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Cillian leaned forward, studying the property layouts spread across the table between half-empty pizza boxes. Rook had ordered eight pizzas - he still wasn’t sure what the hangry business was, or how that differed from a person feeling hungry, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Ethan.
Cillian had ordered six more after declaring eight couldn’t possibly be enough, so it was possible he was worrying about that hangry business happening to Julian, too. There was a lot left over. Julian and Ethan had eaten maybe three slices each before they got caught up in their discussion again.
Three slices didn’t seem enough, so Rook’s shadows had taken two more slices and deposited them directly in front of Ethan fifteen minutes before. That seemed to work because Ethan had eaten them without looking up from the notes he was taking.
“I’ll take care of Kenosha,” Thorn said. “It’s a single-story warehouse, and from the notes, it has minimal ward signatures, so it should be a straightforward extraction. I’ll take care of the guards, free the victims, and then disappear. I can make a call to the police so the victims can be picked up when I’m done.”
“Milwaukee seems to have the strongest wards,” Julian said, finally looking up from his notes. “Pope’s records indicate they invested in a secondary suppression grid after the Vane incident. If we assume those wards will be similar to what we’ve already faced, Cillian, you’ll need me to identify and collapse the primary seal.”
Cillian’s shadows reached across the table toward Julian, a protective gesture that used to make Rook’s chest ache because he so badly wanted that for himself. Cillian had always been a solitary predator who’d never felt desire or care for another person ever, and yet now he looked at Julian like the sun rose and set on his mate’s ability to analyze occult ward construction.
“You have to stay close to me,” Cillian said.
“I know.” Julian smiled, that small private expression that meant he found Cillian’s protectiveness both excessive and endearing. “That’s why I suggested we work together. It works for both of us that way.”
“I love him,” Cillian announced to the room. “Just in case you all thought Rook was the only one who could say it to their mate in public.”
“We know,” everyone said in unison, and Julian chuckled. He didn’t need to say it - Rook and everyone else could see his feelings on his face.
“All right then, now that’s settled, that leaves Epsilon in Green Bay for Silas, Rook, and Ethan,” Thorn said. “Pope indicated Ashford keeps his personal server at his residence, which is forty minutes from the Green Bay facility. Silas, you’ll need to infiltrate Ashford’s home and disable the dead man’s switch while Rook and Ethan breach the facility.”
Ethan’s head snapped up. “Ashford has a biometric lock on his server room. Silas will need at least twenty minutes to bypass it without triggering the failsafe.”
“Could be as many as twenty-three minutes,” Silas corrected. “I’ve analyzed the security footage from his house. The system requires retinal scan, fingerprint, and voice authentication.”
“Can you spoof all three?” Julian asked.
“Yes, but I’ll need Ashford to be alive and present for the voice authentication.” Silas frowned, clearly not liking that idea.
“Couldn’t you try mimicking him?” Ethan asked, “Or, you know, he gives a lot of speeches. Is it possible we can find enough of his voice online, so he doesn’t have to be present? Even if you have him captured, we’ve got no way of knowing if there is a particular phrase or something he might say that could trigger the whole thing to send out the data on his command.”
“That could work.” Silas started tapping on his keyboard, and within a minute the sound of another voice, probably Ashford’s, came from his laptop. “I’ll splice together some recordings of common phrases used for security systems, which will probably work when combined with the overrides in the other areas.”
“All right, so assuming this will take a bit more time than anticipated, Silas needs to be in position before the raids begin,” Thorn said.
“I’ll be inside Ashford’s house by oh-two hundred,” Silas confirmed. “That gives me a sixty-minute window before the coordinated breach, which should be plenty of time to bypass his external security.”
“And if Ashford wakes up while you’re infiltrating his system?” Cillian asked.
Silas’s expression didn’t change. “Then I’ll ensure he remains cooperative until I’ve completed the data extraction.”
Rook’s shadows curled with dark amusement. Silas’s definition of “cooperative” usually involved chemical sedation and extremely specific threats about biological vulnerabilities. Effective, if unsettling.
“Epsilon has the highest victim count,” Ethan said, returning his attention to the facility schematic. “Pope’s notes indicate twelve individuals currently held in shipping containers. We’ll need to secure them before engaging the security team, otherwise there’s a real danger some of the victims could get caught in the crossfire.”
“I can handle the security,” Rook said. “You focus on the victims.”
“No.” Ethan looked at him with that calm expression Rook was coming to learn meant that his mate had already calculated every risk and determined his own course of action. “We’ll work together. You handle immediate threats, I’ll locate and extract the victims, then assist with securing the facility until local law enforcement arrives.”
Every instinct in Rook’s body told him no. Ethan should never have to go within spitting distance of the shits who thought capturing people for personal gain was an interesting side hustle. But Ethan held his gaze, almost daring him to go against his idea.
“You stay within arm’s reach,” Rook said finally. “You see a weapon, you drop. You hear gunfire, you get behind me. No arguments, no improvisation.”
“Those are acceptable parameters.” Ethan made a note on his tablet. “I’ll prepare a facility map with primary and secondary extraction routes.”
“Of course you will.”
“And I’ll need to review Pope’s security personnel files to identify potential hostile response patterns…”
