RELENTLESS

by Christy Reece

  Their eyes broke contact, and Aubrey mentally shook herself. She was here for one reason only, to experience as much as she could about rescuing human trafficking victims. Since she wouldn’t be allowed to do any filming, she would need to absorb every nuance and emotion to be able to relay the experience in words.

  Determined to put aside the emotions rioting through her, Aubrey took out pen and paper and did just that.

  The rescue team is headed to Colombia. Even though I’m not allowed to film the event, the sheer enormity of what is about to happen could never be captured on film. These people with hearts of lions are putting their lives on the line to save others.

  The excitement is palpable but tempered with a steely determination. Every face has a similar expression of intent. Their eyes fiercely convey their mission. They will save these victims and bring down their perpetrators. Why do they do what they do? What brought them to this time, this moment?

  I hope to be allowed to learn that from each of them.

  The group consists of eight men and women, all in their twenties and mid to late thirties. Physically fit, yes, but there’s more than that. There’s strength, there’s compassion, there’s purpose.

  What made these people into warriors? Who are they? Why them?

  “All right. Listen up.”

  Startled, she glanced up to see Liam Stryker standing at the front of the plane. A large monitor had lowered from the ceiling and the blueprints of a house appeared on the screen. The exterior, red brick and modern looking, gave no indication at all of the evil that went on inside.

  “The schematics are on your tablets. As before, we have the approval of the Colombian government, but this time we’re going in without local authorities knowing.”

  “Why’s that?” Jazz asked.

  “Turns out a clerk in the constable’s office is related to one of the traffickers. He’s the one that informed the traffickers we were coming and when.”

  “But Myron…” Jazz began.

  “Wasn’t needed. And knowing him, he didn’t give up anything.”

  “That was a message for you.” Gideon’s grim tone matched his fierce demeanor.

  “Yes.”

  There were nuances behind that word that held a world of bleakness. If she’d thought Liam Stryker looked intense before, that was nothing compared to the fury burning in his eyes now. Someone had crossed him. And that someone would pay.

  “That’s for me to worry about at another time. For now, let’s talk about how we’re going to get these people out. We can’t let them down again.”

  He turned toward the screen. “There’s a hill behind the house. We’ll set up camp there and do reconnaissance. We’ll go in an hour before dawn. Jazz, you and Ms. Starr will stay at the camp and coordinate with the aid workers.”

  No. She hadn’t come on this trip to stay behind. Aubrey opened her mouth to object but stopped when she caught Asher Drake’s eye. He gave a quick, subtle shake of his head. She immediately understood his meaning. Now was not the time to state her case. The OZ leader had promised that she would be allowed on this raid. She believed he would keep that promise. He would speak with Liam Stryker on her behalf.

  She returned her attention to the other assignments Stryker made, impressed with his thoroughness and the confidence he exuded. This man had given this operation careful thought and would do everything within his power to make sure it was successful.

  For the first time, Aubrey allowed herself to think about the victims who were about to be rescued. Normally when she was in the middle of a project, she focused on the work. She had a deep empathy for each victim but allowing herself to be drawn into their sadness wasn’t helpful in getting their story told. She had to maintain distance, not only for the story, but also for herself. But for a few moments she gave thought to who they were, what they’d experienced. Would they recover? Could they?

  Though her time with her captors had been limited, she had experienced pain, degradation, and a violation no human being should ever have to endure. Her memories of that time were crystal clear. Even after years of therapy and self-care, she fought against them daily.

  She had interviewed numerous trafficking victims. All ethnicities, genders, and ages had been touched and ravaged by the evil industry of selling and using human beings for profit. Recovery was possible, but there would always be the memory of horror. That never went away.

  “Any questions?” Stryker asked.

  “Do we know how many victims yet?” Jazz asked.

  “Latest intel says between eight and fifteen. All women, no children.”

  “That’s a small blessing,” Aubrey said.

  Every eye turned to her. It was the first time she’d spoken to the group as a whole, and her words had captured everyone’s attention. Several operatives nodded their agreement.

  “Yes,” Stryker said.

  She had only ever seen the aftermath of child trafficking. The loss of innocence in a child’s eyes was one of the hardest things she’d ever witnessed.

  “Here’s the plan.”

  As Stryker gave out assignments, Aubrey studied each person’s demeanor on learning their place in the rescue. They got it. No one was here for the glory or for the adrenaline rush. They were here to save lives. There were no egos here.

  The rest of the flight, Aubrey made notes, trying, without success, to think about something other than the similarities between Liam Stryker and the man who had saved her life. The man she’d loved for so long.

  Could this be Lion? Could he have forgotten her? Could it have been that easy for him? If so, everything that she thought she knew about him had all been a lie. Had she been obsessed for twelve years with a man who had never really existed?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Bogota, Colombia

  Camp setup took less than an hour to accomplish. Thick gray clouds and a light mist of rain gave a welcome relief from the smothering heat. They were two miles from the target house. The hill was high enough to give them an excellent view of the entire estate. Despite the rain, visibility was excellent. The trees surrounding them were thick and full of foliage, giving plenty of cover. Even a drone hovering right above would not spot them.

