JT poured two cups of coffee and handed one to David Roan as they waited for the rest of the team to arrive.
They were ten minutes early for the meeting, and JT was still trying to adjust to the new office.
Guardians International Security was being run from a suite of offices two floors above Alpha Company, a deliberate decision, as it would make his arrival every day seem perfectly normal to anyone watching the building. He was getting into the habit of going up to the Guardians offices first, and then slipping down the back stairs to his Alpha Company office once he’d checked in with his new staff.
They were a mixture of former police and military, unassuming looking characters, who would pass for secretaries and assistants, but who could disarm a man without blinking, and take down an assailant without putting down their coffee mug.
JT smiled to himself. Ok, well maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but it was fair to say that the people David had recruited to the team were more than up to the job.
“How did your get-together go last night?” David stirred his coffee. “Not too many hangovers this morning, I hope? We need everyone awake and alert for the briefing.”
“It was really good.” JT laughed. “And to give them credit, the only ones to get slightly tipsy were Danny and Luke, and they were nowhere near drunk.”
“They were on their best behaviour, hmm?” David grinned.
“Not so much best behaviour, exactly...” JT snorted. “After the meal, Danny gathered all the new guys together, and explained to them that Hannah, Abbey and Ellen were going to be the most important women in their lives for the duration of the operation. He then explained that if the new guys treated the women in anything other than a sisterly fashion, he, Luke and Jordan would happily take them to one side and beat holy shit out of the lot of them.”
“How did the newbies take that?” David rolled his eyes, easily able to imagine Danny dishing out the warning.
“To give them credit, they were pretty cool about it, and took the warning in good spirit.” JT acknowledged. “Hollywood was the funniest. He asked Danny to clarify what sort of ‘sisters’ he was talking about. Apparently, when he was in school, back home in Alabama, Hollywood was taught by Catholic nuns. He explained to Danny that just the mention of the word ‘sister’ was enough to put the fear of God into him.”
“What was Danny’s response?” David asked.
“He just grinned and said that was the reaction he was looking for.” JT chuckled.
The knock at the door had them glancing up, and Logan and Evan made their way in.
These two were the newest additions to the Alpha Company team, and JT had already been very impressed by their work ethic, and their quiet focus in everything they did.
“Nice digs!” Evan grinned, looking around the room. “Not as good as the Alpha Company offices, but not bad for something set up inside of three months.”
“Come in, guys.” JT beckoned them forward. “Meet David Roan, former Chief Superintendent with the Metropolitan Police, and our liaison with all things official.”
“Good to meet you.” David shook hands with both men. “JT speaks very highly of you both.”
“Pure bullshit, I can assure you.” Logan smiled.
“Speak for yourself.” Evan laughed. “I’m awesome.”
“No, you’re ‘awful’, asshole!” Logan snorted. “You never could spell for shit!”
JT glanced at David and rolled his eyes.
“Does this sound familiar to you?” He grinned. “It’s like Danny and Matt all over again, from ten years ago.”
“How’s Matt doing?” Roan asked. “I haven’t seen him since January. How’re Suzy and the new baby?”
“They’re doing great.” JT smiled. “We’ve got that new contract with the football club, and Matt has been busy co-ordinating the new team working with them. He’s doing a brilliant job, and we’ve even been approached by another club, looking to change their security arrangements at the start of the new season. If we can sign them up as well, we’ll need to expand the Midlands base by another fifty staff.”
“Wow!” David nodded his head. “It sounds like you’re moving fast into the sports arena.”
“We’ve worked with sports stars from the beginning, but with the soccer teams, it opens a lot of new doors.” JT nodded. “Plus, it means we can stay clear of all those snot-nosed teenage boy-bands. I swear, there was a point when I was ready to get them arrested for bad behaviour myself. I would have happily stood up as a witness against them. Obnoxious, entitled, talentless spoiled brats!”
“I remember when you went with that one band on tour, and they kept running naked through the hotel fountains.” David grinned.
JT grimaced.
“Don’t remind me.” He winced. “I was trying to cover them up, while apologising to all the old ladies in the hotel lobby, at the same time as blocking the view of the paparazzi photographers outside the front doors.”
“You should have just let the photographers take the pictures and flood the internet with them.” Hannah said from the doorway. “From what Danny told me at the time, they didn’t exactly have much to show off, so the embarrassment would have taught them a lasting lesson.”
