Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) (25 page)

“We’ll start tonight.” Carter looked at Stucky, who readily agreed. Sam nodded and said, “Ok. You two head to the warehouse. Sanders and Dickson; go home and try to get some rest. We’ll meet if necessary but otherwise use coms to stay in constant touch.

They all shook hands and dispersed. Carter and Stucky went back to the warehouse. Sanders and Dickson went home, as did Sam. It was almost seven am when his head hit the pillow.

THE ACCOUNTANT

Sam watched the monitors, with Soo puttering around him, while Audrey sat on the couch, speaking softly into her phone, and Samantha took a nap next to her. It was their fifth night in the van, and Sam had a feeling that something was going to break soon.

“Sam. Audrey,” Soo said excitedly. Sam turned his head towards Soo, while Audrey hung up the phone and came to stand behind them. Samantha followed.

“Mirik’s just received a phone call. Here, I’m patching us to his line so we can listen to it live. He won’t know we are on.”

“What time is the shipment coming?” Mirik asked.

“Two AM. The final number of items will be 275.”

“But my manifest says 300.”

“Yes. We started with 300, but some had to be uh disposed. They had rotted.” The man laughed as if he had said something funny.

“Fine. We’ll expect you at the warehouse at 2 AM. Don’t be late.”

Mirik ended the call without saying goodbye.

The people in the van looked at each other. Then Sam looked at Soo and said, “Check his email, perhaps they sent him something?”

“Already ahead of you handsome,” Soo said as she typed away furiously.

“Nothing. There’s nothing more.” Soo said, and the people in the van let out a collective sigh of disappointment.

“Well, a delivery at 2 AM can’t be anything good.” Audrey said as she plopped herself back on the couch.

Sam didn’t like this. There wasn’t enough information, and he felt as if they were groping around in the dark. He needed to get first-hand information; maybe he should find a way to run into Sasha or Mirik. Or both.

He caught Audrey’s glance and inclined his head to the door. She got the hint.

“Sam and I are going to go check out the warehouse.” She told Soo & Samantha, then stepped outside, followed by Sam.

xxxx

“Carter, ask Stucky to take over. We’re going to pick you up in 20 minutes.” Audrey said over the coms.

“Roger.” Carter’s voice came instantly.

Twenty minutes later, Audrey pulled up behind the abandoned two storey building that Stucky and Carter were using to keep watch over the warehouse. Carter got in, and she drove away, driving for another mile before she pulled into the vacant parking lot of another abandoned building.

Sam hadn’t told Audrey anything either, wanting to tell them both at the same time. So now, he turned towards them both.

“There’s a shipment coming in tomorrow night. But we don’t know what it is. We can guess, but we don’t know. It may be girls, but it may very well be 275 chairs or bottles of alcohol; maybe their bootlegging, hell, perhaps they’re redecorating.”

He paused; then continued. “But either way, we have to be ready to hit the warehouse tomorrow night at 2 AM. We have a search warrant already, so that won’t be a problem. And if the shipment is of girls, we’re golden; our mission will be a success. But if it isn’t, we’ll have shown our hand, and who knows when we’d get another chance.”

“We’ll be grabbing Sasha too, correct?” Audrey asked.

“Yes, but our primary mission is to rescue girls.” Sam told her.

“Right. But if we raid the warehouse tomorrow, we can’t not plan to capture Sasha because we all know that the minute he learns of the assault, he’ll be in the wind.”

“And if the shipment is not, girls?”

“Then we hold off on the raid.”

“No. That’s not good enough,” Audrey said stubbornly.
“I agree,” Carter piped in.

“Well, I need to get close to Mirik or Sasha to know for sure.” Sam told them. They stared at him, and then both of them shook their heads in unison.

“Then we need to go ahead with the raid tomorrow. If the shipment is not girls, we consider our mission partially successful, nabbing a Top Ten, and then wait for another opportunity to go after the sex-trafficking trade in Detroit.” Sam said.

After much back and forth, they decided to move forward with the raid the following night. They agreed that as long as they captured Sasha, they could put a dent into the sex-trafficking activities in Detroit.

MISSION POSSIBLE

The next night, twenty SWAT officers joined the Third Eye Watch Operational team to conduct two coordinated raids; at the warehouse and at the Criket Club.

Decker and Sanders had armed the team with bulletproof vests, guns, smoke bombs, grenades, knives, and other gear needed for the raid.

Sam and Audrey wanted Sasha. And so they rode with SWAT TEAM ONE to the warehouse, with Cal Decker driving them. An ambulance with two medics followed. Dickson and Sanders followed TEAM ONE separately in an unmarked car. Decker would participate in the raid while Dickson and Sanders would secure the warehouse perimeter with the remaining TEAM ONE SWAT members who weren’t doing the breaking and entering.

Carter had drawn the short straw to drive SWAT TEAM TWO. A second ambulance, also staffed with two medics, followed them. Soo and Diaz followed TEAM TWO in their surveillance van; they would park in their usual place a few blocks from the Cricket Club and offer support to SWAT team two. Stucky followed SWAT TEAM TWO in a third vehicle. Once they got to the Criket Club, he and Carter would secure the Club’s perimeter on foot, providing additional support to TEAM TWO.

