Page 35 of Ground Zero

I respond. "Affirmative."

He answers, "On my way over."

We are staked out at a small farmhouse about four miles from the city limits of Live Oak. The location was pinpointed last night, and we surrounded it before midnight. Now, we play the waiting game on visual confirmation that the women are, in fact, inside.

As we watch, I think about whether this first case will be the norm or if it will be a unique situation. As military special forces, we did not operate inside the United States but rather carried out covert missions overseas. Although the tactics are identical, and the rules of engagement are similar. Do not fire unless fired upon. We are not operating outside the law here. Something that will need to be addressed in the after-action report for future missions on US soil.

On this mission, we have a workaround. Since Live Oak is a small town without a municipal police force and relies on the sheriff's department for law enforcement.

Sheriff Deputy Zane Lockhart, a former SEAL himself, took Siri's statement at the gym, and when he met us, he realized the sheriff's office could take advantage of having our teamwork the kidnapping with him.

We were deputized and went to work with him, processing the crime scene. All hard evidence collected was sent to a police lab in a larger neighboring town for analysis.

Then the next day, we hit the pavement looking for perp information. Surveillance cameras are not on every corner, so gathering intel was slow. But most everyone knows each other, and they were willing to speak to us, so we were able to ascertain some critical details on the traffickers.

But the real breakthrough came through when B. A. joined us.

"I am in."

"That is fucking fantastic news! How soon can you start?"

"I am on thirty days leave right now. I'm going to call my commander as soon as we hang up and start the paperwork. I should be out before my leave is over."

"Man, timing is everything. I am going to need your expertise immediately."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you in Alabama to work up a profile for me."

"That is what I do, and I am damn good at it too."

"I'm counting on that. I don't have all the facts yet, but it looks like a snatch and grab by human traffickers. Meghan Meadows or Nina Fox will contact you with flight information."

Hardcore hired a jet to fly him straight here. On the flight, he was brought up to speed, and the first contribution he made was pivotal.

He recommended putting Siri under hypnoses to see if she could give a physical description of the men she saw. She agreed, and I sat in on the session. It was remarkable what she remembered.

Meghan took her description, made a composite of the two men, then ran it through facial recognition software. Once they were identified, she scanned the social media platforms and found them. They were actively recruiting young women between the age of twenty-one and thirty-five for overseas modeling gigs.

“See the world and earn a living.

You pay for nothing, we cover your cost,

and take a percentage of your fee.”

“Unhappy with your circumstances?

Wish you could get away ?

Too much stress in your life?

Take a European vacation on us.”

Nina informed us, "We will have no problem finding our next mission. There are thousands of comments and tens of thousands of likes."

Once Brody arrived, he reinterviewed Ann, and she gave him her wife's email password. Then Dark Thirty was able to recover some deleted correspondence with Bee, Ann's wife, and Rita, one of The Stallion dancers. They had signed up for the modeling gig, but then they changed their minds at the last minute.

The emails from the 'modeling agency' addressing her 'no show' became darker and darker. Warning her that their gigs had been booked, and she had signed a binding contract. "You cannot back out."

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