by Cara Carnes
“We have a bit of time to debrief before I expect our guest to arrive,” Marla said. She looked around with an amused grin. “Who wants to go first?”
21
Vi sat at the head of the room, foot tapping on the floor as everyone filed in. She hated the fact everyone at The Arsenal was filing in. It highlighted the severity of the mission they were about to undertake. Getting Jud and Dallas back.
Taking down The Collective.
She, Mary, Cord, Jacob and Zoey had spent the past two hours hammering out a rudimentary code that should help with the objective.
“I still don’t understand how we’re going to get this into their system,” Jacob said.
“That’s why we’re calling the meeting,” Cord said. “We hammer out details as a team here. We’ll figure it out.”
“And we’ll get him back?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah, we’ll get him back,” Vi promised.
She took a deep breath and willed a bit of luck would land in her favor today, but she figured her plan would be an uphill battle—one Dallas and Jud didn’t have time for them to argue about. Not when her way was the only plausible way she could imagine this working.
“Okay, let’s get started. We all know why we’re here.” Marshall’s voice was even, but his expression was enraged, like all the people gathered.
One of their own had been taken.
“We confirmed the two unidentified men hid out on the outskirts of our perimeter, which was why we didn’t pick them up with our security sweeps. They stayed close enough to watch for an opening, but far enough to remain undetected,” Cord said. “Last night was their perfect storm. Jud and Dallas were both on the exterior section of our security grid.”
“They want HERA, a presumably even exchange for Dallas and Jud,” Mary said. “Obviously we can’t do that.”
“But we can let them think we are,” Vi said. “I have a plan. I need everyone in here to listen and let me get through it before you argue. I know there will be objections, but I know this will work.”
“We’re listening,” Dylan said, arms crossed.
“We give them HERA. She’s part one of the first offensive phase.” Vi talked through the dissenting replies. “We wrote a virus, one we can spread into their network the second HERA is plugged in. Once it’s in, we can dismantle their operation from the inside out, starting with their money. You can’t run an organization of that size without money. We take that, we cut them deep. We discussed this in our last meeting.”
“And how do we get HERA back?” Addy asked.
“Well, that’s where all of you come into the mix,” Vi said. “I never said my plan was one hundred percent solid, it’s a work in progress. All I know is we take HERA in, or a stripped-down version of her anyway. Something meaty enough to pass their first level inspection. That includes weaponized drones. They’ll be the last part of the first offensive phase after HERA’s plugged in.”
“And who will deliver HERA to them?” Nolan asked.
“I will.” Vi made eye contact with everyone as she swept her gaze through the room. “Alone.”
“No.” Mary shook her head. “Hell no.”
“You aren’t sufficiently trained in hand-to-hand. Them getting their hands on you or Mary is out of the question.” Addy’s voice rose. “I’ll lock you both up downstairs right alongside Jian before I let that go down.”
“I agree,” Fallon declared.
So much for them hearing her out. “We have the advantage here. We already know where they are. We can roll out as soon as we finish arguing about what we all know has to be the play. Cut out the emotional and protective responses and think about the facts only. This is the only way to get Jud and Dallas out and cut The Collective’s jugular. I know this will work.”
“We move in, take out whoever’s holding our guys and come back home,” Gage offered.
“And we’ll lather, rinse and repeat this bullshit again and again,” Jesse said. “Vi’s right. This will work.”
Vi was a bit surprised Jesse was the one who backed her, but she’d take anyone in her corner.
Bree and Rhea sat in the corner whispering with one another. Rhea cleared her throat and spoke. “We agree with Vi. It’ll work if we add a few enhancements.”
“Like what?” Marshall asked. “I’m never okay with someone going into a situation like this alone, not against someone like The Collective.”
“I have a stronger zinger compound, one that requires a lot less to take someone down, which means we can have more darts in each drone.” Rhea looked over at Bree. “We’re thinking we should replace half the drones with the new formula and leave the other half as they are, just in case.”
