Wrench & Blood

The Night Before

The safehouse had never felt so small.

Twenty-four hours until the raid. Twenty-four hours until Adam either became a hero or a corpse. The weight of it pressed down on everyone like the gray sky outside.

Adam stood by the window, watching the street. The rain had stopped, but the clouds hadn't broken. Iron District looked abandoned—no cars, no people, just wet pavement and boarded windows.

"You've been standing there for an hour," Micheal said from the cot.

"I'm thinking."

"About what?"

"About everything that can go wrong."

"That's a long list."

Adam turned. "Then help me shorten it."

Micheal sat up. His shoulder was bandaged where Cross's bullet had grazed him. He moved stiffly, but he moved.

"The feds show up on time. That's priority one."

"Harmon said he'd be there."

"Harmon says a lot of things. Feds lie. It's in their job description."

"Then we plan like they won't be there."

Micheal nodded. "Now you're thinking."

---

The crew gathered around the map for the final briefing.

Adam pointed to Warehouse 17. "The roof hatch is here. Leo, you're on alarms. Once we're inside, you stay by the hatch and keep the exit clear."

Leo nodded. His hands were shaking, but his eyes were focused.

"Elena, Frank, Dom—you're on the girls. Find them, get them to the loading dock, and wait for the feds. Don't engage unless you have to."

"And if the guards are already there?" Frank asked.

"Then you engage. Quietly."

Elena patted the knife on her belt. "Quiet is my specialty."

"Vince, Rosa—you're on exits. North and south. Make sure no one leaves. Especially Cindy."

Rosa smiled. "She won't get past me."

Adam looked at her. He knew about the calls to Webb. He knew she was the leak. But he didn't let it show.

"Micheal, Sandra, and I are going to the office. That's where Cindy will be. We take her alive if we can. But if she draws a weapon—"

"She won't leave in a bag," Micheal finished.

Adam nodded.

He looked around the room. Eight people. Eight lives. Some of them wouldn't make it back. He knew that. They knew that.

"Any questions?"

"Yeah," Dom said. "What's the pay?"

"You get to wake up tomorrow. That's the pay."

Dom grinned. "Good enough for me."

---

After the briefing, Adam pulled Sandra aside.

They stood in the back room, away from the others. The kerosene lamp flickered, casting long shadows.

"You don't have to come," Adam said. "You've done enough."

"I'm not sitting this out."

"Sandra—"

"I said I'm not sitting this out." Her voice was hard. "Danny died for this. I almost died for this. I'm going to be there when it ends."

Adam studied her face. The bruises had faded to yellow. Her lip was healed. But her eyes were different—harder, older.

"If something happens to you—"

"Nothing's going to happen to me."

"You don't know that."

"No one knows anything. That's why we fight."

She walked past him and joined the others.

Adam stood alone in the back room, listening to the murmur of voices. His crew. His army. His family.

He hoped he wasn't leading them to their deaths.

---

At 3 PM, Adam's phone buzzed.

Harmon: "Confirmed. Shipment is a go. Fifty girls. Truck arrives at 10 PM. Loading starts at 11. Cindy will be on-site by midnight."

Adam typed back: "We go at 11. Signal at 11:15. Be ready."

Harmon: "We'll be there."

Adam put the phone away.

The trap was set.

---

At 6 PM, Dom cooked dinner.

Nothing fancy—canned beans, bread, coffee. But it was hot, and it was food. The crew ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Leo the kid sat in the corner, staring at his laptop. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, not typing.

"You okay?" Adam asked.

"I've never done anything like this before."

"Neither have I."

"You seem calm."

"I'm not calm. I'm just not showing it."

Leo looked at him. "Danny used to say the same thing. 'Fear is useful. Panic isn't.'"

"Danny was smart."

"He was. But he's dead."

"And we're not. Not yet."

Adam sat down next to him. "When this is over, you're going to have a choice. You can stay in Blackhaven and keep running numbers. Or you can leave. Start over somewhere else."

"What would you do?"

"I'd leave. But that's me. You have to decide for yourself."

Leo was quiet for a long time. Then he said, "I think I'd like to see the ocean."

