“It was kind of hot,” Eve said in a hushed voice. “Even more so because of Gabe’s reluctance.”
Cally threw her an irritated look as Gabe warningly cleared his throat, and Eve leaned back on the sofa, warding them off with raised hands. “I say it like I see it.”
“Yes,” Cally agreed, “but sometimes it’s better not to say it.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
Gabe rose to his feet. “If we’re done here, I’m going to check in with Ryan and Noah.” He paused, not quite meeting Cally’s eyes. “Will you be okay now, or do we need to do this again?”
“I lasted two weeks, and we’ll have Antoine back before then. I’ll be okay.”
He nodded slowly. “Another reason to get him back, eh?” Then he turned and walked out, his head held high, shoulders stiff.
“A life saved, awkward tension, hunk of a man on his knees at your feet. Just a normal Saturday for you, huh?”
Cally rose to retrieve a folder from the coffee table. “If you’re done with vicarious fantasies, I’m going to get back to my Alvin manual.”
“Knock yourself out. At least I don’t have to worry about you splatting in Antoine’s favorite chair.”
Fourteen
It was time.
The house buzzed with Gabe’s thralls, and a fleet of SUVs waited on the street outside.
Ryan barked orders in a no-nonsense ex-military style, and it set the tone. Everyone was grim, taking it as seriously as Cally could wish.
They’d gone over the details for a final run-through that afternoon, huddled around the maps and documents on the kitchen table while Marcel kept the coffee flowing and interjected with the occasional insightful question, diffidently offered. But it was Ryan’s plan with a heavy dose of Eve, and Gabe and Cally leaned against the wall, watching and listening.
It looked simple enough on paper. Two teams, one led by Ryan and Gabe, the other by Noah and Zoey. Cally was on Noah’s team, mostly so he could keep an eye on her. Eve had been relegated to coordination, set up with a bank of screens in Antoine’s living room, and she wasn’t happy about it. But Cally took comfort in knowing she’d stay safe, and would have all the information at her fingertips as things progressed.
Getting in wasn’t the problem. The McLean Labs at WHOI—where Alvin was housed—were, in Noah’s words, a ‘soft target’: standard perimeter fencing, minimal foot patrols at night. It wasn’t a military base, despite Alvin being a multimillion-dollar asset. The challenge would be getting Alvin out, onto a boat, and off to sea without being seen.
“Ready?” Noah asked quietly.
Cally nodded, tugging at the borrowed long-sleeved thermals beneath her tactical vest. Black jeans, black shirt, both her own.Not really my own.Gabe had arrived with the bags of clothes he’d bought when she stayed with him, so she had a wardrobe, of sorts. She longed to pay a visit to her apartment and load up, but she couldn’t justify the risk. Not with the Order looking for her. At least she looked the part, dressed the same as the rest of them.
“Can’t believe we’re finally doing this.”
Noah gave her a reassuring grin, his enthusiasm infectious. “Yeah. If all goes well, we’ll have Antoine back by morning.”
“Morning’s the bit that makes me uncomfortable,” Cally said, keeping her voice low. “We hit WHOI at midnight. An hour to get in and get Alvin loaded. Drive to Menauhant Yacht Club, half an hour. Another half hour to get Alvin onto Ryan’s converted fishing trawler. That’s 3 a.m. From there, our best estimate is five hours to reach Antoine, and another to complete the retrieval.” She hissed a breath through her teeth. “Nine in the morning with a seventeen-ton, fifty-million-dollar stolen sub, the Navy potentially on alert, and the Coast Guard swarming around us like bees to a honeypot.”
“Hence Gabe’s yacht.”
“Yeah, I know. But really, they won’t notice?”
“They won’t look for us at sea. Not at first, anyway. Besides, they’ll be more interested in reclaiming the drifting trawler with the missing sub.” Noah winked at her. “We’ll be back before they notice, and if they stop Gabe’s yacht? They won’t find anything.”
“Just a feral vampire none of us can control.”
“Well, there is that.”
“Let’s move out,” Ryan said, cutting through the chatter, and Cally’s stomach clenched.
Plenty could still go wrong, but at least they were on their way.
At eleven, the SUVs peeled out, Cally sitting in the back behind Noah. The long drive wore on her nerves. Her nails dug into her palm, and she forced her hands to unclench, resting them on her lap.