  Things were ahead of schedule. The plan was to breach the estate at three thirty-five a.m. local time. That gave them two hours to observe before heading down.

  Two telescopes were aimed at the house. Each of the eight operatives took turns manning them. Due to the terrain an underground escape should not be possible this time. Though Liam didn’t discount anything, he was confident that there would be no escape-way for them.

  The telescope had revealed no activity within the last hour. He’d watched two men exit earlier. Both appeared to be in their mid-forties. Based on the luxury car they drove away in and their clothing, they were affluent. Rich scumbags, poor scumbags. Didn’t matter. If they thought to return for a repeat visit, they would be disappointed.

  “Got a minute?” Ash spoke behind him.

  “Sure.” He glanced over at Sean. “Take this, will you?”

  When he and Ash headed away from camp, he knew what was coming. Couldn’t say he hadn’t expected it, but that didn’t mean the discussion would be any less irritating.

  “Rain’s a blessing,” Ash said.

  “Yeah. Last time I was here, thought I would melt.”

  “Mosquitoes don’t seem as bad either.”

  “There’s that.”

  “You know she needs to go along with you.”

  Liam sighed loudly. “She’ll hear the audio. She can’t film anything anyway. She can view from a telescope and catch almost everything going on. This is too important to risk a screw-up, Ash.”

  “We’ll make sure she doesn’t.”

  “Why is this so important to you?”

  “I believe what she does is important. The more people see the ravages of human trafficking, the more they’ll be aware of the danger. We see the horror every day. We know it exist
s. The average person has no real idea. If her work can prevent one child or one adult from being taken, then we need to do what we can to help her.”

  Arguing against Ash’s reasoning was pointless. Mostly because he didn’t disagree. The more people were aware of the dangers, the better the chances of fewer people being abducted.

  “My question is,” Ash continued, “why are you so opposed? You got something against her?”

  “I don’t even know her.”

  “Everyone else has made a point of talking to her, welcoming her to the group. You’re the only one who hasn’t bothered. Is it because of what happened in Kosovo?”

  “This has nothing to do with Kosovo. This has to do with the fact that not only is she not a trained operative, she looked like she was going to slide out of her chair back at headquarters. She might make good documentaries about the ravages of human trafficking, but she’s not ready to see it up close and personal.”

  “She’s had quite a few shocks over the last couple of days. Had a lot of things thrown at her in a short time span. I think we can give her some slack, don’t you?”

  He stared hard at Ash. The man was the leader of OZ but this was Liam’s op. If he said no, Ash wouldn’t like it, but he’d accept it. However, he also knew that Ash would never suggest something that would put a mission in jeopardy.

  He blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine. Fine. She can go, but I still want Jazz to stick to her like glue.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. Both Jazz and Serena seem protective of her.”

  Liam stared out past the trees, past the canyons, into the gray mist. “Yeah, she seems like a nice person.”

  “What’s wrong, Stryker? It’s not just the filmmaker. You blew me off before, but I know there’s something else. What is it?”

  “I think this might be the last one, Ash. If I don’t find Cat this time, I’m done.”

  “What do you mean, you’re done?”

  “I can’t keep doing this.”

  “You’re going to stop rescuing trafficking victims?” Ash snorted loudly. “You won’t stop…you can’t. Rescuing is in your blood.”

  Ash was right. He couldn’t stop rescuing, didn’t want to stop. But he would stop putting his heart and soul on the line. Every single time he’d gone into a rescue, there had been that chance he would find her. If he didn’t this time, he had to let her go. There was no choice in the matter.

  “No, I won’t stop, but Xavier said something not too long ago that got me to thinking. I have no life, not really. Seeing you and Jules together, Sean and Serena, I’m glad for you guys—you deserve all good things—but it just makes me realize how much I’ve put my life on hold.” Shaking his head, he sent Ash a grimace of a smile. “Sorry. Don’t know why I’m all the sudden philosophical.”

  “You have every right to a life, Liam. And I’d say Cat would be the first one to tell you that.”

  “Yeah, she would.” He glanced down at his watch. “Almost go time.”

  Giving him a slap on the back, Ash grinned. “Let’s go put some assholes out of business.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Getting that off his chest had helped. He would focus on the op, save the victims, and take down some human scum. And then, if Cat wasn’t there? Well then, he’d get on with the rest of his life. Hollowed out? Yeah, maybe. But Ash was right. Cat would be the first person to tell him he needed to get on with his life. It was time to do just that.

  The night was thick with darkness, obscuring all light. If not for the occasional streetlight, she would have had no idea if they were on the road or in the middle of a rock quarry. The Jeep bounced over the rough terrain, increasing the nervousness in the pit of her stomach. Aubrey sat in the back, gripping the seat. She wasn’t frightened, but she did feel anxiety. This wasn’t anything she’d ever experienced before. In film school, she’d been taught to embrace the moment, become the moment, to be able to reveal its authenticity. She was definitely doing that. This was as real as it got.

