by Mike Ryan
Flores looked at his captors for a few seconds, then grabbed a pen off the desk and started writing. It turned out to be a short list with only two addresses on it.
“That’s it?” Bridge asked.
“That’s all that I know.”
Bridge and Nicole looked at each other, neither of them really believing him. Flores wasn’t some stooge who was barely involved in anything. He was a major player. They were both quite sure he had more knowledge than that. Bridge then nodded at his girlfriend, who walked over to her bag and pulled out a few small bottles and a syringe. Flores watched what she was doing and started to get nervous.
“What is she doing?”
“Oh, her? She’s just mixing some stuff together so she can give you a shot,” Bridge said, sounding unconcerned.
“A shot of what?”
“I wish I could tell you. I don’t even know what she’s mixing together. All I know is that it knocks you out.”
“It what?”
“Well, we can’t go to these places while you’re still conscious, can we? I mean, we can’t have you warning anyone, and we don’t have enough people to sit here and babysit you, so you gotta go to sleep.”
“Uh, no, wait…”
“Sorry, but I sure hope that you’re telling us the truth with these addresses, ’cause if you’re not, I’m pretty sure she won’t wake you up again.”
“What?”
“So I sure hope you’re being honest here. I’d hate to have to break my word to your wife.”
“Uh…” Flores was getting even more nervous as he watched Nicole put about fifty milliliters of liquid into the syringe. “What’s in there?”
Nicole looked over at him, flicking at the syringe. “Oh, this? This is a little truth serum that I cooked up. It’s my own special blend. So after I inject you with this, if what you say doesn’t match up with what you wrote down, I’m gonna put two bullets into your head myself.”
Flores licked his lips and shifted in his seat. He then looked at the paper in front of him. “No, wait, wait…” He then looked at Bridge. “I think I remember a couple more.”
Bridge pointed to the paper, and Flores started writing again. He wrote down two more addresses.
“Four?” Bridge asked.
“That’s it, that’s all I know. I swear.”
“What are these places?”
“Two of them are warehouses. That’s where he keeps the girls. He splits them up. Then the other two are these little buildings that he renovated to be kind of like a small motel or something.”
“And where do you come into play in all of this?”
“I just get a piece of the action.”
“In terms of money or the girls?”
“Just money. I help coordinate some things, and then he takes care of the rest. That’s all.”
Nicole reached into her bag again and removed some zip ties. She walked over to Flores and tied his hands together behind his back and the chair.
“Hey, what’s this?” Flores asked.
“Well, we can’t just leave you up and running to your own devices, can we?” Bridge replied.
After Flores was secure, Nicole went back to her bag and picked up the syringe again. Flores’ eyes widened, noticing what was in her hand as she walked closer to him.
“Hey, what are you doing? I told you everything I know already. Honest. It’s the truth. I’m not lying.”
“Oh, we believe you now,” Nicole said. “You still gotta go night-night, though. Sorry. We can’t have you awake while we’re gone.”
Nicole pushed the tip of the needle into Flores’ skin, on the upper part of his bicep. Flores was trying to wriggle himself free, though he couldn’t do anything as he felt the tip of the needle penetrate his skin. After she pulled it out, the three of them just looked at each other.
“I don’t feel anything,” Flores said.
Nicole looked at Bridge and shrugged. A few seconds later, Flores’ eyes closed and his head slumped forward. Bridge checked his vital signs to make sure he didn’t react poorly to Nicole’s concoction.
“He’s good,” Bridge said.
“What now?” Nicole asked.
“Let’s get a satellite picture of these addresses and work from there. Then I guess we’ll figure out the best one to hit first.”
“Well, there’s two sets of addresses. One is where the girls are kept, the other two are where they’re taken. So we can probably just hit one or the other. Probably don’t have to worry about all four.”
“Question is which of the two sets are gonna be more heavily guarded.” Bridge looked back at Flores and sighed. “Should’ve asked him that before we knocked him out.”
“Well, whatever we decide to do, we’re gonna have to hit them in quick succession before the other ones know what happened, otherwise they’ll pack up and move so fast we won’t have any idea where they’ve gone.”
Bridge nodded. “This is gonna require some scouting.”
“We’ll have to split up. You take the one address and I’ll take the other. Then we’ll follow them back to the warehouses. We should be able to get a pretty good read on how many guards they have at each location.”
Bridge agreed. “That means we’re gonna have to leave him for a while. This is gonna take the rest of the day and night.”
Nicole shrugged, not concerned. “So? He’s not going anywhere.”
“How long’s he gonna be out?”
“Judging by his size and the amount I gave him... I’d say he’ll be out roughly eighteen to twenty-four hours.”
“Geez, Nic, you’re not knocking out a horse.”
“So? I don’t hear him complaining, do you?”
Bridge smiled. “Very funny.”
“He’s a creep. I really don’t care if he’s inconvenienced.”
