Air of Darkness

by Rose O'Brien

  She was one of the guys and gave as good as she got. Alex had mostly kept to himself, but Kelly drew everyone in. Before long, they were friends. And not long after that, they were friends with benefits.

  Kelly knew what she wanted and she went after it. And she had wanted Alex. While fraternization was against the rules within units, it wasn’t exactly like the brass could do anything about it. As the medic, he usually had a tent or a barracks room to himself. Kelly spent more than a few nights there.

  Alex didn’t delude himself into thinking he was the only one she slept with, or that she loved him. He had accepted her advances because she was a beautiful woman, and it was convenient. He hadn’t loved her exactly, but he had cared about her.

  They were screwing around for about four months when the ambush happened.

  It was a typical convoy run. The reports of insurgent activity had been relatively slow, and the unit was a little more relaxed than they had been in months. The first IED hit the second truck in the six-truck convoy. The second bomb took out the fourth and fifth truck. Alex had been in the sixth.

  As he’d dismounted, scrambling to get his gear looped on his shoulders, he’d found bodies all around him. The shooting started, bullets flying, hitting the ground around him with little puffs of sand.

  He dove for cover behind the remains of the fifth truck, checking fallen teammates and doing a mental triage.

  He cataloged the ones that were dead, the ones he could stabilize and save, and the ones who had no hope.

  Then he’d found Kelly.

  The blast had torn open her abdomen, and she was bleeding out fast. She was deathly pale and as the sand around her turned red with her blood, Alex desperately packed her wounds. In the back of his mind, he knew there was no hope, and that there were other soldiers that needed his help.

  His arms were covered in her blood up to the elbows and his hands slid over the slick surfaces of her organs, intestines, stomach, liver, passing beneath his hands.

  Her green eyes had locked on his and she grabbed his hand, holding on with desperate strength.

  “Alex, I’m scared.”

  He’d never forget the sound of her weak, thready voice. It was like Death himself had reached out and grabbed him by the throat.

  “Just hang on,” he’d said. “I’ll have you fixed up in a minute.”

  He’d turned his attention to packing her abdomen. When he’d looked back up, her green eyes were open and staring at the impossibly blue desert sky. She wasn’t breathing.

  “I’m so sorry, Alex,” Alayna said quietly as he finished.

  In the weeks following Kelly’s death, he’d been closed off and shut down. He’d lost plenty of people. There had been nothing he could do. So why did her death tear him up when the others’ hadn’t? All he could think was that it must have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Kelly had been the one to break him. It was Blanca that had held him together.

  So, he went through the motions with robotic precision until it was time to go home. He collected his discharge, qualified as a paramedic and started applying to medical school. He’d been hell bent on making his dream of becoming a doctor a reality.

  But then the panic attacks had hit him.

  “We picked up a gunshot victim on my third day on rotation. He was bleeding bad, screaming. I lost it, froze, blacked out. I ended up huddled in a corner of the ambulance. My partner was able to stabilize the guy, but just barely. That man could have died because I couldn’t keep my shit together.”

  “I just couldn’t handle bleeding patients,” Alex said. “So, I gave up my dream of being a doctor and decided to be an agent instead. Turns out I can handle dead people just fine. It was actually Blanca that suggested it. She heard the Bureau was looking to hire more veterans and she kept shoving the application at me until I turned it in.”

  “FBI agent is a good dream, too,” Alayna said quietly.

  “Most of the time it’s really boring, if you want to know the truth. But it has its moments,” he said, looking at her intently. “And now you know the whole embarrassing truth.”

  “It’s not embarrassing,” Alayna said. “I’m sorry for the pain you’ve been through, but I’m not sorry it brought you to me.”

  She reached out and grasped his hand. Shock coursed through him for a moment before he closed his fingers around hers, savoring the feel of her skin against his.

