The Takeover

by Teyla Branton

  “There’s no second exit in the front,” Ritter said. “So you’ll have to pass the Secret Service in the entry. We’ll have a car outside when you’re ready. Cort’s heading to it now. But there are three more Secret Service teams that can see the front door, so you have to get her to the car before she suspects anything.”

  “Okay.” Now that my course was set, my mind churned with ideas.

  “I’m coming in,” Keene said. “Don’t shoot.”

  I was standing in front of the door, so I moved aside. “First, we need to get Mrs. Ropte out of sight. I’ll tell Jeane that Ropte already evacuated his wife and that he asked you to help me get her to a car out front.”

  Keene looked doubtful. “What if it doesn’t work?”

  “I’ll drop my disguise and tell her we’ll cut her in three if she doesn’t come with us. I can always disable the agents by the door.” I’d feel bad flashing light in their minds, but I would do it.

  Keene chuckled. “If it wouldn’t alert Ropte to something going on, I’d almost want her to resist.” He picked up Michelle Ropte and strode out the door.

  By the time he returned, I’d repositioned Jeane so she was sitting on the couch. I had a syringe full of adrenaline in my hand. “She’ll take a minute to become fully cognizant. Wait out there until you hear me talk to her and then come in and tell us the car is here.”

  He nodded, pausing for a second to gaze down on Jeane’s lovely face. “Hard to believe that she’s so cold inside. She has a lot to make up for.”

  I knew he was thinking about the innocent people killed in Morocco. “She won’t get away this time.” I sat next to her and jabbed the adrenaline into her thigh, the needle slipping easily past the white dress pants she wore. I capped the needle and put the spent syringe back in the sheath on my leg.

  Sixty seconds later, Jeane stirred. “Oh, thank heavens!” Linked with Noah and showing her the scene as it unfolded, I plucked the words from Noah’s head as she thought them. “Senator Ropte said he’s sent a car for us, but I was so afraid those awful people had done something permanent to you!”

  Jeane’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? What did you do to me?”

  “Me? Oh, no! It wasn’t me. It was some people dressed all in black—a blonde with a gun, and a big guy that moved like the wind. Never seen the like! Ropte said they were Renegades or something.” I gave a little sniff, which I thought might be over the top, but Noah advised it, and Jeane seemed to drink it in. “Ropte came and got his wife out of here. He asked me to stay with you until he sends my friend back to tell us a car is ready.”

  “You?” Jeane asked.

  I lifted the gun from the couch on the side opposite her. “He gave me this.” She shouldn’t be able to tell the pistol was plastic unless she held it, and I wasn’t about to allow that. “He said to shoot anyone who came in.”

  Jeane took a deep breath. “Okay, then. Where is he? Maybe I should call Ropte.”

  We heard running footsteps, and Jeane bounced to her feet. I followed, pointing the gun at the door. Keene’s head peeked inside, followed by his entire body. “The car’s coming. Come on! Ropte got his wife and my sister and Patrick. We have to hurry. Those Renegades went outside to the back yard, and we have to go before they come back in. If we can make it to the front door, the Secret Service will watch our backs. Patrick let them know we’ll be coming.”

  I wished we really had asked Patrick to let them know to expect us.

  Keene hurried out of the room, with Jeane on his tail. I followed quickly.

  “No, that room is huge and we don’t want to be in the open too long,” Jeane said as Keene reached to open the door to the reception area. “There’s another way to the foyer.”

  I tried to remember all the floor plans, but I didn’t have Ritter’s ability to remember layouts, and I hesitated. If Jeane had caught on to us, she might be leading us into some sort of trap, but if she were right, I’d much rather not risk any of the guests seeing us flee.

  Keene nodded. “Show us! Hurry, before they come back for you. Ropte said I shouldn’t let that happen.”

  Jeane opened another door and sprinted down a short hallway. At the end, it intersected another hallway that ran in both directions. She turned to the right, and at the end was another intersection leading to the entryway. She moved more cautiously now, though I could tell there were no life forces in the rooms we passed.

