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“With Mike, my buddy with the device? Three,” Jay said, turning to Vivian. “I have to be at work as usual. I’m the one who has the information about Amanda Harcourt. I can’t call in sick, or it’ll put a target on my back, and that back becomes our backs.”
“Agreed. I could handle her myself,” Wade said, “but it’ll be good to have Mikey at my six. Do I have a gun?”
“You shouldn’t need one. Ben took care of the driver, and it’s a woman in the back seat.”
Vivian turned offended eyes on Jay. “Hey!”
“Viv, Mike and Wade have you by a foot and a hundred pounds each. They’re trained and have real-world experience. What would you do?”
“Scream. Kick.”
“No one's there to hear you. The driver got ten minutes down the road.”
“You kicking is perfect,” Wade said. “I grab your ankle and yank you out of the car.” Wade turned to Jay. “But I have handcuffs, right?”
“Handcuffs, blindfold, and a ball gag.”
“Viv knows nothing about this. She was nursing a migraine when we were plotting.” He looked down at his phone and held up an image. “This is our mark.”
Vivian reached for the phone and looked down at the photo. “This woman is a dead ringer for the head of research on my project.”
“You serious?” Ben asked.
Vivian handed Ben the phone. “If you showed me this and asked if I knew her, I’d say it was Dr. Piper Phillips.”
“But it’s not, right?” Jay asked.
“Absolutely couldn’t be.” Viv handed the phone to Ben. “Piper is in her lab night and day, not tramping around the world living the life. She’s driven by the memory of her dearly deceased daddy. She’s going to find a cure, so help her, god.”
Jay looked at Ben. “Our planning depends on you having a dart gun and meds that aren’t past their effective date.”
“Yeah, I’ve got that,” Ben said. “I considered using them on Yuri, so I checked. I’m going to think of it like a bow and arrow – we emerge from Sherwood Forest, and we’re stopping the carriage with the chests of gold.”
Wade thwacked Ben with his pillow. “Very poetic.”
“And once we succeed,” Jay said, reaching out to Vivian. “Maid Marrion, we will have done our good deed.”
“We’re not helping the poor,” Vivian said, leaving the peace offering hanging mid-air.
“I’m poor.” Jay turned to Ben. “Aren’t you?”
“I’m sleeping on your couch.”
“Okay, then it’s all for one and one for all,” Jay said as he stood.
Vivian stood too and stormed toward the bedroom, calling back, “That’s the Three Musketeers, shithead.”
Chapter Five
Ethan
Tuesday
Ethan checked his watch—3:20.
Ms. Muffy Tifton’s bridal shower was well underway.
As requested, Ethan and Tango had monitored the guests’ arrival, standing at attention at the bottom of the front stairs.