“I don’t care about him being inconvenienced either. I just hope he doesn’t pee himself while he’s out and stink up the room. ‘Cause I’m not changing him.”
“Why not? Might give you some good practice for when we have kids.”
Bridge’s mouth fell open and his eyes opened wide. He was almost too stunned to speak. “Uh… what?!”
“Relax, I’m not pregnant. I was just saying in the future sometime.”
Bridge put his hand over his heart. “Oh, good. ‘Cause I’m not ready for that.”
“Me neither.”
“Neither’s the rest of the world.”
“Funny.”
“Let’s forget all that and get back to work so we can end this thing.”
14
Once Bridge and Nicole got to their respective locations, they could see that their targets were already inside the building. Bridge and Nicole were both waiting in their cars, parked down the street from the buildings they were staking out. Each building was on the outskirts of town, albeit in different directions. In Bridge’s case, there was a dark-colored van to the side of the building. There was also a man leaning up against that building, just a few feet away from the van. Bridge figured he was probably the driver. There was also a man near the front door. Tough-looking guy who had a zippered-up jacket, and likely a pistol underneath it. That’s all that Bridge could see at the moment, though he was sure there were more inside.
The building itself didn’t look like much. But then again, Bridge guessed it wasn’t supposed to. It wasn’t supposed to draw people in, other than who was paying. The outside sign just above the door suggested it was some type of retail store, though it was obviously just a front. As Bridge waited for a couple of hours, he saw countless men, and a few women, go inside. All he could do was shake his head. He wanted to go in, but knew he had to stick to the plan. He wanted to try to free everyone at one time, together. If he raided this building, he had no idea if all the women were in there, or if it would make the rest of them scatter if they weren’t. He called Nicole to see how she was making out on her end.
“Hey, how’s it going there?”
“It
’s going,” Nicole replied. “I’m not sure who or how many are inside. I’ve got a van in sight, and it looks like two or three guards on the outside.”
“Same here. I got two on the outside. And a lot of traffic going inside the building.”
“Yeah, there’s been a steady parade here too. It’s taking everything I have not to go in there and bust that place up right now.”
“I know,” Bridge said. “Just remember we can’t blow our cover yet and risk anyone escaping if they have some type of alarm in place. We’ll wait until they’re all together.”
The two of them continued waiting, well past the time when the sun went down. Bridge was the first one to see action. He had been leaning back in his seat, but jumped forward as he saw what looked like the first girl to come out of the building. Within seconds, there was a whole line of them. Ten girls marched as if they were in the military, single file, walking straight from the building to the van, not looking like any of them were making so much as a peep. Two other guards emerged from the building, one of them locking it after he left. Once the girls got in the van, the guards did the same.
“Four,” Bridge said to himself.
It honestly wasn’t as much as he was expecting. Then again, it was all that was probably necessary. Ten women who had been kidnapped, possibly beaten, and were far from home, probably weren’t going to put up much, if any, resistance against four men with guns. Adding gunmen to the picture probably wasn’t necessary or good for the payroll. As soon as the van started moving, Bridge took off after it, making sure he observed good tailing procedures. He was sure they were usually on the lookout for someone following, so he made sure to stay back. He didn’t need to be that close. He just needed to keep them in sight.
After thirty minutes of driving, Bridge wasn’t sure if he had been spotted or if the van was just being careful. He could tell they were driving around in circles, noticing that they passed a few of the same landmarks. They hadn’t upped their speed or made any sharp turns, so he thought it was just their usual method of operation, driving around to make sure the girls didn’t know where they were going, not that they were allowed to get up off the floor of the van and look out a window. Finally, forty minutes after leaving their previous location, the van finally arrived at their destination. There was a metal gate that slid open as the van approached, quickly closing as it went past. Bridge didn’t get near it, not wanting to give himself away if someone was watching. He observed the van go up a narrow road, but then lost sight of it as it drove past some trees, concealing its movements.
Bridge checked the address that Flores had given them. It was a match. At least now they knew he wasn’t lying to them. Not that it made much difference at this point. Bridge then drove around the perimeter of the property, trying to see how many entry points there were. There was a back gate, and it didn’t seem to be manned, though there was a chain around the edge of it to prevent it from opening. He could only barely make out the building from there. It wasn’t quite what he wanted. He was hoping to get a glimpse of how many men were also at the warehouse, whether there were more men stationed there, or it was just the four guards he already saw. It didn’t look like he was going to get an answer to that question, though. After an hour of driving around, trying to get some ideas on how to slip in there, Bridge’s phone rang.
“Hope you’re having better luck than I am,” Bridge said.
“Uh, well… I guess that would depend,” Nicole said.
“On what?”
“I dunno. Anyway, I followed them to the warehouse location. It turns out Flores was actually being honest about that.”
“Yeah, I found the same thing.”
“So I followed them here, but it’s gated all the way around and I can’t get that close to it. So I have no idea how many guards they have in there.”
“Yeah, it’s the same here. They knew what they were doing when they picked these places.”