  He could feel her pulse against his palm and he fought an almost overwhelming urge to kiss her. Was she reaching out as his friend, his partner, his guide to her crazy world? Was there pity in that touch? Or was she reaching out because she craved his touch as much as he craved hers?

  It was so hard to read her expression in the darkness. His mind flashed over what she had said about Dominic’s departure and her rule about not dating team members.

  Alex couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. Alayna had been like a firework going off in his shadow of a life. She was warmth and light and excitement. One wrong move and she might push him away. He didn’t know how to tell her that he longed to pull her into his arms, kiss her, make love to her.

  He couldn’t tell her that he fantasized about the way her lips would feel against his. She would be like fire in his arms, he knew. But if she could reject a friend she had known for years, what would she do with someone she’d known a couple of weeks?

  He covered her hand with his other one and closed his eyes, committing the feel of her, the scent of her to memory. Maybe there was a way to make this work between them. Maybe he could go back to the life he’d worked so hard for and find some way to keep her in it.

  Chapter 16

  More than a week went by, with the team tagging trucks, combing surveillance videos from the warehouses, and tracking the movements of Medina’s trucks and men.

  It hadn’t exactly been an easy few days, Alayna mused as she pulled her bike into the garage at HQ. She and Alex could have ridden together, but she preferred that he have his own vehicle, just in case, and she liked to have a few minutes to herself on the drive in.

  Having Alex sleeping just a few feet away every day was not exactly conducive to sleep. He was invading her dreams more and more. Sometimes, she dreamed of blood and sand, pain and death. Other nights she dreamed of Alex, holding her, kissing her, just sitting and talking with her. In her favorite dream, they flew off together on Z’s back, soaring among the stars and never looking down.

  As she entered the office, Ellie called her over.

  “Hey, boss, I think I got something you want to see,” she called out.

  Alayna joined her at the desk and peered at her screens over her shoulder.

  “Just a question,” said Alayna. “Do you ever go home, Ellie?”

  “Home doesn’t have this kind of data connection or server capacity,” Ellie said.

  She pointed at the middle of her three screens, which was displaying a map with red lines marked all over it.

  “What am I looking at?” Alayna asked.

  “A compilation of our GPS tracking data and surveillance records,” Ellie explained, pointing to a dot in the center of the map where several of the red lines appeared to converge. “I think this might be another warehouse that wasn’t on our list.”

  “Give Lu the address and the satellite photos so that she can get surveillance set up on that place. Alex and I will stake it out tonight.”

  “I ran the records on the property. It’s owned by another shell company, and it’s not connected to any other properties or companies. I swear, Medina’s got more shells than the beach.”

  “It’s how he’s been so successful at avoiding notice until now,” Alayna said. “Tell me about his runs to the border.”

  “All his pickups are in Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros. Their next stop is this new warehouse I discovered. From there, those trucks end up any number of places,” Ellie said.

  “Is there any way to tell what he’s hauling?” Alayna asked.

  “Not withou
t opening the trucks or getting someone with enough juice for X-ray vision up next to the trucks,” Ellie replied. “I suppose we could try infrared cameras on the trucks going and coming, but it’s unreliable if the trucks have been on the road for awhile.”

  Ellie clicked around on her screens and typed a few things.

  “Boss, I think we need to start considering some internal recon on some of these buildings. Lu and I could get us what we need in just a couple of days.”

  “I don’t like it, but it doesn’t look like we have any better options,” Alayna said.

  “Don’t worry, boss, this ain’t our first rodeo. They’ll never even know we were there.”

  “I believe you,” she replied. “Pull the blueprints for the buildings and pull the team in. We’ll plan tonight and do the recon tomorrow night.”

  Ellie nodded and got to work.

  ***

  Alex closed his eyes, blocking out his teammates and the inside of the Sprinter van and tried to center himself for the thirtieth time. His blood was too hot and he gave up and started compulsively checking the velcro pockets on his tac vest to make sure he’d have everything he needed quick to hand.

