On Edge

by Kim Cong

  As Pax withdrew the gun from his side holster, Luc ran up. “Shannon’s locked her down. She’s in the dressing room.”

  “Who’s on the door?”

  “Shannon.”

  “Good.” The beefy guy would be enough to make the general punter think twice.

  They both paused as the AFP started chattering in their ears. “Lock on Esso. He’s headed backstage. Brean and Liptisk are with him.”

  Pax froze, contemplating their options. AFP had some guys back there. He hit the radio. “This is Elliot, need three officers with me. Meet by entryway to room B2. Takedown in progress.”

  Luc and Pax ran through the corridors, heading for the backstage basement area. There were people everywhere. They hurried through, three AFP officers falling into line with them.

  “Right, Brean is my guy, he sees me, he knows it is going down. He’ll back us. Liptisk is an unknown, someone needs to get on him. Esso will bail and potentially pull a weapon. Focus on him. We need to take him and do it cleanly. Any questions?” The men around him shook their heads.

  “Good. You.” Pax pointed at one of the men. “Start clearing the corridor. If they react and start firing, we don’t need people getting hurt.”

  The officer nodded and turned, taking off.

  “Target is approaching, a minute out.” Pax palmed his gun, eyes on the corner Esso would round. Shit was about to go down.

  Brean rounded the corner first, his eyes locking on Paxton and the men behind him. His footsteps didn’t falter as he kept walking toward them. The man was a fucking pro.

  Next Esso and his wife appeared. Esso was talking to the man behind him, gesturing with his hands. His wife, seeing the guns pointed at them, opened her mouth to scream. Brean turned and leapt at Esso. The guy had no time to react. Down they went, Esso pinned under Brean’s considerable weight.

  Liptisk, Suit Two, came out, guns blazing. Pax dove, rolled, and came up, gun lifted, snapping two off to hit Liptisk’s shoulder and thigh. The guy’s blood splattered Esso’s wife as he went down. Esso’s wife continued screaming, in the silence that came after the gunshots.

  Agents rapidly swarmed the area. Liptisk was administered first aid, while Brean lifted off Esso, allowing officers to take over and arrest the drug lord

  Annabelle Norris appeared at his shoulder.

  “We got him.” There were equal parts relief and satisfaction in her voice.

  “Yeah.” Pax ran a hand through his hair. “We’re lucky no one but Liptisk got hurt.”

  Norris nodded. “If it helps, the raids are still ongoing, but thus far no casualties. Not one leak. We’ve got it, the whole syndicate.”

  It was huge. A feather in her cap, and Pax knew it would open doors for his company. But right now he wanted Jetta.

  “You got this?” He gestured at Esso, who was cuffed and sitting on the floor, Liptisk, who was being patched up by agents, and Esso’s wife, who was still screaming and had started slapping at officers.

  “We got it. Go and be with your people.” Pax turned to walk off, stopped by Norris calling, “And, Pax?”

  “Yeah?”

  “None of this could have happened without you or Brean. You ever need anything, you call. We got your back.”

  Pax lifted a hand in acknowledgment and headed off down the corridor. Brean stood, leaning against the concrete, his face turned to watch the arrest of the man he’d been forced to serve for the last eighteen months.

  Pax stopped before him.

  “Brean.” He shook his head, enveloping him in a man hug. “Good to have you back, man.”

  Brean didn’t say a word, just slapped Pax hard on the back. They pulled back as Luc came up. Luc slapped Brean on the back, grinning. “Man, you owned that guy. How good did that feel?” Brean laughed. It sounded rusty and tired.

  “You have no fucking idea how much I’ve looked forward to that.”

  They all grinned. “Dude, you’re getting three months all-expenses-paid leave starting today.” Pax shook his head. “Shake off the last eighteen months. Go somewhere hot and nice and do jack shit while you’re there. Okay, brother?”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Dude, the bossman is picking up your tab. Go to Vegas and roll the dice, sleep with some women, get drunk and have a good time.” Luc laughed. “You know what? How about I come with you. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

  They grinned as Pax’s phone rang.

  “Yo.”

