“Hopefully, you’ll be able to identify Castillion through the scope of your rifle, so we get confirmation on who to grab as he exits the vehicle. If he goes for a gun, you have my permission to take him out. You’ll be our eyes and ears because we feel putting up a drone in that neighborhood is risky. It’s too easily spotted. People who live in that neighborhood are very conscientious about their privacy and most households have Ring doorbell cameras, so keep that in mind.”
I sat up. “That’s gonna be tough.”
“Which is why you’re going now, Monroe,” Candy said. “It’s less likely that you’ll be noticed at this time of the morning on a Sunday. The rest of us will follow after we discuss where we’ll be setting up.” He looked at Mars. “You go with him, Clifford.”
“Aye, sir,” Mars said, sliding out of his chair.
“Yes, sir.” I stood.
“Good luck, Monroe,” Lincoln said, staring hard at me. “This is important. Don’t come back and tell me it’s not doable. Agent Wise was most likely murdered on the orders of this maggot. We need him arrested…like yesterday.”
I nodded sharply and then glanced at Mars. “You ready, buddy?”
“You bet.”
The two of us walked out of the room, heading straight for the elevators. As soon as we got in and started heading for the lobby to take one of our personal vehicles instead of a BearCat which would stand out in a gated community, I turned to Mars. “You’d think they’d just once give us a day or two notice when a job like this comes up.”
Mars snorted. “What ya mean, mate? The ‘ole definition of a Tac Team is to be tactical support for an operation. We mostly get bugger all advance notice.”
“I understand, it’s just…well, you heard them. They’ve known this guy was comin’ to town for a few weeks and why. Why didn’t they let us do recon in advance rather than sendin’ us out there at butt crack in the mornin’ o’clock so we can find a perch?”
When he didn’t say anything, I glanced over. He was eyeballing me. “What’s really going on with ya, Reeses? Ya not typically like this.”
“Like what? Sensible?”
“Prickly.”
I let out a whoosh of air and then rubbed both hands over my face to try to wake up. I stretched my arms up over my head and bumped the roof of the elevator. Dust motes floated down into my face and Mars wheezed.
“Fuck me, Rex!”
“Sorry, man. Didn’t realize the damned ceilin’ was so low.”
He chuckled. “It’s ya bloody long arms, you’re a big, long streak of weasel piss.”
I laughed. “Sorry,” I said, yawning. “Guess I got up on the wrong side of the bed this mornin’.”
He chuckled, kicking an invisible dust ball across the carpeted floor of the elevator. “I ‘eard Candy made you stay and clean the BearCats.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Yeah. I was here until a little after midnight.”
“Blimey.” He visibly winced then cocked his head to the side before reaching out to squeeze my bicep. “Something wrong? Ya seem a bit off, even for you.”
I smirked at the jibe then shook my head, looking down at my feet as we reached the lobby level and the elevator doors swished open. We stepped out and headed for the parking lot. “It’s nothin’. I just had a date and missed it because I had to stay late to wash the fuckin’ vehicles.”
“Sexy, Rexy. I feel for ya, brother. The next time that ‘appens, give me a bell. I would’ve taken ya place. I’m so used to washing the trucks, I could’ve knocked them both out in a jiffy.”
“Really?”
He laughed. “Fuck no! I’m bloody glad it was you.”
I grinned, glancing over at him. “Asshole.”
He chuckled as I pulled out the keys to my Hornet. “Put those away. I wouldn’t drive in that old bomb of a car it you paid me, lad.”
“You’re a total snob. Just because you get a new car every two months, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t appreciate the classics.”
He laughed that time, muttering something under his breath about classics. He pulled out his key fob and pointed to a black Camaro, sitting at the back of the lot where we usually parked. “I’ll drive.”
