Chapter 15

Kris sat in his office, going over the plan for that night. While Mac showed Raisa what it was, he did for the government. He hoped that seeing how good he was at ending threats would help her see he could and would protect her and end the threat that Gregori represented. On the other hand, he was afraid that she would see that he was a killer and as dark inside as he told her he was. He didn’t know if he could stand it if she became afraid of him or worse, hated him for what he was.

He wanted to be a better man for her, one she could be proud of; instead, he was a killer. A man who ended the lives of other men and worse yet, he did it for money. Once he finished the Syndicate contract, he’d quit. He’d refuse to take anymore contracts through Blackguard and concentrate on being just a florist. He was getting too old to keep doing black bag stuff, anyway. Kris would become the type of man that Raisa could be proud of, not the dark stain on the light she was made of.

Just then, Friday spoke. “Thorn, there is a problem with the latest surveillance of Site two for tonight.”

He frowned. “What’s the problem?”

“That site is not being used for selling or storing weapons. It has another cargo altogether.”

“What’s the cargo?”

“I believe that you have discovered a holding pen for the human trafficking of underage females. I sent in a stealth drone twenty minutes ago. The latest images are on your laptop.”

Kris opened his laptop and saw a warehouse filled with thirty cages, with what were obviously young women and even little girls. The quality of the drone photos wasn’t great, but he believed he was looking at college age and younger women, all of who were in cages made of chain link. This was definitely a holding pen for human sex trafficking. “Are we sure this site belongs to the Syndicate?”

“Affirmative. It belongs to the same shell company that owns the office building you met Gregori in earlier this week.”

“Friday, can you buzz Mac and ask him to come here? I don’t know what to do about this, but I am going to do something.”

“I will, but it’s worse, Thorn. They have shown several men through the warehouse. It appears there is an auction scheduled for this evening. If you don’t move on that site quickly, those women will be sold and shipped out.”

“Get Mac now and contact my team. I want them here in an hour.”

“Affirmative. Mac is on his way. However, Raisa is coming with him.”

Kris cursed. He didn’t want her to see this, and yet she deserved to know exactly what he was and what he was willing to do.

He looked up as the two of them entered his office. Mac saw the look on his face and frowned. “What is it?”

“Things just got a lot more complicated. Volkov and the Syndicate are involved in human sex trafficking and have a warehouse full of young women and girls who are to be auctioned off tonight.”

Raisa gasped, and Mac cursed. “Show me what you have.”

Kris turned the computer so that Mac could see the feeds. “This isn’t good, Kris. What do you want to do?”

“You know what I’m going to do, Mac. It isn’t even a question. Team Alpha has been activated. They will be here in an hour. I’m not letting a single one of those girls become sex slaves. You need to find out who I report to and you need to let the powers that be know there may be lives lost at this location. I’m not going in with tranquilizers and knock out gas with these kinds of scum.”

“I agree. I’ll make sure that the Alphabet agencies know this mission just went weapons free at that location only, Thorn.”

Kris nodded. “Yeah, that’s all that’s on my agenda tonight now. The other sites can wait. Saving those girls is priority one. As soon as the team is here and a plan assembled, we will be mission go.”

Kris looked at Raisa. “I’m sorry, honey. I don’t think I’m going to show you around today.”

She looked at him and walked over, taking his face in her hands. “I would be upset if you tried to, Thorn. Today you are Thorn, and those women need you and your team. You go be their hero because you’re already mine. And Kris, be Thorn tonight and you put those bastards in the ground where they belong.”

Kris looked into her eyes and saw that she meant every word. She knew who he was and what he was and she didn’t see a monster; she saw a hero. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her like she was water and he was a thirsty, dehydrated person. When they broke for air, she ran her hand along his cheek. “You save those women and come home to me. I’ll be waiting to welcome my hero as is fitting.”

Then she got up and walked out, leaving him to make a plan so when his team arrived, they could go to work.

Mac stepped back into the room. “Homeland is going to dispatch a clean-up crew to form a perimeter and catch up with anyone trying to escape. They asked that you and your men wear body cams so they can use the footage in any trials that may arise.”

Kris nodded and went back to looking at maps and surveillance footage. When his team arrived, he took them into the armory and laid out the mission. They suited up and left, determined to make a difference.

*****

Raisa

Raisa explored the house and the grounds while she watched the boat arrive with four very tough-looking men, all dressed in the black and gray tactical suits like she’d seen Kris wear. While the one he’d worn the day she was almost abducted had been solid black, she realized the two-tone was made to better blend in with an urban surrounding. This must be Kris’s team that he’d told Mac he’d called in. That meant that soon the man she loved was going to do what she now realized he did best. Destroy evil men and save the innocent.

The files that Mac had been showing her and the stories he’d been telling her about Kris’s missions probably should have worried her. She knew that’s what Kris thought they would do. Instead, they had shown her a deeper picture of the man she was in love with; a picture of a man dedicated to making the world a better place. When Mac had been called to Kris’s office and she’d followed along, she saw for herself the righteous anger on Kris’s face at what he’d discovered. For the first time since they’d become a couple, she met Thorn the agent and not Kris the florist.