling who, and who was going to get hurt. Her brain screamed, please, dear God, keep Sara safe. She kept it bottled up as the seconds ticked by, waiting for Celine and Beau to get into position. Tick tock. Tick tock.
Twenty-seven gut-wrenching minutes later, the decoy pair pulled into position on Pender Street, a block from the café.
“Now, we’re ready,” Cole said, the muscles around his mouth strained with tension.
“Good.” Gabby nodded.
They waited together silent, tension rising, the minutes and hours slipping away.
“They’re on the move!” Cole near shouted in her ear, sitting up straighter in his seat, his sunken eyes lit up with an almost unholy fire as he turned and grabbed her arm.
Gabby shook herself awake. She’d been drifting, the lack of sleep catching up.
The van’s tracking device showed it was indeed on the move, leaving the parking spot behind the café. Cole started the truck. They drove down the side street slowly, staying well behind the van, choosing to pull onto Pender Street a few blocks down from the café to avoid detection. Fuck, was this it?
She was wide awake now, her vision riveted on the road ahead.
A hush descended in the cab of the truck that began affecting her breathing as they made their way farther and farther through the heart of Vancouver, on their way to the docks. The ten-minute drive seemed like a lifetime. She struggled to draw a full breath into her lungs. Just stay calm.
Cole’s phone rang and he answered over the Bluetooth speaker phone to avoid taking his hands off the wheel as he turned onto Waterfront Road.
“Cole, it’s Nils. You alone? I have something important to share.”
“You can say whatever it is in front of Gabby. We have no secrets.”
“Gabby?”
“Yeah, my new partner at TETRAD. We’re working the case together and following a suspect right now. Why are you calling?”
“Okay, I thought about what you said, about it all starting with saving one child, the one right in front of you, and I admit, Sara’s plight got to me. You know, if each person just helped one other, the whole world would improve. I want to help you, and I’m sorry I didn’t do it earlier. I’m the bearer of good news, buddy. I’ve got what you need. Only one better. A double sting, a Trojan Horse I’ve built into the source code. The bastards won’t know what hit them when it leads right back to them. Ready to go right now! I know you’re almost out of time.”
“What! I thought you couldn’t do this thing? That it went against your grain? But yeah, great, though I’m still hoping we won’t need it. I have news for you, too. It depends on how tonight plays out—the next few minutes are critical—but I think we might have an alternate solution. Bring these guys down before the deadline. In fact, they’re maybe leading us right toward her right as we speak.”
“That’s great! Good luck. I’ll catch up later. Stay safe.”
“Will do. And thanks again. You may have just saved someone’s life if this falls through and we have to go that far.”
Tension increased for her as the city blocks flew by the window. Was this it?
“You okay?”
She didn’t trust herself to speak, just nodded, clenching her hands so tight together her fingernails dug into the palms. Was she even cut out for this kind of work? Right now, a cheating husband seemed like child’s play.
“Don’t worry. They have no idea we’re on their tail. And Jake and Quinn will be right behind us when it goes down—if it goes down. They’re trailing us right now.” Cole pointed at his side mirror. Gabby checked and spotted them in the black SUV.
“What if the van’s filled with those homemade bombs?” The question was out before she could hold the words back.
“Unlikely they put any back in after the police investigated. Too chancy. Most they’d have is one or two in their possession.”
“Not exactly reassuring.” Only takes one to kill. “Cole, if we make it out of this alive, I want to say that, yeah, I’m prepared to give it another shot. The sex, wow, it was amazing. Unbelievable, in fact. And if that’s supposed to be one of the tests for beginning a relationship, that we passed it. With flying colors.”
Cole snuck a glance at her then reached for and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight. The electricity sparked between them making her feel reassured for the first time since he’d left her bed. “Thanks. That’s all I can ask.”
The van ahead of them, driving slower now, turned onto the final stretch that yawned like a peninsula out to the sea. The causeway had water surrounding it on three sides, and commercial ships sunk deep in the rich blue water from their heavy loads, looking like lumbering over-size rafts instead of the wonderfully tall sailing ships of decades past. Sailors and merchant men must miss them, she thought, and not for the first time, wishing the century she had been born into had not been so focused on function over style and form.
“You gonna call her father?” she asked, as they kept their careful distance from the van, the tracking device beeping away on the dash further jarring her stretched nerves. She could not imagine how difficult this had to be for Sara’s dad. Then she remembered that Cole had been through it and her heart broke for him. Of course, she could give him another chance. Help him heal.
“No, I don’t want to raise false hopes. That wouldn’t be fair. Soon as we know anything, I’ll call Jon. He’s going out of his mind with worry, calling and texting a lot. Worried about every little detail. Not unexpected. I get it.”
Cole’s voice sounded stressed though he was working hard to contain it. Jon had called three times in the past few hours. The deadline was looming. Cole let her hand go while he instructed Siri to make a phone call to Jake in the vehicle shadowing them.
The overcast day had been threatening rain. Now, it began to pour, the water laden clouds dumping their moisture, obscuring their view of the buildings and containers. Gabby’s head began to ache in earnest, the wipers thudding back and forth on the windshield pulsing with her pain. She could barely make out the van, parked in front of a low, long building. The two men got out and went in through one of the front doors.
