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Lila stole Fry’s binoculars, unwinding the strap from his neck. “I like the real you, Maria. Don’t ever change.”
“That’s funny coming from someone who prances around in a hood.”
“I don’t prance.” Lila focused her binoculars across the street, the mesh hood obscuring her view. Nothing moved in the warehouse, except for the occasional head in the dim, dusty windows. “How many mercs have you guys seen?”
“Ten,” Fry answered. “We think.”
“Could be more. Should be more.”
“We’ll pretend there are.” Tristan withdrew his own pair of binoculars from his coat pocket. “Where do you think they’ll be?”
“Roof, perimeter, back entrances.” Fry ticked off each suggestion on his fingers.
“Next door,” Lila added. “They’ll have lookouts.”
“We’ll account for them. I don’t know how much longer they’ll stay in the city, so we should move quickly. Fry will come with me. We’ll meet up with the others and make a plan. Dixon, Lila, stay here and watch the building. Call me if anything changes.”
Lila nodded, completely uninterested in trailing along, just to be caught in a staring contest with people she hardly knew.
After Tristan and Fry left, Dixon pressed his forehead into the glass, withdrawing again, becoming a mate to the shadows he’d hidden behind all week. Lila put down her binoculars and rubbed his back. “We’re going to save some children today.”
He nodded.
“In a couple of hours, they’ll all be safe again. We’ll get the girls back with their parents, and Oskar and Maria will be together once more.”
Dixon didn’t take out his notepad. Whatever thoughts he had, he kept them to himself.
Lila didn’t see any patrols, nor did she see anyone in the warehouses but the same few heads in the same few windows.
When the doors in the back opened once more, Lila stiffened.
“Anything new?” Tristan asked as he rejoined them, pulling out his binoculars for a last look. Fry, Frank, and Dice marched in after him, their jaws set.
“No.”
“Good. Four teams will surround the building. Another four will hold back, waiting to reinforce where they are needed.”
“All those people, and we don’t even know what’s inside?” Lila grew uncertain as she peered at the quiet structure across from them.
“We don’t know now. But the six of us will be playing snoops.”
“Seven,” Maria said. “I’m going too.”
Tristan shook his head. “I promised your father I’d keep you safe.”
“Yes, I heard. Maybe I’d let you if you hadn’t screwed up the first job so badly. This time if you fuck it up, I’ll have a chance to get my brother back myself.”
“Maria, those are German mercs who have him,” Lila said. “Their guns won’t be loaded with tranqs. They’ll have guns with bullets. They can and will kill you. They’ve killed more than a dozen people already.”
“So? What’s my life been so far? Cleaning pots? Always brought back the second I break out of the compound? Pardon me if I don’t value another fifty years of that as highly as you do.”
Dixon raised his tranq, aimed it at her neck, and looked at his brother for permission.
“We’re not going to tranq her.”
Another five minutes of arguing didn’t help the situation. In the end, Tristan decided it was better to take her along and keep an eye on her, rather than leave her behind in the abandoned warehouse.
“Remember, don’t tranq anyone,” Tristan reminded them, giving the building one last pass with his binoculars. “We’re just getting a closer look. We get a visual on the kids, find the position of the mercs, and relay the information back to Toxic. She’ll pass it to the other teams. We’re not going to start a fight until the entire building has been surrounded, the neighboring properties searched, and the other teams have gotten into position. Does everyone understand?”
