CHAPTER 143
The briefing room in the Jakarta field office felt like a war room, complete with wall-mounted screens displaying surveillance footage and financial data that painted a picture of organized evil. I sat at the head of the conference table, my new federal credentials still feeling foreign in my jacket pocket, while intelligence analysts laid out the scope of what we were facing.
"The Indonesian network has been operating for fifteen years," Agent Sarah Kim explained, pointing to a map dotted with red markers. "Eighteen facilities across Java and Sumatra, moving approximately two hundred girls per month through the supply chain."
I studied the faces in the photographs she'd spread across the table. Young women, some barely teenagers, their eyes holding the same hollow desperation I remembered from my own reflection years ago. But unlike my situation, these girls had no one coming to save them.
Until now.
"What's the connection to William's organization?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew the answer.
"Financial transfers dating back three years. After William's arrest, his former lieutenant Marcus Webb took control of the Asian operations. He's been expanding aggressively, using more brutal methods than William ever employed."
Lucas leaned forward from his position to my right, his laptop open to financial records that told their own story. "The money trail leads through shell companies in Singapore and the Cayman Islands. Webb's been funneling William's offshore accounts to fund the expansion."
"And the local authorities?" Harry asked from across the table, his tone suggesting he already suspected the level of corruption we'd be facing.
"Bought and paid for. The police chief in Jakarta has been taking payments for six months. Immigration officials look the other way when shipments move through the port. Even some federal judges have been compromised."
I felt the familiar cold rage settling in my chest, the same emotion that had driven me through William's trial and Jack's final confrontation. But this time, I had legal authority behind my anger. This time, I wouldn't have to choose between doing what was right and doing what was legal.
"What about Webb himself?" Jax asked. "Location, security, operational patterns?"
Agent Kim pulled up a new set of photos showing a fortified compound outside Jakarta. "He's paranoid, changes locations every few days. But we've identified three primary bases of operation. The problem is he's got early warning systems and enough firepower to hold off the Indonesian military if necessary."
"Then we don't give him warning," I said, studying the surveillance photos. "We hit all three locations simultaneously, extract the victims, and eliminate the infrastructure before he can relocate."
"Ms. Mitchell," Agent Kim said carefully, "this isn't like the domestic operations you're familiar with. Webb has military training, professional soldiers, and government connections. We're talking about a potential international incident if things go wrong."
"Things are already wrong," I replied. "Every day we spend planning is another day girls are being tortured and sold. Webb made this personal when he took over William's network. Now I'm going to make it terminal."
The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken concerns. These federal agents had volunteered for this assignment, but I could see the uncertainty in their faces. They were trained for investigations and arrests, not the kind of direct action mission I was proposing.
But the three men beside me understood perfectly. I could see it in their posture, the way they'd shifted into tactical planning mode. They'd done this kind of operation before, when the stakes were personal and the rules were whatever we decided they should be.
"There's something else," Agent Kim said reluctantly. "Intelligence suggests Webb isn't just continuing William's operations. He's expanding them. New recruitment methods, younger targets, and..." She paused, looking uncomfortable. "He's been asking about you specifically."
"What kind of questions?"
"Your methods, your psychological profile, your relationship dynamics with your team. It appears he's trying to understand how you dismantled William's domestic network so effectively."
Lucas's fingers stilled on his keyboard. "He's studying us."
"More than that," Agent Kim continued. "We have intercepts suggesting he's planning to target you directly. Not to eliminate you, but to capture you. Apparently, he believes controlling you would give him leverage over your... associates."
I felt Harry tense beside me, his protective instincts immediately triggered by any threat to my safety. Across the table, Jax's expression had gone cold and calculating, the look he got when he was planning someone's death.
"Let him come," I said simply. "Webb wants to understand how we work? I'll give him a demonstration he won't forget."
"Skylar," Lucas said quietly, "this could be exactly what he wants. Draw us into an confrontation on his territory, with his advantages."
"Could be," I agreed. "But it could also be an opportunity. If he's so interested in how we operate, maybe it's time we showed him what happens to people who threaten our family."
I stood up and moved to the window, looking out at the sprawling city where hundreds of girls were being held against their will. The weight of my new federal authority should have felt empowering, but instead it felt like another cage – bound by regulations and protocols while innocent people suffered.
"Agent Kim," I said without turning around, "I need you to set up a meeting with your local contacts. Police chiefs, immigration officials, anyone who's been taking Webb's money. I want to know exactly how deep the corruption goes."
"And then?"
"Then we give them a choice. Help us or join Webb in whatever hole we put him in."
"That's not exactly standard federal procedure..."
I turned back to face the room, letting them see the determination in my eyes. "Agent Kim, there are two hundred girls being brutalized while we follow standard procedure. Sometimes you have to choose between doing things right and doing the right thing."
My phone buzzed with an encrypted message from an unknown number: "Looking forward to meeting you properly this time. Your reputation precedes you. - M.W."
I showed the message to the others, watching their expressions harden as they realized Webb wasn't just planning to wait for us to find him.
He was planning to come to us.
"Change of plans," I said, my mind already racing through tactical possibilities. "We're not hunting Webb anymore. We're going to let him think he's hunting us, and when he gets close enough..."
"We spring the trap," Harry finished, understanding immediately.
But as I looked at the faces of the people I loved most in the world, I couldn't shake the feeling that this time, the trap might be meant for us.
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