Cole parked, kept the motor running. “Yes, they’ve gone into a large building that looks as if it houses offices.” He turned to her. “Grab those binoculars out of the glove box.”
Cole’s cell phone rang, the tone one that set her nerves jangling under current circumstances. He set the call to speaker as well so she could listen in.
“Hey, Jon. Yeah, I was going to call you in a sec.”
“Cole, I can’t wait any longer! We’re running out of time. My God, it’s Sara we’re talking about. I have to go to the police. Right now, or it’ll be too late. They moved up the deadline. We’ve only got until midnight. That’s less than two hours away! I’m calling them—right now. Sorry, but I have to do this!” Jon’s frantic voice, raw and filled with pain stabbed at Gabby. The anguish of a father came over the line loud and clear.
“No, Jon, don’t. Just give me a little bit longer. We’ve got a solid lead. In fact, we’re tracking a van right now that might be leading us to her. And we’ve got the source code. ‘Satoshi’ just called. He’s perfected it and agreed to help us. He’s got it all ready to go in a moment’s notice. If Sara’s not where we think she is, then we can use it immediately. Make a trade. But this would be better. Catch them unaware. Get her away from them right now. We’re tracking them as we speak.”
“My God, really? Oh, fuck, I don
’t know what to do. I’m going out of my fucking mind! Rose is under doctor’s care. She’s hysterical, Cole, I don’t know what to do. What do I do?”
A short silence, then Jon continued, “Okay, I’ll give you another hour. But you got to keep me fully informed, tight in the loop. Call soon as you know anything, anything at all. Dear God, please bring her home safely, Cole, I beg you.”
“Of course.”
Day Four: 10:19 p.m.
Gabby had found what Cole needed. She handed the binoculars over. He adjusted them to his vision and kept them trained on the doorway the men had vanished into.
“They’re coming out now carrying some boxes. Damn it, what if that’s all this was? Picking up shit for Chang?” Cole sounded pissed off and worried.
“No, they’re going back in.”
The seconds stretched. Each one an eternity. The eleventh hour loomed.
“There! They’ve come out another door at the far end of the building near that fleet of containers. I’m going in. I can’t see shit from here.”
He reached under the seat and pulled out a gun. Tucked it in the waistband of his jeans to keep it dry. Gabby’s stomach lurched. Suddenly, it was all too serious.
“We’ll go to the other end of the line and check if they come out there,” Jake said over the speaker. The black SUV drove past them a few seconds later.
“You wait here,” Cole warned.
The truck door opened and he jumped down to the pavement, ignoring the rain that drenched his T-shirt and jeans within a few seconds.
Gabby watched as he hurried forward to the last spot where the gang members had been seen. She made an instant decision, checked her Taser was in her pocket and got out of the truck. The rain pelted her as she ran toward the line of containers housing cargo destined for the big ships docked in the harbor. Was Sara in one of them? Were they being led right to her?
Shivering with the cold and dread, she raced after Cole. She followed him down the row of containers, some rusty from use, rain bouncing off the metal a steady drone of discord. She lost sight of him in the deluge. Wiping the rain from her eyes, hair plastered to her scalp, she blinked repeatedly to be able to see through the waterfall. A heavy squeaky door being forced open sent her in a new direction.
Hurtling around a corner, she caught sight of a door angled open. This had to be it. Her heart racing, her headache long forgotten, she crept forward, her fingers clutching the Taser.
“Let her go!” Cole shouted.
She couldn’t stop herself. She ran full-tilt toward the sound, to come to a dead stop just out of sight of the entrance. Gabby held onto the side of the chilly container that loomed many feet above, inching her way forward until she could see in the narrow space between the opening. What she saw froze the blood in her veins.
Cole faced the two men. Tommy had Sara, a gun pressed to her head. The other gang member, the one she knew as Lee, looked ready to charge at Cole, gun out as well. What the fuck to do?
She looked down at the ground, searching for something to use as a diversion. She picked up a heavy rock, stepped back and threw it with all her might at the side of the cargo container. The sound echoed.
“What the fuck! Who’s out there?” Tommy shouted from inside the container.
Jake and Quinn came running out of the swamping rain.
“He’s inside with Sara. Tommy and Lee. They’ve got guns,” she shouted at them.
Jake and Gabby raced around to the open doorway of the stark, claustrophobic space that kept out most light and stank of untold horrors. Quinn hung back just out of sight, his gun at the ready. The two gangers were now out-numbered. Jake and Gabby stood side-by-side with Cole, stepping up and over the short ridge of metal into the cargo hold. A house undivided. Would that make the gang members even more dangerous? Or would they have the sense to give up?
A siren began screaming, adding to the pandemonium, proclaiming its imminent arrival. Thank God someone had called the police.
“Stay back,” Tommy warned, edging around Cole, Sara pressed tight against him, held hostage by an arm around her throat. Her eyes were wide with terror, her skin pasty pale. Gabby’s heart squeezed in sympathy. She backed up closer to the doorway, away from the others. Hang in there, Sara.
