30

 

John felt Savannah yield to him in a manner so trusting, he couldn’t believe his luck. She wasn’t afraid of him, wasn’t running screaming from his office, wasn’t staring at him in disgust. She had accepted him. Accepted the vampire in him. The vampire who craved her even more now.

A firm knock on the door made him release Savannah’s lips and look over his shoulder. “Yes?”

The door opened, and Virginia entered. The redhead was not only a Stealth Guardian, and a member of her race’s ruling body, but also Wesley’s mate.

“We’re ready, John,” she announced.

“Thanks for coming so quickly, Virginia.” He reluctantly let go of Savannah. “Savannah, this is Virginia. She’s one of the Stealth Guardians I told you about.”

Virginia raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize she knew.”

“I only just found out,” Savannah said, and offered her hand to Virginia, who shook it. “I’m so grateful to you and everybody involved in trying to get my daughter back.”

“For a woman who just found out that there are preternatural creatures roaming this world, you seem remarkably calm,” Virginia said.

“I was hoping for a miracle. I’m not going to reject it, just because it arrived in the form of vampires and Stealth Guardians.”

Virginia directed her gaze to John. “Smart woman.” Then she motioned to the door behind her. “We’ve gotta go. We found a portal in Vladivostok. Logan and Enya are transporting directly there and will be expecting us.”

John nodded his approval, then turned to Savannah. He cupped her cheek. “I’ll bring her back to you. I promise.”

“I know. I trust you.”

“I’ll call my protégée Deirdre to come and keep you company while I’m gone. Stay in my office, until she arrives. Okay?”

“Is she a vampire, too?”

“Yes. And she’s a good woman. You can trust her.”

“If you trust her, I trust her.”

When she smiled at him, John pivoted, snatched his helmet and gloves from the desk, and left with Virginia. On the way downstairs he placed a quick call to Deirdre to give her instructions to take care of Savannah. In Scanguards’ lobby, several people were waiting for them: the four hybrids and Zane. Zane was wearing the same kind of Kevlar suit as John, helmet in hand. As luck would have it, Luther was in San Francisco this week and had lent his own suit to Zane for this mission. They would need the protection: it would be afternoon local time when they arrived in Vladivostok.

“That won’t be enough people,” John said.

“I can only take so many with me in the portal, or we’d have to do several trips. And with Logan and Enya, we’re more than enough to take care of the traffickers.” She motioned to Zane. “Zane filled me in on everything. They’re human, and from what you encountered at the port earlier, they don’t exactly have an army. Trust me: four hybrids, two vampires, and three Stealth Guardians can defeat fifty humans.”

John knew that, but there were kids involved, kids they had to protect, and when it came to kids, one could never be too cautious.

“I hope there are enough for all of us to take a bite out of,” Zane threw in, his eyes glimmering with bloodlust. “I didn’t get much to do in Oakland. And scaring the crap out of those two thugs was hardly any fun.”

“Well, then let’s go,” John announced.

The only portal in San Francisco through which a Stealth Guardian could travel, was in a tunnel in the 16th Street BART station in the Mission district, only a few blocks away from Scanguards’ headquarters. Virginia led them there on foot. Once inside the station, they walked down the stairs and around a corner where for a moment they would be shielded from the passengers waiting for the next train.

“Now, hold hands.”

“What?” Zane asked in disgust.

“I need to make us all invisible, but because we’re so many, I can’t do it with my mind; takes too much energy. I need to do it by touch.” She took Zane’s hand. “Now hold hands with one of your colleagues. We need to create a chain.”

“Do it!” John ordered and offered his hand.

There were no more protests, and moments later, they emerged from their temporary hiding place, now invisible, and walked into the tunnel. A couple of hundred yards into it, Virginia stopped and pressed her hand against the stone wall. Within seconds, a section of the wall disappeared, revealing a cave.

“Get inside,” she ordered, and one by one, the hybrids, as well as Zane and John crowded into the space. Virginia joined them. “Two of you need to hold onto me. And everybody else has to hold onto them. Don’t let go, or you’ll be left behind.” Suddenly the opening closed, and darkness descended upon them. “Oh, and it might be a little bumpy if this is your first ride.”

Bumpy was an understatement.

John felt as if he was being hurled into the air and tossed around like a ragdoll in an oversized dryer. But he didn’t let go of Virginia, nor of Benjamin, who was holding onto him for dear life. Luckily, the ride only took several seconds. Before he even realized it, he felt solid ground under his feet again, and the tumbling stopped.