  Finally, we reached the entryway. A servant passed to our right and paused briefly, but after seeing Jeane, she went on. Keene hurried toward the Secret Service agents, nodding at them and speaking under his breath. I caught the words Patrick and car, and from their minds I saw an image of Keene retrieving something from Patrick’s vehicle. I had to laugh at the genius.

  Jeane was passing them now, unable to resist flashing them one of the smiles that had seduced a generation of moviegoers. They stared and barely noticed me as I passed them, my gun hidden in the folds of my dress.

  “I don’t see a car.” Jeane looked around frantically.

  “There!” I said, pointing. It was a red sports car, nothing like the black sedan I’d expected, and I wondered where Cort had obtained it. I could see him inside, wearing a black wig with a neat ponytail.

  Keene ripped opened the door and helped Jeane inside. He gestured to me, but I shook my head. “You stay with her. I’ll make sure Mari and Patrick get out.”

  He hesitated, and I knew he’d planned to hand me into the car and return inside. But I wasn’t going to leave. If Ropte somehow discovered what we’d done, Patrick and Mari would be in danger, and since I could channel Ritter or Noah or Keene himself, Keene knew as well as I did that I was the better choice to stay behind.

  “Go,” he said. “Take care of her.” He meant Mari.

  “Mari can take care of herself.” I furtively handed him the gun that I wouldn’t be able to put back in my sheath under my dress before passing security. Their gazes burned into my back suspiciously even now, and agents on the rooftops probably had me in their sights. Keene grinned and swung himself into the car.

  “Hurry and get in,” Jeane screeched at me.

  I couldn’t resist leaning over, sticking my head into the car, and letting my own face seep partially through Noah’s features. “Sorry, Jeane, I have to go see Senator Ropte to make sure he doesn’t miss you.”

  “Erin!” she breathed. “No! You can’t! You don’t know what this means.” She dived for the opposite door, but both Cort and Keene turned weapons on her. Her eyes went to mine again. “Erin, please.”

  In answer, I replaced Noah’s features and slammed the door. Cort squealed away. I turned around and walked back to the Secret Service agents, who dutifully scanned me and searched my tiny bag, even though I’d been in full view all the time I’d been outside.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  As I sauntered back through the reception room, I spotted Michelle Ropte coming out from the door that led to the back stairs. She was walking unsteadily, and I hurried toward her. “Are you all right?” I asked.

  “I’m just a little dizzy. I must have blacked out.” She put her hand to her head and leaned heavily on me.

  “Do you need a doctor?”

  “No, just a glass of water.”

  By the time I found a servant to fetch water for Mrs. Ropte, the luncheon was well underway. Ropte barely looked over when his wife slipped into her place next to him or when I found my spot at a table nearby. Mari smiled at me, and I nodded slightly. Patrick’s surface feelings shouted his annoyance at Ropte, who leaned toward him like a smiling shark, but Patrick’s face was remarkably pleasant.

  Minutes ticked by, taking the edge off my anxiety—or maybe it was the excellent food. Either way, no one with guns showed up, and Ropte seemed content. I studied his features under the guise of drinking the sparkling wine in my glass, wondering how a man who looked so normal, so handsome, could have been responsible for the gruesome slaughter of Burklap’s family.


  “Package secure,” Ritter finally said in my earbud. “We’re ready to move, so get out when you can.”

  It was all I could do to wait for dessert.

  “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT you’ve done!” Jeane told me as I walked into Noah’s sitting room after changing from the yellow dress. I was fully myself now, though every now and then I caught myself humming Noah’s song under my breath.

  I gave her an insincere smile. “Actually, I have a pretty good idea. I captured the null who betrayed all of us in Morocco. And I interrupted whatever plan you were cooking up with Ropte.” I just hoped he didn’t connect her disappearance with the luncheon. Stella was looking to find a way to drop some hint that Jeane had left on her own, but doing so without endangering our mission to rescue the families was doubtful.

  “I helped you kill Delia.” Jeane rolled her neck as she glared at me, as if a camera were filming and we were in some kind of movie.