  “Pax—shit—Paxton—I found it.” Pax’s back straightened, his entire body tensing. Brean and Luc, picking up on Pax’s body language, sobered, their eyes on him.

  “Speak to me, Sawyer.”

  “Dude, it’s Paul. Paul fucking White. White Records is White’s cover. We didn’t get who Esso’s boss was. Fuck, even the AFP struggled to work it out.”

  “Sawyer - what are you saying?”

  “The AFP thought there was someone above Esso? It’s true. Paul White is the real head of the operation.”

  Pax’s body solidified, his hand freeze. “Jetta.”

  Sawyer continued but Pax wasn’t listening. Instead he was running. Luc and Brean followed.

  They got to the dressing room to find no one guarding the door. “Where’s Shannon?” Luc asked as Pax ripped the door open. It was empty. No Jetta.

  “Is she—”

  “Shannon!” Brean pulled the guy into the room, thrusting him at Pax.

  “Where is she?”

  Shannon glanced around. “I don’t know. I left her here.”

  “Where the fuck were you?”

  “One of Esso’s guys was making a break for it. I took him down.” He looked bewildered. “She was locked in. No one could get in.”

  “Someone did.” Pax had to restrain himself from punching the guy out. “You fucking lost her.” He turned away. “Get out.”

  Shannon left, scurrying away. Luc was examining the room. Pax reached for his radio. “Someone find me Paul White, the bassist.”

  Luc crouched. “Fuck, Pax, I’ve got blood.”

  Pax crouched, looking at the smudged blood on the floor. His heart felt like it was constricted; every breath hurt in his lungs. Where was she?

  Brean appeared behind him. “Paxton, we have a situation.”

  Both Luc and Pax rose, tense and ready. “Paul left. He took a van.” Brean stared straight at Pax. “He was also carrying Jetta.”

  “Fuck.”

  Pax hit his radio. “Norris, we got a situation. Suspected kidnapping of Jetta Oliver, suspect is one Paul White, driving a—” Brean told him the make and model, which Pax repeated into the radio. “Repeat, he’s taken Jetta—Jetta Oliver.” Pax closed his eyes.

  “Reason?”

  “He’s the guy. He’s the kingpin.”

  Norris swore. “On it. Meet at the operation room in five. Pax?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We’ll get her.”

  The operations room was a meeting room at the top of the Arena. The AFP had taken it over, plugging in to the Arena’s numerous cameras, using it as a base for the operation. Computers, camera feeds, profiles of the numerous people they needed to take down were everywhere. Every wall had some form of information or live stream on it.

  Pax entered the room, his body tense. The small voice in the back of his mind was reminding him that it wasn’t meant to be this way. That he was the one who was meant to die, not Jetta. He locked that shit down.

  “Status.” He snapped the word at the table.

  An officer stood. “Your man Sawyer is giving us the info he’s got. In a nutshell, he’s right. Esso was the figurehead, the real leader is White.” Pax closed his eyes.

  “Okay. So where is he taking her?”

  “We have five options, all within a one-to-two hundred kilometre radius of the Canberra region.” This came from Norris, who was unfurling a large map.

  “He’s got five properties outside Canberra. There are roughly twenty he owns around the country, but he’s in a van
with a kidnap victim. We’re expecting him to go for one of these and to lay low there.” She started marking them out with little red pins.

  “Plan of attack?”

  “Nothing yet. We need to rally, see if we have any officers.”

  Pax slammed his fist on the table. “White has kidnapped a woman, is the head of this operation, and you can’t spare a team to take him down?”

  Norris pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger, rubbing. “It’s not that simple, Paxton. We’ve just taken down a syndicate worth millions. The raids were a joint task force operation between the AFP and local, state, and territory police. We are stretched thin. AFP deployed all over the country to get this to happen. It was a simultaneous takedown. I don’t have the manpower right now to support a rescue mission.”

  “Get it.” Pax looked at her, his face deadly serious. “Get it or I go in with my men and you don’t get a live Paul.”

  She shook her head. “That’s murder, Paxton.”

  “No, it’s justice. That’s your choice, Norris.”

