Thad belly-crawled toward the main building and up to the ventilation shaft. Rivers had cut the wires to disable the air exchange fan a couple of days prior. Why, Thad didn’t know, but at this point he didn’t care. The prep work was a good thing, or Thad would have had to figure out how to get past the two-foot long, thin metal blades.

“Team one in position.” Joe’s communication came in clear. Thad lowered the volume on his ear buds, and adjusted his helmet’s chin strap.

Thad glanced over his shoulder to make sure Rivers was behind him. His teammate was a yard back. The guy didn’t make a sound.

He appreciated the space, because the fierce hatred he was feeling might burn just about anything within range to a crisp. He hoped Karly was still alive, because if she wasn’t… No. Don’t go there. Focus on the mission.

Approaching the vent, Thad listened for movement, then activated his mic. “Team two in position.” He settled on his back and extracted a tool kit from his pocket.

Sweat poured into his eyes as he began removing the screws holding the fan. Screws and bolts were the easy part. Getting past the fan, dropping into the room below—unseen, unheard—would be a bit tougher.

The last bolt wouldn’t budge. Frustration bunched the muscles under his shoulder blade. Thad shifted to get better leverage. One tight bolt wouldn’t keep him from getting to Karly.

The bolt unexpectedly released. Relief burst through him seconds before two men entered the hallway, one from each end.

Thad pulled back, automatically sending Rivers a two-men present signal. He hoped Rivers understood military code. If he didn’t, both of them were in trouble.

“What’s up?” the taller man in the hall asked.

“Last one’s delivering now. Macedo said to get the women ready for loading. The new one is in the isolation room. I’ll get her and meet you in the loading bay. We leave as soon as the baby’s delivered.”

Leave? Oh, no you don’t.

The image of a dead Afghani mother holding a screaming baby flashed across the screen in his mind, distracting him. Bile stirred in his gut. He closed his eyes and forced his muscles to relax.

The tink-tink-tink of a bolt rolling down the shaft, tightened every muscle in his body.

Rivers caught the bolt, his eyes flashing a what’s-wrong-with-you? warning.

“Did you hear that?” The tall man looked up at the vent.

Thad’s breathing stopped.

The tall man took a step closer.

“Hear what?” The smaller man snorted a laugh. “You're being paranoid. It’s just a field mouse.” He shook his head as he pushed through the door. “Come on. Macedo gave us orders.” But the tall man lingered. He lifted onto his toes to see into the vent. The crackle of a two-way radio echoed in the hallway.

“Sanchez, you there?”

The man turned and placed the radio close to his mouth. “What’s up, boss?”

Thad released his breath slowly.

“Get the women and drugs loaded now. We’ve got company. It looks like the big bosses came to give us a sendoff. Macedo wants everyone in place.”

Thad looked back at Rivers, who held a finger to his lips. Thad wanted to bust through the vent and dice Sanchez into tiny little pieces, but he did nothing except rest his forehead on his long-sleeved black shirt to blot away the nervous sweat pouring down his face.

When the men disappeared through the exit, Thad hauled his hands down his face.

Shit, that was close. Thad shifted to double-check the hallway was clear.

Rivers didn’t need to say anything, his eyes said it all.

Thad pressed his push-to-talk unit. “Team one. Sounds like more people are coming in through the front. We’ve got at least two here, with one on the radio,” Thad conveyed on a whisper.

“Team two. We’ve got more than just company.” Joe’s voice came in clear through his headset. “Four vehicles just drove in through the main gates. It looks like someone is hosting a party.”

Thad looked at Rivers, who’d heard the same message. “I bet you’re right,” Thad responded. “The guy inside said the big bosses are coming in. What’s the ETA on our backup?”

“Our play dates are still asking for more time.”

“The cake will be gone by the time they arrive,” Thad played along.

“Hang tight.”

Thad rolled his eyes. He looked at Rivers, who still hadn’t moved.

If something were going to happen, it would happen fast—too fast to react to in their current position. His clear and focused military mind calculated, weighed, and measured the options. Karly was being moved. He couldn’t wait. He had to do something.

He signed to Rivers he was going in. Rivers grabbed his sleeve and yanked. He locked his fingers around River’s wrist to get him to release his arm. Don’t try to stop me, buddy.

Rivers opened his hand and released Thad’s shirt.

Good. We have an understanding.

Thad pulled the vent, rotated the box, and passed it back to Rivers. Then he dragged himself to the edge of the vent and listened for movement, then shifted and dropped into the hall. Seconds later, Rivers dropped in behind him without a sound. Thad leaned back against the wall in a chair position and held out his hand. In one swift move, Rivers put a foot on Thad’s thigh and straightened to lift the fan back in place, then lowered back to the tiled floor.

Thad’s breath stopped mid-inhale at the sound of footsteps. A quick shuffle, and both he and Rivers backed into a narrow doorway off the main hall.

Rivers tapped his arm and silently diagrammed the layout beyond the hallway door.

Karly, hold on. We’re coming.

Thad checked his weapon again. Fully loaded. Footsteps pushed him deeper into the shadow of the doorway.

“Move it, sweet cheeks.” Thad recognized Sanchez's voice.

“Please. I’m going as fast as I can.”

Karly. A sweeter sound he’d never heard. She’s alive! Thank God.

Thad peeked around the doorframe edge and through the exit door’s window. Karly looked pale and scared. Anger turned the world in front of him red. These a-holes were toast. Rivers took a position beside him, gesturing toward a door behind him with a warning. Thad acknowledged Rivers and headed the opposite direction. With a quick look through the glass window, he took inventory.

