Chapter 26

Strategy had been discussed back at the bus, and Mike had just been about to, reluctantly, hunker down with his team at the tree line outside the warehouse, when they got eyes on a burly individual who was leaning up against the side of the building, smoking a cigarette.

He wanted to rush in and immediately take the dude out, but Mason smartly held him back—knowing he'd probably kick the shit out of the man—giving Alvero and Welker the go, instead.

They jumped the guy on the sly, but once he started giving them a rougher fight than expected, even Mason couldn't keep Mike in place. He joined the fray, barely restraining himself from bloodying the guy up, but he did get in several face-punches, and that had felt damned good.

The fracas took several minutes to come to an end, but eventually the perp was completely incapacitated; tied up and rendered secure.

Mason quickly joined Mike, Alvero, and Welker at the downed man's side, where they attempted—for several minutes—to talk to him about who was inside the building, and the state of Joe's health. But the guy simply sneered. Short of torturing him—which Mike was all for—the asshole wasn't saying a word.

"Give me two minutes with him," Mike growled, knowing he wouldn't kill the guy, but his rage was so great, he couldn't vouch for whether there wouldn't be a broken bone or two before he was finished.

Mason knew that.

"Stand down, Mike," the chief barked. "We have plenty of manpower, and a plan. We'll proceed as if this prick was never here. You got me?" He narrowed his eyes.

Mike understood and nodded, but didn't like it. He knew that the more intel they had on what was going on inside, the better the operation would go, and the safer Joe would be. He understood that, Mason understood that, but…

Yeah.The boss had a point. It'd screw with Mike's career if he beat the shit out of the gargantuan on the ground now, and he'd be sidelined for the rest of this operation.

Not an option. Fuck.

Mason waved Sandrine, Doug, and Amos over. They hauled the guy to his feet, and wrestled him away toward the bus where they'd keep him detained and restrained.

Mason, Mike, Alvero, and Welker were about to move back into the shadow of the trees to regroup with their squads, when the small door hissed open on its hinges.

Shit.

They all scrambled as one and got their backs up against the side of the building where they were hidden just as the portal fully swung free. Once it was closed, they watched as a man walked a few feet away from the warehouse.

Mason gave Welker—goddammit—the nod, and his teammate swiftly overpowered the guy.

As soon as Welk had him on the ground, Mike, Mase and Alvero approached, shining a dim, focused light down on the perp as he was turned onto his back.

They all recognized him.

Mason grunted, squatting next to the man. "Well, Chuck. It seems you've stepped in some deep shit this time, haven't you?"

"I'm not doing anything wrong," the man whined. "I'm just…out for a walk."

They dragged him back into the trees to continue their interrogation.

Mike couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Right. If out for a walk means drugging and kidnapping my woman."

Chuck's eyes grew wide. "Y…your woman?"

"That's right," Mike growled. "She's mine, so you better tell me she's alright, or you'll find yourself in a shitload of pain."

"She's fine. She's fine," Chuck quickly promised. "She's knocked out, still unconscious, but we haven't hurt her beyond that. I promise."

Mike didn't remind Chuck that the large asshole had knocked Joe's head into a truck, but still, his gut unclenched the smallest bit. "How did you know she was undercover and looking at your operation? What did you have planned for her?"

Chuck suddenly looked like he was going to piss himself. "I, uh, don't know who the guy is, in charge," he told them, spluttering. "I never met him. All I know is that he told Galici who she was and where to find her, and said we were supposed to—" Chuck cut himself off, realizing he was about to implicate himself.

Mason probed deeper. "What was it Galici was supposed to do?"

The man blinked. Then, understanding what and who he was up against, gave over the information.

"Get rid of her, and make it look like an accident," Chuck almost whispered.

"Motherfucking prick," Mike snarled.

Mason shot him a look, and Mike attempted to calm himself. They weren't going to get anything more from Chuck if Mike acted like an asshole. And he also wasn't going to do Joe any favors if he went off the rails.

"Tell me who and what we'll find inside the warehouse, Chuck," Mason continued to squeeze the man for information.

A speculative gleam came into the Chuck's eyes. "If I tell you, will you put in a good word for me with the DA? I can't go back to jail. My mother…"

Mason grunted. "Seriously? You should have thought about her before you got mixed up with Galici."

They all knew Chuck's excuse for his ongoing criminal activities was that he had to support his elderly mother.

