Chapter Twenty

Rafe

I sit silently in the back; I mean, of course, I do, I don't speak. I know I should be feeling worried or nervous about what we're about to do, but as always, my heart is pounding with adrenaline, and I can't wait to get there. I must admit that Knox intrigues me, but I'm not stupid enough to go and poke the bear, as it were. He's not an issue, he doesn't cause any problems, he seems to like Jensen, and he's actually helped us in sorting out our current issue.

At least, we think he has; I suppose we don't really know if he's helped us or not until we get to the address and see what's there. I would be worried that it may be a trap and that he's working with the drug dealers, but he had no way of knowing when we'd check it out, and from the things that he's said, he clearly knows enough about us to understand what we're capable of. We're still going to proceed with caution, not only because of the slim chance that it's a trap of Knox's making, but also because if he's right and there is something to do with the drugs there, then we want to observe, not get caught.

"Don't forget Knox said that we'd need evidence for the police," I sign, tapping Riot on the shoulder to make sure he can see me and so he can translate it to Trick.

"Yeah, we're going to want to do this at least partly legal if there's anything there," Trick replies thoughtfully, "we'll video as much as we can, and then Cash can do his thing to make sure we stay anonymous and send it to the cops. Hopefully, they'll actually do something worthwhile about it."

"They're going to have to," Riot replies, "this can't be a small operation, and it's been going on for months. All of those families may have wanted to keep the real reason their kids died or were in the hospital under wraps, but the cops still would have known, and they're going to have to do something about it."

"I hope you're right," Trick replies, as he pulls over and parks the car in an overgrown pull-out that doesn't look like it gets much use. "The house is just round the bend; it's probably best that we go on foot now; we don't want to draw unnecessary tension to ourselves if something significant is happening there."

I nod as Riot verbally agrees, and we step out of the car, before I move any further, I double check my weapons prompting the others to do the same and then we move forward. Fortunately, night has fallen, and we're all wearing dark clothing, so we blend in with the shadows reasonably well. When the property comes into view, we continue to hug the tree line but move so that we follow the path they make up to the property.

We stay silent as we move, ducking further into the trees as we hear the sound of a vehicle behind us. We stay still, making sure that no movement attracts them and makes them glance our way, as we watch a big van that looks worse for wear but is in still drivable condition pass us and stop outside the house in front of the other van that's already parked there, and looking in the same shitty condition as the one that's just driven up.

We've lucked out and we're at the right angle to see the back of the van, two guys, both of them heavily armed, hop out of the cab of the van and move around the back pulling open the door and revealing crates stacked ceiling high.

"That's a lot of drugs," I sign, with one hand as I keep my other one on my gun. This is so far from a safe situation that my instincts are screaming at me, even if I'm still more excited than I am scared.

Trick and Riot don't risk making any movement with their hands and instead nod their heads ever so slightly in agreement. We watch as they begin to unload the van, two more guys coming out from the dilapidated old farmhouse and helping to carry everything inside.

We can't move since we risk being seen, and we're outgunned, so we don't want to interrupt right now. We also need to get the evidence before we can involve the police since we can't risk it being overlooked or not taken seriously. Trick has taken his phone out and is filming right now, but at this point, it is conjecture. Someone could argue that there's no proof of what's in the boxes even though the men being heavily armed is suspicious.

This means that we need to get closer and we need to at least get a good look inside the boxes and film the contents.

My eyes move away from the men still emptying the van and look over the house; as I suspected, there's no way that they're storing that much product in the house, and they don't have any extra security. Sure enough, the more I study the house, the more cameras I see.

"Cameras," I sign, and start to point them out.

We hugged the trees for a while, and there don't seem to be any out here; they seem to be mostly pointed at the house, an oversight in security, sure, but it works in our favor, and I doubt that they've picked us up. The issue is that we absolutely do not want our face on camera; even if we do take this down, there's every chance that someone somewhere is getting remote access to the feed, and being identified would not only put us at risk but would also put our families at risk.

"Do we still have our kit in the car?" Trick signs, clearly thinking along the same lines as I am.

I nod.

"Are you thinking we need our balaclavas?" Riot signs.

Trick nods, "We don't want to risk them seeing us move or getting back to the car. We'll wait them out and then head back, grab what we need from the car, and then come back. We know that there are at least two in the house since that's how many came out, but the two in the van should leave as soon as it's unloaded, we can get in then."

Riot and I both nod and I sign, "Are we calling the guys in for backup?"

Trick nods, "Yeah, we can text them when we get back to the car though, that should give them a chance to find something out at the party, that's if there's anything to find out."

We both stay silent and nod our heads in agreement again.

Unsurprisingly, it takes them a long time to unload the van and I find myself wanting to get on with it already. We haven't been able to check in with the others yet since the glow of our phone screens would be a dead giveaway that someone is standing in the woods and watching them, if they take much longer Jensen and the others are going to come looking for us and that could be bad.

Finally, after what seems like forever, they hop in and drive off, the two guys who came out of the house are now heading back inside. They were the only two that came out, and since there were so many boxes and it would have been a lot quicker and a lot less risky if they had more help, I think it's fairly safe to say that they are the only two in the house.

Not that we're going to take that for granted or assume that our guess is right, we need to proceed with caution and make sure that there are only two more guys inside before we enter.

Trick uses his hands to signal that we should get going, and we weave our way through the trees to get to the road and make our way back to the car. I am incredibly glad that we parked so far away; it means that we've remained safe, and people are none the wiser that we're out here.

As soon as we get to the car, Trick pulls out his phone and checks to see if the guys have messaged.

"Cash's last update was ten minutes ago, and he said everything was good, and it just looked like a regular party." He tells us.

He then sends a message to Cash, filling him in and letting him know that we need backup and that we're heading back now; we'll wait for them and go through the trees because of the cameras; he then puts his phone back in his pocket, and we head back through the woods again.

I'm hopeful that we're going to get this sorted today. Knox was right though, and it brings up the question of how he knew about this place if he wasn't involved in what is happening here.