“Will you stop?” Joon huffed. “Don’t threaten my pack.”
“It’s not a threat,” he said, putting the drone back in his car. “Just a fact.”
Joon looked like he wanted to argue, but Marcus stepped in. “He’ll be fine,” he promised. “What’s going to happen to the base?”
“Leave that to me,” he said, checking his phone briefly. “We should go. My men are in position.”
As he left the back of the car, he held a handgun in his hand. “Who’s taking it?”
“Me,” Joon said quickly, reaching for it.
Mason was quick to pull the weapon away.
“Try again.”
Joon pouted, but Mason reached for the gun easily, looking it over. We used to go shooting at the range when we were younger, so he knew what he was doing.
We strode up to the gate in a group. It was strange that no one was standing watch. Just a giant bolted lock with some chains.
“So much for security,” Indi huffed.
“It’s because they’d see anyone coming,” Mason said. “And they’re too cocky for their own good.” He sighed. “Fuck, forgot the bolt cutters in the car.”
He started to turn back, but I stopped him. “Let me.”
I pulled the small lock-picking kit out of my pocket, about the size of a tin of mints. Though it was always easier to break in when the door was digital, sometimes analog was the way.
Mason’s brows rose, but that was the only reaction he gave. Was he maybe mildly impressed? Confused? He was impossible to read. Almost like Marcus, but with him, it’d been so long I was able to decipher most things.
I squatted a bit, careful not to let my knees touch the disgusting, muddy ground as I examined the lock. It looked like a simple padlock. I got out my tension tool and shoved it in the bottom, holding the inner cylinder in place.
Then I took one of the actual picks and started pressing around, trying to get all the inner pins lifted into place. It took about thirty seconds before I felt the tension in the cylinder release, allowing me to pull open the lock. It released the chains, letting them clatter to the ground. The gate doors swung without anything holding them, a loud creaking sound.
“Seems at least you found yourself a resourceful pack,” Mason said to Joon. “Let’s move.”
We made our way in. The dirt road led to a path straight down the hill, presumably towards the base. There were large tire marks in the ground, looking to be from motorcycles.
“I’m going to go to the base,” Mason said. “But just head that way, and you won’t miss it.”
“Thanks,” I said with a nod.
Mason broke off and started down the path. He looked so out of place, his clean suit against the mudded road and trees was jarring.
We started across the open field. There was a ton of space here, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was used for. It didn’t take long to start hearing gunshots ring out from the direction Mason went. Joon turned, his candy-apple scent turning rotten with worry.
I put my arm around him, kissing the top of his head. “Don’t worry, Gattino, your brother is fine.”
“I know,” he shot back with irritation, but he still leaned into my comforting touch.
The same prickly cat he’s always been.
In the distance, the cement room he pointed out came into view. Everyone’s footsteps picked up speed, knowing we were so close now.
As we walked, something caught the corner of my eye. Movement closer to the treeline. It was two men, walking back towards the base, if I had to take a guess.
One of them had to be that fuckhead Jason, I just felt it in my bones. When I stopped, it didn’t take long for everyone else to as well.
It seemed Indi followed my eyes. “You think it’s him?”