"I know I should have," Chuck whined, "but he was offering a lot of money for me to keep things running smoothly for him."

"And how's that working out for you?" Mason shook his head, but again, gave in. Partially. Especially because he had to know Mike was nearing the end of his rope. "Fine. Tell us what we need to know, and I'll talk to the DA. I can't make any guarantees there, but I will promise to have the Police Wives Association in town make your mother a wellness-check priority. They'll look in on her; make sure she has food, and gets her to doctor's visits while you're…away."

Which could be a very long time, so it was quite the reassurance.

Chuck thought it one over for a second, then spilled. "There's uncooked xylazine inside, with the laboratory to synthesize it. You'll find the fentanyl base in Benji's truck."

He'd know they all were aware of who Benji was, from the pair's long association.

"And who's inside?"

He sighed. "Your lady is knocked out cold, up front in the building, on the left about ten feet from the big front door. Galici is up top in a loft, sleeping."

"And what was the full plan?" Mike glowered, unable to keep himself out of the conversation.

Chuck was reluctant, but Mike balled up his fists and gave him the impression he'd make it his business to get the information out of him.

"Okay. Okay. We were… We were going to wait until first light, then take your lady to the stream out back where…"

He didn't continue.

"Where what?" Mike's voice couldn't have been rougher if he'd gargled with glass.

Chuck was shaking, now, but finally answered. "Where Galici was going to bash her in the head with a rock and put her face down in the water so it looked like she hit her head and drowned. Then we were going to plant a tracker on her so that the big boss could eventually find her."

"You were going to make it appear like an accident," Mason clarified, as Mike tried to hold himself back from tearing Chuck limb from limb.

"Right. But I didn't think it was a good idea."

"You're not going to think it's a good idea being charged with accessory to kidnapping and attempted murder, either," Mike rasped.

All Chuck did was close his eyes, shiver, and sniff.

Fucking asshole.

"Alright. Take him away," Mason quietly told Welker and Alvero.

"Listen up. Change of plan," Mase said into his shoulder-clip mic. "We're no longer going in blind. Hops. How fast can you blow the front door alarm panel?"

Hops came back. "Give me ten minutes. I need to hoof it back to the command bus and get some supplies. That will take the majority of the time. Once I get back, it'll only take me thirty seconds to rig it."

"Copy. Doug. Go with him and bring back the bosher," Mase also ordered.

Right.They'd need the battering ram for the small door, unless…

Mike had a thought and clicked his mic. "Welk. Ask Chuck if he locked the door behind him."

"Hang tight, LT," Welker responded, and a second later he came back. "Nope. He says he left it open."

"Thanks, Welk," Mike grunted.

"So, no ram?" Doug confirmed over the air.

"Right," Mason agreed, then got down to new business. "Before we breach, squad leaders, pick your best snipers and position them around the perimeter in case things go sideways. We've just learned that Joelle is laying on the floor through the main door, ten feet in, to the left, currently unconscious. A thru F you're on the front overhead door, and listen closely. Once you have the go-ahead and the entry pad is blown—your priority is to secure our victim. Make sure she's clear of the building, and Alvero, check her out to make sure she's okay."

"Copy that, Chief."

Mike knew their team medic would take good care of Joe, and as much as he wanted to grab and hold her himself, his need to see the prick, Galici, brought down and questioned, was eating at his insides, and at least for the moment took precedence.

"Squads G thru J," Mase continued. "You're with me on the side door."

"Permission to join G thru J," Mike asked Mason, off mic. He was Squad A's team leader.

Mason eyes him carefully. "Are you going to be able to control yourself? I don't want any rogue moves against the asshole that will screw up the case we have to build against him"

Fuck.Mike bit down hard on the inside of his cheek to regain his normal equilibrium, then let out a huff. "Yeah, Chief. I can behave."

Mason gave him a nod. "Okay then. You're with me."

Mike instantly was back communicating with his squad. "JD, you're A leader for this one."

"Roger, LT," JD replied without hesitation.

Mike shook off the nerves that threatened. Now was not the time to fall apart. He'd have plenty of hours to lament and to coddle Joe…after the op was complete.

The next seven minutes felt like the longest of Mike's life. He inwardly urged Hops to hurry, but knew the man would be as quick as possible.

Just as he thought he was going to lose his every-loving shit, Hops' voice sounded over the mics. "In place, Chief. Give me a few more seconds…"

Mike held his breath.

