CHAPTER 164
The sight of Jax, Harry, and Lucas bursting through the command center doors, weapons raised and eyes wild with protective fury, sent a wave of relief through me so intense that I nearly collapsed. For a moment, the weight of seven months of pregnancy, months of planning this infiltration, and the psychological battle with Henry all caught up with me at once.
"Skylar!" Jax reached me first, his hands immediately going to my face, checking for injuries while his eyes scanned for any signs that Henry had hurt me. "Are you okay? The baby?"
"We're both fine," I said, leaning into his touch for just a moment before forcing myself to focus on the mission. "But we need to move fast. I've downloaded Henry's complete network files, but his people will be trying to escape with whatever evidence they can salvage."
Harry was already securing Henry, who was still pinned to the desk by my knife but trying to reach a panic button with his free hand. "Not so fast, old man. You've got some questions to answer."
"This isn't over," Henry snarled, his refined facade completely gone now that his empire was crumbling around him. "You think eliminating me will stop what I've built? There are dozens of organizations ready to step into the vacuum you're creating."
"Maybe," Lucas said, connecting his tablet to Henry's computer systems and beginning what looked like a comprehensive data extraction. "But they won't have your financial resources, your government connections, or your victim databases."
"They'll have something more valuable," Henry replied, his eyes fixed on my swollen belly. "They'll have motivation. Do you really think killing me will protect that child? Every trafficking organization in Eastern Europe will want to claim the Mitchell legacy."
The threat hit exactly where he'd intended it to, making all three men tense with protective instincts. But I'd been expecting this psychological gambit.
"You're right," I said calmly. "Which is why I'm not just killing you. I'm erasing you."
"What does that mean?" Harry asked, though his expression suggested he already suspected.
"It means every financial account, every government contact, every piece of leverage Henry's used to build his network is about to be exposed to international law enforcement. By tomorrow morning, every corrupt official who's taken his money will be under investigation, every trafficking route will be compromised, and every organization he's worked with will be too busy saving themselves to worry about continuing his legacy."
Lucas looked up from his data extraction, his expression amazed. "Skylar, this is everything. Financial records going back twenty years, communication logs with government officials across twelve countries, detailed victim transportation records..."
"And most importantly," I continued, "psychological profiles of every potential successor in his organization. Henry was very thorough about documenting the weaknesses and pressure points of his associates."
Henry's face had gone pale as he realized what I was describing. "You can't release those files. The intelligence agencies will—"
"Will do exactly what they're supposed to do when presented with evidence of international trafficking conspiracies," I finished. "They'll coordinate raids, freeze assets, and eliminate threats to innocent people."
"Extraction complete," Lucas announced. "We've got everything."
Through the windows, I could see the compound's courtyard filling with rescued victims being shepherded toward evacuation helicopters by Romanian special forces. Women and girls who'd been imprisoned for months or years, finally free to return to their families or begin new lives.
"Time to go," Jax said, moving toward the door. "Romanian military will be here in ten minutes, and we don't want to be caught in the paperwork."
But as we prepared to leave, Henry made one final attempt to maintain control. "Wait," he called desperately. "You need me alive. I'm the only one who knows the locations of all the satellite facilities."
"Actually," I said, pulling up a map on Lucas's tablet, "you're not."
The display showed a network of red dots across Eastern Europe, each one representing a trafficking facility that we'd identified through months of intelligence gathering.
"We've been tracking your entire network since Switzerland," I continued. "Your compound was never the primary target, Henry. It was the central nervous system. Cut off the head, and the body dies."
"Impossible. Those facilities are—"
"Being raided simultaneously by coordinated law enforcement teams across six countries," Harry finished. "This was never just about rescuing you, Skylar. This was about dismantling the entire infrastructure."
As if to punctuate his words, Lucas's tablet began displaying real-time updates from law enforcement agencies across Europe. Raids in progress, assets seized, suspects in custody. Henry's trafficking empire was being systematically destroyed in real time.
"You planned all of this," Henry breathed, staring at me with something that might have been admiration mixed with horror. "The pregnancy, the UN position, even letting yourself be captured – it was all part of a long-term strategy to infiltrate and destroy trafficking networks."
"No," I said quietly. "The pregnancy was unexpected. The UN position was offered because of our previous success. Getting captured was a tactical decision made under pressure." I paused, looking at the faces of the three men I loved. "But you're right about one thing. Everything else was planned from the moment I learned you were still alive."
"Why?" he asked. "Why go to these lengths? Why risk everything for people you don't even know?"
I pressed my hand against my stomach, feeling our daughter moving restlessly inside me. Soon, she would be born into a world where her great-grandfather's criminal empire no longer existed, where the Mitchell family legacy of abuse and trafficking had finally been broken.
"Because I want my daughter to grow up in a world where monsters like you can't hurt children," I said simply. "And because the people I love taught me that some things are worth any sacrifice."
"Even your own life?"
"Especially my own life."
The distant sound of helicopters was getting closer – Romanian forces preparing to secure the compound and begin processing the massive amount of evidence we'd gathered.
"We need to go," Jax said urgently. "Now."
As we prepared to leave Henry bleeding and defeated in his ruined command center, I realized that this moment represented something more than the end of a criminal organization.
It represented the birth of the family we'd been trying to build – not just the four of us, but the extended family of survivors and victims and law enforcement officers who'd all worked together to make this moment possible.
But as we moved toward the extraction point, alarms began blaring throughout the facility.
And I realized that Henry might have one final surprise waiting for us.
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