“Since your dumb ass got captured. And don’t act like you wouldn’t throw a fit if I wasn’t nice to her,” Alex shoots back, only half serious.
“Hey! I thought you liked me. We bonded.” She pushes her bottom lip into a fake pout.
“You’re growing on me,” he grumbles.
“This seems like a safe enough spot,” Riley begins, looking around at the vast expanse of emptiness. “How did all this happen?”
“I was working on breaking through an encrypted file. Scott must have had someone build a system around it to alert him if anyone tampers with it. I’m good at what I do, so I was already saving a copy before they reached us. I backed everything up to my own system and wiped the hard drive before his goons managed to get the door open and get Alex into cuffs,” he explains.
“What did you find?” Liz asks.
“Not much. He is doing some shady shit, that’s abundantly clear, but I wasn’t able to comb through the files. I wanted to make sure I had them all copied first. I’ve only had the chance to go through what wasn’t encrypted,” Tyler tells them.
“So, right now we focus on getting to Michigan. Hope you don’t mind us using your house. We don’t exactly have a lot of options,” Riley says apologetically. “Once we reach the house, Ty, Alex, you can go through everything we have on him. Mikey and I will figure out how the hell we can take Scott out of the equation and get back to stopping Dmitri.”
“There’s more, man. I assume Lauren told you, but he is telling anyone who will listen that he was right about Liz. Claims the reason we were getting locked up was because she has been working with Dmitri the whole time and charmed us into joiningthem. He branded us all AWOL,” Mikey adds, unable to look at them.
The anger simmering around the table is palpable. Peace is no longer an option. The only way Riley will see this end is with a bullet between his general’s eyes.
CHAPTER 31
The house is far more charming than Liz had expected it to be. For some reason she can’t explain, she had assumed they owned a run-down shack outside of town. A place to run to if things ever got too bad.
The van stops outside a beautifully maintained two story modernized farmhouse. The house has pale yellow siding with blue shutters and a wrap around porch that has her swimming with jealousy. The moment she steps inside, it becomes abundantly clear that this is not just a safehouse to them. This is a home, a real home where they can live their lives in peace, even for only a few days between missions.
Liz hopes Tyler and Alex will be granted some time off when all is said and done.
Riley leads Liz to a large bedroom on the second floor, urging her into the shower while he commandeers Mikey’s bathroom. Despite her protests, she listens, not wanting to admit it’s for the best.
He meets her back in the room. They don’t bother unpacking, not that they have enough to even justify trying. Instead, Rileydumps both bags onto the bed, organizing the gear by what they have. Frustrated, he throws everything back in, bringing his bag downstairs where he dumps it onto the restored wooden dining table. Still not satisfied, he asks Mikey to grab the rest of their gear and bring it to them, adding what little he has to the growing pile. Carefully, they begin to organize it: weapons go on one half, gear on the other.
“How the fuck are we going to figure out what Scott is up to and remove him from his position with a handful of guns, twelve boxes of ammo, five combat knives, and all this random shit?” he yells, the events of the last few days finally getting to him.
“Chill. You know they keep a stash here. I’m sure they have plenty for us to raid,” Mikey reassures him, knowing good and well it won’t help at this point.
“Do you guys come here a lot?” Liz asks while stacking bundles of paracord into a neat little pile for Riley to inventory.
“We try not to. It’s not nearly as secure as the bunker, and the last thing any of us want is their home getting destroyed,” Riley explains, helping her organize supplies.
They work in silence for what seems like an eternity. Once everything is sorted into groups, Riley and Liz start meticulously re-packing bags, making sure each one has the same supplies placed in order of necessity. Alex and Tyler arrive back, honking until Mikey gets up with a childish groan. Acting as if he is a teenager being forced into chores, he scoots out the door, returning with a brown paper bag in each arm. Liz places a kiss on Riley’s cheek, leaving him to double check his work while she helps unpack the bags. Not knowing where anything goes, and not willing to mess up their organization, she opens every cabinet, leaving them open as she tries to put the new groceries with similar items.
“Alright, boys, what’s everyone want for dinner? It’s been along couple days stuck in that god forsaken van, and you could use some real food,” Liz asks when the rest of the team joins them.
Strong arms wrap around her waist, pulling her back. She can almost feel the smile on Riley’s lips as he rests his head on top of hers.
“We are grown men, baby. You don’t need to cook,” he says, “I actually had other plans for us.”
“What are we doing?” Liz asks, searching the faces of her team for clues.
“You and I us, not everyone us.” He releases her and is gone before she gets the chance to ask what he means.
She looks to the men for any information. The ceiling suddenly becomes the most interesting thing in the world as they go out of their way to avoid looking at her, at least until Riley returns with a blanket tucked under his arm.
Mikey breaks first, unable to keep from smiling. Riley plucks a bag from the fridge that Mikey must have brought in. Handing her the blanket, he pulls her out the sliding back door onto a patio attached to one of the most amazing yards she has ever seen.
They really had carved out their own slice of paradise. Decorative bricks make up a large patio with a pergola overhead. Under it sits a built-in grill, complete with a wine fridge and pizza oven. Opposite the grill is a large outdoor dining table. The yard turns to loosely packed trees toward the back. Off to one side, closer to the house, is a fire pit with chairs carefully placed around it. The other side has a brick path leading to a warehouse-type building with three extra-wide garage doors on the front. Riley’s hand slides into hers, interlocking their fingers.
“Where are you taking me?” she asks as they walk through the mostly golden grass.
