Chapter 21 - Operation Kestrel
The plan was simple in its brutality, but required surgical execution. If Gallo was feeding the Vanguard Syndicate through Kestrel Logistics, they couldn't just arrest him; they had to intercept a live shipment and trace the pipeline straight to the Syndicate's new underground command post.
At midnight, a heavy fog rolled off Lake Michigan, wrapping the industrial shipping yards of the south side in a thick, ghostly shroud. Rows of rusted shipping containers loomed like monoliths under the amber glare of sodium vapor lights.
Marcus crouched behind a stack of steel crates near Berth 4, his night-vision binoculars tracking a pair of heavy transport trucks idling near the water's edge.
"Target confirmed," Marcus whispered into his comms. "Gallo’s men are loading unmarked crates onto the flatbeds. Looks like automatic ordnance and encrypted comm gear."
A few yards away, concealed in the shadow of a gantry crane, Emma adjusted her tactical headset. She wore a dark, matte-black operational suit, her hair tucked tightly beneath a reinforced cap. Beside her stood Adrian. He didn't carry a rifle, but the suppressed pistol at his hip and the cold, unyielding aura he projected made him far more lethal than any armed operative in the yard.
"Wait for the exchange," Emma spoke quietly into her mic, her eyes fixed on a sleek black sedan that had just pulled up beside the transport trucks.
A tall man in a tailored trench coat stepped out of the sedan. Even in the dim light, his posture and the way he held himself screamed military discipline. It wasn't a street thug; it was a high-ranking Vanguard commander.
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"That's Commander Hayes," Adrian signed silently in the dark, his fingers brushing Emma’s sleeve to get her attention. "Former special ops. He went rogue three years ago."
Emma nodded once. "Let's catch him in the act."
