Page 37 of Ham

“I’m scanning the docks now,” said Sly. “I’ve got three South American ships carrying fruit, but two are scheduled to leave in the next hour. Doubt it’s them. Four car haulers out of Germany. Damn.”

“Damn? Damn what?” asked Luke.

“I think I found it. It’s from Russia.”

“Why the fuck do we have a Russian ship in our ports? We have sanctions against their goods,” said Hex.

“It doesn’t have anything on the manifest. The port authority reported towing her in because her engines gave out. I think that’s our ship.”

“Shit,” muttered Eric. “How many men on that ship?”

“Reported? Twenty-nine.”

“And we have four,” said Eric, shaking his head.

“Twelve,” smiled Hiro. “The eight from Micronesia are approaching L.A. now. They could land and help.”

“Do it,” said Eric. “Get them to land as close to the shipyards as possible. Keep Thomas, May, and Sadie on the plane, but get the rest of them to that ship.”

“Where are we supposed to meet them?” asked Chief.

“We were just told to get into the docks, and we’d know when we saw it,” said Ham. Christopher pulled back on his arm and nodded toward a ship.

“I think that might be it,” he said. “The Koroleva. The Queen.” The men held back, hiding between two of the massive warehouses on the dock. When a black sedan pulled up, followed by a black SUV, they knew it was their team.

Bodhi got out first, stretching his arms in the air and turning as if to crack his back. He spotted the others and signaled that they would board.

“Tapping you guys into the team boarding the ship,” said Hiro in their comms.

“We see you,” said Ham. “Give us numbers when you can.” There were slight head nods, the men slapping backs and making crude gestures.

“This is a damn nice ship,” smiled Magnus. “Must take thirty men to run it.”

“Close. We can run her with thirty-five. We were about to ship out, but as the boss said, we want you to taste what we can offer. Believe me, I’ve been tempted to try the flavors,” he laughed. “Damn. Nothing like young firm flesh.”

“So, you ain’t in it for the oil?” asked Remy.

“Me? Fuck no. Oil is dirty and too political. Pussy is universal,” he grinned. “Taste it, smell it, try it. When it’s old and used up, you let it go or kill it. Easy.” Bodhi reached for the back of the man’s neck, but his brother gripped his arm, shaking his head.

“Just find the girls,”said Chief.“We’ll clear the decks. Get them out, and we’ll disable the ship.”

Remy tapped his ear twice, continuing to follow the man down the long corridors. So far, they hadn’t seen the first camera. When he reached a steel door, he opened it, and light flooded the room. There were at least forty young girls seated on the cold steel floor. Most were only wearing bras and panties; some weren’t even old enough to wear bras.

“Take your pick,” said the man.

“That girl ain’t even twelve,” frowned Magnus.

“Eleven. Pure virgin. Bet your cock will break her in good,” he laughed. Bodhi gripped the back of the man’s neck in a brotherly way, then tightened his hold, shoving him into the room.

“Go ahead. No cameras.”

Snapping the man’s neck, he let his body fall to the floor as the girls stared at them, terrified.

“Do you speak English?” asked Remy. Most of the girls nodded at the man. “We’re not here to harm you. We’re here to get you out. Are you from America?”

“Yes,” said one girl. She appeared to be thirteen or fourteen. “We’re mostly from California, New Mexico, and Texas.”

“We’re going to get you back to your families,” said Cade.

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