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23
Grant noticed the security team peppering the estate as Tati drove the cruiser to the front gate of the Shepherd estate. The beefy guards didn’t seem interested at all in being more discreet, which meant security threats had escalated.
One thing was for sure, this monstrosity of a police cruiser was more of a target than if they had driven up in an armored tank.
He instructed Tati to park down the road so as not to announce their arrival and to give her time to phone in, what she called, a small but effective distraction.
As they trudged side by side up the road toward the driveway of the estate, she made the call. “Just give us enough of…something…to bring the guards out of the house to investigate,” she said into the phone. “Yes. Everything’s in place? Okay, yeah. We’re on our way. Give us ten minutes.”
“Maybe we should have been a little more specific as to what we meant by a distraction? Is a marching band going to emerge over the hill or something of a more apocalyptic nature?”
“He’s a lowly intern with access to a wide variety of resources thanks to his unscrupulous father. But what resources are available are different given the time of day and the questionable business practices his father and his men have executed. I’ve learned Morales works best given fewer restrictions.”
“Okay, so what’s the plan? The distraction occurs, whatever that is, and what? We storm the castle?”
“Pretty much. We only need enough time to get inside, rescue our peeps, and get out.”
Grant needed more alternative scenarios. “What if we don’t make it out?”
She appeared shocked at such a thought. “What do you mean?” The woman never considered failure a possibility.
She was amazing. And painfully naïve.
Grant tried his best to provide possible scenarios to plan for. “What if their hired thugs stop us at gunpoint?”
She chewed on that. It was about time.
“Easy,” she said with a victorious smile. “We tell them we’ve got Hillsboro in a hidden location and if they don’t let everyone go, he’s gonna squeal to the Feds about how Errol coerced him into doing nefarious deeds for him.”
Wow, she was brave and beautiful and so fucking naïve.
“If they agree to let us go. Which they won’t. Wouldn’t it still be possible for Hillsboro to cop a plea deal and squeal anyway? At their expense? Isn’t it in their best interest to just, I don’t know, kill us?”
“Maybe. Geez. Okay, so I don’t have everything hammered out. So sue me,” she said, waving her hands in the air. “What’s your big idea? Wait it out until an asteroid hits planet Earth and everyone flees for cover?”
“Hey, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is your show and I’m just here taking orders.”
“Look. I know I’m a fly by the seat of her pants ex-FBI flunky, and a D+, at best, private investigator. But we can’t just sit around waiting for the planets to align.”
“Then storm the castle it is,” he said with a smile, marching on.
Tati stopped in her tracks, and Grant turned toward her. “What?”
She shook her head, as if about to cry.
Despite a strict timeline to get into place and ready for some illusive distraction, he didn’t like seeing Tati sad. Weepy. It fucking killed him. “What’s the matter, Tati?”
Her shoulders sagged, her eyes wide. “I think I’m in love with you.”
“Okay, and you’re telling me this now because why?” And then he realized the reason, his shoulders also lowering. “You’re afraid we’re not going to make it out alive, or at least, not in a coma?”
She nodded, her eyes growing misty.
“Hey,” he said, wrapping her up in his arms and kissing her forehead. “We’ve got this. Okay? You’re not a flunky or D list anything… You’re a fearless badass who I might probably, potentially, be in love with, as well.”
“Really?” she said through tears. “That’s about the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
“Well, then, that’s just wrong,” he said, hugging her to him. “And when we’re done with all this drama, I promise, I’m going to romance the hell out of you and say all kinds of mushy shit.”