“Bumpy, my ass,” Zane growled. “You might as well have tossed us into hell.”

Involuntarily, John had to grin. Zane was fearless and never displayed any discomfort about anything, but it appeared he wasn’t keen on a repeat of this particular experience.

“That was cool!” Grayson proclaimed.

“Oh yeah!” Damian confirmed.

Ryder simply rolled his eyes, as if he didn’t believe Damian’s and Grayson’s show of bravado.

When they exited the portal, Logan and Enya were waiting for them. John familiarized himself with his surroundings. They were in an abandoned factory. He slipped on his helmet and gloves, and noticed Zane doing the same.

“We procured a truck,” Logan announced.

“What Logan means is, we stole one,” Enya corrected him. The blond female looked rather petite, but according to Wesley, she was a formidable fighter and no less capable than her male brethren. “We figured out the route. It’ll take about twenty minutes to reach the port.”

When they exited the factory, John looked up at the sky. It was overcast, and in the distance, dark clouds were visible. He didn’t mind the cloudy weather, because it would provide an extra shield against the sun, but the dark clouds worried him somewhat, because they could develop into thunderclouds pretty quickly.

They piled into the large truck, weapons at the ready, and drove off. Enya used her smartphone to guide Logan through the unfamiliar city and direct him toward the dock at the port where the cargo ship carrying the girls was scheduled to arrive.

They didn’t seem out of place when they arrived at the docks in the old, beat up truck. Nobody gave them a second glance.

“That way,” Enya ordered, pointing to a dock around a bend, away from the hustle and bustle of the main docks, where containers were being loaded and unloaded.

When they turned the corner in the truck, John was glad that the area was somewhat shielded from the other docks. It would make it easier to avoid being seen by innocent bystanders. It figured that the kidnappers wanted to unload the girls in an area where nobody would see them and ask any questions.

“Park over there,” Enya said now, and Logan pulled behind a large shipping container and brought the truck to a stop.

“The ship’s already docking, look!” Grayson said from behind him.

John turned his head and looked out the side window. The hybrid was right. The ship was already being tied up in its berth. Yet, it still took almost an hour until the unloading began. The wait was excruciating, but John knew that it would be easier to fight the kidnappers once they had started unloading their victims. If Scanguards acted before the kids were on solid ground, too much could go wrong.

“Grayson, Ryder, you’re responsible for scanning the containers with your thermal cameras. We need to know which container the girls are in,” John instructed. “I doubt they’ll walk them off the ship and risk somebody seeing them.”

Zane nodded in agreement. “That’s what I would do.”

John looked at Virginia. “Virginia, how many of us can each of you cloak with your mind so we can move freely and not have to hold hands?”

“We can each take two at least, so that’s good.” She exchanged a look with Enya and Logan. “I’ll take you and Zane, Logan can take care of the twins, and Enya will take Grayson and Ryder.”

Both Enya and Logan nodded.

“Okay, Enya, you, Grayson, and Ryder will secure the girls, once we have their location. The rest of you, we’re taking out the kidnappers. I want no one to escape. Are we clear?”

“Now you’re talking,” Zane said.

“Are you saying to kill all of them?” Virginia asked. “Don’t you want to interrogate them?”

“If it’s safe to leave one alive, sure. But the girls’ safety comes first. Seeing how the kingpin behind this operated with the hacker and the two thugs we picked up in Oakland, I doubt they know who he is. He’s too careful. If it’s safe, we’ll ask them questions, but if they try to run, kill them.”

“And if they don’t try to run?” Zane asked. “You saying we’ll have to let them live if they talk?” Displeasure spread on Zane’s face.

“Don’t worry. Once they’ve told us what they know, they’ll die too.” After all, here in Russia, they couldn’t very well hand these criminals over to the authorities. And they needed to be punished, one way or another.

“Glad we cleared that up,” Zane said dryly.

“Hey guys,” Ryder suddenly said. “That container, the red one they’re lowering down right now… I see a whole bunch of heat signatures in there. All huddled in a corner.”

“Yeah, I see it too,” Grayson confirmed. “Could be a good dozen kids. Must be them.”

“Okay, get ready. Wait until the container has been lowered and disconnected from the crane. We don’t want them to pick it up again if they notice something,” John instructed.

With one eye John watched the container, with the other the gangplank, where three man appeared. Carrying small travel bags, they marched down and headed for the red container.

