Doc said nothing, but launched up from the chair she'd been silently sitting in, taking her place at Tink's side, their conversation now hushed and focused.
"We have to make this plan," my dad said, narrowing his eyes on the bulletin board. "Cam, the arrest is yoursif you have someone to arrestbut the operation is ours."
"Shit, Liam," Cameron complained, shaking his head. "I need this as legal as possible. I've got two missing minors, a ransom, and four suspects in a fucking kidnapping! It was a fucking miracle that the arrests last year were legit, after all the shit we did."
"I'll cover for it," Hunter offered, not even looking at the room, waving a hand over his shoulder and dialing on his phone. "This shit..." He suddenly turned around. "Babes is right, there's more to this shit than we're seeing."
My blood boiled when he called her that, and it only pissed me off more that she seemed completely oblivious to it.
"Grayson," Cam sighed, almost whining, because truly, his ass was on the line if this went horribly wrong.
"If we fuck up," Hunter sighed his gaze turning fierce, "I'll take responsibility, Riley. I have more...leeway than you do. I have more resources to cover shit up, and I can do it without the public ever knowing."
My eyebrows went high at that statement, though I was ninety nine percent sure that he wanted my girl, and I hated him for it, his position with the DIA made him a strong fucking ally to have.
I couldn't imagine what he was thinking, what he could be planning, or what the fuck Alyssa talked to him about on the way up here; but I could see that he was already setting shit in motion in his mind. It was written all over his intense face.
Doc snorted, rolling her eyes up to Ross. "Don't we have any normal friends, Roslyn?"
"Normal friends won't go to war for us," Ross snickered.
"Normal people are boring," Chance teased at her other side, loving the small light feeling for just the moment.
"We’re doing this in a way you won't get taken, Alyssa," I vowed, my voice only meant for her.
She nodded against my chest, pulling back to look up at me biting her lip. "I can handle it you know, for Juan. "
"I'm worried at what it will do to you!" Kristen hissed, shaking her head adding her two cents, obviously our conversation wasn’t so private. "You haven’t even fully recovered from Garcia."
“So you know I’ve survived the worse.” She argued.
"We know..." I groaned, " but we can't let them take you! I just can't! If I lose you..."
"Don’t you guys trust me?" She frowned, barely there whisper.
"Of course!" I hissed back.
The exact same time Macon chimed in with a “Not enough to give yourself to those guys.”
“What if you get hurt?” Jackson continued, apparently he was on my side to.
Doc ended the argument. “As admirable as Chance’s offer is, her going anywhere is out of the question. As brave as you are Chance, facing another hostage situation will ruin you.” She declared cutting eyes at Alyssa, and she nodded at silent communication. “Good, now that that’s agreed let’s move on shall we?”
"Please," I whispered, slipping my hands into her hair and pulling her forehead to mine. "I trust you explicitly, but there's a part of me that thinks you're going to put yourself in danger to prove some point, Alyssa. None of this shit was your fault.” She nodded in understanding. “I want you to wear an earpiece," I stated firmly, but softly. "The small one that you can toss if you need to. I want to hear you the entire fucking time I'm in the air. If you do anything stupid I’m landing. Got me?”
"Yes," she answered simply with a nod.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself for the next words. "I'm with Victor on this," I sighed, shaking my head. "Military style operation, civilian clothes, armed. A crash and grab. I'll be in the air with Jackson and Ross, monitoring all movement with that camera Tink installed," I said.
Tink wanted to be able to see what I saw when I was in the air, and the idea was intriguing. It took a hideous amount of research to find exactly what we both wanted. The damn thing was expensive as all fuck, but well worth it, because it could zoom in on someone's fucking nostril hair, if we wanted. It also had night-vision and infrared, and it was all connected to Tink’s computer equipment. The little fucking genius could zoom in on someone, record them, or run them through a database, all while I was still fucking flying.
Doc nodded, brushing her hair from her forehead. "Doing that...going against what they say... we could get innocent people killed in that train station."