  “Don’t worry,” Jazz said softly beside her. “The adrenaline rushing through you will subside. Just take even breaths.”

  “Thank you.” She owed both Jazz and Serena so much. They had talked with her about what would happen. Even though she had been in the meetings when duties were assigned, she couldn’t say she had understood everything. The two women had explained in detail what to look for, what she would see, and what might happen.

  She wore what was apparently standard uniform for OZ—camo pants, black T-shirt, and a Kevlar vest. She had asked about carrying a weapon but both Jazz and Serena had shaken their heads at the request. She couldn’t blame them—they had no real idea of the extent of her training. But she wouldn’t be defenseless. She knew plenty of ways to defend herself if it became necessary. She didn’t expect to have to do that but she was going into an unknown and dangerous situation. Not being prepared for any contingency would be foolish. She didn’t do foolish anymore.

  “When we get there,” Jazz said, “just stick with me no matter what. We’ll go through the back, along with Gideon and Xavier.”

  She nodded. They’d gone over the drill several times with her. She didn’t resent the repetition. Everything they did, everything they said, was meant for one purpose—a successful mission.

  They turned all lights off as the vehicles approached the house.

  “All looks quiet,” Ash said from the front seat of the Jeep.

  “Yeah,” Xavier answered. “Maybe too quiet.”

  “Listen up,” Liam said. “Xavier’s right. It does seem too quiet, but we go in as planned.”

  Hearing the voice in her ear that sounded so much like the voice in her dreams was surreal. How many times had she woken with that voice in her head? That had to be Lion’s voice. It had to be. Didn’t it?

  “You ready?” Jazz asked.

  Aubrey nodded, refocusing. Whether Liam was Lion or not didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that he, along with the rest of these operatives, was about to rescue a dozen women, thereby giving them another chance at life. She had dreamed about seeing an operation like this firsthand one day, and that time was now. She was more than ready.

  They’d parked on an access road about three hundred yards from the property. Tall hedges surrounded the property, obscuring much of the structure, but as they approached the yard, she could see glimpses of the house through the greenery. All looked peaceful.

  Staying close to Jazz, Aubrey lowered her head and moved forward with the group. They were ten feet from entering the property when the first shot rang out.

  “Take cover!” someone shouted.

  Aubrey had barely realized what was happening when she found herself flying through the air. She landed with a thud, and then a large body fell on top of her.

  “Stay down,” Liam Stryker growled into her ear.

  Since she couldn’t move and could barely breathe, that wouldn’t be a problem.

  Shots fired rapidly for several breath-holding seconds, and then all was quiet.

  “Eve, you see him?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah. Give me a sec.” And then, “Found him.”

  There was the sound of glass breaking and then complete silence.

  No one moved for what seemed like forever. Aubrey, needing to breathe, whispered softly, “Mr. Stryker? Do you think you could get off me now?”

  “Shh.”

  She took that to mean no he could not.

  They waited several more seconds and then he lifted himself slightly off her and said, “Jazz, you copy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where are you located?”

  “About ten feet to your right.”

  “Crawl this way. Then take Starr and hide behind those bushes until this is done.”

  “On my way.”

  “But I want to see the—”

  The body on top of her covered her again, and he whispered fiercely in her ear, “Nobody gets killed on my watch. Got that?”


  “Yes…okay.”

  It probably was only a couple of minutes, but it felt like an eternity before Jazz said behind them, “I’m here.”

  Liam rolled off her and Aubrey was finally able to breathe.

  Jazz grabbed her arm and said, “Belly-crawl with me over to the bushes.”

  Following Jazz’s lead, Aubrey wiggled on her belly to the tall hedges.

  “We’ll stay here until we get the all clear,” Jazz said.

  “What happened?”

  “We missed a lookout. He was up in the attic, so we didn’t see him.”

  “Why did he stop shooting?”

  “Eve took him out.”

  She hadn’t known where Eve had gone, only that she hadn’t been in the two vehicles with the rest of them. Apparently, she had been a distance away.

  She raised her head slightly and looked at the house. Lights were on in several rooms, but she heard no sounds of violence like she’d expected.

  “Why is it so quiet?”

  “Your earbud probably got dislodged when Liam tackled you.”

  She felt a hand at her ear and then a slight pressure. Voices and noises exploded. In awe, Aubrey listened as the rescue went down.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Easing the door open, Liam peered inside the room. He jerked back a half second before a bullet would’ve hit him head on. They’d experienced little resistance but this guy in the attic was apparently intent on staying the course. Eve had handled one of the attic shooters quite handily. Now it was Liam’s job to convince this other guy that he didn’t want to go the same route.

  “Habla English?”

  “Yeah,” a man answered in a distinctly Midwestern accent.

  “There’s no way out for you. The house is surrounded.”

  “Then I guess we negotiate.”

  “Not sure what you’ve got to negotiate with. Looks like we’ve got all the cards.”

  “Oh yeah? What about this?”

  “Please help me. I don’t want to die.”