A van.

Seven women walking in single file, bound in chains.

Two men, armed.

Where’s Karly? She was just here.

He pressed his radio button. “Team one, several women are being loaded into a van,” Thad whispered. “There’s a loading dock back here, and a tunnel that’s not on the drawing you showed us. Do you know where it leads?”

“I wasn’t aware of any tunnel. And, you shouldn’t be able to see a loading dock from the air exchange shaft. Give me your position.” Joe’s frustration came through loud and clear.

Thad glanced at Rivers, then leaned out to take another look. A female in a medical coat and Karly, both supporting another woman, emerged from a door on the far side of the open space.

A short, stubby man came from another direction. “Get her loaded,” he ordered.

Karly! Hold on, love.

“Team two. What is your position?” Blasted in his ear.

Thad signaled to Rivers that he’d spotted Karly. He recognized the short guy with tattoos covering his neck and face as Macedo, because of the man’s accent. He was the boss, and the man Sanchez spoke to on the radio. Sanchez monitored the doctor’s progress as she supported the wobbly woman while she stumbled toward the van.

“Leave her.” Macedo waved with a gun.

“No.” The doctor continued to move forward. “I’m not going to leave an asset behind. She’ll be fine.”

Karly lifted the small woman’s arm and placed it over her shoulder, then continued on with the doctor.

Thad dropped his head back against the wall, closed his eyes, and made a plan. Seconds passed, then he signaled to Rivers, before radioing. “Team one, in loading dock. Van ready and loaded with women. Three men. One woman. I’m going in.”

“Wait!” Joe hissed.

He couldn’t wait. He wouldn’t allow that van to take off. Not with Karly in it.

Thad tried the door handle. It moved. He silently pushed the door open. He duck-ran and slid behind some tables stacked against the wall. He didn’t dare look back, because there were only two possibilities. Either Rivers was behind him giving him a WTF look, or he wouldn’t be behind him at all.

Thad moved to the other side of the tables and inched forward to get a better look.

His heart pounded.

Sweat trickled down, stinging his eyes.

He blinked to focus.

Think. Stay calm. His finger pressed on the cold metal of his gun.

Someone started the van. He mentally mapped the targets.

Three men, one woman.

Seconds later, Karly got out of the van to help load supplies. His opportunity to act had come.

Thad checked for Rivers. He'd moved into position on the other side of the door.

Options turned from gray to black and white—stop that van.

He aimed, calmed his breath, and fired, hitting Sanchez and the little guy. His second bullet missed Macedo, and he fired again.

He eased his finger off the trigger.

Shit.

Macedo had Karly in a chokehold, holding a gun to her head.

Thad’s heart raged. Come on. Give me a shot.

His life’s purpose became laser focused. He’d pledged to die for the country he loved. He was expendable. Today he’d have the privilege of dying for the woman he loved.

Thad gave a signal to Rivers and hoped the guy had good aim. He pushed to his feet and moved out from behind the tables.

“Let her go.” He took a step forward, his gun aimed perfectly, then he spread his arms wide. Macedo knocked Karly to the ground.

P-taff. P-taff.

Thad’s body jerked. He gathered his strength and fired at Macedo.

Pain burned across his torso.

P-taff.

Air whooshed out of his chest.

He heard a scream as he fell back into blackness—his soul released from his body and started to drift.

Karly’s scream ricocheted off the walls.

All sound disappeared.

She began to crawl toward Thad.

Gunfire erupted from behind her. She froze. Covered her head. Fought her instinct to run.

Time slowed. She saw images of her parents, brothers, friends, and then Thad.

No. No. No. Oh, Thad.

Her focus narrowed.

Thirty feet away, Thad lay on his back, unmoving.

A sob robbed her of breath. She reached for Thad, but the rest of her body didn’t follow.

When more gunfire didn’t come, she slowly searched the loading dock. Dr. Abbott grabbed her by the arm and lifted. Justified vengeance reflected in the doctor’s eye and shocked Karly into letting go of the doomed images flashing in her mind. “Get in.” Dr. Abbott dragged her forward. “We have to get you and the rest of the women to safety.”

“I’m not leaving him.” Karly turned toward Thad.

A jerk of her arm spun her around. “Listen to me.” The doctor’s fingers dug into her arms. “You stay here, and you’ll end up just like him. We gotta get out of here. Now.”

“No. I’m not leaving him.” The doctor tightened her grip. When additional men came through a side door, the doctor shoved her into the van. “Move! Now.”

P-taff. P-taff. Bullets whizzed past Karly’s head. Her mind went blank as her arms and legs scrambled into the back of the metal box.

A pair of hands pulled her farther into the cargo area. Wide eyes of the other women focused on the men lying on the floor in pools of blood. Others looked sympathetic, while a few turned away. The sex trafficking victims sat next to each other on narrow benches on either side of the van, chained to the wall by their necks, their feet shackled to a bolt in the van’s floorboard.

As the van raced away from the loading dock, all she could see were the bottoms of Thad’s feet, getting smaller and smaller. She’d been wrong. Her heart hadn’t been broken. Not completely.

It was now shattered.

The image of Thad’s high school drawing surfaced. Screws and bolts and springs strewn across a table, pieces of a heart no longer functioning—like Humpty Dumpty, never to be put back together again.

She looked, connecting with each one of the women, one after another.

Every one of them had experienced loss.

She sensed it.

She could empathize with how every one of them felt, and they with her.

Forever damaged.

Totally broken.