“Twenty-five seconds to target,” said Decker

“Twenty-five seconds to target.” Sam heard Carter in the other van.

“Let’s get the bastard!” Audrey hollered excitedly.

“Ten, nine, eight……one…and we’re at the target….Go, now, now, now!” Decker’s voice boomed in the van.

The SWAT team piled out of the rear doors and lined up behind their leader. They stood in single file. Audrey followed the last guy. Sam got off last and stood behind Audrey. Not even a slight sound had been made.

They were all wearing a black helmet (Kevlar) over army green military style flight suits, and a hood that covered their entire face except for the cutout area around their eyes which were protected by thick goggles.

They wore body armor, also with Kevlar for protection against bullets and sharp objects such as knives. The word
FBI
was emblazoned in blue reflective lettering across the front and back of the vests. Their ensemble was completed with black gloves, elbow and kneepads, and leather combat boots.

Once they entered, each team would breakdown into two-person teams. The first person would make contact with any threat they faced; the second person would watch and cover the partner.

The second person also carried a battering ram, which would be used to open fortified doors. Their job was to look around, assessing the area for any other threats and protecting their partner at all times.

Everyone also wore small explosive charges on their body armor, for use to breach sectors that weren’t easy to break down with the battering ram. The two partner teams would remain together for the duration of the operation.

Decker would lead the breach at the warehouse. He now moved at a quick pace, and the SWAT officers followed in a single file, their movements coordinated. Sam and Audrey followed them.

A few steps ahead, two of the SWAT officers peeled off and ran towards the back of the warehouse. They all moved fast enough to be able to shoot but slow enough not to miss anything, scanning their surroundings expertly through night vision glasses.

Decker and the rest of them reached the front door of the warehouse, moving slower, the only sound heard was the faint rustle of their gear and clothing.

“In position,” came Dickson’s voice over the coms.

“In position,” echoed Sanders.

They stopped, scanning all doorways and windows. Their fingers were outside the trigger guards, the safety off on their weapons. Decker reared back with the battering ram, preparing to breach. Everyone else tensed in anticipation of the attack.

BAM. BAM. BAM

It took three hits of the battering ram, to break the warehouse door. The last hit from the battering ram had shattered the doorknob, and the door swung wide open.

The lead SWAT officer pulled the pin and threw a flash bang inside the warehouse. Then he threw another one for good measure.

BOOM. BOOM. Two loud detonations were heard, one following the other.

“Go, go, go,” the SWAT lead, shouted. The team rushed inside followed closely by Sam and Audrey.

A strong stench of sweat and urine assaulted them before flashlights gave them a view of the room. In the open space in front of them, five men stood with their hands up in the air and behind them, a large group of women huddled together in the corner, crouching low on the cement floor. Someone had told them how to stay down and remain safe.

“Over here,” came Decker’s voice.

Sam ran in the direction of the voice, then came to an abrupt halt a few paces down. Audrey, who was following close behind, slammed into him.

The back door was propped open, and there stood another dozen or more girls, frozen in place as they stared at the gun in Decker’s hand.  In the parking lot behind them stood a forty-eight-foot semi-truck; and Sam could see more girls walking off the unloading ramp and lining up outside to enter the warehouse.

Decker, Sam, and Audrey stepped outside. Sanders and a few SWAT members had secured the truck and were helping more girls get off it.

“Let me go, or I will kill her.” Sam and Audrey turned in the direction of the scream. A man stood by the driver’s side of the semi, holding a girl with a knife to her throat.

“Take it easy, take it easy,” Audrey shouted at him.

But the man kept screaming that if they didn’t back up, he would kill the girl.

A small movement behind the man caught Sam’s eye. Sam turned back to scan the area in front of him, didn’t see Dickson, and knew that Dickson would be making a move against the hostage-taker.

“You’re surrounded, there’s no way you can escape. But you can save your life if you just let her go.” Sam’s voice was calm, soothing as he tried to reason with the man.
 

The man kept screaming that he had done nothing wrong, that he was just the driver; then jerked suddenly and stumbled. Just as the girl scrambled away from him, Audrey reached out and got a hold of her, securing the girl behind her.

Dickson came out, holding her gun to her side. She didn’t glance at the man, instead nodded to Sam and stepped back, disappearing from his view.

“You guys make sure all the girls are brought into the warehouse. We need to find Sasha.” Sam told Decker and Sanders, then he and Audrey went back inside the warehouse, passing scared looking girls who cowered in fear when they passed by.

But there was no sign of Sasha. The SWAT team had looked everywhere.

“Dammit!”, yelled Audrey. “Did we lose him?”

SASHA

Sam shook his head. Sasha was still around. He could feel him. He closed his eyes and allowed the thoughts to come.
At first he saw nothing, just a dimly lit open space. Then as his vision grew, he saw a shadowy figure hurriedly going down a dozen or so iron steps, a gun in his hands.

Sam waited patiently, but couldn’t see anything more. He opened his eyes, blinked to refocus his gaze; then said to Audrey, “Sasha’s still here; tell the team to look for an opening in the floor.”