Page 29 of Cowboy
The man sighs, pulling out a phone. He taps the screen a few times then turns it toward me. It's another video of Caoimhe, but this time she looks worse. Her face is bruised and she’s holding yesterday’s newspaper.
“That’s not proof of life,” I snap. “How do I know she’s alive today?”
He shakes his head. “You’ll have to take my word for it. Now, give me the USB drive.”
I resist the urge to punch this fucker in the face. "You'll get the drive when I see Caoimhe," I say firmly, standing my ground. "That was the deal." I’m not leaving until I know she’s alive.
The man's eyes narrow dangerously. "You're trying my patience, boy. Perhaps you need some motivation."
He snaps his fingers, and suddenly I'm surrounded by armed men, their weapons trained on me. My heart races, but I force myself to stay calm. I can't show weakness now.
"Last chance," the man says coldly. "Give me the drive, or things get very unpleasant for you."
I'm about to respond, when a loud explosion rocks the warehouse. The man's head whips around, his eyes wide with surprise. I seize the moment of distraction, drawing my gun and diving behind a stack of crates.
Gunfire erupts, the sound deafening in the enclosed space. I hear shouts and the pounding of feet as chaos breaks out. Through the mayhem, I watch as Jer's team moves in. There’s no hesitation. They take out everyone who’s in their way.
"Ciarán!" I hear Tank's voice through my earpiece. "We've got movement on the east side. Looks like they're trying to escape.”
"I'm on it," I reply, already moving.
I weave through the warehouse, using the crates as cover. The sounds of fighting fade as I make my way toward the east exit. As I round a corner, I see four men running toward a car. They’re alone. No women, no children, and no Caoimhe.
Fuck. Where the hell is she?
“We’ve got these,” Travis assures me. “Go check out the warehouse and see if you can find any evidence of Caoimhe being here.”
I don’t need to be told twice. I turn on my heels and race toward the building, but I stop when I hear the laughter of one of the men. “You’ll not find her, Cowboy. She’s already gone. Long gone.”
My blood runs cold at his words. "What do you mean, gone?" I demand, grabbing the man by his shirt and slamming him against the wall. "Where is she?"
He laughs again, a cruel sound that makes my skin crawl. "Shipped out, pretty boy. She's on her way to her new owner as we speak."
Rage and fear whirl inside me. I pull back my fist, ready to beat the information out of him, but Travis' hand on my shoulder stops me.
"We need him alive, Cowboy," Travis says, his voice tight with barely controlled anger. "He's our best lead."
I release the man, stepping back as Travis' team moves in to secure him. My mind is reeling. Caoimhe was shipped out? The thought of her being trafficked, sold like property, makes me sick to my stomach.
"We need to move, now," I say to Travis, my voice urgent. "If she's been shipped out, we might still have a chance to intercept."
Travis nods, already pulling out his phone. "I'm on it. Melissa, I need you to track any shipments that left the docks over the last twenty-four hours. Focus on anything unusual or off the books."
As Travis coordinates with his team, I pace the warehouse, searching for any clue, any hint of where Caoimhe might have been taken. But the place is empty, devoid of any sign that she was ever here.
"Cowboy," Jer says as he comes to stand beside me. "We've got something. One of my contacts just reported a shipment leaving the docks over twelve hours ago. It wasn't on any official manifest."
Hope flares in my chest. "Where was it headed?"
"Looks like it was bound for the Port," Pyro replies. "Could be they're planning to move her out of the country."
“Twelve hours ago?” I hiss. “That shipment could be fucking anywhere.”
Jer puts a hand on my shoulder, his voice calm but firm. "We'll find her, Cowboy. We've got every available man on this. If that shipment's still in the country, we'll track it down."
I nod, trying to push down the panic threatening to overwhelm me. "What about the men we captured? Have they said anything useful?"
Travis shakes his head, frustration evident in his eyes. "Not yet. They're trained, probably ex-military. It'll take time to break them."