Alyssa nodded and agreed, "They aren't my concern," I growled, shaking my head, because despite the fact that it was the truth, it made me feel like an asshole for saying it out loud. "Alyssa and those boys are our priority. Let Cam, and Grayson worry about civilians. Okay?"
With reluctance, Alyssa nodded. "Okay."
I pulled her to me, grasping her face in both of my hands. "I love you. Please don't do anything dangerous just because you think you owe it to anyoneespecially me. Just...be smart, get those boys out."
A small smile ghosted across her face, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm counting on my flyboy to help me. I'm pretty sure he'd fly to the sun for me..."
With that said, she went away with Doc and Tink . With one more nervous hand through my hair, I turned back to the table to start planning the most important mission I'd ever take part in.
I unlocked the cable that tied the tarps over my chopper, yanking it hard so that it zipped through the eyes threading them together. The two pieces fell in a soft swish down onto the helipad. I needed to run through my checklist, fuel her up, and load up all the supplies Jackson and Ross would need for this flight to Philly.
We were leaving in twenty-four hours, and I'd never been more nervous about a mission in all my life, because my reason for living was in the center of it all. Everyone was still planning, except for Cam, who said he'd be back in time to leave and that he had huge news.
"Want some help?" I heard behind me, and I turned to see Macon standing just off the slab of concrete.
"Yeah, sure," I said with a nod. "Grab the tarps, store them behind the shed."
"Okay," he agreed, starting to roll up the large piece of covering. "You kinda shot out of the house, bro. You all right?"
"I don't need to go over and over the same thing. I've never needed that fucking shit," I grunted, sliding open the cabin doors. "You know that. To me, it just makes shit worse, makes the crew nervous about making mistakes."
"Captain Fletcher, from Saudi Arabia," he chuckled, shaking his head. "That asshole must've thought we were all idiots."
"He was good in a fight," I laughed with him, "but damn... repeat, repeat, repeat."
"That day you snapped on him was priceless," Macon snorted as he dropped the first tarp to the ground behind my work shop. He turned around and started on the second. "Jackson and I were convinced that you'd get Court Marshaled for calling the guy 'Captain Fucking Memorex.'"
I grinned, shaking my head. "KP duty in the Mess Tent for a month was my punishment," I chuckled. "Not to mention he made me transport prisoners to Abu Grahib, no matter what pilot was available. It was a threat..."
Macon snorted and nodded. "You're just lucky your Dad knew him from basic," he pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"Fletch was an asshole," we heard behind us, and I looked up to see my dad leaning against the closest tree. "He was an asshole at basic and stayed that way all the way up until his term was over."
"He was that," I agreed, "but he could really fucking fly. One of the best Apache pilots I'd ever seen."
"And he knew it," Macon added with a laugh. "pompous bastard."
I opened the pilot door, pulling myself up into the seat and starting my check list. Macon tossed the next tarp on top of the other one, taking over my run of the checklist. He knew as much about my chopper as Ross and I did; he just didn't fly. My dad joined in, setting
the sniper equipment that Jackson had gotten ready into the cabin.
We worked in silence as we got her ready. By the time I had started her up and shut her back down, my girl was standing just off of the helipad.
"Hey," she greeted, waving me down. "Doc says come eat something."
"Yes, ma'am," I told her, jumping down from the pilot seat and slamming the doors. I walked to Alyssa, kissing her forehead.
"She ready?"
"She is, but I don't know if I am," I admitted to her. "What did you cook Honeyface?" I asked, sniffing the air, because something smelled fucking amazing.
She giggled slightly, grabbing my hand. "Barbecue chicken," she announced, tugging me along. "Cooking in mass quantities was proving daunting. The grill was the only way to go. Dario and Hunter helped. Come on."
I rolled my eyes following behind her.
After an amazing dinnereaten outside, of courseand another round of "what if" scenarios tossed around the table, I found myself helping Kristen with clean up.
