by K. M. Fawkes
“Definitely not,” Garrett agreed. “What exactly—”
“Packing doesn’t necessarily mean going through the house with a fine-toothed comb,” she interrupted. “It means gathering the things you know you use. We all have a running catalog in our heads of where stuff is, and that’s where we’ll go to gather it. It doesn’t exactly encourage looking into the nooks and crannies, you know?”
Garrett nodded. It did make sense—and it wasn’t anything he would ever have even thought of. True, there might not be anything of importance there. But there might be things they could use—and things that could have given the gang an inkling of where they had gone, if they left them behind.
After what they were going to do tomorrow, he didn’t want that gang having any hints of how to find them. They were going to be as mad as hornets—and one hundred times as dangerous.
Chapter 22
The next morning, after an afternoon of glorified housecleaning and a full night of sleep, they got down to business. Garrett was up early, and found the rest of the town up as well—though they had decided the night before that they wouldn’t be starting their journey until the afternoon. He darted up the steps of the schoolhouse and found everyone inside, enjoying what would be their last breakfast in Trinity Ranch. As usual, the food was laid out on the tables that ran along the wall of the schoolhouse, while the people were sitting on blankets on the floor, their plates in their laps as they chatted about this and that.
This morning, of course, everyone was either nervously silent or talking about what was going to happen today—and what they all hoped would happen tonight. Garrett could see a range of expressions, from optimistic to deeply frightened, and he couldn’t blame any of them. He was hoping for the best, and he truly believed that everything would be okay. But he could sympathize with those who looked terrified, because there was a part of him that was right there with them.
They were going to be going up against a fully armed gang, with a tanker full of water rather than fuel. And they were going to be actively attacking said gang. With stun guns.
They would be incredibly lucky if they weren’t shot in the process.
“Stop looking as if you’re rethinking the whole thing,” a voice said suddenly in his ear. “I know it’s scary and believe me, I’ve got those same thoughts. But you’re the leader here. You’re not allowed to look like you’re backing out. Everyone needs to think you know exactly what the hell you’re doing, and that you know for a fact that it’s going to work.”
Garrett rearranged his features to look more optimistic—or at least he hoped that was what he had done—and turned to Alice. She was paler than usual, but look just as stoic as she always had, with no echo of the misty-eyed mother he’d seen in the street yesterday. He firmed his own jaw and straightened his shoulders, emulating her. If she could keep it together right now, with everything she’d been through, then so could he.
No more thinking about how things could go wrong, he told himself firmly. From here on out, positive intentions only. An absolute belief that everything was going to go the way he wanted it to. Wasn’t that how it was supposed to work? That if you believed something hard enough, it would actually happen? You would actually make it happen with your own conviction and positive vibes?
Garrett had never subscribed to that particular line of thought. But now seemed as good a time as any to sign on.
“You’re right,” he answered. “Besides, I do believe everything is going to be fine. How are you holding up?”
“I’m famished,” she said bluntly. “Let’s get some food and go through the day again. I want to make sure we have a plan for keeping Bart and Riley as safe as possible. The last thing I want is to lose more kids on this adventure.”
She turned on her heel before he could answer and started stalking toward the buffet, the people spreading before her like the Red Sea.
In the end, going over the day again looked a whole lot like it had the first ten times, and Garrett and Alice found themselves in the truck that afternoon with Riley and Bart in the back, both of them twitchy with excitement and nerves and talking a million miles a minute. They’d modified things enough to include Shane and Greyson in the adventure, and those two were hiding in the bed of the truck under some tarps.
It wasn’t a great hiding place. It definitely wouldn’t hold up if Kraken’s men searched the truck. And those tarps wouldn’t protect them from bullets. But it was the best they could do. Alice had brought up the very rational point that Garrett was going to be otherwise occupied during this particular outing, and that she, Bart, and Riley would be completely without protection. Even worse, if something happened to Alice, Bart and Riley would be on their own.
“We should take a couple of the guys,” she’d said bluntly.
Garrett had thought about it, nodding, for a full ten seconds before he’d agreed. It was solid reasoning.
“But we can’t let them be seen,” he’d added immediately. “They’ll just make the bikers suspicious. No one comes rolling in with a bunch of muscle just to drop off a tanker of gas.”
“Considering where you’ll be rolling to, I think it would be stupid not to go rolling in with a bunch of muscle,” Elisa had added in her quietly reasonable manner.
“Yes, but we can’t go in there looking like we’re looking for a fight,” Garrett responded. “We have to at least look like we’re going to peacefully drop this off and then get the hell out of there. Like we don’t want any trouble, like we’re the lesser of these two groups. Something tells me that if we look like we want a fight, we’ll get one. Kraken and his crew have got to be itching for some action. We don’t want to give them an excuse.”
“And you think Greyson will do just that,” Alice noted, looking thoughtfully at the ex-cop, who was in the midst of an argument with Steve.
“You know he will,” Garrett responded. “I love the guy, but he’s not going to take any shit from anyone. First sign of trouble and he’s going to come out guns blaring. The only person with a wilder temper around here is Steve, and you notice he’s never been on the list of possible team members.”