“Okay, sounds good. What else?” Dylan asked.
“A body suit,” Bree said. “It will hide weapons and withstand pat downs and wands from the waist down. The chest area would be hard for Vi because of…” The woman grabbed her own breasts and shrugged.
The woman was a genius, but a bit of a nut at times. Both of the scientists were.
“She’s not trained in hand-to-hand with any weapon,” Addy said.
“No, but the two men we’re getting back are. Assuming they’re in reasonable condition, they can fight while the backup teams are moving into position,” Vi said. “The drones can handle most of the resistance, but we won’t know how many we’re up against until we get there.”
“They’ll likely set the meet at a location they can control,” Fallon said.
“So we show up and catch them off guard, move in and take control by switching the venue,” Vi said. “It’s risky, but better than a known trap.”
Mary stood up and left the room. Dylan rose to follow, but Vi shook her head and gave chase. She was sitting in the same alcove Vi had used with Jud days ago. It felt like a century ago in many ways. She sat and wrapped her arm around her friend.
“This is bullshit,” Mary gritted out through clenched teeth. “No way in hell should we even be discussing this.”
“We’ll put a self-destruct on HERA, a safety precaution. They won’t get her.”
“Fuck HERA. Let them have it.” Mary’s voice rose. “I’m worried about you.”
“I’ll be fine. The entire Arsenal will be within striking range. HERA will be in the room.”
“You don’t know what monsters like that can do,” Mary whispered. “Please don’t do this, Vi. We’ll find another way.”
“No, we won’t. What would you do if it was Dylan in there?” Vi waited a few beats. “They have Dallas. Mary, they have Jud. I know it’s nuts because we haven’t been together long, but we connected. He means something to me.”
Mary looked over at her. She smiled despite her watery gaze. “We’ll need to keep a couple teams here, minimum. And Jacob. He shouldn’t go. We don’t know what they’ll do to Jud and Dallas before we get there. We’re an hour and a half away. Even if we load fast, two hours is our fastest arrival time.”
Which was what terrified Vi. Every second they wasted arguing over what she knew was the only viable option translated to more suffering for Dallas and Jud.
But running in half prepared was a suicide mission. They couldn’t get cocky and assume anything would work. They needed several plans in play, just in case.
“I’ll agree on one condition. We scout the situation once we arrive and I have the right to nix your walking in alone plan if I don’t think it’ll work.” Mary held up her hand. “I’ll be objective, I swear I will, but I know what monsters like that can do. I don’t want you walking into their hands if we can’t take them down. It’s not worth it. It pains me to say that, but I do because I know that’s what Dallas would say if he were here. And seeing how Jud has vowed to put himself between you and anyone who tries to hurt you and freaking has in a huge way, I’m pretty sure he’d be livid you’re wanting to do this.”
She was not wrong.
Vi hoped he had the chance to be pissed afterward because that meant it worked and sh
e got him out. “We can’t let them run roughshod over us, Mary. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”
“You’re right.” Mary sighed. “It doesn’t make it any easier to accept, though.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t.” Vi stood. “Let’s get back inside.”
It took half an hour to load all the equipment and organize the teams into the vehicles. Marshall and Nolan had secured clearance from enough of the alphabet soup to cover their asses for whatever went down. Kidnapping two men wasn’t important enough for Homeland Security, the FBI and the Department of Defense to intervene, but the assholes who had them wanted HERA. Someone going after HERA was tantamount to terrorism as far as Homeland and the DOD were concerned. Taking Jud and Dallas was a stupid move. Demanding HERA in return was the nail in The Collective’s coffin.
The Arsenal had official permission and a signed contract with three agencies to investigate and take The Collective and anyone associated with them down, the quieter the better.
Cord and Nolan loaded all the electronic gear into the SUV. Mary climbed into the back seat. Bree and Rhea had stripped Vi down moments ago and dressed her in their latest creation. Vi didn’t know what the material surrounding her like a second skin was. All she knew was it added several inches to her lower half and hid two KBAR knives along her calves. She’d been shown and forced to demonstrate quick access to said weapons. They were in thin sheaths that’d protect her skin from the sharp blades.