  “You tried to capture us for the Emporium.” I’d also seen her shoot a mortal in the back, with no remorse. There was no way I would ever trust her again.

  Jeane’s eyes shuttered. “Well, things have changed.”

  I knew that. I still couldn’t see her life force, though she hadn’t tried to null anyone’s ability yet, which was fortunate for her. None of us had much patience where she was concerned.

  “What things?” I asked. “And what were you doing at Ropte’s?”

  I sidled over to where she sat on the couch under the watchful eyes of Cort and Mari. I was anxious to help Ritter and Keene gather supplies for the upcoming rescue, but I was even more anxious to find out what Jeane knew of Ropte’s plan.

  Jeane’s eyes opened again slowly. She leaned forward, her blue and white, peasant-style blouse dropping open to reveal her breasts in their see-through bra. “I’m not working for the Emporium anymore. I thought going back was the right thing with Delia gone, but I was wrong. I no longer have any loyalty toward them. Or Ropte.”

  I arched a brow. “Oh, yeah? Because you were in his house on a first name basis with his wife. You going to explain that?”

  She sat back and remained silent.

  “That’s what I thought. Look, Jeane, you will tell us what we want to know, one way or the other.”

  “Go to hell,” she muttered.

  “Why don’t you think about it? For now we have more important things to do.”

  I nodded at Cort, and he lifted a large syringe. Jeane’s nostrils flared as he grabbed her hand, but she didn’t struggle as he plunged the sedative into her arm. She lay back on the couch with a dramatic sigh, going limp. Her eyes fluttered closed.

  “It should last twenty-four hours unless we give her something to counteract it,” Cort said. “But we’ll restrain her and get her on an IV to make sure she stays asleep. We can’t spare any of us tonight to watch over her.”

  “So sad,” Mari said, looking down at Jeane’s still form and shaking her head. “Why would she want to work with the Emporium? After what they did to her?”

  I sighed, pushing away a pity I didn’t want to feel for Jeane. “I bet she thought with Delia gone, she might be able to move up. Because the only thing Jeane cares about is herself. Let’s never forget that.”

  Ritter came into the room, looking dark and dangerous dressed in black and carrying his customary assault rifle. Something moved inside me seeing him this way. All business. A killing machine that miraculously had found a place for me in his heart. I briefly fingered the rings I wore on a gold chain around my neck. They were always with me, except during workouts and ops where they might be a liability. This chain and the rings—the new one that was mine and the older two that had belonged to his mother and his little sister—represented Ritter’s heart.

  Ritter and Cort locked Jeane away in one of Noah’s spare bedrooms while Mari gathered the others for our pre-op briefing.

  “Stella’s intel on the first three families’ whereabouts was correct on all accounts,” Ritter said, “but thanks to our work at Ropte’s, we now have exact addresses and a location for the fourth family in Kansas. Keene and I will head our two teams. Cort, Mari, and Patrick will go with Keene to Maryland. Erin, Noah, and I will take the house in Virginia.”

  I was leery of using Patrick, who had little training and was a pacifist at heart, and Noah, who, despite years of good training, really had no aptitude for combat. They were better than no backup at all, but I hated dividing our forces. In Idaho and Kansas, Ava and Dimitri would also be down on personnel, but our three mortal, former black ops employees were well equipped for this kind of rescue.

  “Remember, in and out,” Ritter continued. “Both teams will wait until we hear from Ava before going in. Mari, we’ll depend on you to shift your family back to one of the DC safe houses, and then call Erin and arrange to do the same with our family once we’re close enough for you to locate.”

  “Okay.” Mari’s eyes gleamed, and my heart echoed her excitement at the idea of saving those families. “If something goes wrong, you should just have Noah sing. Judging by the reactions of people today, we should have been using Noah all along as our secret weapon.”

  Noah grinned. “I’m game. Though I think Erin’s ability enhanced their emotions as much as my singing ability did.”

  “Teamwork,” Mari agreed.

  “And FYI,” Noah said. “Our Renegades from New York are already in place to move the families of the other politicians to safety, and the president has assigned Secret Service to the representatives themselves. Hopefully, that will prevent another kidnapping.”

