Page 56 of Secret
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The warehouse smelled of something that Kasey didn't even want to try and place. The mask over his face did little to hide the stench, and he tried to breathe through his mouth instead of his nose, but that wasn't much better.
Beside him, Xander held up a hand, stopping him from moving forward. They had to wait for the right moment, and it was going to take Dyson and Bryon longer to get into position than it had them.
They'd been in town for a day and a half, spending most of it in the hotel rooms going over the plans that Bryon and Carter had made for them. It was detailed, and Xander said it reminded him of his days in the Army.
Kasey wasn't so fond of plans. He liked being able to go in and just do what needed to be done and get out, but he understood why this one had to be so organized. This sting was huge, and the danger was tenfold from what it was when doing a single person sting in a quiet neighborhood.
The Nevada heat already had sweat dripping down his spine, but he ignored it, focused on the doorway across the hall from them, waiting for the flash of a small red laser light to give them the go.
The fact the building was deathly silent was a good sign. It meant no one had caught on that the alarms were off or that the cameras were looping. Bryon had been right. From what he could tell, these guys were amateurs, hired to watch doors, not handle a major attack. It didn't matter who they were. Kasey was ready to take them down and make them pay for their role in the sex trafficking.
If the count was correct, there were close to forty women and children being held inside. They didn't know for sure how many of each because they'd only seen heat signatures in the holding cells area. He still had no clue how Carter had found out about the place, but whatever source he used, he trusted.
Xander nudged him gently with his arm, nodding in the darkness toward the area where Dyson and Bryon were supposed to be. Xander must have heard them because a few seconds later, the red light flashed just briefly, giving them the sign to go.
Both teams moved out of the shadows, but hugged the wall. They had to get through one makeshift doorway and there they would find the men. If they followed their normal pattern according to surveillance, there would be three men on either side of the room, spaced out along the cages, and one guarding the door. Bryon would take out the one at the door by stabbing him in the neck with the drug-filled syringe as the rest of them rushed the others. It wasn't going to be easy. Hopefully, they could get the first guy down quietly and not alert the others, but if the first guard made a sound, it was going to be hell trying to take down the other six. Kasey didn't think for a second that they could do this without someone being hurt. Hopefully, it wasn't them.
With his gun ready, he watched as Bryon pushed open the wooden door just an inch, peeking into the larger room. He glanced back at them and winked before pushing the door open just enough for him to get through. By the time Kasey made it through, Bryon had his hand over the man's mouth and the needle in his neck, lowering him to the ground.
Thankful that the dose of medication was stronger than usual, and the man would be paralyzed longer just in case something went wrong, Kasey followed Xander, while Bryon, and Dyson took off the other direction.
They were several feet behind the first guard. He leaned against a piece of chain link, focusing on something in his hand. Xander had his gun in one hand, the needle in the other and was about to make his move when a loud scream of warning came from the other side of the warehouse.
The guard closest to them turned, his eyes going wide as Xander leaped forward and slammed the needle into the man's chest before he could get his gun up.
Kasey didn't wait to see what was happening. He took off running, heading for the next guard. It was only seconds before he saw the man. "Put the gun down. Don't make me shoot you," Kasey shouted at him as he skidded to a stop, facing the man with about ten feet between them and both of them aiming a gun at the other. "Don't do it. I promise I'm a better shot. Drop the gun and we'll let you live, keep hold of it and I will shoot you." Kasey was scared to death but forced back his fear. His team depended on him. "What's it going to be?"
"If he doesn't take you down, I will." Xander was behind Kasey.
Kasey didn't turn to look. He trusted Xander to have his back. "You can't shoot us both. Be smart and toss the gun across the room."
The man looked scared to death. Kasey doubted he'd ever shot a gun before, let alone killed someone. "You want to live, don't you? Toss the gun over there." He shrugged toward the far wall.
Xander walked past him, making a wide circle around the man with the gun. "Which one are you going to shoot first?"
"Fuck!" the guy screamed as he glanced over his shoulder as if expecting someone to come save him.
"We know about your partner down there. He's scared, or he would have come to see what's going on. He's probably trying to escape as we speak. No one's going to save you." Kasey nodded to the wall again. "Toss the gun and you live, keep pointing it at us and you die. Easy choice if you ask me."
Kasey hoped they could still catch the third guard. He had plenty of warning, and if there was a back door to the place he'd probably headed straight for it. The whole situation was fucked. They didn't know if he was getting help or what. "Fuck, I gave you a chance." Kasey took one step closer and looked as if he was going to pull the trigger.
The guy dropped the gun, his hands flying up. "Okay, okay."
"Go," Kasey yelled at Xander. "I've got him." Before the man could react, Kasey had him pressed against the chain link fencing, the gun to the pervert's head as he jammed the needle into his neck.
He watched the man slump to the ground.
Worried about Xander, Kasey snatched up the man's gun off the ground and shoved it in his hoodie pocket as he started to run toward where Xander would be.
"Don't come closer. I'll shoot one of them." The last guard had his gun pointed at a chained area filled with naked women and children.
Xander laughed. "We aren't cops. You shoot one of them, we shoot you, we save the rest of them. You die either way."
"Drop the gun and step away from the fence and we let you live. You've got five seconds to decide. One, two, three—"
The man jerked back, pressing his back against the fence as he pointed the gun back and forth between Xander and Kasey.
