Page 89 of Twice the Rivalry

“Send ‘em up,” she ordered, and she dove in to connect to the drone. It was a handy piece of equipment for their missions, though it cost them a pretty penny..

Within seconds, the drone was in the air over the house, and she was able to see the heat signatures inside the home. “Five heat signatures on the top floor,” she told them, before she instructed Jag to decrease the altitude. “From what I can tell, most of them are small, probably children, one per room.” When the drone got to the main level, she waited for all the signatures to come through. “Four adults, and two children. The children are in the kitchen with one adult. The three other adults are moving around the main floor.”

“There’s a basement window on the opposite side of the house,” Taz told them. “See if we can get anything from there.”

“The basement is concrete,” Glitch warned. “This drone prototype is still experimental, and not great with those kinds of walls, remember?”

“Just do the best you can, Glitch,” Simba said simply. “Code, we set up cameras around the house when we got on the grounds earlier. You able to get any images from them?”

Glitch gave him access to her system with a click of a button, then went back to checking the house. The drone’s sensors weren’t penetrating the concrete, but she refused to let it upset her. She had the determination to see this through. She half listened to Code as she continued her work. Vaguely, she heard him say, “We’ve got movement on the front porch. Looks like one of the sons.”

Glitch let out a small sound of triumph when she saw heat signatures on screen. “I’ve got a reading,” she told them. Then she scowled. “We’ve got half a dozen, one on top of the other. I think they’ve got people in cages in the basement.”

There was a round of curses at that. “Alright, this mission just expanded beyond our original targets,” Simba said grimly. “Time to take out the trash, boys.” There were murmurs of agreement.

“Oldest son just cleared the front gate and got in a car down the block,” Code announced. “No other movement.”

“We need to move,” Ursa murmured. “If he’s bringing another girl back, we need to get in position to intercept him. And if he’s bringing back a buyer…” He let that trail off.

“We make this quick, we make it quiet, and we get them free,” Simba told them simply. “Glitch, be ready to call in law enforcement once we’re clear. Let them handle the clean up.”

“I’ll be ready,” she assured him. “The only signatures I saw were in the cages, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anyone else down there, so be careful.”

“We copy. Jag, you and Vulture take the lower level,” Simba instructed. “Taz, you and Copper take the upper level, eyes open for kids. Tiger, Warg, you take the perimeter. Ursa, you’re with me. We’ll take the main level. Glitch, you’re our eyes in the sky, keep that drone up. Code, same on the cameras.”

“Got it,” she and Code said in unison.

Tension beat through her blood as her team moved silently toward the house. This was the hardest part of operating remotely. If things went to shit, she would be helpless to do anything but listen to it happen. It occurred only once in their time together, and she could live her life without it happening again.

Her body was tight as she relayed information over the comms, even as they breached the house. She heard yells and screams coming through the comms and each group made their way into their designated areas. Upstairs, Taz and Copper made entry through a window, and she heard Taz murmuring quietly to the children to quiet their cries. If there was one thing that Taz was good at, it was calming people down.

The next fifteen minutes were tense as they subdued the men and women in the home, shouts of anger filling her ears, and then sharp cries as flesh met flesh. Not that she cared, considering it was Simba who dealt the blows when one of the men screamed at a woman to shut up and be quiet as she sobbed and begged for them to be let go.

“Target and her boy are in the kitchen,” Ursa said quietly through the comms. “And another little boy, but he says he doesn’t know where his mother is.”

“We’re in the basement freeing the women,” Jag told them. “We’ll see if one of them is his mother.”

“Almost done, then I’ll be taking a look around,” Vulture growled. “I want to know if there are others hidden anywhere.”

“Let’s see what we can get out of Abraham here,” Simba suggested, a lilt of anticipation in his voice. “Code, how are we on those cameras?”

“No signs of trouble,” Code answered briskly.

“No calls in to any local police,” Glitch added after a quick search. “Almost makes me believe people walking or driving by are used to hearing screaming.” Her tone was tight at the implication.

Simba grunted. “Well, just to be safe, I say we move this party to somewhere a little more insulated. Jag, Vulture, we’re heading your way. Get ready.” There were sounds of a struggle and some curses, but finally, after another long few moments, Simba said, “Alright, we’ve got Abraham and his boys here. Ursa, keep an eye on the women. We don’t know who is involved in this, and I’m not going to rule them out.”

“Give me the names of anyone we haven’t already looked into,” Glitch told them. “If they won’t give you their names, send me their photos. I’ll run them through facial recognition.”

After a few more minutes, her computer pinged with some images, and she did a quick search. “The two women are Jane Murphy and one of the daughters, Amy,” she announced.

“I looked further into them when I read the report,” Karissa chimed in, silent and observing until now. “Even though they don’t have much of a record, I’ve looked at the surveillance, and they’re often at the market where they go to sell their wares, and they watch the kids like hawks. I’m not certain they’re all that innocent.”

“Which begs the question, where is the other sister?” Taz said quietly. “There is no sign of her up here.”

“No sign of her down here either,” Simba said grimly.

“No record of her leaving on the cameras,” Code chimed in.

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