“Let her go,” Cole said, using the siren to his advantage. “The police are on the way. You can’t get away with this. They’ll hunt you down, no matter where you go. Hurting Sara will only make this all end badly for you. Let her go now. I’ll say you cooperated. Get you a better deal.”
Indecision slackened Tommy’s posture. He stopped dragging Sara toward the doorway. The young girl was terrified, the only sound tiny whimpers as he jerked her about like a puppet.
But he had to know he was trapped, right? Didn’t mean he’d see reason, though. A trapped animal could be the most dangerous one of all.
Everyone on the team froze as Tommy continued to inch his way with Sara toward the mouth of the container. He was going to get away—no one could take a chance or Sara could get hurt.
A slight noise from outside the container made Gabby swing her head around to discover the source. She caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure of a man dressed all in black with an umbrella held over his head standing in the doorway, making it hard to see who it was.
“What’s going on here, Nephew?” Chang’s voice echoed as he lifted the edge of the umbrella enough for Gabby to recognize him. He had a gun in his hand. Pointed right at them.
“Uncle Chang! Good you’re here. Keep your gun on these bastards,” Tommy said, relief clear at the sight of his uncle. “I’ll get our collateral safely away. She’s our golden ticket, Uncle. Going to make us a lot of money from the big guy in China.”
“What’s the meaning of all this? Vu said to come here tonight. That something was going down I needed to know about. What’s going on? What have you done?”
“I can explain later. We have to go. Now, Uncle. No time to tell you everything. But it’s important. This is going to make us a lot of money—I promise. Just keep an eye on these assholes until I can get away.” Tommy dragged Sara farther toward the doorway as he pleaded his case with his uncle, frustration clear in his voice.
“Explain now, Nephew,” Chong’s voice went hard as steel in its intensity, his eyes looking to drive black spikes into Tommy’s slender frame.
“Uncle, there’s no time for this. I’m family—your nephew. Just help now, please. It’s a good thing, I promise, good for everyone. You’ll be pleased. You have my word on it.”
“No, explain first.” Chang shook his head, keeping his gun held steady, still pointed right at the TETRAD crew.
The mask dropped, Tommy’s expression changing as though wiped with a sponge.
“Fuck, old man, you need to drop the act, get with the twenty-first century world. It’s not about being so careful. You’re out of touch. Obsolete. It’s foolish to think the modern world wouldn’t catch up with you. With all of us. And you let it happen!” Tommy was angry now, his words biting into the older man who froze like a statue at the bitterness spilling out, enduring the cruel lashing. “Your time is past, Uncle. But help me and you can still save face and we can all make money. No one else needs to know. I can make you look good.” His voice became wheedling, his tone whiney. Self-entitled.
Gabby’s breath froze. What next? Would Chang throw in his lot with Tommy? Would he still side with him? The guy was a gangster. Had his finger in a lot of illegal enterprises.
The old man seemed to age a decade right before her eyes as he took in the depth of the betrayal. The gun trembled in his hand. His face paled for a split second and he almost looked lost. Gabby found herself sympathetic. She squelched it, he had many other crimes to atone for. Chang gathered himself, then, drew himself up taller.
“I work for clan. For family. You know nothing of honor. Nothing!” Bitterness exploded from Chang with his words. “How could you betray your family like this? Exposing us to this shit! Don’t you rea
lize what you’ve done? The depth of harm you have now brought onto the Chang dynasty? You’ve wiped out decades of advancement for us. Brought dark times because of this deed. But it’s not too late. Confucius say, ‘be not ashamed of mistakes, and thus make them crimes’. There is still time to make this right, nephew. Let the girl go. We are not kidnappers. We don’t harm women in this way. We bring them to Canada for a chance at a better life, once they pay off their passage. That is only right. We are not a charity, but a business. We do much good.”
“Fuck Confucius and all his stupid sayings!” Tommy’s nostrils flared with disgust.
“He’s right, Tommy. Give it up now and we can talk about this. Work out a deal. You can help us catch this big guy, your connection, the man safe in China expecting you to do his dirty work for him here. Testify against him. It would go a long way to reducing a sentence—you might even get probation. What do you say? Can we sit down and talk? Like gentlemen? Keep your family from facing further disgrace?” Cole interjected, his tone of voice low and reassuring. A feat Gabby doubted she was capable of at the moment. The sight of Sara in her tattered and dirty prom dress, the stained mattress on the floor, the sad remnants of rotting food and neglect sickened her.
Tommy’s expression hardened further, sparks blazing from his dark eyes, his hand tightening around Sara’s throat. The girl’s face paled as she wiggled within his grasp, grabbing at the arm restricting her airway. Gabby swallowed, trying to dislodge the fear growing in her throat.
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m taking her and leaving, with or without your help, Uncle. Think I need you? Big man will make things right. Bigger man than you. You’ll see.”
Hang in there, Sara.
As if she heard Gabby’s silent entreaty the girl stopped struggling, some focus visible in her eyes once more. Good. She needed to be ready. They could not allow Tommy to move her to another location. She would be murdered for certain.
