CHAPTER 146
SKYLAR'S POV
The breach went smoothly at first. Too smoothly. Harry and I moved through the loading dock with practiced efficiency, our movements synchronized from months of working together in life-or-death situations. But the compound felt wrong - too quiet, too empty, like a stage set waiting for actors who hadn't arrived yet.
"Six guards, my ass," Harry muttered through the comm as we cleared the first corridor without encountering resistance. "I'm seeing maybe two, and they're positioned like they want to be found."
"Same here," Lucas reported from the east side. "This feels like a setup."
My hand moved instinctively to my stomach again, a gesture that was becoming automatic despite my efforts to suppress it. The pregnancy test was still in my pocket, a constant reminder of what I had to lose if this mission went wrong.
"Stay focused," I whispered into my comm. "Webb wants us to second-guess ourselves. Just because it's a trap doesn't mean those girls aren't really here."
We reached the main warehouse floor, a cavernous space filled with shipping containers and industrial equipment. In the center, illuminated by harsh spotlights, three young women sat chained to metal chairs. Even from a distance, I could see they were alive but barely conscious, probably drugged to keep them compliant.
"Visual confirmation on the hostages," I reported. "Sixty meters, center of the warehouse floor."
"Too easy," Jax's voice crackled through the earpiece. "They're positioned exactly where Webb would want us to focus our attention."
"Doesn't matter," I said, already moving toward them. "We can't leave them."
"Skylar, wait." Harry caught my arm, his grip firm but gentle. "Something's not right. Why would Webb make it this simple to find them?"
I looked at his face and saw the same protective concern that had driven him to shield me from my father's worst impulses. But this time, his caution felt like an obstacle rather than protection.
"Because he knows we can't walk away from American girls in chains," I said, pulling free of his grip. "Because he knows exactly which buttons to push to make us do what he wants."
"Then we call for backup. Indonesian special forces, federal agents, anyone who can help us extract them safely."
"By the time backup arrives, Webb will have moved them or killed them." I checked my weapon and started toward the hostages. "I'm not leaving those girls to die because we're afraid of a trap."
"Skylar!" Harry's voice was sharp with alarm, but I was already moving.
The moment I stepped into the open warehouse floor, everything went to hell.
Spotlights blazed to life, temporarily blinding me as armed men emerged from behind the shipping containers. But instead of opening fire, they held their positions, weapons trained on me but fingers off triggers.
"Welcome, Ms. Mitchell." Webb's voice echoed through hidden speakers, calm and conversational. "I was beginning to think you'd developed some sense of self-preservation."
"Let the girls go, Webb," I called out, keeping my rifle trained on the nearest gunman. "This is between you and me."
"Is it? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you brought your entire family to my party. Harry Kane, Lucas Kane, Jax Morrison - all present and accounted for."
Through my earpiece, I could hear the others taking positions around the warehouse perimeter, but they were trapped just as effectively as I was. Webb had positioned his men to create crossfire zones that would turn any rescue attempt into a slaughter.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"I want to make you an offer. A trade, if you will." Webb himself stepped out from behind one of the containers, a tall man in his forties with the kind of military bearing that suggested professional training. "Your life for theirs. All of them - the three American girls and your three loyal soldiers."
"Skylar, don't even think about it," Harry's voice came through my earpiece.
"You have ten seconds to decide," Webb continued. "Surrender yourself, and everyone else walks out alive. Refuse, and I start executing hostages. Beginning with the pregnant one."
My blood turned to ice. "What?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention? One of your rescued college students is carrying a child. Makes the whole situation so much more complicated, doesn't it?"
I looked at the three girls chained to the chairs, seeing them clearly for the first time. The one on the left was older than I'd initially thought, maybe twenty-two, and now that Webb had pointed it out, I could see the subtle signs of early pregnancy.
"You sick bastard," I breathed.
"I'm a businessman, Ms. Mitchell. And pregnant women command premium prices in certain markets. So you see, your decision affects not just three lives, but four."
The weight of my own secret pressed against my chest like a physical force. Webb had no idea he was talking to another pregnant woman, but the parallel was impossible to ignore. If I surrendered, my own child would die with me. If I refused, that girl's baby would be sold along with its mother.
"Five seconds," Webb announced.
"Skylar, whatever you're thinking, don't," Jax's voice was desperate in my ear. "We'll find another way."
But looking at that pregnant girl's terrified face, I knew there was no other way. Webb had constructed the perfect trap, using our protective instincts against us while holding innocent lives as collateral.
"I need a guarantee," I said, buying time while my mind raced through possibilities. "How do I know you'll honor the deal?"
"You don't. But you know what happens if you refuse."
My hand moved to my stomach one last time, a silent apology to the child I might never meet. Then I reached for the buckles on my tactical vest.
"Wait," Lucas's voice cut through the comm channel. "Skylar, look at the containers. Look at the positioning."
I glanced around the warehouse, seeing what he'd noticed. The shipping containers weren't randomly placed - they formed a specific pattern, with gaps that created clear lines of sight to predetermined positions.
"He's not planning to let any of us leave alive," Lucas continued. "This whole thing is an execution chamber. The moment you surrender, he'll kill all of us anyway."
Webb's laugh echoed through the warehouse. "Smart boy. I always did like Lucas. Such a waste that he chose the wrong side."
"Then we do this the hard way," I said, my voice cold with determination.
"The hard way gets people killed, Ms. Mitchell. Including the child that pregnant girl is carrying."
"Maybe. But your way gets everyone killed." I raised my rifle, feeling the familiar calm that came with accepting impossible odds. "At least this way, we go down fighting."
But as I prepared to give the order that would turn the warehouse into a battlefield, I felt a sharp cramp in my lower abdomen that made me gasp.
And I realized that the stress of the situation might be taking a toll on more than just my nerves.
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