Against The Grain (THIRDS 5)

“I don’t know.”

Sloane looked troubled, and that wasn’t good. Why would Sparks not inform Sloane? Cael finished getting dressed beside Ash, straightening one of the straps of Ash’s tactical vest, when he heard familiar voices. Seb entered their armory, followed by his team. He was dressed in full gear, looking large and imposing, as always. He gave Cael a wink before walking past him to speak quietly to Hobbs, who was looking anxious. Calvin wasn’t kidding. Hobbs looked like he hadn’t slept in days. His shoulders were slumped, and he stayed as close to Calvin as possible. Seb let his head rest against his little brother’s, whispering something to Hobbs, who nodded and even managed a small smile.

Calvin closed his locker and turned to Seb. “Any idea what this is all about?”

“Yeah,” Dex pitched in. “And why are we meeting offsite?”

Seb released his brother and shook his head, his expression no less troubled or confused than the rest of them. “I know as much about all this as you guys. We better head out.”

They all finished suiting up and grabbing their gear before hurrying out of the armory and heading for their BearCats. Sloane, Seb, and Taylor did a quick recon before splitting up and leading their teams to their respective trucks. Hobbs climbed in behind the wheel with Calvin riding shotgun as usual. Cael sat behind his surveillance console when it struck him.

“Where’s the sarge?”

Everyone stilled.

“I’ll find out,” Sloane said, typing away at his smartphone as everyone took a seat on the bench and buckled up.

Cael fastened his seat belt as the BearCat roared to life when Sloane announced Sarge wasn’t coming.

“He’s not been called in on this.”

Sloane put his phone away, and Cael noticed Ash and Dex exchange glances. What were they thinking? Clearly they weren’t happy about it, and Cael was with them on that. Why would their sergeant not get called in for this emergency? Sloane told Hobbs to get them moving, and the three BearCats drove out of the garage and into the night. This whole thing wasn’t sitting well with Cael, and judging by the looks on his teammates’ faces, they felt the same. Everyone seemed to be lost in their own thoughts as they headed for the address Sparks had relayed. It didn’t take long to get there, especially at this time of night. Cael checked his watch. Damn, it was almost four in the morning.

The BearCat turned and drove up an incline, the light dimming around them. Cael figured they’d reached the parking garage. There was a faint beep, like the setting of a car alarm. Most likely the signal. Hobbs drove a couple more feet before their truck came to a stop. Well, this was it. They were about to find out what was going on. Hobbs turned off the engine and joined them in the back, followed by Calvin.

“All right, team. Let’s see what this is about.” Sloane stood and opened the back door, peering out before opening the door wider and hopping down. He motioned for the rest of the team to follow. Ash jumped down, and Cael was right behind him, sticking close to him as the headlights from the approaching two BearCats neared. The trucks came to a halt, the lights remaining on as the teams climbed out.

The parking lot was eerily quiet, but then it should have been at this time of night. Scanning the area, Cael noticed there were security cameras. They were pointing away, with no lights or anything signaling they were recording. Ahead of them, Sparks and a small team of Therian agents Cael had never seen before approached them. The agents were dressed in black suits, shirts, and ties, and one of them was carrying a medium-sized armored case.

“Thank you all for your promptness. This case is to be delivered to the Teterboro Airport, where a small team of Therian agents will be waiting beside a private unmarked plane. I’ll be monitoring your navigation systems. I can’t stress enough how crucial this mission is. It’s also highly classified. I expect you all to report in the moment the drop is made. Understood?”

Everyone nodded and replied with affirmatives. Sparks gave the signal, and the agent holding the case handed it over to Ash, who frowned but accepted it.

“Destructive Delta, you keep the package secure. Theta Destructive, Beta Ambush, your job is to make sure Destructive Delta delivers the package at all costs.” With that she turned and headed for the black Suburban parked a few feet away.

None of them knew what the hell was going on, but each Team Leader gathered their team and headed back to their respective truck. Ash climbed into the BearCat, the package in his hands. He took the lone seat across from the bench, where their sergeant usually sat, and buckled himself in, using the extra safety harness as well. The rest of the team silently took their seats on the bench and buckled up as the truck’s doors closed. The engine roared to life, and Hobbs waited until Theta Destructive’s truck had driven past befo

re following, with Beta Ambush taking up the rear. The trucks left the parking garage, traveling up West Thirty-Third Street.

THERE WAS silence as they headed toward Ninth Avenue. Of course, the silence didn’t stay that way for long. It never did when Dex was around.

“Okay, since no one else is going to say it, I will. That’s the fucking drug, isn’t it? We’re transporting the drug.”

“We don’t know that,” Sloane stated calmly.

“What else can it be? We’re transporting a mysterious armored case to a private airfield at four o’clock in the morning, our sergeant’s not been informed of this, and we have two other teams providing backup with enough firepower to take on a small army. Sparks, Ward, the drugs? It has to be.”

“This isn’t the first transport we’ve done,” Ash offered, “and we don’t exactly keep regular hours.”

None of them wanted to believe Sparks was involved with the control drug. That after years of being with the THIRDS, being their lieutenant, she could be behind an unsanctioned op. And for what purpose? She was a Therian. Why would she get involved in something that would control her own kind? The agents with her had also been Therian. It made no sense.

Dex looked to Sloane. “Tell me you’re not thinking the same thing.”

Everyone turned their attention to their Team Leader. If Sloane believed it, so would the rest of them. They all waited, hoping Sloane could offer them something to argue Sparks’s innocence.

“Fuck.” Sloane leaned his elbows on his knees and ran his fingers through his hair.

“What if it is the drug, Sloane?” Rosa said. “Are we just going to hand it over to God knows who? It’ll disappear.”