Silent Reckoning
1144 Words
Xavier’s two black SUVs rolled to a stop in the shadowed service alley behind the five-star hotel downtown. The building loomed above them, glass and steel reflecting the city lights. Lena stayed in the lead vehicle, laptop open on her lap, earpiece in.
“I’m not going in,” she said over comms. “I’ll stay here. Guide you through the cameras. You do the heavy lifting.”
Xavier checked his suppressor on the M4. “Copy. Keep the feeds clean.”
Marcus Hale, rifle ready, gave Riley Chen a nod. Riley adjusted his vest. “Let’s make it quiet. I don’t want any alarms to go on. And no chaos please .”
They moved like ghosts through the back entrance. Lena’s voice came soft in their ears. “Service elevator. Keycard spoofed. Floor twelve. Suite 1204. Six guards on rotation. Two at the door, four inside.”
Xavier swiped the card. The elevator hummed upward as they went into it.
They stepped into the hallway. The lights were dim, thick carpet muffling every step. The two guards at the suite door never saw them coming. Xavier and Marcus moved in sync: silenced shots. Two soft pops, bodies slumped.
Riley dragged them into a utility closet. “Clear.”
Lena’s voice. “Javier’s in the main room with three buyers. Girls in the bedroom. There were no cameras inside the suite. You’re blind once you enter.”
Xavier signaled. They breached the door.
The door opened silent. Inside, low voices speaking in Spanish and English mixed. Javier sat at a table with three men in suits, briefcases open, cocaine bricks stacked like bricks.
The buyers looked up.
Xavier’s rifle came up. “FBI. Hands where I can see them.”
The room exploded into motion.
One buyer reached for a gun under the table. Marcus shot him in the shoulder. The man screamed and dropped.
Another lunged for the door. Riley tackled him, using his knee to the back of the guy, and zip ties snapping tight.
Javier stood fast, reaching for a drawer but Xavier was faster, his rifle butt to Javier’s jaw. Javier crumpled, blood on his lips.
The fourth buyer pulled a pistol. David’s voice wasn’t there, but the team moved like he was coordinating the it.
Marcus kicked the gun away. Riley zip-tied him and punched Javier so hard his jaw felt pains.
The bedroom door opened. Three young terrified stood frozen.
Xavier lowered his rifle. “We’re here to help. Come with us.”
They didn’t move at first. Then one girl nodded when she noticed they weren’t looking harmful, tears streaming. They followed.
Javier groaned on the floor, trying to sit up. Riley grabbed his collar and slammed him back down.
Then Lena walked in.
She stepped through the door calm, laptop closed, a faint smile on her face.
Javier’s eyes widened when he saw her. Blood dripped from his split lip.
“You…” he rasped.
Lena crouched beside him. “Who’s laughing now, Javier?”
He spat blood. “You b***h. You set me up.”
She tilted her head. “You threatened me. Came to my house with your men. Said you’d end me if I didn’t keep quiet. Remember?”
Javier laughed angrily, his lips wet. “You think you’re clean? You’re neck-deep in this. You—”
Lena pulled her pistol. Pressed the barrel to his forehead.
Xavier stepped forward. “Lena. No. We take him in.”
She didn’t look at him. “He knows too much. About me. About everything.”
Javier sneered. “Tell them, Lena. Tell them how you—”
The gunshot was sharp. Javier’s head snapped back and his body slumped. Silence followed.
Xavier stared as the bullet went into Javier’s skull. Marcus and Riley froze.
Lena lowered the pistol. “He was going to talk. We couldn’t risk it.”
Xavier’s jaw clenched. “That wasn’t the plan.”
Lena met his eyes. “He owed me sixty grand Xavier! He threatened my life. I ended it. This is so personal.”
Marcus exhaled. “We wanted him alive. Interrogation. Maybe we’ll get leads.”
Lena shook her head. “He’d never talk. You know that. Now he’s gone, and the girls are safe. The buyers are cuffed. We walk away clean.”
Riley looked at the body. “We have to make it look like a rival hit. We leave no prints or trace.”
Xavier stared at Lena for a long moment. Then nodded once. “Clean the scene. Ensure no cameras catch us.”
Lena smiled faint. “Already done.”
They moved fast, wiped surfaces, staged the room: bullet casings from a different caliber, a burner phone left behind with fake numbers. Made it look like a cartel dispute.
The buyers, three men they caught were now zip-tied and dragged to the service elevator.
Xavier called a trusted contact in the field office. “We’ve got three in custody. They are involved in trafficking and narcotics. Meet us at the side entrance. No questions.”
The contact arrived in an unmarked van. The buyers were handed over without a word.
The girls they took with them were all shaking, wide-eyed, as they were guided to the SUVs.
Xavier looked at Lena. “You coming?”
She shook her head. “I’ll wipe the feeds from here. Go.”
They drove away. The girls sat in the back quiet. One whispered “thank you.”
Xavier’s knuckles were white on the wheel.
.
At his apartment David ran out the moment the SUVs pulled in. Micah stood in the doorway frozen when she saw the girls step out. They were young like her but scared, wrapped in blankets.
David’s face hardened. “You brought them here?”
Xavier climbed out. “They had nowhere else. We couldn’t leave them.”
David looked at the girls then at Micah. “Inside. All of you.”
Micah stepped forward. “Come on. You’re safe now.”
The girls followed her in.
David stared at Xavier. “This is a safe house. Not a shelter.”
Xavier met his eyes. “We’ll figure it out. But we saved them. That’s what matters.”
David exhaled. “Fine. But I think we’re moving fast. They’re going to come for us.”
Inside Micah knelt in front of the girls. “You’re okay now. No one’s going to hurt you.”
One girl who has small, dark hair, looked up at her. “Thank you.”
Micah’s eyes filled. She hugged her gently. David watched from the doorway. His arm ached but his heart ached more as he started thinking about his daughter and how else to find her.
The war wasn’t over and David knew it was only beginning. Tonight, they had won a small piece.
- Writer
