“Thank you, Juan,” her pink lips breathed. “I’m not sure what the Feds will do with you, but I truly hope you find a better path.” Standing quickly, she glanced around, exiting the room with the rest of her crew in tow.
Cat and Mouse
Inside the van, Michael moved to call the airport. Stopping him, Tori inquired, “Where’re we going?”
“To San Antonio, of course,” he bit sharply, “We have to get home.”
“That isn’t the home they are going to,” she replied softly.
“What’re you talking about,” he stammered. “The boy said they were going to catch you at home.”
“That’s right,” she breathed, “Catch me. We have given no indication that we went to Texas. I still have Danny’s phone, so that fingerprint is still there as well, if they look. I believe they will try to get to me at the house in Florida, but more likely the house in New Jersey.”
“And what makes you think that?”
“Because I’m going to lead them there,” she smiled, pulling out her brother’s cell. “Call the airport, and get us the flight to Florida next. We still need to take out the Miami office. I’m going to ask Collin to help us set a trap.” Her husband stared at her for a moment, before pushing the buttons to make the call.
Using Brian’s device, Tori reached Collin, greeting him warmly, “Hey, honey; how are you?”
“Uhh; hi, Tori. What’s up?” he sounded confused.
“It’s time to kiss and make up, hun. I need you to put out the word that we’ve reconciled our differences, and that we are throwing a huge bash there at the New Jersey mansion in three days. Set it up however you normally would – caterers, open bar, whatever. Really sell it. We want everything delivered, and tell them we will serve it ourselves.”
“Anyone in particular you want to invite?” he sounded a bit miffed at being ordered around by the girl.
“Haha, no, I don’t really want any guests. The ones I need will be crashing the party,” she laughed to herself in earnest.
“And once again, you’ve lost me. You are definitely a freak of society, but I’ll do it. Is Brian going to be here?” his voice dropped at the end.
“Brian is fine, hun. Set up the party, and expect him to return. He’s not mad at you guys, and I assume eventually, this will all work out and we’ll play together again. I can’t give you any more than that. Please be ready for us,” she smiled, aware that on some level she did really want her chance to be in the band and to go on the tour.
The group made it onto the plane without issues, taking their seats and settling in for the long flight to Florida, their second time in a week to do so. With the plane in the air, her husband couldn’t hold his questions any longer.
“You are deviating from the plan, and I want to know how and why,” his spat at her, anger adding an edge to his words.
“I don’t understand why you’re upset,” she replied calmly.
“Why I’m upset? I just watched you torture some kid, who might have been twenty years old, and was still wet behind the ears, and then you are ignoring what he told you?” his face flushed, Tori felt taken aback by his torrent.
“I see; I guess you would’ve rather I tortured the old man,” she gazed out the window, collecting her thoughts. “I did what was necessary to get the information I needed from him. And yes, I was panicked when I heard his words as well. But, I quickly realized, this could work to our advantage.”
“And how’s that?” Mason cut in, equally disturbed by what he’d seen. “You have no morals, Tori. I honestly think that you and Enrique were made for each other,” he tossed his chin at the other man, clenching his jaw in disgust.
She chuckled, flicking her gaze at her former lover to see he grinned from ear to ear, “Yes, he and I do share a bit of a dark streak,” she admitted quietly. “However, that’s not all there is to me.”
Shaking her black waves, she stared into the sky to her right, turning her plan in her mind, checking it for faults. Finding none, she shared; “We still need to eliminate the branches in Miami and New York. That will insure that the Spiders will be cut off from The Organization. They will only be able to act on their last given order, which was to attack me,” she poked her chest to emphasize the word me.
“Of course, that does not guarantee that they will do so, but I feel strongly that they will.” She pulled her gaze away from the view, taking in the faces of her crew. “I’m having Collin organize a huge party at the house; a fake one. It’ll give them a location of where I will be; a glowing opportunity for them to make their move.”
“A trap,” Enrique blurted, “Like we wanted to set; only using your friends as bait.”
“Exactly,” she nodded, “A trap. And my friends will be fine. When they show up, there won’t be any surprise; we will be expecting them. We will deal with them accordingly, and then move on to take out Rico and Ruben Ramirez, in El Paso. And because we will have cut the legs out from under them, we won’t have to rush or worry about them getting support.”
Michael stared at his bride, speechless in his awe. “That’s fucking brilliant,” he finally admitted. “Unless they run and hide.”
“They can’t hide,” she stated flatly. “We’ve identified them. And in this day and age, it’s virtually impossible to be completely untraceable.” She nodded at Eli, giving him a small smile, “One way, or another, we will get them, like a game of cat and mouse.” Turning back to her window, she lay her head against the glass and fell asleep, leaving the men to discuss the turn of events without her.
Classic
Reaching MIA early the following morning, the group had become practiced at what would be expected of them. Breaking up into the proper subunits, they met up at the designated coffee shop at the tail end of breakfast, prepared for their briefing in a completely relaxed state.
“This is going to be a little different,” the girl explained, sipping on a cup of black coffee while the men enjoyed their breakfast. “This office is housed in the back of a beauty parlor. If you look out that side window,” she indicated with an extended pinkie, “You can see the glass front to the building I’m talking about.”