One corner of Alice’s mouth turned up in a smile and she nodded once, conceding the point. “So they stay hidden,” she said, moving on. “Until the last second. We figure you go in to talk to Kraken or beat your chests or whatever it is you’re going to do. Meanwhile…”
“Meanwhile, you, Greyson and Shane work with Riley and Bart to disable all the bikes,” he said quickly, moving through the plan in his head. “And take down any bikers you can find. Slice the tires first. Take the bikers out only if you see them. I’d rather have the bikers down and out, honestly, but you take those bikes out of the picture and they’re going to be stuck there, regardless. At least until they can get new tires on the bikes. If they even have new tires.”
“And you have flash grenades to cause a commotion, if you need it,” Elisa added.
It was an important piece to the puzzle. Yesterday when they’d been watching the town, it had looked like all the bikes were parked in the same place. Theoretically, Greyson, Shane, Alice, Bart, and Riley could take out all them at once, and in one spot. And the team would be big enough that if any of the bikers came around, they could take them out as necessary. After they finished slicing the tires they could search for bikers and stun them into unconsciousness as they found them—but only until Garrett was back at the truck and ready to go. And only because Alice had insisted on adding that part.
It should work. It should work. But the flash grenades would provide cover for them if they needed a distraction, or if they needed to get away.
Garrett, of course, was going to be completely on his own. But he had plausible deniability; he wouldn’t be doing anything to hurt anyone. Just turning over the tanker, as Kraken had demanded. Sure, it would be a stretch to say that he didn’t know what his team had been planning when they came into town—particularly if they were carrying grenades and stun guns—but he
figured he could bluff his way out of it if he had to.
Getting everyone back to their truck and out of town before Kraken noticed what the rest of the team had been doing outside was going to be the tricky part. Because Garrett knew for a fact that Kraken was packing firepower, and wasn’t afraid to use it. They had guns packed into the truck, and Greyson and Shane would be able to return fire if Kraken started shooting at them. But he didn’t want to chance a shoot-out. Bullets flying around meant chances of being shot and chances of their tires being blown out—which would leave them stranded.
He wanted to get in there, get their jobs done as quickly and quietly as possible, and get out of town before Kraken knew any better.
“Stop questioning it,” Alice said from beside him.
When he glanced at her, she was staring straight ahead at the road in front of them, her face serious. Had she even looked at him? Or had she somehow guessed that he’d been thinking through the plan and wondering if it was airtight enough, or if he’d left holes somewhere?
“How did you—”
“I know you,” she interrupted. “It’s a good plan. It’ll work. Just keep your eyes on the prize.”
Eyes on the prize. Right. Get in there, get the exchange done with Kraken, keep him occupied for as long as he could. Let the rest of the team take care of what they needed to take care of, and get the hell out of there. Get back to Trinity Ranch, get the rest of the trucks loaded with their people, and get the hell out of Dodge.
It would work. It had to work.
Things started going wrong the moment they pulled up at the outskirts of Helen Falls.
“Get out of your truck,” the biker at Garrett’s window said gruffly. “We’ve got orders to search you and whoever you brought with you.”
Garrett nodded and got out, heart pounding. Thank God the guns were in the back with Greyson and Shane. But the flash grenades were on Alice. Unless she could get them unstrapped from her belt and under her seat—and these guys decided for some reason not to search the truck—they were going to be found.
Alice, Bart and Riley got out of the truck as well, all of them holding their hands in the air and looking as innocent as possible.
“Why the hell did you bring kids?” the biker asked as he frisked Garrett. “Seems pretty stupid, you ask me.”
Garrett faked a laugh. “They wanted a break from being in town with their moms. Figured it was a safe enough adventure for them. Not like we came out here on dangerous business.”
There. Prep them with the idea that he assumed this was going to be a safe drop-off. Tell them that he didn’t expect any trouble. Bart and Riley were already fulfilling their purpose.
The biker gave Garrett a questioning look, but then grinned. “I felt the same way when I was their age,” he said. “Couldn’t wait to get out of the house.” He turned and rubbed Bart roughly on the head. “Old women don’t know when to stop lecturing, do they, kid?”
Bart laughed nervously and shook his head, his face turning a deep red, and the bikers laughed again.
Then the guy who had been frisking Alice shouted out, yelping.
Garrett’s heart sank quickly into his feet and he threw a look over his shoulder, right at Alice. She wasn’t looking back, but was glaring at the man in front of her—who was sinking to his knees, his hands covering his crotch area.
“Next time you frisk a lady, I suggest you remember that she’s a lady,” she said coldly. “We might not be on the same team, but I still deserve some respect. And when you touch a woman like that, she doesn’t have to play nice. Get it?”
The man was on the ground now and looked completely incapable of nodding, but it didn’t take much to figure out what had happened.
And instead of getting angry, as Garrett expected, the man on his side of the truck starting laughing.
