Page 79 of Bound By Valor

“Officer Grayson,” he nodded, “Are you the one patrolling the alley?”

“Indeed, I am,” she spoke in a low voice. Something about her gaze told me she was either pining over Sebastian, or imagining stabbing a voodoo doll of him. I couldn’t quite figure it out.

“Ranger, time,” Zarek mumbled.

“Right. We’re heading in,” then Sebastian turned to Officer Grayson, “Don’t fuck up, Grayson.”

Grayson gave him an amused smile and we all walked over to the open manhole, our flashlights in our hands. Sebastian climbed in and spoke through the earpiece, “All clear. Proceed.”

We all jumped in one by one. I followed in last and felt hands on my hips as I hung from the manhole. Zarek helped me down and kissed through the mask again.

“Shame that I can’t feel your lips,Mi Corazón,” Zarekwhispered and suddenly I wished I could see his face.

“Good luck, Zarek. Come back to me in one piece,” we clunked our helmets together, a brief respite from the chaos that was to follow.

“I love you, Leora.” He whispered. Unfortunately for him, the whole team heard him through the earpiece. His declaration was followed by a series of ‘aw’s and ‘ew’s.

I saw him roll his eyes behind the goggles, “Sentrix mute.”

“Too late for that, Mr. Rivera.” I chuckled.

I saw his eyes crinkle with laughter and he pressed another masked kiss on me. “I fucking love you, Dr. Leora Mateez. Please, don’t let me fall.”

I nodded gently, my gaze never leaving his, “I love you, Mr. Zarek Rivera. And I won’t.”

I didn’t bother muting, but no one responded in my ear. Our bubble burst just as Zarek unmuted himself.

“Ghost, lead,” Sebastian said and Zarek strode off ahead of the group.

I clipped the flashlight to the side of my helmet and remained at the back of the spear formation, closely stepping forward with Amelia.

The tunnel was now slightly lit and I could see how ill-maintained the tunnels were. The cement was cracked and jagged, the walls were damp and humidity filled the narrow space. We came across a path crossing ours, and Zarek held up a fist. Logan and Dylan peered through and swiftly angled their gun towards the left and right side of the crossing path.

“Gunner, left side clear.”

“Titan, right side clear.”

We continued on. Every now and then Amelia and I would turn back and study the darkness. No one had followed us in. No one was anticipating our arrival. After the mile trek, we finally reached the manhole underneath Warehouse 67.

THIRTY-THREE

Leora

“Titan, take the ladder out,” Zarek’s voice was barely audible but the earpiece amplified the sound a fraction.

Dylan slid one strap of his backpack out, reached into it and revealed a ladder that was collapsed into a small cylindrical shape. He opened it up and assembled it within a few seconds.

Sebastian bent down and propped Delara over his shoulders. Delara was now sufficiently close to the ceiling of the tunnel and was silently pushing the manhole cover upwards. The short screeching sound of metal against concrete made me wince. We couldn’t afford to be heard.

“Hold on, folks,” Delara said in her signature British accent.

She finally propped the cover up enough that light streamed in the darkness of the tunnel. Carefully sliding it off, she poked her head out of the hole andlooked around.

“Team, we’re clear to head up. We’d be in an aisle of goods spanning east to west. I don’t see any mercenaries,” she said.

Dylan handed over the ladder to Delara and she temporarily fixed it over the rim of the manhole.

It was go-time.

---