Be Gay Do Crime

A young girl was shoved forward, her ratty clothes barely hanging onto her far too slim frame as she was ushered into the waiting van.  Ashe grit her teeth, wanting to step in and do something, anything, to help.  She couldn’t, however, they needed to know how far this operation stretched, how far reaching it was, if they wanted to help the greatest number of people. 

“This is sickening,” Crystal said from beside her.  

Both of them were watching from a distant rooftop, Ashe through a pair of binoculars, Crystal through the scope of her rifle.  It was a standard AR platform, with a suppressor to help obscure her firing location.

Ashe was glad she only brought a handgun, knowing how tempted she would be to put a bullet through the abusive asshole’s heads.  She knew that her trainers were disappointed that her Tavor wouldn’t see field use, but it was just too recognizable for her to use something like it in an illegal capacity.  No point giving her parents more reason to be suspicious of her. 

Another girl was shoved down the stairs, crying out as she was roughly lifted by her arm and all but dragged to the van.  That made eight loaded so far, with no signs of slowing.  They had cars at each end of the street, watching for people foolish enough to drive through the wrong part of town, but none had been stupid enough so far. 

“I really wish that once we confirm where they’ve been moved to, we could tip off the police about this place,” Ashe said, refusing to look away from the suffering in front of her. 

“That risks them hitting the next leg before we can figure things out,” Crystal said, her finger carefully off the trigger as it flexed.  “Do we want this to be a waste?” 

“No,” Ashe said.  “We hit the drop point tonight.” 

Crystal looked up from her scope, but Ashe kept her eyes on the prize.  Ten girls were now loaded and one more was being brought out and Ashe felt her blood run cold as she recognized her.  She didn’t look nearly as composed as she did the last time they met, right before the attack that had disrupted Ashe’s life so completely.  Her hair no longer held the Viking braids, and had been cut shorter, but Ashe could never forget that face.

“Jessica,” she said softly. 

Crystal’s eyes widened as she quickly looked back down her scope.  “You’re sure that’s the bitch that…  Scratch that.  No way you forgot what she looked like.  Does this change anything?” 

Ashe took a deep, yet measured, breath.  There was a part of her that would have been content to leave her to such a fate, and if Crystal hadn’t given her that speech just days prior, she might have even done it.  She didn’t want to be that heartless though.  Cold when necessary, but not heartless. 

“No.  We’ll hit their destination within the hour of arrival,” Ashe said firmly.  “Have Robbie bring the van, we’ll figure out how to frame it once we’ve got eyes on, but a smash and grab for drugs or cash should be good enough.” 

“Don’t fault the classics,” Crystal said with a chuckle.  “They shut the door.  Looks like it’s time to trail after them.” 

Ashe nodded, pulling a small device from her backpack, it wasn’t anything fancy, just a GPS tracker with a heavy magnet attached.  Keiko favored them for tracking drug dens, and Ashe had made damn sure it worked before agreeing to bring it.  The tracker was already synced with the app on her burner phone and would let her know where the van was at all times. 

Crystal broke down her rifle for easier transport and stored it away, with a nod the pair hurried down the fire escape and hopped in the beater of a car.  It was barely worth the salvage price, and wouldn’t run for shit beyond basic city travel for maybe a hundred miles, but it would do for the job.  They tossed their gear inside and were soon driving off. 

The van crossed the intersection and they pulled up behind it.  Crystal looked over and grinned, making it clear she wasn’t going to entertain following them.  Ashe rolled down her window and tossed the tracker up on the roof.  Crystal gunned it, swerving to pass them while hammering her horn.  Ashe flipped the driver off as they blew past them only to swerve off that road two blocks later. 

“Just a couple of teens being dumb idiots,” Ashe said as she sat back and watched the tracker.  “They’re turning towards the cape.” 

Crystal adjusted course, but made sure she kept some distance, no need to spook them worse than they already had.  Sure enough, they took two turns to hide their destination, likely to shake anyone following.  They soon came to a stop and Crystal pulled onto a gravel alley a few blocks away. 

“Weren’t we just here?” Ashe asked, looking around the familiar area. 

Crystal nodded, pulling her helmet off.  “Yeah, the pawnshop we bought your gun from isn’t far.” 

“That doesn’t feel like a coincidence,” Ashe said before checking her gun.  “Let’s see if we can get eyes on.” 

“You know,” Crystal said, following along.  “It’s cute how you use tactical speak when giving orders.” 

“Hey!” Ashe protested, even as her cheeks heated.  “It’s not cute, it’s clear and concise instructions!” 

“Whatever you say,” Crystal paused, glancing over with a teasing lilt, “cutie.” 