  There was a good chance they’d be kicking in some doors tonight. Part of him was excited by the prospect, but another part was absolutely terrified. The last time he’d done something like this he’d been wearing sergeants’ bars and a medic’s patch.

  True to their word, Ellie and Lu were able to make quick work of the first three warehouses they had been staking out. Lu was able to slip into one in the form of a little brown field mouse, using her keen sense of smell to locate what she was sure was a shipment of drugs, everything from cocaine to methamphetamines to heroin, hidden among a legitimate shipment of car parts.

  Ellie had slipped into another warehouse and uncovered a shipment of guns hidden in crates of fruit and tequila. The third warehouse had come up clean.

  If Medina would risk running drugs and guns, chances were he had completed the trifecta and was in the flesh game, too. Could be prostitution or a coyote operation or both. Based on everything they’d collected from the GPS trackers, this warehouse might hold evidence of that.

  But they needed to play this one smart.

  The whole team, minus Lu, was sitting in the panel van geared up and ready to go.

  Dumeril’s quiet voice reached them from the front seat, “I think I’ve got a visual on Lu. Either that or this mouse is very curious about our van.”

  Alayna opened the back door and scooped the little brown mouse in her hand. The creature skittered behind a rack of computer equipment near the back of the van and they could all hear grunts, popping sounds and the unsettling tearing noises that were associated with Lu’s transformations. After a few minutes, she emerged, slipping a black T-shirt over her head and grabbing a gallon jug of thick orange sludge that she used to refuel after her changes and began to chug it.

  “I didn’t notice anything suspicious in the shipments that were stored in the front part of the warehouse,” Lu said between gulps of the gritty sludge.

  Alayna sighed, disappointment pushing her shoulders down.

  “But there is a sealed room in the back I couldn’t get into. No windows either,” Lu said.

  Alayna perked up like Lu had just told her the warehouse was full of cupcakes.

  “How many people?”

  “Six warehouse workers, looks like a mix of shifters and sapiens, plus four vamp guards,” Lu said. “But I don’t know what’s in that room, and that makes me nervous.”

  Alayna nodded and had Ellie pull up the blueprints of the building. This mysterious room wasn’t on the plans. Lu pointed out their two best entry points and where the room was.

  “I think we should split up. Alex, Dumeril, and I will take the front entrance. Burdock, Lu, and Ellie, you’ll take the side entrance. Try to minimize the casualties for the workers and guards because I’d like to question them when we’re done. Move through the main warehouse as quickly as possible and secure the entrance to that room. Any questions?”

  The team shook their heads silently, checking their weapons and securing their gear. They grouped outside the van into their entry teams and Alex pushed down another bubble of nervousness that tried to claw its way out of his chest.

  He had on a tac vest, his twin 1911s were on his hips, and a tactical shotgun loaded with silver rested in his hands. A small med kit was in his backpack. He’d debated whether or not to bring it. He wasn’t a medic anymore, and the team had Dumeril. They didn’t need him. Ultimately, it just made him feel better to have it.

  Alayna gave a double click on her radio mic that signaled it was time to move out. As the other group moved away, Alex lost sight of them. His group turned the corner and headed for the front entrance of the warehouse.

  It was a dark night, with clouds obscuring the moon and stars. Unsurprisingly, there were no exterior lights on the warehouse. Vamps and shifters could see in the dark and they probably had cameras on the exterior. Hopefully, the glamour would hold up enough to fool them until they could get inside.

  As they reached the person-sized access door located beside a large closed rolling door, Alex heard three clicks over the radio that signaled the other team was in place, and Alayna’s answering three clicks.

  She started softly whispering, while Dumeril counted down from ten on his fingers. As he curled his last finger, Alayna hit the door with a blast of air and fire that knocked it off its hinges, leaving it in a twisted molten heap by the opening.

  As they entered the building, Alex heard an answering boom off to the side where the second team would be entering. Alayna moved through the opening first, taking the handle of her whip from her boot, but not extending it.