  Annabelle shook her head, looking around at the officers in her operations room. Pax knew they needed Paul and they needed him alive. The guy was responsible for the years of nightmares she and her team had accumulated.

  She turned to one of her officers. “Mike, call the office see if our SWAT guys have finished with the Goulburn raids and can catch a flight now. I want them on the ground ready in the next four hours.” He nodded and turned to the phone.

  “Elliot, give me four hours. We do this, we do it right and systematically.”

  “Jetta may not have four hours.” He felt the sting of those words, the fear that what he was saying was true.

  “Elliot.” Annabelle rose up to her full height. The authority of thirty years of experience was in her voice. “At this stage, the guy has two options. One, he kills Jetta and flees the country, but he’s bound to realise that we’ll have all the ports and airports covered. Two, he’s using her as a hostage to negotiate. Trust me, the guy isn’t dumb. He’s going to be using her as his pawn.”

  Paxton’s jaw clenched, a vein pulsing in his neck. Finally, he nodded. “You better be right, Norris.”

  She nodded. “I am.” The words sounded sure, but Pax saw her uncertainty. “I am right.”

  Paxton

  Brean and Pax entered the small interrogation room. Cameras were off and the viewing area was cleared. They had ten minutes with Esso. There were three conditions: they didn’t leave a mark, they didn’t kill him, and any information they got was provided anonymously to the AFP.

  The moment Esso spotted Brean, he spat on the floor.

  “You filthy motherfucking scum!” The guy was chained to the table, his feet shackled to the chair. “You’re dead, you hear me! Dead!”

  Brean calmly walked over to Esso and smashed his face against the table. Pax paused, leaning casually against the door. “No marks?”

  Brean shrugged. “Happened when I took him down.”

  Esso sputtered, his face now red. “I’m going to fucking sue you. You’ll be in jail before you leave this station!”

  Brean shrugged, taking the seat across from Esso. “You can try, but considering all your syndicate is gone…” He left the thought open ended. Esso’s flush deepened, his cheeks turning mottled purple. “Not all my people.”

  Pax pushed off the wall, coming to perch on the table, close to Esso. “Actually, yes, all your men. And we know about White.” And just like that, Esso paled. His eyes flickered from Brean to Paxton to the glass and back. “White?”

  “Yeah, Paul White? The real head of the operations?” Paxton leaned forward, his face getting close to Esso’s. “You know, the guy who fucked you over?”

  Esso shook his head. “No, he didn’t.”

  “Yes, he did.” Brean interrupted. “The guy made you the figurehead. He’s kidnapped a chick but we don’t have enough evidence to put him as the top dog. We know you do.” Brean leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. “What’s said in here right now stays private. But you tell us what we want to know and we’ll have a word to the Director of Public Prosecutions.” The word wouldn’t make a difference; the guy was so dirty that a year off his sentence wouldn’t save him from a lifetime in jail.

  Esso’s eyes flickered around the room. His hands clasped and unclasped, his teeth worrying his bottom lip before his tongue darted out to lick it. “It was all Paul!” The words burst forth like an avalanche. There was no stopping the fucker as he spilled all his secrets.

  “And where would he be likely to hide?” Pax leaned forward, trying to appear casual. Esso was so lost in his confession that it didn’t matter.

  “Thredbo. He’s got a house up there, always said it was the best place to hide out. Panic rooms, weapons cache. All the shit.”

  They both stood. “I’ll call Sawyer.” Pax started to walk out, bringing his mobile up to punch in the digits.

  “What about my sentencing?”

  Brean looked back at the maggot sitting at the table. “Dude, first rule you ever taught me? Don’t trust anyone.” With that they shut the door, slamming it on Esso’s outraged screams.

  “Sawyer?”

  “Bossman?”

  “Thredbo address. Get it now.”

  “On it, boss.”

  Pax hung up and dialled Norris.

  “Paxton?”

  “Thredbo address. Sawyer’s getting it for us now.”

  “Good. The SWAT team made excellent time. They’re twenty out. We can take the helicopters to the area.”

  “Rendezvous at Fairburn?”