Ashe groaned, almost wishing that Crystal would go back to trying not to show her interest.  It was easier to ignore the building tensions between them when she wasn’t being teased relentlessly over whatever happened to be growing.  Aside from admitting they liked one another, nothing else had been said. 

Well, aside from Crystal’s ‘yes’ that was. 

Ashe still wasn’t sure how to process the fact that she was going to get to take Crystal to prom, and she didn’t have much in the way of telling her moms about it without revealing some of their activities.  Hanging out after school was one thing, and her parents were allowing that easily enough, but staying the night certainly wasn’t part of their agreement unless cleared ahead of time.  As far as her parents were aware, she would be home no later than ten.

She pushed her way through the overgrowth between roads and drew her Beretta.  Coming out the other side, she kept low and hidden as she took in the scene before her.  Seeing the van parked around the back of the very pawn shop she’d bought her TAR-21 at, the women being unloaded into the back room, she had to acknowledge that she might be a bit late getting home after all. 

“This certainly complicates things,” Crystal said, coming up beside her.  “Still thinking of a smash and grab?” 

Ashe nodded slowly.  “I’ll keep an eye on things, call Robbie and get him heading this way.  We’ll need the backup if we have to deal with that many armed bangers.” 

Ashe could feel Crystal’s incredulous gaze on her even before she spoke.  “You want me to leave you here while I make the call?” 

“I promise not to do anything stupid,” Ashe said, meaning every word.  “I just want to see if they load anything into the van.  We have a tracker on it so we’ll be able to see where it goes next regardless.” 

“Point,” Crystal said.  “Stay safe, I’ll be back in five.” 

The brush barely rustled as Crystal moved back through, though Ashe kept her eyes on the people being moved just fifty feet away.  She was thankful the only light back there was the single bulb over the doorway, it kept her neatly concealed in shadows.  Her hand tightened around her gun when Jessica was unloaded, but she kept her cool otherwise. 

When the last girl was unloaded, a single bag was brought from the pawn shop and handed to the driver who took off.  Ashe would worry about that later, after figuring out what to do about the girls that were essentially hostages.  She wanted to just go in there, killing anyone that tried to keep the girls as slaves and get them all out.  She didn’t want to go full murder hobo, but it was sorely tempting in light of everything she had seen tonight. 

Crystal came back a moment later.  “Robbie and Keiko are on their way.  He said five to ten depending on lights.” 

Ashe nodded.  “The girls were taken inside, but the van left with nothing more than a large bag of something.” 

“Probably cash or drugs as payment,” Crystal said.  “You good?” 

“I’m rethinking my earlier resolutions against senseless killing right now,” Ashe admitted. 

“If you think they’re going to try to kill you, shoot first, worry later,” Crystal said.  “There’s a difference between killing someone cold, and defending yourself.  Remember that.” 

She had a point.  Cops would shoot someone in defense of themselves or others all the time.  That didn’t mean it was always right, but the circumstances did matter when weighing the consequences that might arise from a use of force.  Perception in the moment mattered more than hindsight.  When the divide between life and death could be reduced to a moment’s hesitation, sometimes a bad call can be justified because of it. 

Hey, if the excuse worked for the cops, it could work for her too. 

“Do you have a plan?” Crystal asked. 

Ashe raised an eyebrow.  “Why are you asking me about a plan?  You’ve been at this longer than I have.” 

“True, but I don’t have two bad ass moms that have SWAT training drilling me,” Crystal countered.  “I’m good, but I bet they taught you all kinds of fun stuff.” 

She wasn’t wrong, Mom had drilled her on how to clear a building, but she was hardly a professional.  She also wasn’t nearly as well armed as she would have liked for such an attack, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and she knew that calling the cops on the place carried the risk of them being tipped off if the wrong officer heard. 

No, it had to be her.  Ashe checked her pistol and took a few deep breaths, gathering her frayed nerves and burying them deep beneath the smoldering rage she felt at seeing women being treated as property. 

“If we’re doing this, you’ll need to follow my lead and do all the ‘cute’ shit, like calling out targets downed, locations of enemy combatants, checking corners and so on.  Safety is the number one priority when we do this.” 

“Sounds reasonable,” Crystal said.  “Keiko will stay with the van while Robbie joins us.  He’s former military, so he should know all that shit too.” 

Ashe nodded, watching for a van to arrive.  It took an agonizing twelve minutes before Robbie called, their headsets alerting them.  He was right around the corner and ready to move in.  Ashe glanced at Crystal, who had the rifle.  There was a single guard at the back door, smoking away as he did something with his phone. 