  She was whispering again, her left hand extended palm up, a ball of crackling energy floating above it. Dumeril was next, drawing his kukris from the sheath on his back near his waist. The blades were silent as they slid free.

  Alex stepped through the door, covering the rear, his shotgun at his shoulder and pointed at the floor.

  Chances were, everyone in the building had heard the twin booms of the doors exploding. The warehouse was dimly lit, but Alex was still able to pick up movement to their right.

  “On your two o’clock,” he whispered to Alayna.

  “Roger.”

  She moved silently in that direction. A moment later, he heard a single whispered word. Light flared, there was a sharp crack and the air suddenly smelled of ozone. Two bodies dropped to the floor, unconscious.

  Two other figures emerged from between shipping crates, Dumeril hit them with some sort of spell that immobilized them.

  So far, everyone they’d seen wore jumpsuits—probably warehouse workers.

  They heard a shout from the back of the warehouse and the sound of something hitting the floor. The second team moved into view.

  “Two warehouse workers are unconscious and tied up in the back,” Ellie said, her voice barely above a whisper, but clear enough through the mic.

  “Any sign of our guards?” Alayna asked.

  Lu shook her head and pointed at a wall not far away that had a solid metal door set in it. Must be the room she had mentioned and it was a good bet their guards had retreated there.

  Burdock tried the door, and when he found it was locked, held the handle until it started to glow orange. He wrenched it, lock and all, out of the door and tossed the molten metal lump on the floor. Alex noted that the flesh of his hand was unburned. Being a fire mage had its perks, apparently.

  Burdock gave the door a solid kick with his booted foot, and it swung open so hard it bounced off the opposite wall. Burdock moved through the room like a predator, scanning back and forth with his assault rifle.

  He gave the hand signal for “all clear” and the rest of the team began moving through the door in formation, Alayna and Dumeril, followed by Alex and Ellie, with Lu bringing up the rear.

  The room was dark, with no windows and
no lights. The first thing Alex noticed was the smell. It was like a hundred port-a-potties had been left in the hot sun for a week, the overwhelming smell of human waste mixed with the tang of chemical disinfectant. Under that was the stench of human body odor.

  Alex heard a click to his right, and the room was flooded with light from overhead. Ellie stood a few feet away, one hand on a metal switch and the other covering her nose and mouth. Her large eyes narrowed, but not from the glare.

  Alex followed her gaze back into the room. It was full of welded wire cages, about five feet tall. They lined both walls of the long room, with an aisle between them.

  Crouched figures were cowering in the corners of the cages, covering their faces against the light. A sickening feeling grabbed Alex in the gut as he realized they were people. Each of the fifteen or so cages had one or two people in them. Most had dark matted hair. What was left of their clothing was torn and filthy.

  Most of the cages were too small for them to stand or stretch out. In each cage was an orange bucket. Some of them were overflowing with waste.

  One woman started to cry. On the other side, a man scrambled to the front of a cage and stuck his fingers through toward Alex. In a painfully hoarse voice he begged Alex in Spanish to take him out of this place before the devils came back.

  Alex made eye contact and squeezed the man’s fingers gently, placing a finger against his lips to signal for silence. He looked to Alayna, to see what their next move would be.

  She was standing still, as if rooted to the spot in shock. When he looked closer, Alex could see that her body was shaking with anger, her jaw clenched, and her hands were fisted at her sides.

  A high-pitched cry went up from a cage at the far end of the row. The breath caught in Alex’s throat. The sound had come from a child.

  Alayna’s head snapped around at the cry, and she was in front of the cage in a few quick, determined strides, Alex not far behind her.

  Four small children, ranging in age from maybe five to eight years old, were huddled in the back of the cage. Hard to tell if they were boys or girls. Shaggy, dark hair hung in all their faces. Their eyes were wide and bright against the filth that covered their skin. They were a tangle of too-skinny arms and legs as they clung to each other.