The image sharpens enough to show two guards escorting someone down a long hallway, wrists cuffed, head lowered.
Jagger.
It’s the first time we’ve laid eyes on him since he was taken, and relief hits me hard.He’s alive.He looks rough but not hurt, and that’s more than enough to steady my racing heart. I don’t care about him because Wren does. He is family. One of us. I want him out of there almost as badly as I want Wren out.
Elias switches angles, tracking the guards as they lead him through the house.
“It looks like they were keeping him in one of the outbuildings this whole time,” Elias says.
Pete swears under his breath. Sly steps closer, his jaw tightening.
“Why move him now?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Elias answers. “But Wren’s signal hasn’t changed. She’s still in that same room on the second floor. No cameras in there, though, at least notany I can find.”
Sly’s voice is low. “Ivan had Jagger locked in that shed for three weeks. Why bring him inside now?”
“It means something,” Elias says. “Ivan doesn’t make random decisions. If Jagger is in the main house, Ivan either wants him under closer watch or has plans to use him.”
Pete rubs his forehead. “He’s putting Jagger closer to whatever he’s doing with Wren.”
My fingers curl around the back of a chair until the wood creaks. “He’s preparing to break him.”
“Or her,” Elias adds quietly.
No one speaks after that. The hum of Elias’s laptop fills the room.
Finally, Sly exhales. “We can’t wait anymore. We need a plan.”
“We have one,” Elias says, pulling up a list. “But it isn’t ideal.”
Sly gestures sharply. “Explain.”
Elias folds the laptop halfway as he speaks. “I go in as a delivery driver.”
“I thought you said all the deliveries happen during the day?” Sly asks.
Elias nods. “I did.”
Pete frowns. “Daylight is the worst possible time.”
“I know,” Elias says. “But it’s the only window we have. The deliveries are predictable, routine, and low-security. Drivers aren’t part of Ivan’s organization. They are contractors. They get basic ID checks, nothing deeper.”
Sly nods slowly. “So you take a driver out, steal his truck, and go in as him.”
“Exactly,” Elias says. “I’ll forge his identification, steal his uniform, and drive straight through the main gates. They’ll be expecting the shipment.”
I shift my weight. “How will you get inside?”
“The drop-off area connects to a side corridor used by maintenance staff. I’ll have to take out the guards stationed there.”
“Why do you get to go in? We should help,” I tell him, not liking to be left out while he does everything.
His lips twist in thought as he looks at me. Finally, he nods. “I have to go because I’m the only one of us who can speak Russian. But,” he pauses as he looks at each of us, “you three could hide in the back, behind some fake crates. When I go in, you can help take out the guards. We won’t know if they’re watching me or the truck until we get there. You help me take them out.”
I crack my knuckles and smirk. “We can finally put my skills to the test.”
“If there are two guards, that means two of us can go inside,” Sly says, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
