Sang has always been a little bit different. She was made fun of for being a math-whiz in school up until she was kidnapped. Growing up in the crime world from a young age, she tried to do what she was told and keep her head down...but...that was...
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I floated in the tank, wondering what I should do.
I wanted to call out, but I was scared to at the same time. I didn't know who these people were. From our messages together, Hackademy1 was from America. The people outside sounded like they were as well. He was supposed to send Russian authority. Who was he to have been able to get a team from America here in just over 24 hours?
I didn't trust it.
"Raven and Silas have cleared the house. They'll be here soon. We're all clear. Scene is secure," the second voice spoke again at a normal tone. "Nathan, can you fill the rest of the Toma team in on what's happening? Corey doesn't have eyes on this building."
"Sure thing," a third voice--I was guessing Nathan-- added. I couldn't hear it, but I imagined he took some time to walk to a different section of the warehouse because I could only make out some indistinct murmuring as he called in to...Silo and Raegan? Or the rest of the Tomato team...it was hard to keep up with the names.
"What the fuck happened here?" the first voice said. He was much louder this time, nearly booming out his anger.
"I'm not sure...North, look at the center of the area. What do you see?"
"I don't know. Fuck! There's so much...there's a body missing," the person, North, responded.
"The question is, where is it?" the other voice questioned smoothly. He sounded slightly older than the other two people, more seasoned.
"Karl," Nathan said, coming back up. "I let them know what was going on. Do you want them to meet us here to document or head back to the motel?"
The last unknown voice, Karl, was slow to respond. "I think that they are fine to head back to the motel. We can wrap this up here pretty quickly. Obviously something went wrong. Someone was tipped off about Byte-Syzed reaching out to us. I doubt there will be anything important left behind."
I froze and slipped under the water before popping back up again, mad at myself and straining to hear more.
"What was that?" the growly voice, North asked.
Had they heard me?
I didn't have much time to think about it though. There was another displacement of air as well as a bang as someone threw the warehouse doors against the walls.
"Did you find anything?" Karl's authoritative voice asked. It sounded like it was facing my direction though instead of where I knew the doors to be.
"Nyet, the house was dirty," a distinctly Russian man said.
My blood froze. The odds of a Russian not being with Nikolai were slim to none. Was hackademy1 with Nikolai also? Was that how he found out?
"You mean clean?" Nathan asked.
"No, the house was very dirty. Razgil'dyayev. (Slobs.)"
"What happened in here?" One more voice spoke up, bringing the total of people up to five. This voice was deep, vaguely European, but I was having a hard time placing it. It had to be one of the places I hadn't gone to. Perhaps Macedonian? Greek?
Karl explained as his voice travelled around the warehouse. "Lots of dead armed men. Probably the lackeys. Who knows why they started shooting each other."
"Russian roulette," the Russian said simply.
"Raven, sometimes you make no sense," North grumbled.
"Quiet, South. What do you know? I am Professional Russian."
"Okay then, Crow. Why don't you explain it to us."
"Easy. Last man standing survives. That guy there was maybe the last one alive before he was too weak. See how he is furthest from the circle with a blood trail?"
There was a grunt but nothing else.
"That makes sense," Karl drawled. "But that still doesn't explain what happened in the middle. It's its own separate puddle. Someone clearly died there. So where are they now?"
My eyes flew to Kaz's body. The last 24 hours had really caused a lot of discoloration. He was nearly unidentifiable from the sweet, innocent boy he had been in life. I let out a choked sob, trying to stifle it. My hand flew up, just half a second too late to completely silence it.
"This place gives me the creeps," Nathan said. "I just got goosebumps. Do you guys keep hearing things?"
"Are you scared, Nathan?" the European one--Silo, not Raegan...err, Raven-- asked.
"Shut it, Silas."
Suddenly something tapped against the edge of the tank, causing the vibrations to echo through the water.
"Guys, there's something in this...box," a new voice said. Six men. They somehow knew, I was guessing, Hackademy1. That should've meant that I could trust them. However, the Russian, Raven, was definitely making me nervous. What if he was somehow connected to Nikolai? He had to be.
"What?" Karl asked, seeming to perk up.
"I don't know," the last unknown voice said. There was some more tapping on the wall. It continued to make a muffled, vibrating sound. "It's like it's not empty."
"Silas, North, go check it out."
I heard the boots as they approached. I still hadn't completely decided if I could trust these people yet, but it seems like I wasn't going to have to worry about making a choice in the matter.
A/N: Thank you for your support! If you want to receive notifications about exclusive content--such as sneak peeks at the next chapter before it's posted, reasoning behind some of the decisions in the story, or even short glimpses into the guys' POVs, make sure to follow!
