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Logan knew what he meant. Only David Tanaka, their records expert, could get his hands on the full building plans for Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium with only a few days notice.
Logan stood and looked at the plans, surprised by the scale of the place. “Jesus.”
“Yeah,” Mauz said. “You sure this is a good idea?”
“No,” Logan said. “I’m sure it’s a bad idea, but Gabriella won’t relent on this one. Wants to keep things as normal as possible for Leo.”
He was aware of a few things as he spoke. The clutch in his chest at the sight of the massive building, the thought of Leo meandering his way through it with busy, overworked teachers. The familiarity with which he said the boy’s name. His sudden urge to call it all off, to have it out with Ella and tell her there was no way Leo could go on the field trip.
None of it mattered. They had to make this work.
“Let’s go over it piece by piece,” Logan said.
They did: the entrances and exits, the parking situation and where Mauz and Holt, who would be along for the ride, would wait outside while Jag tailed Leo inside.
“You sure you don’t want me to be the kid’s tail?” Mauz asked.
“I very much want you to be the kid’s tail,” Logan replied. “But we both know it’s a bad idea.”
Mauz wasn’t an under-the-radar kind of guy. The bionic leg, as he affectionally referred to his prosthetic, was easy to hide. His massive height, tattoos, perpetually vicious expression, and the scar on his right cheek, not so much.
It was already sketchy for a grown man to follow a bunch of kids around, but when that man looked like Mauz, it was that much riskier. They couldn’t afford to have their cover blown by questions from security or well-meaning parents who might notice Mauz trailing Leo’s class through the aquarium.
Mauz nodded. “You’re right. And Jag’s a pro.”
Logan had considered going himself, offering his services as a chaperone, but Ella had told him there was a process for clearing school volunteers. Even the parents had to be vetted if they wanted to help out in the classroom, and that process took time.
Gabriella was cleared to volunteer, but she’d been a chaperone on the last field trip and wasn’t on the list for this one.
Jag was the next best person. He’d buy a pass and pretend to browse the exhibits while he stayed as far behind Leo’s class as possible while still keeping an eye on him.
It was the best they could do.
“I have every confidence in him.” Logan said it even though the thought of putting Leo’s safety in the hands of anyone but himself made him crazy.
“So we do it this way,” Mauz said. “We’ll tail the bus to the aquarium. That’s easy enough. They’ll be plenty of traffic to hide behind. Once the bus gets there, we’ll park here.” He tapped the front entrance of the aquarium. “I’ll watch the entrance for anyone who seems shady, run the plates if I see a car waiting, while Jag goes inside. There are service entrances all over the place, but there’s not much we can do about those without the aforementioned creep factor becoming an issue.”
Logan studied the map, worry plucking at his stomach.
“Something we’re missing?” Mauz said.
“Yeah, a whole hell of a lot,” Logan said. “Problem is, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Any chance Perez will pull the plug on the field trip? Tell the kid he can’t go this time?” Mauz asked.
“Not a chance in hell,” Logan said. Gabriella was committed to normalcy, a commodity that was precious for someone who grew up feeling anything but normal.
Mauz shrugged. “Then we do what we can. I’m sure it will be fine. It’s only been a few days since that asshole grabbed Perez in the parking garage. I doubt the bratva will make another move so soon.”
Logan nodded. It made sense.
But he still didn’t like it.
22
Lyon sat in his favorite chair in the corner of the back room at Samara. Most of Yakov’s holdings were cheap in Lyon’s opinion, and cheap holdings were worse than none.
A liability.
