I was in the shadows, hiding behind the pier before getting up onto the yacht. I reached into the raft, getting Petra's transmitter out and pressing the power button before I placed it onto the pier behind one of the tie downs. The little lights flashed for a moment before a string of green lights appeared. Yes, it was connected! Now Petra could start getting into their security, which would make things easier for me. If she could knock out their cameras, then they would be slow to respond to me. Well, until the gunfire started.

With that done, I moved slowly onto the rear deck of the nearest yacht. It was as far from the marina as I could get, and it would allow me to unload the raft without being seen. But I couldn't do that until I made sure that the boat was secured. It was a 30 foot boat, and once I took my flippers off, I slipped down into the lower cabins with my knife drawn. I'd have to be careful, as I didn't know if there would be any of the girls here. But I'd be happy to gut anyone that looks like a club member.

The stairs led down and opened into a lounge and kitchenette, with a small hallway that led to 4 doors. The first 2 were an empty bedroom and the bathroom, so I kept on going. I assumed that the door at the end of the hull was for the largest bedroom, but I was going into each one as I came to it, in order to prevent anyone from being left behind me.

I was glad I did that, as the next door opened up to a room with two naked girls handcuffed to a bed. They were both awake, and looked at me with wide, scared eyes when they saw the face makeup and knife. I could see welts all over their bodies, and both had gags in their mouth. I guess the boat's owner didn't want them yelling while he tried to sleep!

I moved over to them quickly, kneeling next to the bed. "Stay still, okay? I'm here to get you out. Let me check the last bedroom, and then I'll be right back. I'll find the key for the cuffs. I promise you, I'll be right back, and I will get you out of here."

The fear didn't leave their eyes, and it made me wonder how long they'd been here in the club if the prospect of freedom hadn't been met by a happier reaction. But maybe once I unlocked them and got them free, I would be able to build their trust in me more. They didn't know me, and they were still tied up, so there was only so much happiness they could feel.

I slipped out of the cabin, heading up to the last door, and slowly opened it. I had only been mildly surprised that none of the doors were locked, but I guess the owners were relying on the security of the club. I was good with them thinking that would stop things like this happening to them. I opened the door, finding a man and woman in the bed, with eye patches on to help them sleep. I was only mildly surprised that I recognized them, having seen clips of them spewing some hateful rhetoric on some bullshit news channel.

They'd never do that again.

I was rapidly rethinking my plans to blow up the boats. It might be a lot better to let the world see these people who were abusing the girls. Of course, some would still try to frame it as they were victims because they were killed, and yeah, I knew that was what I was about to do to them, because they were the worst kind of scum, and deserved what they got.

The man on the bed barely grunted as I crawled onto the mattress, and other than a quick thrashing, made no sound when I shoved the knife through the eye patch and into his brain, twisting it for good measure. The thrashing must have alerted the woman though, as she reached over to smack him, evidently thinking he was just kicking her in his sleep, and got a handful of blood.

"What the hell?" she muttered, taking off her mask, just as I pulled the knife from the face of her partner. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw me, and she opened her mouth to scream, so I stabbed her right through her tongue, pinning it to the back of her throat as I drove the combat knife through her spine.

The light left her eyes quickly, and I crawled off the bed, looking for the keys to the handcuffs. They were easy to find, as they were in a small dish on a shelf next to a wallet and purse. Normally I would have gone through the other items that were there too, so it would look like a straight robbery, but there wasn't time for that today.

With the key in my hand, I walked back to the other room, and unlocked the cuffs and helped them with their gags, which made both girls start sobbing. "You're okay, you're okay!" I promised as they huddled together on the bed. The last thing I wanted to do was initiate any contact after what they'd been through. "I'm going to make sure it's safe for you to get out of here. Do either of you know how to drive a boat?" They both just shook their heads, and I knew I'd have to come up with another solution.

"Can we just swim?" one asked.

I thought about that, then shook my head. "Not yet." I saw them both start to tear up and I had to talk quickly. "Wait, hold up. Let me explain. The two people who had you last night? They're not going to bother you ever again. But I want to go get the rest of the girls in the club safe too. If I let you swim, and the guards catch you, they might hurt the other girls. Do you understand?"

"They can't hurt us?" the same girl asked.

"No, they're both dead. But the guards in the building, they're alive. I need to be sneaky so I can get the others out safely too, okay?"

"So, we just sit here?" The other girl finally spoke up.

"How about this, I'll untie the boat, and push you away from the dock. There isn't much wind tonight, but hopefully you'll drift away from here. I have some friends on a boat near here, they can come get you when I call them, but I need to get the other girls too. I want everyone free."

The two just nodded, and I knew they didn't think this was going to work, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.

"Okay, just stay here. What are your names? I'll tell my friends to call out to you when they get close."

"Michelle."

"I'm Katie"

"Okay. Michelle and Katie. You're going to make it through this, I promise. It is probably going to get loud, so just stay here, lay down, and wait for my friends."

When they nodded, I went back out into the kitchenette to make a call. Willow answered on the first ring.

"Thank God you called!" she answered breathlessly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I got into a yacht on the pier. There were 2 girls here already. I'm going to set them adrift for you to pick up before you come ashore. Their names are Michelle and Katie, and they'll listen for you to call. Don't get them till you hear gunfire start though!"

"Shit, okay. You're being safe?"

"As much as I can, yes."

"Keep it that way, we need you coming back!"

"I will, I promise. Now, let me get to work here. Give everyone hugs."

"We love you, Jesse. We're never going to let you forget that."

I swallowed painfully, hoping I didn't let them down. "I love you all too." I hung up, then slipped my earpiece in. "Joe, are you there?"

"Jess, how goes it?"

I spoke quickly, giving him an update. "Good. Getting my gear on now, then I'll need your help. When can I expect the distraction?"

"Any time you like. We're going to kill the power for the entire area there, plus we'll be calling in a bomb threat at the Hard Rock Casino across town. We even made sure there were some suspicious packages there to keep them occupied for hours. When the gunfire starts, you'll probably get company, but they'll be slower. We'll kill the phones in the club, so maybe you'll get lucky, and the neighbors will sleep through it."

"Perfect. I'll check the other two boats as soon as the power is out, then I'll be heading inside. Did the transmitter work?"

"It did. Petra already downloaded a ton of data, and more is coming. She can take over their cameras as soon as you like."

Damn, that was good. I didn't want anyone seeing me on a camera and directing a response team to me. The more they were distracted the better. "Okay. Let me get my body armor on, and then I'll give you the go ahead on the lights."

"We'll stand by for you!"

I knelt next to the gear in the back, carefully strapping on the body armor. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than any others I'd seen. My chest, groin, shoulders, biceps, thighs, and back were covered, and there was a black helmet and mask combo that made me look like a hockey goalie of sorts. The helmet had adjustable night vision goggles, and there were separate pieces that slipped over my kneecaps and elbows, since that mobility would be needed. I still had exposed body parts, and there were a few seams, but they were all areas that I'd hopefully survive getting shot in. It would still hurt like a bitch though!

Once I was done, I slipped the pistols into the holsters, sheathed my knives, and pulled out the automatic shotgun. Moving slowly, I crept onto the dock, then untied the yacht and gave it a big shove, hoping that would help it on the little journey to safety. I was as ready as I could be, so I got back on the line to Joe. "I'm ready, kill the lights!"

"Consider it done!"

In seconds, the entire waterfront went dark, and then I was moving.