“They’re packing heat,” Damian said.

John had noticed the bulges under their jackets too. Guns.

“Let’s go,” John ordered. “Virginia, Enya, Logan. Cloak us.”

“Done,” all three said in unison.

All of them exited the truck, and while John could still see all members of his team, he trusted that they were now invisible to everybody else. John looked around, but he couldn’t see anybody else approaching the container or leaving the ship. Could they be so lucky as to only have to deal with three men? This was going too well.

All of a sudden, lightning split the sky, accompanied by a thunderclap. John looked up into the sky. The dark clouds he’d seen in the distance were now right above the city and the docks.

“Shit!” John hissed and exchanged a look with Virginia.

“Rain,” she said with concern, just as the first drops hit the ground. “If this lasts, we’re not gonna be invisible for long.”

“John,” Grayson’s voice came through the mic. “Customs truck approaching. To your left.”

John spun his head in the indicated direction and saw the white van with Cyrillic script on its sides and front hood. “How do you know it’s customs?”

“I took a few years of Russian. Trust me.”

“Fuck!” John cursed. “Get out of the rain, all of you, take cover where you can. We’re gonna have to wait until they leave.”

He watched his colleagues scatter, taking cover where they could find it. John motioned to a stack of pallets covered with a tarp, and ran toward it, Virginia and Zane following him. They pressed themselves close to it, the overhanging tarp providing some protection from the rain.

The van stopped near the red container, and two men got out. They marched toward the three who’d just come down the gangplank. The three didn’t appear to be surprised or scared. Instead, they walked straight toward them, exchanging handshakes. Then one of the three men from the ship pulled a thick envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to the customs official.

“Payoff,” John said, looking at Zane, who nodded.

“Customs knows what’s in the container. They want their cut.”

That changed things. John would never risk the lives of innocent government officials, but these guys were dirty. And if they allowed child trafficking, they had to be taken out, or this practice would continue.

“Change of plans,” John said into his mic. “Treat the customs officials as hostiles. They’re going down.”

The two customs officers turned and walked back to their van.

“Move in, now! Don’t let them get away. Damian, Benjamin, Logan, you take the customs guys. Enya, your team secures the girls. We’ll take the three from the ship. Everybody, attack!”

John charged toward the three thugs from the ship, who were now making their way to the red container. Zane and Virginia were by his side. He felt the rain pelting down on him now, and though it didn’t penetrate the Kevlar suit, the drops clung to the material, making his silhouette visible to anybody who was looking in his direction. Which one of the men suddenly did.

Startled, the man froze. Then his head whipped from left to right, then back again, and with a curse in Russian, he alerted his friends. All three drew their guns and aimed.

“Fuck!”

Still running, John took the safety off his semi-automatic, when a shot hit him. He felt the impact, and it jerked him back for a moment, but he caught himself quickly and kept running, aiming his own weapon now. However, the rain pounding down on him obscured his vision, the water clinging to his visor like rain to a windshield whose wipers weren’t working.

Loud thunder exploded in the sky, just as more shots rang out, those from his own gun, and the weapons of his colleagues. One of the men from the ship dropped to the ground like a felled tree, while the other two ran for cover.

John didn’t have time to see how the twins were faring with the two customs officials, while he dodged the kidnappers’ bullets. They had taken cover behind a stack of pallets, while John was still out in the open, crossing the large empty space between the warehouse and the ship.

His idea of taking out the criminals silently and stealthily, or to question them before killing them, had gone up in smoke, or rather, in rain. This was getting messy.

“I’ll get around the other side,” Zane announced over the mic and ran between two containers toward the right.

“Shit, Zane!” Virginia hissed. “You’ll be out of my range.”

But Zane didn’t reply. And it didn’t matter much anyway. They were already partially visible.

Finally John reached the stack of pallets where the thugs were hiding. He tried to look through the gaps in the wood and saw movement, but couldn’t get a clear view through his wet visor. Nevertheless, he aimed his gun through the gap and pulled the trigger.

A man cried out, then cursed in Russian. He’d hit the guy, but not killed him. Next to John, Virginia appeared, her gun ready as well. John focused again, trying to figure out which way the guy had run, when he suddenly saw a nozzle pointed in his general direction.

“Duck!” he screamed to Virginia and they both dove for the ground.

