“Is it still in Southampton?” Liam asked.
“We believe so,” Chapman said. “Murphy wouldn’t be running south if it wasn’t. The Reborn IRA has no base in South England, and no supporters. If they wanted to regroup, they would have gone back to Northern Ireland.”
“Aside from the shell companies that Bennett owns, I have direct knowledge of his mental wavelength. I believe I can locate him if I’m within the same city as him,” Katie said.
“Has he been in London at all?” Jamie wanted to know.
Katie shook her head. “Searching a megacity as big as London is difficult, even with a merging of minds. I don’t know if Bennett was ever physically here, but my bet is he wouldn’t venture far from the one thing guaranteeing him enough money to disappear forever after nearly all of his accounts, both in the United States and offshore, were frozen. Bennett needs money. It looks like the Reborn IRA are the ones who are willing to pay whatever his price is.”
“As of this time, theKuntsevkayaBratva is completely out of the running,” Bailey said.
Chapman nodded. “Our goal here is the destruction of the Splice lab and the apprehension of Bennett and Murphy and any of their supporters.”
“Dead or alive?” Tariq asked.
“I understand the United States prefers we take Bennett alive, but I make no promises.”
Out of the corner of Liam’s eye, he saw Jamie nod. The other man didn’t speak up or argue about the warning, and Liam wondered if Kyle would get his chance to play target practice with Bennett after all.
“You’ll be deploying with agents from MI6, two SAS teams, and UMG ground support. Southampton police will be notified en route and a police perimeter erected and maintained around the warehouse district,” Chapman said.
The windows projecting the CCTV data minimized and were replaced by a layered map of Southampton. Colored lines and dots glowed brightly before dimming through Chapman’s explanation of the mission plan.
Liam knew from years of experience they could plan for everything possible and none of it would matter once they got boots on the ground.
“All UMG teams will be responsible for clearing the warehouse district once there. Telepaths will pinpoint the general area you and your teams will need to advance on once you arrive.” Chapman tapped at the controls, causing all the holoscreens to minimize. “Ready to sync.”
Liam placed his left hand against the table and the embedded screen there. The bioware in his hand and wrist received the download in seconds, and the bioware in his left forearm flashed with the update.
Chapman’s sharp-eyed gaze swept the table. “Wheels up in five. Good hunting.”
Liam stood with everyone else, ready to fight one last time.
* * *
“Beginning descent,”the pilot said over the public comms in the transport jet. “Ready deployment one.”
Liam turned away from the terminal up front where he and Samaira were studying the maps. He left her to fine-tune their approach and made his way toward the rear of the jet where Oliver sat with a handful of MI6 field agents and three SAS soldiers. Oliver carried the assault rifle in his hand with a competence that no longer surprised Liam.
Part of Liam didn’t want Oliver to be on the jet with him. MI6 had asked for volunteers from its agent ranks and Oliver hadn’t said no. As the liaison to the Royal Legion, he had every right to be there. Liam just would’ve preferred to come home to him in London.
“Ready?” Liam asked.
Oliver leaned his head back, blinking at Liam from beneath his borrowed hard helmet. “Are you?”
“I still owe you a fry-up. I intend to collect on that.”
“Your love of bets could do with an upgrade,” Oliver said with a straight face.
Liam smiled tightly. “A sure thing isn’t a bet, Raven.”
Oliver raised an eyebrow, but the surprised amusement in his eyes told Liam that his words hadn’t been received as an insult. “If you say so.”
“Descending in five,” their pilot announced. “Prepare for VTOL.”
Liam reached out to grip one of the safety handholds in the siding of the jet above Oliver’s head. He’d ridden out a hard descent so many times before that, even if he wasn’t strapped in by a harness, Liam knew how to brace himself.
“Keep your eyes up and be safe,” Liam said.
