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“Too bad! You always do this. You always think that you know what’s best for the ‘little women.’ Well, guess what? You don’t. We’re intelligent, trained, capable, and brave. We don’t always need for you to run in and save the day.”
“No, you don’t,” said Liffey. “But you should understand that every man here was trained to protect those around him, regardless of size, strength, or gender. Our lives in the military have taught us that no matter what, even if you’re the enemy, sometimes you’re worth saving.
“So, dear daughter, as much as I appreciate your riveting speech about the strength of women, you’re not going to change the men in front of you. Not ever. Get used to it and be grateful for it. Because the same women we’re trying to save are those that wish they’d had a male like these before them.”
Brooke was quiet for a long moment, not saying anything to anyone, especially her father. He didn’t often pull the ‘dad card’ and lecture her, but when he did, she usually deserved it. Her temper was definitely from his Irish heritage, but her fierce fighting nature came from both of her parents.
“I didn’t mean to imply that I wasn’t appreciative. Maybe just think about changing the way you say things. It comes across as superior and implies that we’re somehow weak and incapable.”
“Understood,” nodded Cowboy. “I know it wasn’t anyone’s intent. But you make a good point. Those women and kids that are hidden are more than capable.”
Cowboy turned toward the table, spreading out the city maps. Looking at the tablet, he compared it to the map and pointed.
“Look. Right here is a sewer manhole cover,” he said, pointing. “This is an alleyway that wouldn’t be in use at night. We could get down into the sewer tonight and dig toward their tunnel. It would bring us to the back end, where there was no exit.”
“That’s awfully dangerous. The tunnel could collapse on them without support, and that’s going to take too long. How do we get them all out through the sewer?” asked Brooke.
“We don’t. We give them communication devices to feed them information until we can get them out the right way. At least with this, they’d have communications to all of us.”
“It’s worth a try,” said Liffey. “Cowboy, Matt, and Bogey. You guys head over there tonight and see what you can do. It’s about twenty feet to their hiding place, but it’s a dangerous twenty feet.”
“We’ll stop by the lumber supply store,” said Matt. “If we can at least secure it long enough to get them what they need, we can release it after that.”
“What about explosives?” asked Mo.
“Too loud,” said East, shaking his head. “Unless.”
“Unless what?” asked Brooke.
“Unless we created a distraction at the other end. Does Sutton ever go down into the tunnel to be with the women or see the hostages?” asked East.
“I only know about the women. He has a favorite that he sees at least once a day, usually around nine or ten at night.”
“If I could follow him down there on the premise of testing another woman,” grinned East. Brooke was not finding that amusing, glaring at him. “Just a premise, baby. If I could follow him down there, maybe get him to bring the guards back this way, it might work. You’ve got to be delicate with this. Call Miller and Hiro. See if they know of something that would do the trick without a lot of noise.”
While the team was planning out their festive evening, East gave Fuentes a call to let him know that he was the prime target of the week.
“Well, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later,” he said.
“Brother, there’s no harm in disappearing for a while. In fact, it would help me because then I could claim I killed you.”
“I’d love to help you, East, but I’m not leaving. You can claim the kill, and I’ll help from behind the scenes. I know how to hide. Hell, I’ve had my family hidden for years now.”
“I just want to keep you alive long enough to see your family again, Fuentes.”
“Appreciate it.” He hung up, stubborn bastard that he was, and East turned to the others.
“Well, what’s the plan?”
“We’re waiting on assistance,” smirked Cowboy. “We should have thought of it sooner.”
“What kind of assistance?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Dogs. That’s what you brought to help us?” frowned East. “I want to save those kids, not entertain them.”
“Brother, the dogs can dig faster than you. I can get them to dig that hole, wiggle through with the listening devices and a note,” smirked Sniff.