Hopefully Jud and Dallas would be in good enough shape to use them.
Dread settled in her bones as she moved to sit. Voices shouted her name from a distance. Pausing, she turned her head and froze.
Jud’s parents were racing toward her. Jacob was behind them.
Jarold and Jenna Jensen were the last people she needed to deal with right now, but she couldn’t imagine getting in and driving away as though they weren’t running full speed toward her. Both were out of breath and semi-stooped forward by the time they made it to her. Jacob flashed an apologetic look at her as he put a hand on each of their backs.
Tears trekked down Jenna’s face as she stood fully and wrapped Vi in her arms. The woman’s shoulder’s shook, but she didn’t wail or sob loudly. Vi gripped the woman tightly a few moments.
“We’ll get him back,” Vi promised.
The woman pulled back and snagged her husband’s hand. The two exchanged determined, angered looks.
“Make them pay,” Jud’s dad ordered. “I’m tired of them messing with my family.”
Vi couldn’t agree more. They’d taken Jacob’s dad and now they’d taken Jud. Enough was enough.
“I’ve gotta go. Stay close to Jacob. It may take a while to get back, but he’ll have a line into the action from Command Central.” She wasn’t sure it’d be a good idea for the elderly couple to observe, but she had enough to worry about without micromanaging what Jud’s parents did or didn’t do.
She turned toward the vehicle.
“Quillery,” Jacob called. She looked back. Determination and anger settled on the young man’s face, one eerily like his uncle’s in many ways. “Courage doesn’t come from winning the battle. It comes from looking impossible in the eyes and kneeing his nuts.”
She nodded, unsure what to say beneath the intensity in his statement.
“Make them pay,” he ordered.
“I will, Jacob. We all will.”
She hauled herself into the vehicle and sat beside Mary. Her pulse pounded and her heart ached for the worried family watching the progression of SUVs pulling out.
“They’re good people,” Mary commented. “It’s hard to imagine someone in Jud’s profession having such loving parents. Family. That’s nice.”
“Yeah. It is.” Something neither Vi nor her friend were accustomed to, such close ties.
Vi hadn’t seen her parents since the dinner the night before. They probably wouldn’t even miss her while she was gone, not that it mattered.
Jacob wished he had his dad’s patience. He glared at the two people and wondered for the millionth time how they birthed someone as brilliant and awesome as Quillery. “Sit down and shut up.”
“Jacob,” his grandma warned.
“Settle down, son. If they don’t want to watch, they can leave.” His grandpa sat. “We can’t make them.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Jacob reached over and locked the only exit from Command Central. “They’ve wandered around here spewing their hate on everyone like acid. Every word out of their mouths about Quillery is bullshit and I’m sick of it. She deserves their love and respect.”
“She has us, Jacob. She doesn’t need them,” his grandma reasoned gently.
The new woman, Zero D, listened. Eyes wide, she returned her attention back to the display monitors. “She’s going in.”
“In case you were too busy bitching to notice, two men were kidnapped from the compound last night. My uncle Jud was one of them. Your daughter is about to save their lives. She’s saved my dad’s twice now. Twice! Now, I can’t make you stop being stupid and mean and bigoted and everything else you are, but you two are going to sit and watch what Viviana does. You say she’s wasting her time. Well, we’re about to see what exactly she does.”
“Like they’d have a clue. You should’ve dragged them in here when she was writing all the sick code being used, the stuff they’d never understand anyway,” Zero said.
The woman wasn’t wrong. Vi had some seriously sick code in her brain. Jacob had learned so much already and couldn’t wait to learn more. He hoped the women would let him stay on for a while longer.
Right now he hoped Vi’s mojo was enough to save Uncle Jud, get The Collective off their asses once and for all.