  “If we’re successful tonight, my father will also initiate an early vote with the proof we gather about these families,” Patrick said. “Once the term limits and the protections are in place, the kidnappings should stop.”

  I hoped so. But it left me wondering what else the Emporium had planned.

  “Let’s go,” Ritter said. “Showtime.”

  MARI SHIFTED US BACK TO a DC safe house, and from there we divided into separate vans. Ritter, Noah, and I would be heading to Louisa, Virginia, while Keene and the others drove to Denton, Maryland. They’d arrive in less than an hour and a half at a newly built farmhouse on nearly seventy acres of land. Our trip to a two-hundred-acre farm in Louisa would take two hours. Ava had reported that the other locations in Nampa, Idaho and Lawrence, Kansas were equally isolated.

  “At least they’re consistent,” Noah said as she steered our van over the gently winding freeway. She seemed to take delight in driving faster than any other vehicle on the road. “Obviously, they want to make sure the families don’t have a chance to escape to any neighbors.”

  “Who are the properties registered to?” I asked.

  Ritter looked up from the middle seat where he was studying maps on his laptop. “According to Stella, they’re all registered to different dummy corporations. Which means the properties could belong to any of the Emporium members or even the Triad themselves.”

  “Ropte.”

  “Possibly,” he conceded. “In fact, they are likely his, given that the information was on his computer.” He hesitated a few seconds before adding, “It bothers me that they are all so remote.”

  “Makes our job easier. We don’t have to worry about neighbors.”

  “Yes, but neither do they. They’ll be heavily armed. And they won’t hesitate to murder the families if they think they might lose them.”

  “Then we’ll shoot first,” I retorted.

  Ritter gave his first hint of a smile. “That sounds like a very good idea.”

  Darkness was still two hours away when we arrived in Louisa near our destination. Parking the van off the road, we climbed over barbed wire fences that were barely an obstacle and then hiked through a small forest of trees to get to the house. As I searched the house for life forces, Ritter debated with Ava on the phone whether or not we should wait until nightfall. All the other teams were in place and ready to move.

  The beautiful Victorian house h
ad strong gothic influences that resulted in a steeply gabled roof, reminiscent of a medieval cathedral. A beautiful pillared porch ran around the entire front of the house, wrapping around one side. Luscious hanging baskets of flowers decorated the porch at intervals, signaling to me that someone lived here or visited regularly. A balcony on the second floor also spanned the front of the house, and I could see yet another partial balcony on the third floor at the rear of the house. The whiteness of the building contrasted sharply with the deep green of the short lawn and the thick line of fir trees.

  Ten life forces were inside the house, five dimmer than the others. Definitely shielded minds. The Georges, the family we believed was being held here, consisted of a mother and three children, ages nine, fourteen, and seventeen. That left the five shielded minds, who were likely Emporium soldiers, and another person who was unknown. Someone was in the kitchen area of the house, and I suspected that extra mind was a housekeeper or cook of some type. Probably a woman. Maybe even the person who watered those luscious baskets of flowers. Would she be aware of the kidnapping? I didn’t see how she could be unaware of what had happened, and the Emporium would never allow her to survive with the knowledge once this was over. So she was in every bit as much danger as the Georges.

  Ritter looked at me. “Ten,” I said. “One I believe is the housekeeper, but I can get a little closer to see for sure.”

  “So five hostiles.”

  I nodded. “The family seems to be on the second floor in the room on the left end. All together. Two dim life forces are outside the room. Three dim downstairs on the main floor, and a bright one in the kitchen.”

  In Maryland, Keene and Cort would send in microbots to determine the numbers of hostiles. For a moment, I worried about them, but Keene and Cort had been on far more missions than I had and they would be thorough. They also had Patrick, who could tap into their surveillance system, and Mari who could shift around inside the house and spirit the family away before the guards were even aware that something was wrong. Even so, if the distance between us weren’t too great for Mari to locate me in this place she’d never visited before, I might text her to shift here and take me back to verify their count.