More lightning lit up the sky, and thunder rolled over them like a tank charging into a war zone. John looked over to Virginia, but she was unharmed. He motioned for her to stay down, then looked around for anything he could use to distract the two criminals. He ripped a two-foot-long plank from one of the outer pallets, and lifted it with his left hand, waving it in the air, while he gripped his gun tightly with his right.

As expected, there was a movement on the other side of the stack. The thug fired, aiming for the plank, which splintered. John dropped it, and aimed. This time the bullet found its mark. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Then another shot sounded from behind the stack.

“Got ‘em,” Zane confirmed through the mic.

“The three men from the ship are dead,” John announced through his mic. “What about the customs guys?”

“Both dead as a doornail,” Benjamin confirmed.

“Pushing up daisies,” Damian added.

“Greedy bastards,” Logan said dryly through the mic. “They didn’t leave me anything.”

“Grayson? The girls?” John asked.

“Container is locked with a chain. Ryder is getting a bolt cutter.”

“Ryder? Check in.”

“On my way back.”

“Hurry! I’m sure we’ll have company soon. Somebody will have heard the shots.” Though John hoped that the thunder and the pounding rain had obscured some of the sounds.

John marched toward the red container, past the customs van, where the twins loaded the bodies into the back.

“Good thinking,” he praised them on passing. At least from afar people would only see the empty customs van, and not the dead bodies. It would buy his team precious time to get away.

He pressed his mic. “Zane, get rid of the bodies of the three guys.”

“Already on it.”

John looked over his shoulder and saw Zane dropping one of the guys into the water. Virginia was busy searching the pockets of the second guy. Satisfied that his team was doing what needed to be done, he approached the red container, just as Ryder came around the corner and joined Enya and Grayson who were waiting there, scanning the area for anybody who might see them.

“Are we all visible again?” John asked Enya.

She nodded. “Wasn’t much point wasting energy once we all got drenched.”

“Okay.” He nodded to Ryder. “Open it up.” Then he added, “Get ready, just in case they’ve got a guard in there with the kids.”

Both Enya and Grayson aimed their weapons at the door. Ryder used the bolt cutter on the chain, snapping the metal, then tugged on the chain to free it from the door. He looked over his shoulder.

“Open it,” John instructed, “and stand back. I’m going in first.”

Ryder pulled the heavy door back. As soon as John could see inside, he focused his eyes. Then relaxed.

“Weapons down,” he said quietly, so as not to alarm the precious cargo. “Enya, join me. Virginia, meet us inside. The rest of you stay outside, cover us.”

John slowly walked into the dark space. With his vampire vision, he could already see what a human couldn’t: in the back of the container, the captured girls had huddled together in fear, clinging to each other on their mattresses.

John lifted his visor. He sighed when he saw the girls’ horrified faces. “Don’t be afraid. We’re taking you home to your parents now,” he said softly. “I’m John, and this is Enya.”

There were gasps and sobs, as if the children didn’t believe him. And why should they?

Behind him the door opened wider, letting in a bit more light.

With Enya by his side, John approached the girls, then crouched down when he reached the mattresses. “Jennifer? Mary? Carol?” He’d memorized their names from their files and hoped by addressing them by their names, some of their fears would dissipate. “Sarah? Jane? Cindy? Are you all okay? Andrea? Heather?”

“I’m Jane,” one of the girls replied.

“Are you taking us home now?” another one whimpered.

“Yes, honey, we’re taking you home now.”

A few girls started crying, but several inched closer. Finally, he could see them all. His eyes darted from one to the other. And with every second, his heart pounded more violently.

“Buffy?” His pulse beat into this throat. “Buffy? Where are you?”

But the only black girl he saw didn’t look like Buffy at all. He counted the girls. Twelve.

“There should be thirteen.” He exchanged a panicked look with Enya, then stared back at the girls. “Where’s Buffy? Where is she?”

The girl who’d identified herself as Jane came closer. “Buffy?”

He nodded and pulled a photo from a pocket in his suit, turned it to her so she could see it. “This is Buffy. Have you seen her?”

She looked at the photo, concentrated on it, then looked up. “Yes.”

“Where is she?”

“The man took her.”

Horror filled him. “What man? Where? When?”

“Before they put us on the ship. The man came and picked her up.”

“She was never on the ship with you?”

Jane shook her head.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he didn’t bother pushing them back. “Oh, God!”

To his surprise the girl suddenly asked, “Are you her daddy?”

He met Jane’s gaze. And because he didn’t know how else to describe his relationship to her, he said, “I promised her Mommy to bring her home.”