Page 51

Taking out my phone, I text the others to attend an evening meeting and tell them they won’t be working their normal jobs tomorrow. I know this will get their attention, and they’ll turn up early to see what’s in the pipeline.

Evening meal done, and I’ve commandeered the room we hold Church in for the meeting. Having Allegra and Pattie in the room has caused some raised eyebrows, as I’m sure they weren’t expecting any women to be present. Bull and Bank have sat to one side and Bull is clearly leaving me to it now he has sidestepped team leader duties.

Rage and Wraith keep glancing at the women as though expecting some flash of inspiration to explain their presence. Hellion and Mateo, just sit quietly and wait for me to start. Allegra and Pattie just sit there, smiling at everyone as though it’s an everyday occurrence. You've got to love those two. Well, I do one of them.

“Okay. Let’s get down to business. We have a mission to perform tomorrow. We have to get Bull and Bank to a location, keep the location secure while they do their thing, and then get everyone home safely. Preferably without being seen, but if seen without leaving any witnesses alive to tell tales. We cannot afford to be recognized at any cost.”

“Well, sounds simple so far. Where do the complications start?” Wraith asks still looking toward the women.

“Don’t look at us, Wraith. We’re part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Pattie snips at him.

“You’re both coming on this mission?”

“We most certainly are. If it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t have a mission, so there.” Pattie rubs her hands together in a gesture of satisfaction.

“We’re going to be your rabbit’s tooth,” says Allegra cryptically.

We all sit and stare at her, waiting for her to explain that.

“You know. Your lucky charm.”

“Oh, rabbit’s foot, you mean.” We look at each other again, now that we’ve followed her train of thought.

“Where exactly will the mission take place? Not too far if we’re going on it tomorrow,” Mateo asks.

“Right. The location is the Lake Estate house. We need to get in quietly, unseen and unobserved while we’re in there,” I begin the briefing.

“CCTV?” Asks Rage.

“I’ll take care of that as we’re arriving. I’ll have it scrambled before we hit the driveway,” Bull tells him.

“How many guards are we expecting?” Queries Mateo.

“Expecting? None. How many we find when we get there? Anyone’s guess.”

“You should leave any external guards to Pattie and me. We can ‘distract’ and then neuter them.”

“Oh, that makes my eyes water just thinking about it. I hope you mean neutralize?”

“Ah, whatever works for you. I mean we will take care of them.” Allegra is still smiling, and that makes it even worse.

“Once we’re inside, Bull and Bank do their stuff. Unless you want the boring technical stuff, that’s all you need to know. They do their stuff. We keep the place locked down while they work, and when they're done, we get the hell outta Dodge and get home. I don’t want to make it sound incredibly simple, but I don’t want to get bogged down in ‘what ifs’ either. We go in, we do the deed, we get out.”

“Typical Saturday night for you boys then, eh?” Pattie laughs at Hellion, Rage and especially Wraith, apparently!

Chapter 30

*~* Allegra *~*

Driving to the lake estate, we have Bull and Bank with me and Pattie in the lead vehicle. When we are close enough to be able to see if they have left anyone as security, we’ll decide on the entry method. Ideally, we drive up to the front door and just walk in, if no-one is visible. Bull works his magic on the CCTV, then he and Bank get on with it. The rest of us watch for trouble, and when they are done, we get our asses out of there and go home.

We pull over to the roadside when we have a suitable spot to observe the place without being obvious. No vehicles and no one visible externally. The house looks deserted, but you can’t be too careful. We all take a window and we watch for five minutes. Nothing appears to be moving, no one has been in or out of the house.

“Excellente. It’s snowtime!”

They all look at me, shake their heads and mutter, “Whatever.”

Entering the property, we leave Wraith at the entrance so he can warn us if anyone turns up. He wasn’t happy, but tough luck. He’s been an ass with sarcastic and derogatory comments to and about Pattie and me being on this mission. I think everyone had heard enough, and they all smirked when Vortex made the call for him to be left at the gate.