“Yeah, you told me about this one,” Michael grinned between bites. “Their creative thinking makes it almost classic.”
Brett nodded his agreement, recalling all the times he had visited the place. “We go in through th’ back, o’ course,” he supplied, “As the front is typically filled with blue haired ol’ biddies, getting their weekly primp session.” He cut his eyes over at the dark haired beauty seated across from him, “Makes a man appreciate the simpler kind o’ girl; now that’s a classic,” he offered his cup in a toast.
Tori flushed at the compliment, “Thanks, Brett.” Her eyes darting over to her mate, she struggled to remain focused on the necessities, “He’s right, we go in through the back. Of course, I have a plan for clearing out the old ladies, in case things get ugly, if Geek would be able to pull it off.”
Looking up in surprise, the youngest member of their group grinned, “You mean you have something I can do, besides driving the van?”
“Maybe,” she teased. “I’d like to put them in the dark.”
He laughed at the phrase, “Ok, the whole building, or only the front?”
“Preferably only the front. They won’t be able to do much primping without power. You think you can make that happen?” she sneered at her devious plan that would surely keep the number of innocents in the building to a minimum.
“Sure,” Geek shrugged. “They have Wi-Fi here, let me get my laptop, and I’ll see what I can come up with.” Leaving the group, he went to the van to retrieve his gear. Returning a few minutes later, he set up his machine in a booth and began to poke around in that wonderful world of cyberspace, researching his options with a small, elated grin.
“What if he’s not able to run them out?” Michael asked in a low voice, “We still hit this one?”
“Oh yeah,” Tori replied, �
��The office is in the back. This is the one that I have been inside the reps quarters before; the only one.” She smiled at Brett, recalling the time she had played his second. “That was the meeting that led to the downfall of the Scorpions.”
“Don’ remind me,” the red-headed man teased.
“Anyways, the two areas are connected, but operate independently of each other. Either way, Enrique takes the door that goes between the office and the front, and hopefully we won’t have any issues. We also don’t want any gunfire if we can help it, as we only have the one silenced weapon. Mason, I’m going to have you carrying that one.”
Hunt nodded his understanding, while holding a straight face.
“Other than that, it’s pretty much the same routine. We have what we need to know about the Spiders, so this is a straight up hit. Everybody dies,” she finished in a low voice, her eyes darting around, noting that the place was pretty deserted.
“I’m glad I always get the easy jobs,” Eli teased. “Sitting in the car is almost more excitement than I can handle.”
“You say that now,” she tossed her hair. “But if the shit were to hit the fan, your job would suddenly become the most important; getting us the hell out of there – you and Geek.” She smiled at the young man who had rejoined the group, “We ready?”
“Easy money,” he winked at her. “They’re down, and will be for a few hours, unless someone figures out what I did and undoes it.”
“Jesus Christ,” Enrique slapped the table, “You can knocks out their power, that easy?”
“Well, you know, they don’t call me Geek for no reason,” he leaned back in his chair, savoring the praise.
“That’s good,” Tori redirected the conversation, “We give them about twenty minutes to clear out, and then we can move. For the time being, I’m going to the ladies' room.”
“She still doesn’t know?” Eli asked quietly after she left the group.
“I don’t think so,” Michael replied, lifting his cup. “She’s still exhibiting the symptoms, but without an actual test, I can’t say for sure. If we get this wrapped up in time, she may still make her appointment with that doctor of hers. We’ll know more then.”
Hitting the building on schedule, they were in and out in under ten minutes, wiping out the entire crew easily, with zero collateral damage. Eli made the call to Godfry on the way to the airport, relieved to report how smoothly things had run.
Their luck held, and the New York rep went down even more easily, being housed in a diner. Arriving there in late evening, the group camped out until the place had cleared of extraneous patrons, then wiped the joint and walked away. Checking into a hotel to get some real rest, the group would be ready to make their way to the house in New Jersey for the party the following night.
How the Cookie Crumbles
Tori awoke early the following day, darting for the bathroom and heaving her guts up, every fucking morning seems like; and I didn’t even eat yet. Drifting off to sleep the night before, a sickening thought had occurred to her as to why Michael had taken her pills from her and hidden them. My God, if I’m pregnant, she sniffed, this isn’t the time for this. Still leaning over the sink when he joined her, she decided to clear the air.
“You would tell me, wouldn’t you?” she inquired softly, staring at his reflection beside her.
“Tell you what?” his brow raised slightly.
Standing up straight, she turned to look him in the eye, “I’m not sick, am I,” she breathed, only inches from him.
“Hmmm,” he reached up to catch her arms, giving her biceps a firm squeeze, staring at her lips. “You know, sometimes, things happen, and there is no plan. Sometimes, it’s just how the cookie crumbles. At the moment, we have things we have to deal with, and we can’t let this interfere. We take care of business, and then we can go home, and you can see your doctor.”
He lifted his gaze, taking in her crystal blue eyes, “I didn’t want to say anything, love. I didn’t want to break your focus since there’s really nothing we can do at this point. I’m sorry.”
