Either Adriana had been completely wrong about Casablanca being one of the stops along the human trafficking railroad, or the traffickers hadn’t brought the captives from Paris here. Of course, it was also a possibility that Adriana had been right and that they were holding the captives here but were so good at hiding them, they’d never left a trace.
Sawyer wasn’t sure which of those possibilities worried him more.
When Jake finally gave him the go-ahead, Sawyer started moving again. As he approached the same door Long Hair had entered, he noticed there were a handful of merchants in the nearby shops, some putting away the last of their wares, others merely chatting. Sawyer ignored them as he slipped behind the now-empty carpet racks and made his way toward the doorway. It said a lot that none of the merchants even glanced at him. In fact, they seemed to go out of their way to look in the other direction. That meant they were used to seeing foreigners coming and going from the place and that they were leery enough of those same foreigners to look the other way.
The first room he entered was unoccupied, and a quick scan of the place didn’t reveal any cameras or other security equipment that might alert anyone to his presence.
“I’m in,” he said softly.
The only lights in the room came from those inside the glass display cases along the walls as well as a single naked bulb near the main counter. The cases held what looked like cheap costume jewelry, while the racks that filled the remainder of the shop were filled with boring dresses and simple robes. Nothing in the place was as high quality as the stuff sold in the surrounding shops, which meant it was almost certainly a front. He was surprised there wasn’t someone guarding the place. Even if the locals were smart enough to avoid the shop, surely the traffickers would have put someone there to keep people out.
He heard Erin’s footsteps before she walked through the door. She was quickly followed by Harley, then Caleb. Jake’s plan had the four of them acting as shock troops coming in through the main entry, where they were most likely to be noticed. They would be the distraction while Jake and everyone else slipped in through one of the back tunnels and rescued the captives.
Strangely, Erin seemed to be rather pleased with the assignment. From her perspective, being sent in the front door with two of STAT’s werewolves put her on par with them—at least in the ability to commit mayhem. Jake had just met Erin and had already figured out how to work her. Of course, while Erin might be thrilled to be selected to go in first, she didn’t appear as warm on the idea of being partnered up with Caleb while Sawyer covered Harley. Sawyer would have laughed if the situation they were walking into wasn’t so dangerous.
Caleb slipped a large frame gun from the holster on his hip and jacked a round into the chamber. “Well, if they don’t know we’re here by now, they will soon.”
Sawyer dropped his duster to the floor and pulled out his own handgun, a Browning Hi-Power, the weapon he’d been carrying since his days in the regiment. It felt comforting and natural in his hand, familiar—like a friend. After chambering a round in the 9mm handgun, he slipped it back into the holster low on his right thigh, turning his attention to the shortened MP5 submachine gun strapped across his lower back. By the time he’d slid in a magazine and chambered the first round, everyone else was ready and looking in his direction.
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Let’s go be a distraction.”
It wasn’t difficult to find the set of stairs behind the main counter, even though they were hidden behind a set of linen curtains. Dozens of scents hit him in the face as they descended. Of all the people who’d taken this stairwell in the past week, Long Hair’s was definitely the strongest by a long shot. Sawyer wished he could say for sure he was picking up one of their trafficking victims, but other than Adriana, he’d never gotten close enough to any of them to memorize what they smelled like. At least he didn’t smell the vamp, either. That had to be a good thing, right?
Sawyer led the way into the dimly lit corridor when they got to the bottom of the steps. The only light came from the old fixtures hanging every twenty feet or so. Why did there have to be more dark, dank tunnels? Hadn’t he reached his yearly quota in Paris?
He turned right, following the path on the map that he’d committed to memory and that he knew led to the larger rooms in the maze, since they assumed that’s where the bad guys and their captives would likely be. He braced himself, expecting to run into one or more of those aforementioned bad guys at any moment, but after not seeing anyone—or even picking up a fresh scent—in a few minutes, Sawyer knew something was wrong. It was too quiet. Too easy.
On the radio, Jake announced his group was in the tunnels now, coming in from the entrance to the north. They didn’t run into any immediate resistance, either.
Three rooms and a long corridor later, Sawyer finally picked up a familiar scent. He started to announce it when he realized he couldn’t, not with Erin there. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder at Harley and Caleb, assuming they’d smelled the same thing he had, but apparently not, as neither of them said anything.
“Vamp ahead,” he whispered softly after slowing at one of the intersections in the hallway to let Erin pass him. He gave Harley a pointed look, tapping his nose. Fortunately, she seemed to get what he was saying, giving him a nod before turning to sniff the air. A moment later, she announced that the vampire was somewhere ahead of them.
“What does the thing smell like?” Erin asked, glancing over her shoulder at Harley, the question coming out as a mixture of curiosity and embarrassment.
Harley took another sniff before making a face. “Mud and blood. But old blood. Like it’s drying out and starting to go rancid.”
“Okay,” Erin said before looking away. “Probably a little more than I needed to know, so thanks for that.”
They’d barely made it a few more steps before Erin turned and gave Caleb a suspicious look. “Why didn’t you say anything about smelling the vampire? You trying to hold out on us?”
Caleb kept walking, not even bothering to look back. “I’m an omega werewolf. I didn’t say anything about smelling the thing because I didn’t. My nose doesn’t work as well as Harley’s.”
Erin looked baffled at that. Sawyer had to admit he was, too. The truth was, he didn’t know a whole hell of a lot about werewolves, even though he was one. Sawyer knew he was an alpha, but that was because the only other werewolf he’d ever met—a beta—had told him so. The guy had only talked to him for a few minutes and had never mentioned anything about omegas.
“What the hell does that mean?” Erin asked. “Are you telling me you’re some kind of junior version of the real thing? Like the B-team werewolf or something?”
Sawyer cursed under his breath. They didn’t have time for this right now, but Erin never could pass up an opportunity to insult someone. It was like her superpower. Sarcasm and snark at the worst possible time.