The stolen car's purr filled the quiet between Raven and Dante as they sped along a side road, miles from the safe house. The city lights had been far behind them for hours now, and only the occasional streetlamp flashed over their disguises.
Raven tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "So, just to clarify—because I want to make absolutely certain I get this right—we're going to trick a bunch of extremely dangerous, extremely well-armed criminals into thinking we're vulnerable, then take out their operation without getting killed in the process, hopefully?"
"Yeah," Dante said, running his finger over the ammo in his gun with a careless gesture.
Raven nodded. "Groovy, groovy. Just checking. Not questioning my life decisions right now."
"Good. Because we both know you've made poorer choices."
They pulled over to an abandoned railyard on the outskirts of town. Valerie had already sent them the details of what she'd discovered—a burner phone number for the traffickers, likely expecting a ransom call for the children.
Dante opened his laptop, hands flying across the keys.
Raven bent over his shoulder. "Alright, hacker god, walk me through this madness."
"We create a message on their own network, let them know we're willing to 'negotiate' for the kids, come up with a meeting point, and get them to think we're desperate."
"And in the real world?"
"In the real world, we create the meeting point to be their own personal fireworks show."
Raven whistled. "She was the reckless one?"
"Please, you'd be duct-taping grenades to your body for a game if I didn't keep an eye on you."
"Okay, first of all, rude. Second of all, not wrong."
He rolled his eyes but smiled.
Thirty minutes passed, and the message was sent.
They responded immediately. They bit.
"They want to meet in an hour," Dante declared. "Warehouse district, usual place."
Raven popped her knuckles. "Perfect. That means they'll be bringing backup, right?"
"Obviously."
"Good," she smiled. "I was looking for a challenge."
Dante brought up a layout of the meeting location on his monitor, indicating significant locations. "We'll take position here," he marked a structure above the entrance. "I'll take the high ground for cover, you handle the meeting."
"Right, because if there's one thing I'm really good at, it's talking myself out of a corner," Raven said with a sarcastic tone.
"No, you're perfect at making chaos. There is a difference."
Raven jeered. "Wow. Brilliant support."
Locked & Loaded
When they broke into the warehouse, the sun had climbed high enough to glare through the blown-out windows in hard golden slices. They got in quickly—Raven positioned remote-controlled charges on the exits, Dante verified their exit plans, and before long, they were set up.
Raven toyed with her earpiece. "Hey, just real quick, what's our plan B if this all goes south?"
"We improvise," Dante said.
Raven glared. "Okay, see, that's not a plan. That's what people say before they're in prison or dead."
"You'll be fine," he said, slapping her on the shoulder. "Probably."
His earpiece crackled as Valerie's voice came through. "Heads up, idiots. Your 'guests' just arrived."
A procession of black SUVs pulled up to the door, raising dust behind. Doors flung open, and men stepped out, guns held, angry and marching straight into hell.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Okay, now let's go into 'charming criminal mastermind' mode."
"Try not to kill yourself in the first five minutes."
She grinned. "No guarantees."