"Done," he called out. "Ready to breach."

"Okay everybody. On my go." Mason's head crooked toward Mike, then the door.

Thank fuck.

Mason was allowing Mike to take point, and the squads lined up behind him.

He drew his weapon…

"Three. Two. Go, go, go," Mason barked.

At the same instant he heard the large front door cranking up, Mike yanked the small portal open and rushed in, his eyes immediately going to the area Chuck had said held the loft.

What he hadn't expected was?—

Goddammit.

Joe was perched on the ladder, her head just about to go over the top, but she heard the noise the teams made, and turned toward where he stood.

"Mike?" she mouthed, and her pretty lips turned up into a half grin before…

Joe yelped.

Fuck!

"Everybody drop your weapons," Galici snarled, having grabbed Joe's ponytail, and wrenched her head sideways.

Mike froze, his insides going cold as the arctic tundra. The squads converged behind him, nobody making a sound. But it was too late. They'd distracted Joe as she'd been about to corner the prick, and now her life hung in the balance.

The asshole had a Sig to Joe's temple, and he wasn't playing around. "You, too, bitch," he told Joelle. "Lose the gun."

The small firearm she had in her palm tumbled to the floor as she opened her fingers. Then one by one, everyone inside the building followed suit, laying their firearms at their feet. Mike, and everyone else, carried backup weaponry. It would simply be a matter of getting to it without alerting Galici.

"Everybody move so your backs are against the walls," Galici ordered. "Here's how we're going to do this. Me and the cunt are headed down the ladder together. Then we're going to get in my car, and she's going to drive us out of here with my gun still at her head. One move by anyone, and she's dead. You got me?"

Mason immediately began trying to negotiate. "We hear you, Anthony." It was no mistake that Mase was calling the man by his first name. He'd try anything to get under the guy's skin. "But think about this. If you shoot her, we will end you. And I don't think your plan is to go out of here in a body-bag."

"And I don't think your plan is for this bitch to be dead, either," Galici replied cockily.

Mike's heart was in his throat, but that's when he saw Joelle wink.

Mason grunted, which meant he'd seen it, too.

She was planning something, but for the life of him, Mike didn't know what it was. All he knew, was that he had to be on the ready to back her up with whatever she had up her sleeve. He gave her a slow nod, to which she pursed her lips in a kiss, and Mike almost lost his shit. What if he never got to taste those…

"We're backing up," Mason called out to Galici, and signaled for everyone to comply. Mike made sure he was closest to the bottom of the ladder, no more than eight feet away just in case he got the opportunity to blindside the man. He knew that their snipers were waiting outside, and he heard Mason quietly key his mic with a signal that they should be ready. If Galici and Joe got in the car and backed out, one of them would have a head shot at the asshole.

He hoped.

"Coming down now," Galici stated, then spoke to Joe. "Lean back, bitch. I'm slipping in between you and the ladder." With one hand still on his weapon, he let go of her hair, his free palm now sliding to one siderail as he faced her and inched down onto the top step.

Joe, clutching white-knuckled below him, unbent her elbows and gave Galici enough room to insinuate his body between her and the rest of the upper rungs. He began slinking downward, step by painful step until his belly was level with her face and there was no longer space for him to move.

"Okay. Together now," the man snarled.

Everything after that happened as if in slow motion.

Joe's body tensed, her knees flexed. She shoved her shoulder into the man's soft midsection and with one swooping move, she flipped him over her shoulder.

Unable to save himself with his one-handed grip, Galici went flying, and Mike almost wanted to shout his joy, but the asshole… The fucking asshole grabbed the back of Joe's shirt briefly on the way down before losing his purchase and plummeting to the concrete floor, sending glass beakers and tubing smashing, helter-skelter.

But that brief grip was all it had taken to throw Joe off.

Mike saw her teeter. Watched as her hands slipped away from the metal. Heard her yelp as she sought for balance.

But before she fell, Mike had already halved the distance between them.

By the time she tumbled free, he was kicking Galici's body aside, his arms outstretched to catch her.

When she hit, it wasn't pretty.

Her body went askew and she plowed one flailing knee into Mike's shoulder, delivering a hard blow which took them both to the concrete, but the breath was only partially knocked out of Mike as he hit first, cushioning Joe's fall. And bonus. He hadn't been gouged with broken glass thanks to his augmented vest.

