This Wicked Sin

Chapter 16: Dane

“We need to get him out of there,” I growled.

We were stationed on the rooftop of a nearby factory building, watching the warehouse. This was the usual place from which we did surveillance. It was a building as old as the warehouse in question; only this one was as abandoned as it looked. I rushed here as soon as I could to think of a game plan.

“We shouldn’t rush things. Let’s think through this carefully,” Siofan Shahin, Clan leader of the Scorpions, said.

When he’d contacted me after the Syndicate meeting asking if he could join us, I was intrigued. I’d always gotten the impression that he’d rather sit everything out and spend all his days sipping drinks on a beach somewhere. Especially considering the other clan leaders were sitting this one out. The fact that he wanted to be involved was interesting.

Of course, I accepted. He was a Clan leader; few people could claim to hold the power he did. He would get us through many doors with his name alone. I was happy to have him on the team.

Now, not so much.

“Are you suggesting we leave him there to rot?” I snapped. My temper was fraying on a razor’s edge. I wanted him out, and I wanted him out now. I didn’t want to think too deeply about why I even cared about the well-being of a Corvin.

“Relax,” Siofan replied. His golden eyes were much clearer with intelligence than I’d ever seen them. “I wasn’t saying that. That warehouse is teeming with guards. We can’t just barge in there and hope to defeat them all. Not to mention, we need as much information as possible, so we need some of those people alive and well.”

I knew he was right. But something inside me was screaming at me to just bust in there and lay waste to everything in my path to get to him. I tried not to think too deeply about that either.

“Chances are they’ll be aware that this place is compromised as soon as Gabriel is rescued. Our best chance of success would be to raid the place. Someone higher up in the chain might show up to collect Gabriel. We wait for reinforcements and then storm the place. Try to take everyone in alive,” he continued.

“Organising something like that will take time. Time Gabriel may not have. We know he’s probably been drugged. We don’t know what other plans they have for him,” I shot back.

Siofan’s eyes were narrowed at me by now, but then, so were mine. “The mission takes precedence over everything. We need to do what we can to make sure it succeeds. Our bottom line should not be hindered by one person. So, we sit our asses here and wait for reinforcements. Then we begin an official raid.”

“You may be a Clan leader, Siofan Shahin,” I began through gritted my teeth, “but don’t forget your place here. I am not one of your subordinates. And you certainly as f**k are not in charge here to be giving such orders.”

He looked affronted. The look on his face made me want to cackle in satisfaction. He didn’t dare rebut anything I said because he knew I was right. We may have all been part of the Syndicate, with him having a seat at the top, but his power extended only as far as his Clan. He had no authority over a rival Clan's heir any more than he had authority in the task force I’d set up.

I could afford him some respect for being higher on the totem pole than me but that could only go so far. He was pissing me the f**k off and any goodwill I had towards him was hanging on by a thread. I should have denied his request to join and been satisfied with him lending us Shamira’s expertise. I should have known having a Clan leader on this team would cause problems.

“Let’s not fight. We need to focus on making a plan right now. Let’s not waste time,” Rayan cut in. The irony of hothead Rayan trying to stop a fight was not lost on me. Although his words were sensible, they didn’t do anything to dispel the growing animosity between Siofan and me.

Honestly, I don’t know why Siofan was so involved in the planning of this in the first place. He gave off an air of not giving a s**t about anything but I could see calculation and shrewdness swimming in the depths of his eyes. People like him were dangerous. You didn’t know whether they were here to help you or stab you as soon as your back was slightly turned.

Siofan let out a breath, then said more calmly, “Gabriel Corvin is no doubt a very important player, but we can’t risk our bottom line to save one person.”

“One of our biggest missions here is to save the people they’ve taken,” I said, anger making my voice gruff. “We can’t decide who to save or not just to catch a few goons who most probably don’t know shit.”

“We can’t take that risk,” Siofan shot back. “We’re sorely lacking in information here. Without this lead, we have nothing. We need to get to the bottom of this before we can make any rash decisions that will topple this entire investigation to the ground.”

“Or we can do both,” Rayan interrupted before we could get into it some more. Siofan and I both turned to him. Rayan turned to Siofan. “What’s the fastest possible time you’d need to organise this raid?”

“A few hours. Maybe more if we want the other clans involved,” he answered.

“I have to say, I’m not so comfortable leaving him in enemy hands for that long. Anything can happen to him. We’ll have the Corvins’ asses to answer to if this goes wrong,” Rayan said.

“I agree,” Shamira said grudgingly, speaking up for the first time, “He’s too important to ignore.”

“So what’s your plan?” I asked.

“We’ll go in. Just the two of us. It will be quick and quiet if we’re careful. Dane and I can take on some of those goons in a flash, no problem,” Reda said. “Shamira, you’re a good shot, right? You can cover our backs from the outside.”

Shamira gave a firm nod. She was one of the best snipers. One of the main reasons I wanted her on this team. Siofan didn’t look convinced but he didn’t protest either.

“You said he’s being held in one of the warehouse offices, right?” At Shamira’s nod, I continued, “Rayan and I will go in through one of those windows. The guards seem spread out all over the building so sneaking through shouldn’t be a problem.”

I waited a moment for any protest but none came.

“So it’s decided then. Let’s go.”