Rialto (Unbreakable Bonds 8)

“One guard down. Dorothy and Toto inside,” Ian relayed to the rest of the team.

By his count, six of them were inside the warehouse while Garrett was standing by on the roof and Lucas was positioned on a nearby rooftop with a sniper rifle and a high-power scope. Rowe really did have the best toys—not that he’d ever tell the man that to his face.

The interior of the warehouse was pitch black. Hollis pulled on a pair of incredibly heavy night-vision goggles, since all the lighter ones had been grabbed, and tried to tamp down the same giddy thrill he’d felt when Dom had handed him a pair at Ward Security. Really…the best toys.

The entire world was bathed in a strange green light, but he could now see the towers of boxes and crates. The open area in the middle of the room was filled with long tables and what looked to be a very organized drug packaging and processing outfit.

It was fucking gutsy to have all this shit out in the open. Hollis’s old cop senses were tingling. Either CJ was a complete moron, or the bastard was confident because he had a cop or two in his pocket.

People ran around, knocking into shit and tripping over metal folding chairs in their haste. A few were smart enough to pull out their cell phones and turn on the little flashlight app so that slender shafts of bright light swept over small swaths of the warehouse. They were the first targets. The lights needed to stay out.

As one guy ran close to their position, Hollis took aim and squeezed off his first round. The man stumbled as he passed, twisting around to touch the meaty part of his shoulder where the dart hit. They were lucky most of these guys appeared to be wearing T-shirts despite the cold air of the warehouse. Less padding the darts had to sink through to get to flesh. He was pulling the dart out of his arm when he went down in an unconscious heap.

Ian and Hollis moved through the warehouse, sweeping along the west side, while Snow and Rowe moved from the south and Noah and Dom moved in from the north.

“Someone is here!” The angry voice echoed from the second floor. Hollis looked up to see a figure standing against the railing of a catwalk that spanned the main floor of the warehouse. Gunfire opened up and Hollis ducked down, barely holding in check his need to pull Ian to him to cover him with his larger frame.

“Fuck!” Rowe snarled. “Change guns!”

“Target is on the second floor,” Lucas called out. “They’re moving him. Southwest corner.”

“There’s a staircase near me. I’ll go!” Ian shouted. “I need Tin Man with me.”

“Coming,” Snow instantly said.

“They could use a distraction,” Hollis snapped as a bullet thudded loudly into the wood crate he was hiding behind.

“Glenda!”

“Here comes Glenda, bitches!” Garrett roared a second before the sound of breaking glass filled the warehouse. That insane bastard had jumped through the skylight and was plummeting through the air with two machine guns belching out bullets as fast as they could be fired.

Ian grabbed Hollis’s arm and squeezed for a second. Hollis’s heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat.

“Be safe,” Hollis said hoarsely.

“Always,” Ian murmured, and then he darted away into the darkness and thunder of gunfire.

Hollis had to pull his eyes away and force his attention to providing ample cover for Ian and Snow. All the drug dealers had turned their attack to the lunatic falling through the air on a nylon rope to the ground, missing the two men who were closing in on the staircase leading to the second-floor offices. Ian would be safe. Ian would come back to him in one piece.Sliding around a large tower of crates, Ian ran as fast as he could while wearing the damn goggles. It wasn’t an easy thing. They were so heavy that they bounced on his head as he ran, forcing him to steady them with his free hand while gripping a gun in his other. None of this felt natural or normal, and for that he was grateful. He belonged in his freaking kitchen. Not in some drug den trying to rescue a guy who was trying to destroy his life.

Of course, Ian could argue that Snow had no business being there. He should be at the hospital, prepping for his next surgery. But that didn’t explain the big grin on his face as he reached Ian at the staircase. This was an adventure. And Ian was a part of it.

“You’re freaking insane,” Ian whispered with a laugh as Snow reached him at the bottom of the stairs.

“I think we’re all a little insane for doing this, but here we are,” Snow said as he passed by Ian and charged up the stairs ahead of him.