  “Hangar twenty-four.”

  “We’ll be there in twenty.” Pax hung up, sliding the phone into his back pocket.

  “SWAT team are on their way.”

  “Geeze, that was quick. Norris said four hours.”

  Pax shook his head. “Not going to argue, just going to be grateful for the speed.” They exited the jail and jumped in the SUV. Pax set it in gear.

  “Plan?”

  “We’ll see what the SWAT guys decide once we have a schematic of the house and surrounding area. But at this stage? We’re going in.”

  “Rock and roll, brother!”

  “Yeah.” Pax’s mouth set in a hard line. “Rock and fucking roll.”

  Paxton

  Pax’s phone rang on the way to the AFP headquarters, he glanced at the number, frowning.

  “Why is Dylan calling you?” Luc reached forward to hit the button on the mobile

  “His facility is where we put Courtney.”

  “Ah.” Luc slid his finger across the face of the screen.

  “Pax?”

  “Yo.”

  “Courtney’s gone.” Pax pulled the SUV off to the side of the road.

  “She’s what?”

  “She’s gone.” Dylan’s voice was quiet, apologetic. “She’s gone, Pax. We’ve looked everywhere. She went out for her meditation walk and never came back. Jeanette is beside herself.”

  Pax thumbed the leather of the steering wheel. “Motherfucker!”

  “’I’m sorry, Pax. I’ve let you—”

  “No.” He cut Dylan’s apology off, swearing again under his breath. “No, Dylan. She’s been kidnapped. Jetta is missing too.” Pax looked over at Luc, who was sending out a group text to the guys, his fingers rapidly tapping out the news. “Shit is going off down here. It’s not your fault. We dropped the ball. I underestimated our opponent.”

  There was silence on the other end. “What can I do?”

  “Look after Jeanette. We’ll call you as soon as we know.”

  “Good luck.” They hung up.

  “Fuck.”

  “Fuck about covers it,” Luc agreed.

  “This is escalating.”

  “We’re on it.”

  “It was meant to be me.”

  “What?”

  “This whole thing.” Pax felt the little clock in his head start moving to the black. “It’s meant to b
e me.”

  “What are you on about?”

  Pax turned the car, merging back into traffic and headed toward their destination. “Nothing, forget it.”

  “Seriously, Pax?” Luc shook his head. “After this is all said and done, we’re sitting down for a beer and you’re talking that dark shit out.”

  After this was all said and done, Pax was convinced he would no longer be breathing.

  Sawyer had sent through the schematic of the building. It was a large property with three wine cellars scattered throughout.

  “Who the fuck needs three wine cellars?” Luc asked as they looked over the maps, plotting their entry.

  “Criminals who use them to store people or information.” The voice at the door interrupted their planning.

  “Connor.” Pax walked over to the SWAT leader, holding out a hand. “God, I haven’t seen you in fucking forever.”

  Connor slapped his back, pumping their hands. “Man, it’s been what? Five years?”

  “You two know each other?” This came from Annabelle Norris, who had her arms crossed, watching the reunion.

  “Pax and I went through army together. I got out and joined SWAT after a few years. But this bugger, and you!” Connor spotted Luc and they clasped each other in a man hug. “Goddamn it, man, it’s been too long.”

  “Boys,” Annabelle called their attention back to the table. “We have one confirmed kidnapped victim, and another suspected. I would like to get on with this.”

  Pax folded his arms over his chest, his brows creased. “Don’t talk to me like I’m fucking five years old, Annabelle. I know the stakes, better than you. Jetta is mine. She was taken from under our watch.” He leaned across the table, glaring at her. “Not to mention if you’d let us close this shit down the first time I asked we wouldn’t be in this position. So I’m not going to apologise that I take thirty seconds to feel good about the fact we got one of the best guys I’ve ever worked with on our side.”

  “Okay, pissing contest over,” Luc interjected. “Let’s focus.”

  Pax leaned forward, drawing in pencil on the map. “We have three options for landing. Here.” He circled. “Here. And here.” He drew the final circle then stood back. “The problem is, we don’t know what kind of firepower or manpower he’s got at the house.”