"You okay?" she asked, glancing up as Macon breezed through the kitchen with a happy, gurgling Makenna in his arms.
"Yeah," I sighed, putting away as she washed and rinsed, though it was only the big shit, because we'd used as many disposable plates as we could to keep clean up to a fucking minimum.
"I wish I could go with you guys," she said softly, looking behind her to make sure we were alone. "I never blamed either of you guys for this, and this Zoe bitch, seems like she needs to get slapped around a few times.."
I snickered, looking over at a woman that most men would consider a beauty queen, but she was tough and smartdeceptively so. "Smack her down, huh?"
"Oh, I want to," she blew, rolling her eyes and shutting off the water. "I'll be in the computer room with Tink and Doc, but I need you to do something for me, Adrian."
"What's that?" I asked, putting a large pot away in the bottom cabinet.
"Make sure my Makenna's father comes home to me," she whispered, her worry practically palpable. "He's determined to help Ross and Doc, because he gets it... Hell, we all get it, but you know him, he's looking for a fight. I just need him to stick to the plan and..."
"We all feel that way, and he'll be with my dad, Kristen," I assured, leaning against the counter and folding my arms across my chest. "He's in the best of hands, I swear it. My dad hasn't lost a man since Uncle Austin, and that was a health issue, not a lack of safety."
Kristen nodded, pulling me into a hug. "I'm glad you and Alyssa are better. I was worried for a moment, because you two need each other more than you think. Good luck tomorrow," she whispered, stepping back. A small, but sad smile played on her face.
“Think so?” I asked looking out the window at my girl and Hunter having what looked like an in depth discussion at the outside table by the tree house. “What is the deal with this Hunter guy?” I asked trying not to appear bothered.
She smirked. “Threatened?” Her spotter for bullshit seemed to be the same as Alyssa’s at times because she didn’t even give me a chance to lie to her. “Well if it were anyone but Alyssa, I would say you should be. To Hunter, Chance was the one that got away. They were close in training, and if things weren’t so restricted back then, they would have been together. Everything was there, attraction, chemistry, lusssst.” She teased dragging out the last word.
“Enough,” I groaned not wanting to know details. “He hasn’t forgotten about her in all this time.”
“Would you have?” She questioned making me think. No, if I met her a hundred years ago, I still wouldn’t be able to forget those emerald eyes and beautiful face.
“Don’t worry, only Chance can be pursued by sexy bachelors and be completely clueless. She’s happy with you, so be happy with her.” She encourage.
I leaned against the counter watching them talk for a few minutes before she finally nudged me in the stomach. "Go...be together before we all scatter tomorrow. She says she sleeps better when you're with her, and she'll need all the rest she can get."
I nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Thanks, Kristen," I whispered, gripping her shoulder before heading out the back door.
When she saw me she hit Hunter in the arm before swinging her leg over the bench, getting up, and coming over. Though her conversation was serious, she approached me with all smiles. “Hey handsome.”
I took her by the hand kissing her forehead. “Let’s go be alone.”
“Okay,” She grinned following behind me, letting me lead her to our room.
She whimpered in her sleep, her body automatically snuggling closer to me. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her back to my chest, and her hand immediately sought out mine, linking our fingers together. Tucking my hand under her cheek, my girl released the sweetest, deepest, most contented sigh I'd heard from her since all this shit started.
I closed my eyes, inhaling the flowery scent of her still damp from the shower hair. As just her nearness calmed me, I silently prayed to Godor whoever was listeningto keep us all safe, to bring my girl home, to get those boys back, and to give me the strength to keep my emotions in check and my mind sharp. All our lives depended on it.
It was the crack of dawn when Cam and Tink exploded into the conference room.
"Guys! Get in here!" Cam called.
He'd just gotten back, but hadn't said a word except to Tink, who he'd pulled away from us to do some research. It was so damned early that the sun wasn't even up yet but every room of the office was frantic with movement, hushed conversations, and the sounds of weapons being checked.
