Disclaimer: I haven't really read any underworld crime fiction since Lucifer Rising by Sharon Bowers but I watch a lot of NCIS…

X-X

Chapter TWO

"Mierda," Callie breathed. She met April's horrified eyes. "Call everyone. I want everyone who can hold a gun down here pronto. And I want every doctor who owes us something ready for whatever the fuck is going on." April nodded, already dialing headquarters and speaking urgently to whomever had answered even as they could hear Alex calling from the office to Meredith directly. Together, the two bolted down the loading dock towards the source of the sound. They found the last truck secured with a length of heavy chain and an oversized ultra secure style of lock. She motioned to April, whose skills at lock-picking were far beyond her own while she went to the clipboard. The company names chilled her – they were all subsidiaries of the Avery family, mostly the ones she knew ran drugs or human trafficking under a thin veneer of regular cargo transport. Jacobs' was working both of them, and that was unacceptable. Especially as Meredith had a strict no drugs, no people policy for anyone that did business with her, a stance that Callie, raised in a Miami family which did a lot of drug running, could completely appreciate and support.

They could hear the baby crying still, and the quieter sounds of shuffling, random human movement and someone trying to soothe the child. Then a second baby joined the chorus. April redoubled her work picking the rusty lock.

By the time April had finished, the first of their backup had arrived with Alex in tow, the briefcase full of copied data and April's weapons slung over his shoulder, his gun in hand. With a dozen of her colleagues around her, she let a handful stand guard, the rest ready to help whoever was in the truck. With a groan, the truck's gate moved up, and revealed to the waiting crew the mass of humanity crammed into a 8 by 28 foot space.

The first thing they noticed was the smell. Unwashed humanity crammed for who knew how long in the truck body – urine, feces, blood. Then the soft cries of fear as the blinded denizens of the truck made out the armed people in front of them.

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay," Callie said. "We're here to help." She gestured to the dock. "You guys come out, we'll take care of you." A buzz of words came from the truck, some of it in Spanish, so Callie repeated herself in her native tongue. She waved a couple of her women forward – tough Bailey with teary eyes and imposing Teddy, her mouth set in a thin line of anger – to help the occupants step out.

Within minutes, the truck was empty of live people, Bailey and Teddy carrying the two babies onboard. In the far back, next to the bucket the occupants had had to use as a toilet, was the corpse of a woman, the placenta and other fluids associated with childbirth soaked into the truck bed under her. The younger baby was obviously a newborn, and the mother had died in the process of giving birth. They'd noticed the baby had a hair tie clamping off the umbilical cord. Her eyes full of fury, Callie left the cleanup to a handful of people who had just arrived in coveralls with face masks. "Deal with this. Treat her with respect," she ordered before stalking off.

Even more of Meredith's enforcers were holding the staff of the shipping company, as the majority of the group Callie led moved quickly out to the waiting minivans that would bring them back to headquarters. April stopped at the team leader, handing him every zip tie she had in her bag. "Secure them," she growled.

"Did we not have any child seats?" Bailey grumbled as she headed towards a waiting van. "I could have fetched Tuck's old one from my place if we'd known ahead of time there were babies in that damn thing." She passed the small, squalling infant to Callie while she climbed into her seat and buckled in, before accepting the baby back.

"Sorry, Bailey, this whole morning has not gone as planned," Callie grumbled, even as she gently rocked the baby in her arms, a smile edging onto her lips. "I did call Addie and she'll meet you there to look over the babies and the kids." Addison Montgomery was a neonatal surgeon and ob/gyn who had met Callie while they both attended college – Addie as a premed and Callie as a business major. Their friendship had survived and even flourished despite Callie's less than savory profession.

"Good. Want me to take over looking after the people? I'm sure you have other things you could be… dealing with," Bailey asked.

Callie nodded, "Sure. I'm going to have to brief Meredith and bring all the data to Arizona to decode, depending on what Alex has already figured out." She shook her head, "I'll call ahead, send someone out to WalMart for blankets and clothes and stuff. These folks have nothing."

"Good. See you later, Torres," Bailey said, as Callie shut the van door, nodding to the driver to take them back to headquarters.

Flipping her cell phone open, she dialed her girlfriend, "Hey babe."

"Hey. I heard things went to hell," came a gentle voice.

"That's putting it lightly. Kids. Babies. Adults. Send Gloria out to WalMart. They'll need clean clothes, blankets, towels, soap, you know. We gotta clean them up, help them out." She growled. "Dammit, I hate this shit. Whoever these people are, they deserve a helluva lot better than shoved in a trailer destined for whatever crap the Averys are trying to pull in our town."

"They do, Calliope. And we'll help them out." Callie could hear the murmur of her girlfriend speaking with someone over the phone, "Gloria's on her way. I'm sending Matt to another WalMart so it won't look so, errr. Odd? I guess? Nothing strange about someone going out for a towel and soap run, or a lot of sweatsuits, but together? Little strange."

Callie laughed, "Yeah, you're right. And sweatsuits are perfect. Got some food for them? They all looked hungry."

"As soon as I get off the phone with you, I'll head over to Costco," Arizona promised. "And remember your temper. We need people who can talk to explain what the heck is going on."

"I'm not going to even touch it today. Those people are our priority. We can sit on Jacobs and his scum till tomorrow," Callie replied.

"Good. Drive safely, Calliope. I'll see you soon."

"I will. Love you," Callie murmured.

"Love you too."

With a smile, Callie closed her phone, and moved over to her car. The Audi was brand new, and her current pride and joy. April was in the front passenger seat, on the phone directing their people. Alex was hunched over the laptop in the back seat, poring over what he'd taken from the office. Sighing, Callie buckled up and started the car, unobtrusively following the vans full of rescued people back to headquarters. It was going to be a long, hard day, and, she checked the clock, it was barely eleven in the morning.