"Then see the ocean."

---

At 9 PM, Adam called Lena.

His aunt answered on the first ring. "Adam. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just wanted to hear your voice."

"You're scaring me."

"Don't be scared. Everything's going to be fine."

"You're lying."

"Maybe. But I'm lying for the right reasons."

Lena was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Danny used to say the same thing. Right before he did something stupid."

"I'm not Danny."

"No. You're not. You're smarter. That's why I'm worried."

Adam almost laughed. "I love you, Lena."

"I love you too. Now come home safe."

"I will."

He hung up.

---

At 10 PM, the crew loaded the cars.

Dom checked the engines. Vince checked the routes. Frank checked the weapons. Rosa checked the radios.

Micheal stood by the door, his rifle slung over his shoulder. Sandra stood beside him, a pistol on her hip.

Adam was the last one out.

He turned off the lights, locked the door, and looked back at the safehouse. Danny's place. The place where it all started.

He wouldn't be coming back.

"Let's go," he said.

---

The drive to the Docks took twenty minutes.

Three cars. Headlights off. Moving through the dark like ghosts.

Leo was in the back of the van, laptop open, fingers flying. "Camera loops are active. We have maybe fifteen minutes before anyone notices."

"Fifteen is enough," Adam said.

Warehouse 17 loomed ahead—a massive concrete box with a corrugated steel roof. Lights glowed from the windows. Trucks were parked outside. Men in dark clothes moved between them.

"Guards," Micheal said. "At least a dozen."

"More inside," Elena added.

Adam pulled out his radio. "Everyone in position?"

Vince: "North exit is clear."

Rosa: "South exit is clear."

Elena: "Loading dock has four guards. We can take them."

"Wait for my signal."

Adam looked at Micheal. "Ready?"

"Born ready."

They got out of the car.

---

The fence around Warehouse 17 was chain-link, topped with razor wire. Adam had cut a hole in it earlier that day, hidden behind a stack of pallets. They slipped through one by one, crouching low.

The maintenance hatch was on the north side of the roof, accessible by a rusted ladder. Adam went first, climbing silently, testing each rung before putting his weight on it.

The hatch was locked. A heavy padlock, new, shiny.

"Leo," Adam whispered into the radio.

"Give me a second."

A click. The padlock popped open.

"Done."

Adam lifted the hatch and climbed inside.

The attic of Warehouse 17 was a maze of steel beams, ducts, and electrical conduits. Dust covered everything. The air was cold and smelled like rust.

Below them, through gaps in the floor, Adam could see the main floor. Shipping containers lined the walls. Men with guns patrolled between them.

And in the center of the warehouse, standing by a desk, was Cindy Vance.

She was smaller than Adam expected. Dressed in black, her hair pulled back, her face calm. She looked like a CEO inspecting her business.

Micheal saw her and went rigid.

"Easy," Adam whispered.

"I'm fine."

"You're not. But hold it together."

They moved across the beams, silent as cats, until they were directly above the office.

The office was a glass box in the corner of the warehouse. Cindy was inside, talking to two men. One was Viktor, the cartel representative. The other was a man Adam didn't recognize—tall, thin, with cold eyes.

"Who's that?" Adam whispered.

"Emil," Micheal said. "The cleaner."

Adam's blood went cold.

"He's not supposed to be here."

"Cindy's scared. She brought reinforcements."

"Then we adapt."

---

Elena's voice crackled in Adam's ear. "We're in position at the loading dock. Four guards down. Quiet."

"Good. Wait for my signal."

Adam checked his watch. 11:05 PM.

Ten minutes until the feds arrived.

Five minutes until he gave the signal.

"Micheal, Sandra—on me."

They dropped down from the beams, landing silently on the catwalk above the office. The glass walls offered a clear view of Cindy.

She was on the phone now, her back to them.

Adam raised his gun.

Then everything went wrong.

"Adam." Rosa's voice, panicked. "They know. Someone tipped them off. Guards are pulling back toward the office. They're"

The radio cut out.

Below, alarms began to blare.

Cindy turned. She looked up at the catwalk. Straight at Adam.

She smiled.

"I was wondering when you'd get here."