Bow Down(51)

Night rolled around, and it was ten minutes before we had to go.

I walked downstairs to the very bottom floor. The men were gathering with Kasia in the largest tunnel, prepping the tactical van and gearing up.

“I’m coming,” I said to Kasia.

She looked up from strapping on some body armor. “No.”

“I’m coming,” I said again. “This is too important for me to sit on the sidelines. Besides, I need the girls to see that I’m still committed.”

She bit her lip. “We can’t lose you, Lou. I don’t always agree with your moves, but you’re the reason we’re all doing this. If something goes wrong, we can’t afford for you to get yourself killed.”

“Then keep me back,” I said. “I’ll coordinate the attack from the van. Whatever you want. But I have to come.”

She stared at me for a second, and I knew she wanted to argue. But I knew that she knew that I was coming no matter what she said. In the end, she was my second in command, and I was the leader of this operation. If I wanted to go, I was going to go.

“Fine,” she said. “You stay back. That’s an order.”

“Roger that.” I grinned at her.

The men finished prepping. I strapped on body armor, though I probably wasn’t going to need it. We piled into the tactical van, really an armored truck, and rolled out.

I checked my watch. Twenty minutes until show time. We were cutting it close, but it was the best we could do. We didn’t have very many options in front of us since this was all happening so fast.

I couldn’t help but think about Wyatt. I didn’t know where he was at that moment, but I knew he was thinking about us. He didn’t know that I was going, and I wasn’t going to tell him. He’d try to talk me out of it, and I was afraid he would succeed. If anyone could convince me to stand down, it was him. I didn’t want to give him that shot.

The docks were only a ten-minute drive. Once there, we parked about a half block away and deployed. One team went north around the perimeter, hoping to flank the mafia, while the other team went along the tops of the cargo crates, hopping from spot to spot.

Kasia went with the upper group. I stayed behind in the van, monitoring police chatter and helping to coordinate.

I hadn’t been in the field in a long time. I still wasn’t really in the field, but it was the closest to action I’d seen since that meeting with my father. That meeting felt like it happened so long ago, although it was really only about a year.

“Top group looks clear,” Kasia reported.

“North group looks clear,” Roger Dean said, the captain of the mercenary squad.

“Police all quiet,” I said.

“This is going to be easy,” Roger Dean joked.

“Save it for after,” Kasia said. “We have some killing to do.”

Arrayed in front of me, I had their heart rate monitor data on one screen and the security camera feeds of the docks on another. The men all seemed incredibly calm for such an intense mission. Even Kasia’s heart rate was low, like she was out for a brisk walk.

These were professionals. These were trained killers that knew what they were doing. They were the reason we were winning.

“Feeds look clear,” I said, scanning through them. There was nothing, just empty space all over the place.

I frowned. Why was there empty space? There should have been a ship and a crew unloading it. The ship was scheduled to have arrived already, and the unloading crew was supposed to be nearly finished pulling the cargo off.

I scanned through the feeds some more, searching for the spot where the ship was supposed to be.

“Top almost in position,” Kasia said. “Keep calm. Keep low. We’ll hit when the north is ready.”

“North t-minus two minutes away,” Roger Dean said.

I kept scanning. There was nothing. Just a big, quiet space filled with cargo containers. They were all shut tight, locked and sealed.

Then, I noticed it.

“Top group in position. Waiting on you, Dean.”

“Almost ready. Go when prepared. We’ll be there shortly.”

“Top team moving out.”

“Wait,” I said. “Kasia.”

The containers weren’t locked. Kasia couldn’t see them from her position, but the containers down at ground level were all unlocked and standing partially open.

“The ship isn’t there,” I said. “Kasia.”

“Top team moving,” she called out. “We’re dropping in.”

“Wait,” I said, frantic. “The containers.”

I heard the pops of automatic gunfire tear through the air. Two heart rate monitors went dead suddenly, two men I barely knew.