Doc shoved some clothes, her gun, and a cell phone into a bag and zipped it up. Then grabbed another bag just like it and slid it to Ross.
"Put the money in this," She ordered softly.
"But Pop Harris has already got it in a bag," Ross countered, looking at me like I was crazy.
"Humor me," she huffed, leaving her to it and joining them in front of Tink's screens.
"We have a few issues," Cam said, turning his back to the computers and leaning on the desk to face everyone in the room. “There's a reason they picked the train station."
A collective groan rumbled through the group of us as we waited for him to continue.
Cam pointed to the screen again. "Dr. Grubbs. told us that his son has access to a piece of property that he can't control, because his he inherited it from his grandparents. It's a rather large cabin set up in the mountains of New York, the Adirondacks."
Everyone looked at Chance. “Don’t look at me that’s a shit load away from Bronx. It’s hours away.”
"Look," Tink stated, pointing to the large screen above. "It's not just for camping. It looks like it used to be a farm, but, look here, its almost like a fucking bomb shelter is behind it. Based on when it was built, it was all set up in the Cold War."
"David's father thinks that if his son ran anywhere he’d go there, but that's just a guess," Cam said with a shrug. "However, they’re being used as a vehicle on this shit." He sighed, his eyes landing warily on me, and then Alyssa. "They've asked for fifty thousand dollars and Chance in trade for those two boys, but I'm willing to bet that the next amount he asks for will be more in exchange for her back."
"They aren’t taking her.” I snapped.
"I know, but these four are broke, out of options, and a shit-ton of taxes to pay on that rather large piece of property, or he loses it. His father said he wants to expand up there, but the price of land is steep, and he's repeatedly told his son no."
“The place that David used to work at with Terry Windsor at C&K Inc. It was owned by Neil Industries before it was shut down for not turning enough profit. Over ten thousand people lost everything.” Tink reported.
Alyssa sighed. “So let me guess, the people involved in this are probably former employees trying to get their lives back under my ransom.”
“Looks like it.” Tink sighed.
"That's where they’d be
heading too," Dad muttered, almost to himself, but Cam nodded in agreement. "If they get away today, that's where they'll head. It's where he'll feel comfortable and where he'll have backup."
Cam took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving the satellite image of the mountain. "And the second issue we have today?"
"Senator Lopez is speaking right across the street from the train station," Tink stated, raising an eyebrow. "You know, the one that's hiking property taxes throughout the state..."
"Oh damn," Jackson huffed. "That’s not good..."
"Exactly," Cam grunted, folding his arms across his chest. "There's more at stake here than we thought."
Victor's sharp, keen eyes landed on Cam, who looked beyond pissed. "Outside the legal box, Cam," he offered gruffly. "Tell me now..."
Cam sighed, shaking his head as he glanced around the room. "The plan stays the same. Nothing changes.” He thought for a second and then sighed, “Liam..." Gesturing to my father in a sign of surrender.
Dad walked a few paces, stopping at my side, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Macon, Danny, Hunter, and Dario...you're with me on the perimeter and the garage. Jeff and Victor, you're shadowing Alyssa from a distance. Adrian...the air is yours with Jackson and Ross. Cameron, you and your men can set up across the street to protect the attendees of this...political thing, but I need you low profile inside that damn station. The arrest is yours...if this goes smoothly."
Tink spun to me. "I have to set you up as media again, Adrian. You won't be the only chopper in the air, so watch yourself, okay?"
"Thank you, Tink," I said softly, my thumb rubbing a circular pattern over Alyssa’s knuckles.
She stood up, walked to her little work table that she used for small electronic projects. "Alyssa," she called, turning to hand me a few things. "Here. This is ready, and so is this," she said, handing her Juan’s stuffed bear and her earpiece as everyone around us broke away to load cars and the chopper.
"Thanks, Tinky," She whispered, tucking the bear under her arm and placing the earpiece in her ear. When I looked at her she just smiled. “He’ll be glad to see itwhen we get him back you know?”
The Law of Motion (Law Series) Page 15
