Page 62 of Ravaged Hearts
The night-vision and thermal-imaging cameras showed them patrolling the grounds clear as day.
“This has to be it.” I rubbed my palms over my bouncing thighs, eager to move on the target and get Hope back. “Espinoza’s built a compound and padded it with orphans. Could someone be a bigger piece of shit?”
Maybe there was someSupervillain of the Yearaward the cartel boss had his sights on, because this seemed like a play straight out of aDespicable Memovie.
Brandon canted his head. “A clever piece of shit. How are we going to get in there and take down Espinoza without civilian casualties?”
There was less chance of us hitting any, because we were good shots, but once Espinoza’s men started spraying their bullets around, those kids weren’t safe. We had to play this smart.
“Can you hack the security cameras?” I asked.
Brandon shook his head. “They’re not connected to a server, which means I’d need to enter the property to gain access. Doing that without having to dispatch a guard or two? Unlikely. We’ll only get one shot at overthrowing the compound, and if we lose the element of surprise, we’re screwed.” He tensed beside me and sat forward, pointing at the tablet. “Decker, take a look at this.”
On a first-floor balcony, the thermal-imaging camera highlighted a lone figure. Brandon switched to night-vision for a clearer view.
“It’s a woman.” I sat up fast. “Get closer. Zoom in.”
Brandon did, and my heart pounded. It thumped so hard in my chest I thought it might crack a rib.
“It’s Hope.” It had to be. The image wasn’t perfect, but I’d recognize that curvy little body and long wavy hair anywhere. “That must be where they’re keeping her.” I clenched my hands into fists to stop them from shaking. “I need to get her, man. I want her back right now.”
It took all my willpower not to run to the orphanage and slice myself to ribbons climbing over the razor-wired wall just so I could see her in the flesh and tell her I was there to take her home, but that would be a suicide mission for both of us.
My girl was two blocks from me, but she might as well be half a world away. It was fucking killing me.
“Patience, Brother. We’ll get her back.”
“How?” I snapped, because we’d never faced an assault with so much at stake before.
Brandon exhaled deeply. “I don’t know yet. Any attack has to be timed to perfection, or we risk Espinoza escaping andtaking Hope with him. Who knows how many tunnels he has beneath that compound. And the orphanage adds an extra layer of complexity. We need to be smart.”
Usually, we’d take weeks or even months to meticulously plan an op like this. For such a high-profile target, we might even create a mock-up of the compound and carry out practice run after practice run until we’d worked over every possible scenario. Going in unprepared meant we’d have to take risks, and we couldn’t afford to take any on this op.
Stealthiness was key. We might be able to drop a few guards unnoticed, but not fifteen. Once the cartel became aware of our raid, the orphanage would turn into a war zone.
There was only one way to tackle this. The guys wouldn’t like my plan, but we were shit out of options, and I wasn’t going a day longer without getting Hope back and sending her son-of-a-bitch father for a dirt nap.
“Bring the drone back,” I said, and pulled my phone from my pocket.
Brandon glanced between me and the controller in his lap. “What are you doing?”
“Calling the team back to the house. We’re doing this tonight.”
28
VAUGHN
We mobilized the team for an assault, but if all went as planned, only two of us would breach the compound walls.
Owen and I.
Mom would kill us both if she found out what we’d signed up for. I’d proposed going in solo, not wanting to put anyone else’s life at risk, but Brandon had refused unless I had someone watch my six, and Owen had insisted that person be him.
With children and orphanage staff surrounding the compound, we’d had to completely reassess the op. Essentially, we had to treat this as a hostage situation, which meant launching a full-scale attack on the cartel fortress was out of the question.
So, instead of overthrowing the compound, our mission now had only two objectives: assassinate Espinoza and extract Hope. And if we happened across Ortega along the way, I’d take great pleasure in sending him to hell in a cloud of red mist. We’d pick off the remainder of the PCC’s soldiers and loyal supporters when it was safe to do so.
Hidden in the back of a truck driving toward the orphanage, our team made their final gear checks and tested comms. Sage would fly the spy drone from the surveillance van parked a couple of blocks from the compound while the guys stayed in the truck on standby much closer. Owen and I would stay in contact with the team at all times, and if shit went south, my brothers would be ready to respond quickly.