“What the hell are you doing, Fred, trying to feel her up?” he asked between howls of laughter. “You have to be careful, dude! Especially with that one. Can tell just by looking at her that she knows how to defend herself.”
The man strolled to the other side of the truck and kicked dust over his friend, still chuckling.
Garrett was just breathing a sigh of relief when the biker turned to Alice and motioned for her to put her hands up.
“Don’t worry, ma’am, I know how to be more respectful. But I gotta check you,” he said.
It took him a grand total of thirty seconds to find the grenades strapped to her belt. He let out a low whistle and stepped carefully back.
“Those primed?” he asked.
Alice gave him a look that should have withered him on the spot. “Do you think I’d be wearing them strapped to my body if they were primed, you idiot? I’m not suicidal.”
The man stared at her for a second and then nodded, taking her at her word. “Well you never know,” he answered, all traces of laughter gone. “You realize I can’t let you take them in there with you.”
Garrett took a mental step back, shocked. He hadn’t expected men like this to be so… respectful. He’d thought that if they came in contact with them, they’d find the guys rough. Uneducated. Violent and unreasonable. But this guy was just another American, he thought, trying to make it through a bad situation. Chances were he hadn’t set out to become what he was. He’d just teamed up with the first people he thought could offer him a chance.
Suddenly he was glad that their plan didn’t include killing any of them. He didn’t think they were all good people, necessarily. But if there was one good person among them, it made the non-lethal attack worth it.
Still. It wasn’t a good thing if they took those grenades. That was their safety net.
Alice pressed her lips together as if she was thinking, then tipped her head a bit. “Not like I’m going to use them,” she said. “Like I said, I’m not suicidal. Or stupid.”
“Then why the hell do you have them strapped to your belt?” he asked.
Garrett’s heart was going to pound right through his chest. Was Alice actually going to be able to talk this guy out of taking the grenades? Was she that good?
She gave the guy a shrug and cast a look at the man still writhing in pain on the road. “I’ve had them strapped to my belt ever since you cut off my friend’s finger. Figure a girl’s got to have some protection in case she gets caught in a tough position. Seems to me it was a good idea, too. Not all of your friends are as… respectful as you are.”
“And you just forgot to remove them when you put that belt on this morning?” the biker asked, eyes narrowed in doubt.
She snorted. “How much thought did you put into your outfit today, buddy?”
When he didn’t answer, she suddenly sort of… softened. Garrett didn’t know how she did it, but her curves became curvier and her eyes became bigger and sort of… dewier.
“Look, I’m not going to use them, but they’re an important part of our supplies. Besides, they’re not even lethal. Look, they’re just flash grenades. Like fireworks, the less dangerous sort. You know, those sparklers you used to get on the Fourth?”
She yanked one of the grenades out of her belt and held it up, pointing to the serial number as if it somehow translated into “Flash Grenade, Model 3.”
Garrett knew there was nothing even remotely like that written on them. But man, her show was a good one. He could already see the biker relaxing. Wanting to remember the better times—the times when he had held sparklers and run around with his family during a Fourth of July celebration.
Suddenly, and without warning, the guy relented.
“Fine,” he said, his voice a little bit gentler, his eyes softer. “Flash grenades never did any harm, I guess. But if I find you using them, you’re going to be answering to me.”
She gave him the flirtiest smile Garrett had ever seen.
“You got it, buddy,” she said.
Ten seconds later they were back in the truck, the doors closed, and Alice’s face became her own again. Firm, intense, and absolutely foc
used.
“I can’t believe that worked,” she muttered. “Men can be such idiots. Let’s get the hell out of here and get this done before Bucko back there realizes that he shouldn’t have let me keep these babies.”
Garrett bit his tongue to keep from replying to her and stepped hard on the gas, throwing sand and gravel up in his wake as he roared into town, toward his date with Kraken.
Chapter 23
There were other men in the street, he quickly realized, but none of them looked dangerous. They weren’t exactly aiming their guns at the truck or anything—though why would they be, he wondered, when they thought he was towing a tanker full of gasoline. Any firepower would cause that tank to explode, and that would have been bad for all of them.
Instead, the men were sort of…
“What are they doing?” he asked, frowning, as two of the guys started waving their hands in the air like they were lost.
“Got me,” Alice answered, sounding as if she was just as mystified.
“They’re directing you,” Riley said from the back of the truck. “Look, if you turn your head on its side, you can tell that they’re actually pointing or… something.” She paused and hesitated as one of the men seemed to start flapping his arms. “Actually, maybe I’m wrong there,” she conceded.
Garrett stared at the men, caught somewhere between laughing and groaning. The guys looked completely ridiculous, and though he wanted to take it as a joke, he was also keenly aware that they were in an incredibly dangerous situation. All of those men were probably armed and had orders to shoot the minute anything went wrong, and he didn’t want them thinking that he was laughing at them.
Even if they were sort of bringing it on themselves.
Then they came across a fourth guy who was actually making sense with his movements. He gestured for Garrett to drive in his direction, then turned and pointed down a road—right at the large house Garrett and his crew had seen two days ago when they’d been doing recon on the town.