“You’re sure then,” she breathed, fighting the panic. “The doctor said it could make things worse.”
“Hey!” he raised his voice slightly, “Don’t worry about that. It is what it is. If you are, if you’re not, whatever or however things turn out. We can’t worry about it right this minute. We need clear heads here, end of story.”
Tori nodded her understanding, sliding her fingers up his bare arms and around his neck to hold him against her. “Are you mad?”
“No, love, I’m not mad.” Tightening his grip, he nuzzled her ear, “Put it out of your head. I don’t want to talk about it again until this is over, ok?”
“Ok,” she agreed softly. “I can do that,” she gave him a weak smile, wiping at her moist cheek. “At least now I know why I feel like shit all the time,” she grimaced.
“Yeah,” he smiled briefly, “So don’t take it so hard. Get dressed, and let’s get downstairs. We need to get over to the house and set up for the party tonight, and the guests of honor.”
“Right,” she agreed, moving to comply, not bothering to ask if the rest of the guys knew; she felt fairly certain she had been the last one in on the secret.
Arriving at the estate by late-morning, Tori noticed that the group had become a cohesive unit, with every member valued and accepted. Smiling to herself, she wondered what would become of them after their task had been completed, and if they would remain friends; she hoped that they would.
At the front door, she reached for the handle and finding it unlocked, let herself in. “I think there’s a bedroom unoccupied that Eli and Geek can share,” she informed them in the foyer. “Of course, Chuck’s old room is also empty, which I think should go to Mason.”
“Why do we have to share?” Eli and Geek protested almost on top of each other.
“Because I said so,” she replied, climbing the stairs to her own room for a few moments of rest. Soon, she would need to meet with Collin to go over the evening’s plans, but it could wait. Dropping her pack on the floor of the closet, she kicked off her boots and stretched onto her belly, happy to be home, or at least in her own room and on her own bed.
To her surprise, she awoke to find her husband staring at her, waiting for her nap to end as patiently as he could muster.
“Hey,” he said quietly, his hand moving to run down the length of her back, “We have a problem.”
Pushing up onto her elbow, she scowled, “What kind of problem? Did they not arrange for the party? It’s very public, I hope.”
“Yes,” he maintained his outward composure, “The party is set, and you guys made the tabloids, so everyone knows that Indelible is back on again.” He hesitated, hating to be the bearer of bad news, “Actually, we have two problems, the first one, he invited actual guests, and the other two bands from the tour are coming. As for the second… Brian and Lindsey are downstairs.”
“Holy fuck!” she screamed, “What the hell do you mean they’re downstairs!?!” she struggled to sit up on the pliable surface.
“Sshsshssh,” he hissed, trying to calm her. “There’s no use being upset. He saw an article yesterday that you guys were getting back together, and they jumped on a plane.”
“Jesus Christ!” she ran her fingers through her hair, “Does he have any idea how this complicates things?” deep lines marked her face. “And did you say they invited actual guests?”
“Yes; he thought it would make things look more convincing. It’s only about a dozen people or so, if they bring dates, but we’ll have to decide what to do with them. You know things have the potential to get ugly,” he surprised himself at his ability to maintain his self-control, considering the fit he had thrown while she slept.
“Oh my God,” she pressed her face into her hands, leaning forward to stretch her back. “Can we have one thing in this whole damn operation run smoothly?”
“I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be
. But it’s not going to help, and if it makes you feel any better, I gave both of them what for while you were resting. They know they fucked up, so there’s no need in you getting all worked up about it.”
“Ok,” she agreed. “I promise I won’t throw a tantrum,” she reached over to rest her hand on his chest. “And I appreciate you looking out for me. I guess you’ve been doing it for a while, and I didn’t even realize it… or appreciate it, so much.”
Laying his hand over the back of hers, his lips began to curl, “That’s what husbands are for, right?”
“Yeah,” she agreed with a small nod, “That’s exactly what husbands are for.”
Putting her boots on, the couple made their way downstairs. Deciding to eat a small lunch, Tori stood by the window and stared out into the yard, observing the patches of snow.
Brian entered the room while she waited on her meal, clearing his throat and taking a chair at the table, where her mate sat, watching in silence.
“I hear you’re upset with me,” he stated calmly, initiating the conversation in French and folding his hands on the wooden surface.
“Well, you know how it is, Danny. You didn’t follow directions, but then again, you seldom do.”
She didn’t move to look at him, which only added to his feelings of resentment. “You decided to use my house and my friends as bait,” he puckered his lips, dislike giving way to anger. “You don’t see anything wrong with that?”
“No, Danny. Nothing is going to happen to your friends. They will be perfectly safe,” she raised her shoulders as she spoke, obviously distressed.
Michael clenched his fists as if they were his vocal chords and he were keeping them under control.
“Oh yeah?” Brian countered, “If they’re so safe, what difference does it make if we’re here?”
“I want Lindsey on a plane; the next one headed for LA,” she said stiffly.
“No,” he clipped the word sharply.
“What do you mean, no,” her hair floated as she spun to glare at him.
A New Life Series - Finisher Set Page 61
