Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
How long would this vetting process of Julia’s take?
Charlotte nodded and stepped back, wiping her eyes. “If we can separate her from even a couple of her guards, we’ll have a better shot at it. Joseph thinks she might try to kill us, too. I know Drake thinks he knows his sister, but we have to weigh that against her obsession with Kyle. There has to be a reasonable part of her that knows we’ll never leave him with her.”
Adam strode in from one of the other rooms. “Hey, I talked to Drake. He’s been given a meet spot to turn over the intel. I don’t think Julia is planning on being there, and that means neither will Kala. She’s not in this car, but I identified the driver. He’s a known mercenary. I think these are our guys.”
“She split her troops. Worst plan. Never split your troops unless you have to,” Ian advised. “Do we know how many she sent to DC to pick up the intel?”
Tennessee had been watching the house, but up until now, they hadn’t been sure it was Julia. They’d only identified three men who could be mercenaries. There were probably more. He hadn’t physically gone into the tunnels yet because of the security. They would get one shot at those tunnels. They needed it to be the right shot.
“According to what Joseph found out on the Dark Web, he thinks she hired at least seven to ten, and she’s probably already got a new Consortium assistant,” MaeBe explained. “He’s the one we have to be careful of because the rest might lay down arms when they realize they’ve been caught, but he won’t.”
“I don’t intend to leave any of them standing,” Ian vowed. “All right. When is Drake meeting with her men?”
“Seven,” Adam replied.
“Good. It’ll be dark then.” Ian picked up his cell. “I’m going to tell the others to be ready. I’m sending Ten in. We need to know where they’re holding Kala and Kyle and how hard it’s going to be to get them out. We have to hope Julia is distracted by the handoff.”
A terrible plan hit MaeBe. Terrible, but also likely excellent. What was one distraction when they could have two? “I can give her a distraction. I assure you, you’ll be able to walk Kala right out. You can come in from the tunnels, and she won’t be bothered with the security cams.”
“MaeBe,” Charlotte began.
She shook her head. “I get to make this choice. It’s mine and I’ll do it not for you but for Kala and Kyle. And I’ll do it for me. I need to face her.”
“We will move as quickly as we can,” Ian promised. “I won’t leave you with her for long. If you get a shot to kill her, take it. Do not monologue. Do not play with your prey.”
“I’ll handle it,” she promised. “And she won’t ever see me coming.”
MaeBe walked into the other room to get ready.
It was time to end this.
Chapter Twenty-One
The light from the streets had long since faded but the moon above was full, and MaeBe knew that meant there would be plenty of opportunities for the security cameras to pick up on the fact that a team of Taggarts was about to move through the tunnels. Earlier in the day, Tennessee had carefully sent a small drone through. It was disguised as a mouse, though anyone who paid real attention would have been able to see the way the thing moved was different than any natural creature. Still, it had done its job, and Ten had been able to map the tunnels. They now knew they could get into the house, but they had to get through the security system inside.
“Hey, you know you don’t have to do this.” Hutch’s voice came from over the small device in her ear that she would ditch before she actually started the op.
She kept her voice low. The house was still a hundred yards or so away, but she wasn’t taking any chances. “You know I do.”
“I can cause some chaos,” Hutch promised.
They’d been over this a million times since she’d come up with this plan. Hutch had gone over all the ways they could distract Julia so they could extract Kala. Ian and Charlotte had understood the situation. When she’d gone over it with Drake, he’d agreed this was the way to go. Hutch had fought her.
“Chaos alone won’t distract the whole group,” she explained for the hundredth time. Her patience didn’t wane because she understood how hard it was to be at the other end of the connection. It was worse because she was about to dump that connection, and Hutch would be left helpless to do anything but the job. “Julia’s not dumb. She’s a good tactician. If we don’t overwhelm her on an emotional level, she’ll make the right calls, and then we’re all in trouble. I’m the only one who can push her that far.”