Page 75 of Instinct & New Identity

“I don’t like it,”Archergroaned.

“Then stay here, butI’mgoing,”Itold him and made my way to the door.

I went down the hall to grab a gun and some ammo my dad kept in his bedroom.AfterIloaded the clip and grabbed two more,Ibegan to lock the safe up.

“Son, you need to be smart about this,” my dad spoke from the doorway.

“I know,Dad, but if this wasMom, you would do the same thingI’mdoing right now,”Ireminded him. “I’mnot going to be stupid, butIalso can’t just sit around here and wait.”

“Then take some extra gear.”Mydad walked over to his closet and grabbed aKevlarvest, a multi-tool, and a taser.

I took what he gave me, thanked him, and made my way to the front door.ArcherandWadestood there waiting.

“We do this together,”Archerdecreed.

“Get in the car, assholes,”Wadegrunted. “I’mdriving while you two come up with the plans.”

* * *

In the car,Wade,Archer, andIcame up with three different plans based on the information we had.Wehad also calledAxelon the way there, and he was going to meet us at the locationParkerhad sent us.Whenwe walked up,ParkerandHessinformed us of their plan.Admittedly, it was very close to ourPlanA, so we agreed.

Axel wasn’t there yet, soIwould let the others fill him in, becauseIwasn’t waiting for him to go in.

“I’m ready.Let’sdo this,”Itold everyone.

“If you wear that vest, these guys may think you’re working with police,”Parkeradvised.

“I’m a bounty hunter and work in security.Ithink they’ll understand,”Icountered.

“He’s not going in without it,”Archerargued, andParkerheld up his hands in defeat.

“Here’s your earpieces.”OfficerHesshanded all of us the micro-sized secure comms pieces.

I put it in place and then waited for the signal.Wewere positioned about a block away from the entrance gate of the warehouse.Itwas on a large property with a massive parking lot to the left and a wooded area behind it and to the right.

When ready,Ibegan walking the block and a half toward the warehouse.WhenIgot closer,Iscanned all of my surroundings carefully, just in case there were people set up near the perimeter.Isaw no one, soIproceeded with caution.

I made it through the entry gate and almost to the front entrance of the building when my hackles raised.Everythingabout this was too easy.Igrabbed my gun from behind me and readied it at my side asIopened the main door.Unlocked, it slid open easily.Icrept slowly inside a moderately sized vestibule area that must serve as a lobby of some sorts, and closed the door behind me before moving to another set of double doors on my left.

I entered into a large open space filled with giant blue steel drums set out in rows.Somerows were just single tubs next to a few forklifts.Otherrows had the drums double stacked in groups of four on top of pallets.Inthe middle was a long row of open space.

It smelled of gasoline and chemicals whenIfirst walked in.Whateverthe combination was, it was potent.Mygun still at my side,Islowly made my way through the warehouse, sticking closely to the giant blue drums and using them as a shield of sorts.

AsIturned the corner around one of the drums,Inoticed a chair in the middle beside a forklift withCatsitting in it, tied up.Shegasped when she saw me.

“It’s a trap,Vince.Youhave to leave!” she said frantically.

I’d suspected that, butIwasn’t leaving without her. “It’sokay, baby.Thecops are outside and so areArcherandWade.We’vegot you.”Itried to calm her down, but her eyes widened at that statement as if that was not the news she wanted to hear.

AsImoved forward to her to assess her condition,Ispoke into my comms piece. “Ifound her.Releasingher now and will be outside soon.”

Reaching for my knife,Icut the ties on her wrists then moved to do the same to the ties around her ankles.

Her hands now free, she leaned forward to wrap her hands around my neck in whatIassumed was a hug, but then she whispered in my ear. “Ifthey can hear you,Ihave to be quiet.”Hervoice was urgent and frightened. “Theyhave a cop on the inside helping them.Heorchestrated this with the boss guy.It’sa set-upVince.They’regoing to kill us both.They’regoing to set the barrels on fire.Thecops are not here to help.”

I froze.Theyhad a cop on the inside.Acop who was very likely standing outside pretending to be ready to help.

I needed to let my own men know without alerting the cops, who could also hear me.Ithought back to my military days and remembered there was a code we would use in the event of a betrayal by someone we trusted.Usually, an informant that turned on us or an asset who we realized later was feeding us false information.IknewArchermay not get it, butWadewould.Ijust hoped he could pass on the message toArcherin time.

---