The young men exchanged looks, not speaking.
Bailey moved closer. "He will f**king kill you if you don't talk," he rumbled.
The oldest one took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "We were sent to teach you a lesson."
"By who? Tinkerbell?" Canon demanded.
"Don't tell him, Rivera," the youngest looking one, snarled.
"Thank you. Yuri Pavlov," he growled. "We were sent by a former colleague of yours."
"Oats is behind this?" Newton said. "The f**k!"
"He thought a lesson needed to be taught. A message sent."
"Message received," Prince said. "He's a dumb ass."
"He arranged this from jail," Rivera said quietly. "With more time, and effort, he could send better. He provided the cards, codes and equipment. The weapons are from evidence."
"Shut up, Rivera!" Pavlov yelped. "Are you outta your mind?"
"You wanna go down for this, be my guest. I don't. He threatened my family. We've failed. They're probably already dead."
"Newton, Bailey, go. Address," he said to Rivera.
The young man told him.
"If it's a lie, or my men are hurt, you die."
"He's telling the truth," the middle one said. "I have no family, but it was my life on the line."
"And you?" Canon asked Pavlov.
"I don't tell our secrets to some faggot cop," he spat.
Canon backhanded him. The younger man lot his balance and fell to his side.
"Hey! Police brutality. I have witnesses! Right, guys? You saw!"
The others turned their faces away. "Saw what?" they chorused.
More prisoners were added to the lockup, only these were put in the adult section of the holding area.
Canon got on the phone with the county jail, where Oats was being held. "You make sure he sees no one. He has no phone calls."
"His lawyer...." the security officer protested.
"Monitor the lawyer twenty-four seven. I know the sneaky little f**k is determined to make my life misery."
"He's in solitary already," the officer replied. "What should we do?"
"I wish I could put him in a straight jacket and reenact Houdini's water trick. See if he can breathe underwater."
"Kinda harsh, Loose."
"I'm sitting on six prisoners, with two more at the hospital, and four in the morgue. I'm not having a very good night here." He hung up.
"Sir," Cage said. "Bailey and Newton are on site. They have Metro as backup, and Eilene joined them from the hospital run."
"Talk to me," Canon said over coms.
"We're at the house. It's quiet," Eilene said. "Newton has thermal on."
"Not reading any heat signatures. They could have moved them," Newton reported over coms.
"Or they could be dead." Canon let loose with a string of curse words. "We were expecting mother and sister. Nothing?"
"Not a thing."
"Going in," Newton announced. What followed were directions for his team.
Canon and the others listened closely, saying nothing. This wasn't their op. Although Eilene outranked Newton, she let him take charge. A good decision on her part. He'd done more breaches than the others combined.
A door opened. "Not locked," Newton said. "Watch for booby-traps."
"Out!" one of the city cops yelled. "Out! Go-go-go! It's a trap!"
Sounds of running, scrambling, stumbling. An explosion followed, so loud it made the coms scream. Reeling from the noise, Canon sat heavily.
"Sound off. Talk to me," Eilene commanded.
The city cops answered first.
"Here, Boss," Bailey said. "Newton?"
"Newton?" Eilene's voice rose in volume and pitch. "Where are you? Speak to me! Where is he? He was right behind me. Hale! Where are you? Find him, dammit," she commanded. "Find him now. Hale!"
There was a soft groan.
"Hale?" There were sounds of running.
"Yeah. Chill, babe. I'm stuck in the bottom step."
"Oh, God, you're bleeding."
"And breathing. Shh."
Eilene was so relieved to see him, she could hardly stand it. She wanted to kiss and coddle him, but, what was left of the house, was burning.
"Three hostiles from the south on foot," a city cop named Jones, said.
©2021 Dellani Oakes
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