Page 43 of Memphis Heat
“Go clean up.Then join us for a nap before we have to leave.”
Remmy couldn’t speak.Wasn’t sure he could walk either, but he managed somehow.Minutes later, they all piled in the big bed.Thankfully, FOP headquarters realized wolves wouldn’t nap alone and provided for more than the normal barracks Remmy had been used to.They only had a few hours before all hell was going to break loose.He figured his were going to be the most peaceful of any in the pack.
Chapter Five
Remmy’s intel appeared to be spot on.“No wonder we could never find them,” Carson observed.“They weren’t renting one space after another.They own them all.All they had to do was change to a new warehouse complex.”
Remmy spread the maps out on the war room table.“Looks like Umarov, Ltd bought up a lot of the warehouse district after the crash of ‘08.Their headquarters is here -- central location, standard office building.Nothing to call a lot of attention to it.Lots of trucks going in and out, work crews to construction sites.One of their other subsidiaries has the contracts for a lot of the city maintenance.”
He pointed to the plot map.“It’s surrounded by a storage facility, so the whole area’s secure.They advertise full video surveillance.From the pictures on their website the place looks tighter than most military bases.Twelve-foot chain link fence, razor wire at the top.The only way in and out is through the front gates, here, and a side entrance here at the back.”
“We go in when the auction ends,” Terra suggested.“Make us up phony IDs for one of the winning bidders.I know you can do this, Remmy.”She flashed way too much breast at him.“I’ve seen your work.”
Agent Miller shook his head.“That’s what they’re expecting.It’s another trap.”
“Of course it’s a trap.It’s always a trap.”Jarod pulled on his vest and spun to the weapons locker.
Snorrasan straightened, pushing back from the maps.“What are you doing?”
Jarod bared his teeth.“The one thing no one will expect -- I’m going in now.”
“What?Wait!You can’t!”Terra shrieked.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
“You -- the fence, the razor wire, how will you get in?”she squeaked.
Jarod loaded a full clip in the rifle and shoved half a dozen more into his vest pouches.“Watch me and see.”He straightened to his full height, looming over her.“Unless you’ve got some reason to want to stay here?”
“We’re all coming,” Snorrasan answered for her.“The entire squad.”He hit the intercom.“Grab your gear.We’re moving out.Now!”
Carson nodded his agreement, his grin wolfish.This time, they knew right where the mole would be -- directly in the line of fire.
* * *
With Snorrasan, Callahan, and Jarod driving the SWAT Team vans -- their official company designation -- the three heavily fortified trucks pulled up at the back gate of the compound -- and kept on going.Jarod smashed into the gate at its weakest point, near the center where the sliding gate overlapped the stationary side.The big truck barely groaned at the impact and the trucks rolled in, leaving a string of security guards firing at the trucks from behind.
Jarod left them all in his wake, aiming right at the front of the office building.And he didn’t stop.With a crash like fireworks on the 4th of July, he drove right through the front of the building.Men came crashing in behind them from everywhere -- armed men in full battle gear, much like their own.As the first shots rang out, Jarod shifted to battle stance.Lips pulled back in a full-on wolf sneer, he shouted, “Belle!”through his half-formed muzzle.“Belle!”
A high, keening howl drifted back to them, and Jarod took off on a run.
“Wait!”Terra yelled.“You’re going to get yourself killed.And us with you!”
Jarod ignored her.With Belle’s scent of anger and fear heavy in his nostrils, there was no way he could deny his instinct to go to her.Callahan knew what was riding on this.He’d keep an eye on the wench.
Sporadic outbursts of gunfire punctuated the scene.Jarod fired on the run, taking down a couple of Alexi’s pack as he homed in on Belle.Second-level balcony, overlooking the main warehouse.She shone like a beacon to the shore on a wind-tossed sea to him.The wolf inside Jarod clawed to be freed, to kill, to get to his female.Jarod let it have free rein.
He charged up the steps, taking them three at a time, firing blasts from his assault rifle where he could, ripping out the throats of anyone who got in his way.The tear of rending flesh and bone only fed the beast.Alexi gripped Belle’s neck in one big, meaty hand.Belle had partially shifted, trying to assume her battle form, but Alexi’s grip kept her weak enough she couldn’t quite complete the change.
More gunfire sounded behind him, and Jarod felt the sting as bullets hit him twice in the back, which only enraged his wolf more.With a howl of pure rage, Jarod turned to see Terra firing her weapon in rapid succession, appearing to aim for Alexi, but missing by a wide margin.She couldn’t be that bad a shot.When he turned back to Belle, he saw she’d taken one in the arm as well.
“What the fuck are you doing?”he bellowed through a haze of rage and desperation.In her human form, even partially shifting, Belle was exceedingly vulnerable.
“Stay still.I’ll get him this time.”Terra took aim again, but Jarod jumped into her line of fire, taking a bullet in the chest that would have surely ripped through Belle’s head.
His vision went dark and the room swam in a sea of red.A blood-curdling scream sounded behind him as Belle saw him take the hit.“I will rip your head off, bitch!”
The change in Belle’s voice told Jarod she’d shifted to battle form.Evidently rage and terror had given her the edge she’d needed to escape Alexi.