“We’re going to have to kill him,” Ashe admitted after a moment.  She couldn’t think of another way to take him out without resorting to lethal force.  “Do you want me to take the sh—” 

A loud snap came from Crystal’s rifle and the guy dropped, a small spray of red dusting itself across the door.  Crystal lowered her gun, a small exhale accompanying the action.  “Target down.” 

Ashe blinked for a moment, a bit of shock clinging to her at the casual kill that had just occurred before shaking it off.  She could dwell on it later, after the job was done.  “Hanabi, the back is clear.  Come on in.” 

The van pulled around and parked near the door.  Robbie hopped out the back door, rifle in hand and checked the down man.  He nodded, then waved for them to come over.  Ashe kept her gun up and her head on a swivel as she moved. 

“At least you move with purpose,” Robbie said, handing Ashe’s own rifle over.  “Riptide mentioned a dozen girls.  Are we planning to get them out?” 

Ashe shook her head.  “The police can deal with them, we just need to clear out the resistance, grab anything valuable, and get the fuck out of here.” 

The man nodded, seeming to approve.  “Then good hunting to both of you.” 

Ashe stepped to one side of the door, and Crystal moved to the other.  Robbie stepped up to the door, turning the handle slowly, then pushed the door open while stepping in, gun raised.  Ashe waited two seconds then moved to follow.  She swept the room, not seeing any sign of people.  She was almost disappointed, but the relief outweighed that. 

“Clear,” Robbie said.  Ashe echoed his words a moment later.  “We should move carefully.  They could be anywhere.” 

“It’s a business, so don’t expect anything complicated in layout,” Ashe said, looking over the shelves with clearly marked inventory slots.  The guns immediately drew her eyes.  “Firearms in a locked cage.” 

“We can load them up once we’re sure the building is secure,” Robbie said.  

Ashe nodded.  

There was a considerable amount of inventory stored away, and no doubt more out on the shelves for the public.  Then there was the absolutely beautiful motorcycle just sitting in the middle of the loading area.  Bright red accents, and flame decals certainly made it stand out.  Much as she longed to steal it, something like that would be far too conspicuous. 

It was weird that they weren’t even hearing the women that they came for, which meant they were missing something.  Ashe followed Robbie, helping keep an eye as they moved while Crystal watched their rear.  There were two rooms just up a wooden ramp from the warehouse area, one was just a bathroom on a cursory glance.  Then they came up to the second room and Robbie opened the door to look inside. 

“Safe located,” Robbie said.  “Paperwork as well.  Hanabi, get to work.” 

“Remind me to introduce you to game chat programs,” Ashe said, knowing that calls could be traced.  “Lot harder for the cops to track.” 

“Noted,” Robbie said.  “We can discuss it later.” 

Keiko arrived a moment later with a bag which she promptly unzipped and got to work on the safe.  Two minutes later she had it cracked and was frowning at the contents.  “That’s not a lot of cash.” 

“Probably what they loaded in the van then,” Crystal said.  “We should probably focus on securing the guns if that’s the case.” 

Ashe silently agreed with them, but she was more curious as to where everyone had gone.    The storefront area was clear, the back warehouse as well as the offices.  There wasn’t anyone around or even a trace of them.  Robbie and Keiko seemed more concerned with getting as much merchandise loaded as possible, which was all well and good, but she knew there was something they were missing. 

She and Crystal kept watch while Keiko cracked the gun cage with no effort.  Ashe blinked, knowing full well that the woman had been fucking with her when she was practicing with the locks.  Once open, Robbie and Keiko proceeded to empty it in impressive time.  Crystal was on edge, which wasn’t a surprise, she had just killed a man and then, expecting further danger, found none. 

Ashe sighed, eyes dropping to the floor with a weary sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her mind.  Where the hell had they gone?  Had they missed a door or something?  The building wasn’t large enough to conceal that many people, but they had clearly passed through.  Ashe moved back to the back door and checked the floor. 

It was faint, but there were footprints, bare footprints with hints of blood.  “Found something,” she said, moving to follow them deeper into the storage area.  Crystal came up and Ashe pointed them out.  Crystal nodded and assumed a defensive posture as they moved along.  The wooden ramp leading to the office area was where they ended. 

Curious, Ashe gave the hand signal to stop, then knelt down and felt the edges of the ramp.  She found a catch and pulled it up, the entire ramp swinging smoothly as she lifted.  Crystal had her gun aimed down, watching the darkened stairs for any sign of movement.  The footprints continued, several of the wooden stairs bearing bloody prints. 

“Well, looks like we found where they took the girls,” Ashe said grimly.

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