A banging on the door drew Jacob’s attention to the security monitor. Riley. He shouldn’t let her in, but she was Dallas’s little sister. All her brothers were in the field. He hit the button. She surged in. Her lips thinned as she glared at Vi’s parents.
“Come, dear. Sit with us.” Jenna patted the sofa beside her. “You sure you want to watch?”
“She watched them rescue Dad. That got real ugly. This will be much quicker,” Jacob said. “You cool?”
“Yeah. I’m cool.” Riley sat. She was pale. Eyes were red. She was far from cool, but he didn’t argue. He wasn’t very cool either. It’d be their secret.
Teams were in position. Vi paced outside the makeshift command post one mile south of Dallas’s chip. As far as The Collective knew, they were en route to the location. Drones provided a layout of their nineteen people, one of which was a woman who was obviously in charge.
Dallas and Jud were…
Vi swallowed and looked over at her quiet friend. Mary hadn’t said much since the first images started coming in. Dylan hovered, kept a hand on his fiancée and whispered gently in her ear. Although The Edge was present and ready to kick ass, the fierce woman beneath the honed operative was also present and not quite as ready. Mary had been through hell and what the two men in the warehouse were going through right now were fresh reminders of what she’d survived.
Anger kept Vi focused. Each wound she tracked on Jud, each growled pain he or Dallas cried out sealed the fate of those inside. They’d observed for five minutes as Marshall and the other teams coordinated themselves for the second phase entry. Vi didn’t much give a damn what they did. She knew her part and was more than ready to get in there.
Knock them off their game.
Marla had called half an hour ago and set a meet in two and a half hours twenty miles south, in an abandoned cotton gin outside San Antonio. The location was remote and definitely not in The Arsenal’s best interests. Vi walked over to the huddled operatives.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“There’s a lot of people in there, Vi.” Cord looked up at her. “I’m not liking the odds here.”
“You and Mary even those odds once you take over the drones.”
<
br /> “Five minutes from when you walk in,” Marshall declared. “Then we’re moving in.”
“Fair enough.” She could do a hell of a lot in five minutes.
Hopefully. She hugged Mary and headed toward the vehicle they’d set up specifically for this task. Fallon had enough hidden explosives in it to blow up Resino. Once she drew their attention, he was going to sneak from beneath the undercarriage where he would be hiding and rig the area with said ordnance. Once the final portion of phase one was underway, the explosions farthest from the warehouse would cue phase two where The Arsenal teams would move in.
Vi drove the single mile slowly and parked as close as she dared to the warehouse. There was always the possibility they’d shoot her immediately, but she was worth way more alive than dead. The duffel bag was heavier than she expected when she got out and settled it across her shoulder. Two men armed with AK-47s grabbed her and shoved her against the vehicle. The token pat down was slow, methodical. Her pulse pounded wildly as they found the gun she’d left in full view. No one would come to a situation like this unarmed.
She smiled to herself as they grabbed the duffel bag and dragged her into the warehouse. Voices rose in agitation as they progressed inward. The men huddled closer, weapons drawn.
A blonde stood in front of Dallas and Jud with an electric cattle prod. Her eyes widened a moment when she turned, but she composed herself quickly.
“I see we’ve hit a snag.” She tsked. “It’s not polite to show up without notice.”
“I’ve never been known for my courtesy.”
Vi’s voice drew the two men’s attention. Blood seeped from open wounds along their torso and face. A bull whip sat on the table beside them. Water dripped from both men. She let the rage boiling her insides run its course a few heartbeats, then forced her focus on the mission at hand.
“We need to make this exchange quick. I skirted security to get here and make this happen, but they probably spotted my absence five minutes after I left.” Vi forced her gaze on the woman as someone set the duffel on the folding table to the left of where they were. A long extension cord coiled beneath the area, which was laden with monitors and computers. A man tapped away on a keyboard like he had a fucking clue how to handle what The Arsenal was about to unleash on his ass.
