"The underground bunker isn't just a prison." She paused. "It's the headquarters." Everything clicked into place—the ledger, the names, and the trafficking network. Keller wasn't evacuating. He was protecting the nerve center of his entire operation.
"We're twenty minutes out," Avery continued. "But there's bad news."
Rocco's stomach tightened. "Great—what now?”
"Hale knows you're there." The line went quiet for a beat. "He wants Keller dead, too."
Dante had moved close enough to hear. "He flipped sides?"
"No." Avery sounded grim. "He wants the empire for himself, and the only way to make that happen is to kill Keller himself. We can’t let that happen. We need to bring Keller in.”
“Just get here,” Rocco ordered. “We will need backup if we’re going to get to Keller first.”
“On our way,” Avery said.
Rocco ended the call and looked at the others. "We've got a problem."
Dante laughed once. "Just one?"
"Hale isn't helping us,” Rocco said.
Lark crossed her arms over her chest. "He's helping himself,” she guessed.
"Exactly,” Rocco said.
She looked back toward the mission. "So it doesn’t matter who wins the fight. The prisoners lose either way.”
Rocco nodded. "Unless we stop both of them."
He studied the compound again. Something nagged at him. He noticed movement that didn't fit the previous patterns set by the guards. "There."
Dante followed his scope. "What am I looking at?"
"The west garage,” Rocco said. A black SUV rolled into the underground entrance with no escort and no fanfare. The rear passenger door opened, and Victor Hale climbed out alone. He disappeared inside without speaking to anyone.
Rocco smiled slowly. "He doesn't trust Keller anymore."
Lark caught the change in his expression. "What?"
"They're meeting,” Rocco said.
"Now?" Dante asked.
Rocco nodded. "And neither man brought an army."
Dante's eyes lit with understanding. "They're negotiating."
"Or threatening each other,” Rocco said. He looked down at the map, then back at the mission, and a plan formed almost instantly. It was complicated, but exactly the kind of plan that might just work.
"I need you both to trust me."
Lark didn’t hesitate. "I do." Dante also nodded his agreement.
"I'm going inside,” Rocco said.
Dante immediately shook his head. "No."
"Listen, I have a plan to bring them both down. They are under the same roof, and this might be our only shot at taking both of them,” Rocco insisted.