Mike sucked in a breath.

Joe? Was she…?

She wiggled atop him, then repositioned herself so they were chest to chest. After she was situated, he heard her snicker. His entire body went limp and his eyes closed in a silent prayer of thanks.

Joe snorted once, then began laughing so loudly, all Mike could do was hang on and rock them back and forth, his nerves still shaking with the shock of it all.

"You're okay," he murmured over and over in her ear, and Mike didn't know whether he was saying it for her or for him, but damn, he suddenly felt like he needed to go out and run ten miles with all the rampant adrenaline still running through his body. His let-down, he knew, would happen soon, but before it did, he needed to use his jazzed muscles to get Joe on her feet and have her checked out.

He shouldn't have worried.

Alvero was already hovering above them, asking her if she was okay to stand.

"Are you kidding?" she asked giddily. "I'm fine. Especially with this trampoline I just landed on." She fought Mike's hold enough to get her head into position where she kissed him, fast and blatantly in front of everybody.

And Mike finally, finally breathed easy.

"You just aged me twenty years," he scolded Joe.

"No biggie. As long as you're still alive and can—" she began cheekily.

"Uhh," Mike stopped her mid-freshness. "You want the entire team to hear you say what my plans are for you, later?"

She shrugged impishly. "With how you're still holding me," she demurred, "I think they already know."

It was only then that Mike became aware of things outside the woman in his arms and Alvero grinning like a fool above them.

Was he hearing somebody close by crying and whining like a little bitch?

A smile finally broke out on his face. "I take it Galici hurt himself when he landed?"

Alvero gave Joe a hand up, then extended the other to Mike who made it to his feet and quickly claimed his woman again with an arm around her waist, pulling her snug to his side.

She wasn't the least bit unsteady, and didn't that speak volumes about the bad-ass agent she was. She'd been most likely concussed, drugged and assaulted, but didn't need support of any kind.

Right. Fuck that. Mike was going to be glued to her for days, if not weeks.

Alvero answered. "He's got glass in his ass, and he fractured his right tibia in two places if the odd bend to his leg is any indication, but," he turned to Mason, "can we use that to our advantage while we question him?"

Right.They still needed confirmation as to who was behind the drug operation and the master plan to kill Joe.

"Let me." Joe narrowed her eyes, extricating herself from Mike's hold with difficulty. Her waitress shoes crunched over to where the perp lay on the ground. "I already know who's behind all this," she told the writhing, blubbering man. "But for the record, why don't you tell us, so we have it from the horse's mouth. I don't want to fuck up, and not have all the evidence we need to screw him to the wall."

"He'll…he'll kill me," Galici whined.

"Maybe. But just how much pain do you think you can handle if you hold out?" She raised her foot and held it above his splintered leg.

"No! Please! Don't."

Yeah. Galici was a wimp. Mike could see the minute he gave in.

"It's your boss who's behind this," Galici whimpered.

"Name," Mason barked.

"Lester. Lester Gavin. Chief of Operations for the DEA out of Nevada. He's been taking his cut of our action and from a lot of other locations for a bunch of years, finding suppliers and orchestrating shipping of product all over the country. But she," he sneered up at Joe, "was getting too close, so he wanted her gone."

Mike growled, but Joe didn't seem like she was letting up any time soon.

How the hell she could balance on one foot for so long after a head injury and propofol, was beyond Mike's comprehension, and a testament to her strength.

"Keep talking," she urged.

"We were supposed to…kill you," he continued while looking up at her. "But before we did, earlier, when we brought you in unconscious, we put your prints all over everything here to make it look like you were the one cooking up the dope."

Bastard.Mike saw red. Lester would go down for this.

"That's good enough for now," Joe stated with a satisfied nod before she lowered her foot. "Thanks, Anthony." She turned, walked over, and tucked herself back into Mike's embrace. She glanced at Mason from the safety of Mike's side. "Uh, boss man? Do we have everything we need?"

The chief laughed and shook his head. "Absolutely not. Far from it. We'll want a full debrief from you, then we need to hatch a plan to catch your boss red-handed." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "But if you two need some time…"

Joe nodded enthusiastically and opened her mouth to speak, but Mike cut her off.

"Five minutes, tops. While the team cleans up. Then she's yours."

Mason nodded skeptically. "Sure Mike. If you say so."