“I actually bumped into the lead singer a couple of months ago.” JT smiled. “He’s married with three or four kids, and he and his wife are running their own garden centre. How times change.”
Hannah was followed into the conference room by Abbey and Ellen, and they helped themselves to coffee before taking their seats at the table.
Hannah pulled out her laptop and set it up, and was just walking along the wall, flicking on a row of TV monitors, when the rest of the men in the team walked through the door.
“Grab a coffee guys, and then take a seat.” JT instructed, as Gregor and Tuck were the last to enter the room.
Tuck gave him a curt nod, which told JT everything he needed to know about the status of the operation, and he made his way to the head of the table.
When everyone was seated, all the coffees stirred, and teaspoons placed on the table, JT breathed deeply before beginning to speak.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our first operational meeting.” He smiled. “Just so everyone understands the situation, whilst we’re working completely independently of our governments, and do not directly take orders from anyone in Whitehall or Washington, we are still answerable for our actions, and the decisions we make. So, to ensure that we have every decision documented, all of the operational meetings will be recorded for posterity, and copies kept securely by Hannah, on a ‘just in case they’re needed’ basis. They won’t be handed over to the authorities unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
JT paused while everyone digested this information. Nobody seemed in the slightest bit worried about the news.
“Ok, then I’m sure you’ll all be keen to find out about our mission, and exactly what this operation entails.” He smiled. “I’ll pass you over to David Roan to give you the background.”
David stood up as JT took his seat.
“Thanks, JT.” He nodded, before turning to face everyone. “Our first mission involves the trafficking of a group of around a hundred women from Turkey, across Europe to Rotterdam.”
JT looked at the assembled team members and noted the faces of the men and women as they changed, from being engaged and enthusiastic, to angry and determined.
“We have a member of the trafficker’s inner circle reporting directly to us, so we’re able to know their every movement and every change in plans within minutes of it happening.” David continued. “We’ve been brought into play as the ‘fixers’ who are going to arrange an auction in Rotterdam, where the women will be sold to the highest bidders. That gives us an ‘in’ with the traffickers, and we’ve managed to get an agreement to insert a small team of security personnel, whose job it will be to ensure that the product arrives in Rotterdam in good condition, and more importantly, unmolested by the various police forces along the route.”
“If we know where these women are being held, why don’t we just free them?” Kellen asked, obviously confused.
David smiled sadly at Kellen, as if understanding where the man was coming from.
“At the moment, not all of the women are in the same place. By the time they are, they’ll be on the back of lorries heading across Turkey. I agree, it sounds logical that if we know where they are, we should just go in and get them. But we’re not just looking to intercept one shipment.” He explained. “If we simply release this group, the traffickers will change the route for the next group. We’ll have saved a handful but lost the chance to save many more. But, if we plan this properly, we’ll have the opportunity to save many more potential victims and maybe even shut down this particular organisation for good.”
“Of course, that won’t be the end of it. It never is.” JT frowned. “But if we can get a foothold with this group, and make the right contacts, that could allow us to infiltrate a much wider network. This is a vitally important first mission, not only because there are a lot of lives on the line, but also because we need to make contacts, so that it will be a stepping stone to the next operation, and the one after that. It’s going to take time and a lot of luck, but we could be starting something that will bring a large number of organisations to their knees. Whether we end with the gangs in prison, or in the ground, it doesn’t really matter. We just need to end them.”
“Make no mistake… you’ll be exposed to things that no decent human beings would ever want to see.” David warned. “And you’ll have to stand by and watch things which go against everything you were ever taught about right and wrong, without lifting a finger to stop them. It will all be for the greater good, knowing that the big picture will see so many women and girls go free, but it won’t be easy, and if you don’t think you can handle it, then now’s the time to say.”
JT watched the team-mates glance around the table, obviously looking for the first one to decide they couldn’t go through with the operation.
To their credit, nobody bowed out.
“Ok, then if you’re all still willing to go through with this, Hannah will start filling in the details.” JT explained. “We’ve got less than a week to get you all up to speed before we fly you out to Turkey.”
David stood up ready to leave.
“I wish you all good luck on this mission.” He nodded. “For the sake of all the women we hope to rescue, I really hope you’re as good as they say you are.”
JT watched his friend leave the conference room and turned back to the team.
He sincerely hoped they were all up to the task.