The Initiative (A Sleeping Beauty Remix)

Twenty-Eight

Twenty Eight

"Two steps into the fire, three steps back. Four hops into your arms, Five days of a broken heart."

-Tara Evans, The Game of Love, Single

"You two go around back, " Wes ordered, sliding on his comm earpiece. "Tony, you stay here."

From the paleness of the hacker's face, he was all too okay with staying in the car. He booted up his tablet. "I've got the communications and will coordinate from here."

"Find out if there are cameras inside," Wes ordered. "We need recordings and inside eyes."

"You got it."

Wes slipped his firearm from its shoulder holster, checked the rounds in the magazine, and put it back. "I'll find an upper window. This place has two stories-there's got to be a fire exit for the office level." He stared hard at the remainder of his team. "Get in, but do not engage. Recon first."

Despite Wes' desperate urge to run in there guns blazing, he wouldn't. He was smarter than that. While his passive ability meant he'd heal, it didn't make him invincible. Caught by a few dozen bullets and he'd go down just like anyone else.

He glanced up at the dark upper windows. "Who owns this building?" Another warehouse, he thought, always a warehouse. Tactically, they made for great strongholds and excellent storage locations. The traffic in and out of the area was few and far in between which made it harder for enemies to creep in. However, it was also not a location that would blend into its surroundings unless it was next to a few other warehouses.

A few keyboard clicks across Tony's keyboard. "The property was just leased to a subtenant named Myriad Industries. Their move-in date isn't until next month."

"He could be property hopping," Eva supplied.

"Either way-recon. Do not engage unless I give the order. Backup is on its way and we will not strike until more of us are onsite."

The three of them moved low towards the building. It had taken most of the night and the next day to track down Aria's whereabouts and now darkness had fallen over the kingdom once again. It masked their approached and allowed them to sneak closer. Halfway there, Wes split off from them and headed further around the back.

Aria, I'm coming.

☙♡❧

With the combination of blood loss, electric shock, and drug injections, it was safe to say I wasn't too aware of everything around me.

The next time I awoke, my head pounded. My throat was stale and dry and coughing to clear it didn't help. With a groan, I sat up.

They'd left me alone, tied up, in a side room of the warehouse. And it was definitely a warehouse. I'd recognize the tall ceilings and abandoned heavy machinery anywhere. Whoever the previous tenant was, they must've cut out rather quickly mid-construction. There was a wide window to my left, a clear tarp hanging in front of it. The folded ladder resting against the far wall and assortment of tools adjacent to it had the potential to be useful to me, however with the zip ties on my wrists and a handcuff around my ankle, getting over there would be almost impossible.

I tugged my foot. The handcuff clanged as it struck the thinner iron leg of what must have once been a radiator. I touched my toe to it, relieved that it was bitter cold. I blew a breath at it and watched the thick layer of dust fly outward.