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Wiz sniffed. “It’s more that Koslov has a bunch of feds on his payroll. Don’t try to tell me otherwise—oh.” She huffed a laugh. “That’s why you’re here. That’s why you took the fall. The FBI is cleaning house and you’re one of the brooms.”
Trevor tried to maintain his blank expression, but he failed. Of course she’d figured it out. She was extremely intelligent.
“Okay. We’ll let you know most of what we’re doing, but not all of it.” Wiz raised her brows. “And you have no veto power, got it?”
He’d intervene to keep them out of danger and out of his investigation. He had a job to do. But telling them that wasn’t useful.
Sam’s expression cycled from shock to hope and back to skepticism. “I’m not buying it. Throw him out and let’s get on with planning.” She picked up her cell phone. “I’m closing my office and putting my assistant on paid leave. I’ll suggest she take a vacation somewhere else, and I’ll work from here, if you don’t mind, Wiz.”
“No problem. The ranch and the neighbors have great internet too.” Wiz put her hand on Sam’s arm. “But Mills stays for now, sorry.”
Michael said, “If nothing else, we can feed info back through him. But back to our businesses. If the organization continues to ambush our projects, Acer Home Improvement is done for. No one will want us near their houses.”
At least Acer was smart enough to understand the potential impact. But none of them were considering that they could be targeted by assassins if they created enough trouble.
“I don’t think they’ll try that again, Michael.” Nic shook his head. “Not when it failed so spectacularly. Unfortunately, we owe the homeowners windows and siding now.”
Michael shrugged. “No big deal. The bigger problem is, we’re still targets. They’ll at least harass us, and we’ll have to replace a bunch of tires and radiator hoses.”
“I’ll set up surveillance on your trucks and projects to catch the petty criminals,” Wiz said. “Easy enough. Deb’s is harder. She can bake wedding cakes and other special orders here, but our kitchen doesn’t have enough capacity for large scale production.”
Kim tapped her phone. “Her big customers are starting to whine. They were supportive and still are, but they also need stuff to sell. They’re going to other bakeries.” She pouted. “I’m sorry, Deb.”
Deb put a hand over her heart. “I’m not entirely surprised. So, how do we get me back to work?” Deb tried to smile but didn’t quite make it.
Wiz turned to Pete. “Could the hands run the ranch next week?”
Wiz might have a real plan in mind, not just psyops. Trevor would wait and see, but it was likely to be dangerous, and he’d have to step in.
“Sure. I’m just the comic relief and since you rustled him, Tom’s more trouble than he’s worth.” Pete winked.
Wiz turned to Michael. “How about you? Could you get free next week?”
Michael shrugged and pointed to Nic. “I don’t have a clue how my own business is running.”
Nic frowned. “Our business. Anyway, there’s a couple of things I’ll need help with, but yes, for the most part, I don’t need Michael. We can hire some part-timers or sub-contract if we have to.”
Michael nodded. “We’ve got some people we use for bigger jobs. We can call them in, but we’ll have to warn them what’s going on.”
“Of course.” Wiz put her tablet on the table. “I’ve already upgraded the surveillance at Deb’s Bakery and I added some sensors and other tricks in the middle of the night so no one should know. I’ve also contacted the owners of the nearby businesses and buildings. The owner of the empty lumberyard to Deb’s north said we can use his building for anything. We can even make physical changes to it. I suspect he’d be better off if the place burnt to the ground; it’s been abandoned for so long.”
She shrugged. “In addition, I’ve upgraded the alarms and surveillance on the bulk fuels place on the other side of Deb’s, so he’s also happy to let us use his property. With both of those under our control, we’ve got some good escape options, and we can enforce a clear zone around the bakery. But the fuel supplier is a real danger point because he’s got above ground tanks, big ones. A bomb could take out half a block and start a fire that could decimate the town. But that’s true of any gas station, to some extent.”
Wiz really was planning a military operation. The woman was strong, but still ignorant of the threat’s true nature. He had to find a way to warn her without giving everything away.
Wiz leaned around Tom, looking at Deb. “Deb, I suggest you leave the dining room closed and ask Michael to install a drive-up service window. Pete, we’ll put you on the roof of the lumberyard next door with your sniper rifle. Make it very obvious you’re watching, like a chair with an umbrella, and very obvious when you leave with Deb after she closes for the day. Michael, you and Tom can make her deliveries in the afternoons. After a week or so, Deb will start living in her apartment again. But we’ll rig escape routes to both neighbors and keep hidden snipers on the next door roofs all night.”
Snipers on the roof weren’t going to make local law enforcement happy. But they’d provide a distraction for his mission, so that was a plus.
Ryan raised his hand. “I’ll help with that one.”
Erin nodded. “We both will.”
“I’ll ask a few of my friends to help, too,” Pete added. “The ones who are still able to climb ladders.”
Michael was shaking his head violently. “But we’ve agreed that the foot soldiers are unending. So why bother? It puts Deb at risk for little.”
Sam smiled and flipped her long auburn hair. “Ah, but it doesn’t. Deb, you’re going to narrate Wiz’s video on Koslov.”
