Page 171 of One Eye Open (The BlackWater)

“Fuck.” Aidan growled stepping away and looking at the scene.

“How many?” He asked Sam as he walked up to him with a grave look.

“Eleven are dead. Two are critical. I doubt the rest will make it to hospital.” Sam said. “The bodyguard’s the only one not seriously hurt, he just got shot in the shoulder a couple of times.”

Aidan shook his head and pulled his phone out.

“You’re not gonna like this.” He said as Brandon picked up.

“Tell me.”

“Eleven are dead, two critical, the rest don’t look good.”

“What about Maddie and Max?” Brandon asked.

Aidan winced. “Max has been shot in the back, he’s with medics now. Maddie is missing.”

“What?”

“Max said it was a set up. He said they knew they were coming.” Aidan stated.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Brandon growled. “What about Tony?”

“He got shot a couple of times but he’s probably the best out of the bunch. Sorry mate.” Aidan said but Brandon didn’t have a reply. “The scene is secure, we’ll get forensics in as soon as all the injured are out and let you take over.”

“Thanks Aidan.” Brandon said hanging up and burying his face in his hands. How the fuck was he going to explain this to Cole?

“What?” Cole asked looking at him, arms folded leaning against the doorframe.

Brandon shook his head staring right back at his cousin. “Maddie is gone.”

“What do you mean ‘Maddie is gone?” Cole snapped.

“We had an ops. I don’t know what happened, we’re pulling the details now…”

“Where the fuck is she?” Cole shouted and half the office behind fell silent.

“We don’t know. Max said it was a set up.” Brandon said sounding far more calm than he felt.

“So you sent her there with Max?” Cole snarled.

“It was her ops. She requested to be there.” Brandon stated.

“With her leg as it is? You thought that was okay?”

“She wasn’t in charge. Max was. We sent two Tactical Teams. She had specific instructions to stay in the van until the site was secure.” Brandon said.

“So what happened?” Cole asked, his eyes flashing in fury.

“Like I said it was a set up. They knew we were coming.”

Cole snarled clenching his fists. “What ops? What case?”

“It was the trafficked girls. We had intel more were coming in tonight.”

“You mean Marcus? The man connected to the Omega Project?”

“Yeah.”

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