“So we’re either gonna have to hit them here and take our chances on who’s inside, or we take them gradually at the other place.”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“But at least there we know what we’re dealing with. Here? Not so much. I mean, there could be four guys in there, or there could be fifty.”
“It’s a risk either way,” Bridge said.
“And if they got cameras, which I’d be surprised if they don’t, they might know we’re coming long before we get there if we have to hop over fences or cut through gates.”
“I just worry they’re going to know we’re coming if we don’t hit them here.”
“I have an idea,” Nicole said.
“Spit it out.”
“Let’s do this again tomorrow. Only this time, we take them out at the other place. We try to keep one guy alive so he can get us in to the warehouse, and he can give us information on how many people are in there and the setup.”
“We each hit a building separately?”
“Or, we hit one, then we immediately go hit the other. Then we hit the warehouses after that.”
“I dunno, Nic, sounds dicey.”
“Every option we have is dicey.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“What if we can’t take any of the guards and we still get no info? Then at least we’ll have freed about twenty women from the hell they’re living in.”
“Or we hit these warehouses without having any idea what we’re walking into,” Bridge said.
“Yeah.”
“What if one of them is supposed to call or send a signal when they’re on the way over?”
“That’s why we need to try to keep one of them alive.”
Bridge thought about it for a minute. He wasn’t especially fond of the idea, but he wasn’t really keen on the alternative either. Reluctantly, he finally agreed. “OK. We’ll do it your way. I just hope it works.”
“So do I.”
They each continued their stakeout of the warehouses, hoping something interesting would happen, or that they would see something they could use to aid in breaking in. There wasn’t, though. It was an uneventful night. Once midnight hit, they both went back to the hotel to get some sleep. When they walked in, Flores was still sitting there, tied up and knocked out. After they both got ready for bed, they lay down, though Bridge quickly sat up again.
“What’s the matter?” Nicole asked.
“Do you find it, uh, somewhat odd, or eerie, that we’re just gonna go to sleep here like there’s not a guy tied up in a chair only a few feet away?”
“No.”
“That doesn’t bother you at all?”
“No.”
“Doesn’t make you uncomfortable, weird, nothing like that?”
“No. Should it?”
Bridge shrugged. “I dunno. I guess not.”
“You wanna have a nightcap?”
“Oh, come on, Nic, there’s a guy right here in the room!”
“He can’t see anything.”
“But he’s right there!”
“He has no idea what’s going on.”
“What if he wakes up?”
“Then I’ll put him back to sleep.”
“While you’re naked? Then he’s got a full view of you?”
“You’re so uptight.”
“No, no. I put my foot down with this one. Not with someone else in the room. I don’t care if he’s knocked out, drugged up, don’t know his left from his right, whether he knows his own name or not, whether he can hear, or whether he can even see two inches in front of him. No. I draw the line here.”
Nicole sighed and groaned. “Fine. Party pooper.”
“So mature.”
“Wait, so if he wakes up, then you can knock him out again. Would that make you happier?”
“Then he’s got a full view of me!”
“So? It’s not like you’re gonna do anything with him.”
“No, just stop. Stop.” Bridge turned over on his side and pulled the covers over his head. “
And if he wakes up during the night, he’s your problem.”
“Not really much of a problem. I’ll just stick him again.”
They both woke up early, around seven o’clock. They were ready to get the day going and hopefully end what they were starting. After getting dressed, Bridge looked at their prisoner. It didn’t look like he had moved an inch. He put his fingers on the man’s neck to check his vital signs. He was still good.
“He’s alive,” Nicole said, noticing his actions.
“Just checking. How long did you say he would be out for? Doesn’t look like he moved.”
“He did.”
“He did?”
“He woke up about three o’clock.”
“Oh. I take it you did your thing again?”
“Yep. He should be out the rest of the day again.”
“Are there long-term implications to this stuff that you’re using?” Bridge asked.
“I dunno.”
“You don’t know? You’re just sticking people with a secret sauce, and you have no idea how it’s gonna affect them?”
“Uh, yeah. Is there a problem?”
“You don’t see one?”
“Not really. I mean, let’s be honest, it’s not like I’m sticking people and putting under model citizens or angels here. We’re talking about some bad guys. I really don’t care if it causes them to not remember who they are in twenty years. As far as I’m concerned, the world would be better off anyway.”
“A hardened view of the world.”
“Yeah, well, it is what it is. When you deal with the people we do, you kind of develop that attitude after a while. Can we stop talking about sleeping beauty here and go rescue some people that need it?”
Bridge nodded, then headed for the door. “Let’s go save the world.”
15
Their first stop was the building that Nicole scouted out the previous day. They seemed to be operating an hour behind the other building, so it would give Nicole and Bridge some extra time if they hit that one first, that way they’d have some extra time if the other one took longer than expected. Bridge and Nicole sat in the car, parked down the street, still in full view of the building. They were throwing different plans and scenarios into the air to see which one they liked best.