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“Greg, man, I swear I’ve got this. Give me the specifications that you want for the special room, and I’ll build it into the walls. No one will know it’s there, I swear,” Link promises, looking at me sympathetically.
I’ve been pretty awful to live with, and I’m struggling. We’re just so damn close.
Grunting, I nod. “I need monitors in there so she can see any dangers happening in the house. This means I'll need to hook up tiny cameras at the front of the house and inside. I’ll explain to Lennon that the indoor cameras will only activate when she’s inside of the panic room, so she doesn’t freak out for bugging her house,” I explain with a wince.
I’ve heard about how freaky they are. I don’t want to accidentally see one of them railing Lennon against the wall, no matter how much of a voyeur I may be.
Link snorts, shaking his head. “Come on asshole, you’re so twitchy, I’m just going to make you help me. There’s a hall closet against that wall, right?”
He’s acting as if he’s asking, but he knows this house very well. “Yep,” I respond anyway, popping the ‘P’ to get on his nerves. We sketch out what our plans are, and then Link calls his crew in. We’re knee deep in construction for this room when everyone comes home.
Surprisingly, no one comes by, though I hear chatter. The panic room will have steel exterior walls, I decide, so while Link’s guys start installing the wall to wall bookshelves for Lenny, Link starts looking for materials.
“Yeah, I can get that,” Link murmurs. “This is going to be a two week job, even working around the clock on this. You know that, right?”
I nod, wishing it would go faster. “Yeah, I know. Fuck, we need to work on Lennon’s recording studio too,” I groan.
“This is why I make the big bucks here,” Link teases me. “The guys working in this room know not to discuss anything happening here. I’ll bring another crew in for the recording studio. I have to go find Jordan for that. Stop scowling at my crew, man. Damn!”
I know he’s joking, but his guys are refusing to meet my eyes. I guess my crazy is starting to come out.
“Yeah, fuck it. I’ll come with you,” I agree.
I walk out to talk to Jordan with Link, but it isn’t long until I get a call I have to take. Waving at them to continue, I walk out onto the enclosed porch. Flicking on the heater I dropped off one day, I sit down, answering my phone.
“Agent Fox,” I grunt, waiting to hear what Crew’s found.
“Hey, Fox. Xav is moving money to offshore accounts, and it looks like he’s going to make a move. If you have a plan, it’s time to show your hand,” he tells me and I sigh.
Derek wanted to wait to post the photo of Lenny in the cage, but I don’t think he’ll be able to. No one will know she’s there on Saturday, and I’ll be there with the guys and a few members of my team. We need to entice Xav to wait, and want to come after Lenny himself. I feel a wave of emotions at the thought of throwing her to the wolf, but it’s the only way to keep her safe long term.
If Xav decides to exterminate everyone in this house, everything we’ve been working for will mean nothing. “Yeah,” I agree. “I’m going to pull the trigger on my plan now. Thanks, Crew. Is everything else good?”
He makes a noise under his breath, and I frown. “Actually, I haven’t heard from Miranda recently. Has she checked in with you?” Crew asks.
Humming, I grunt in negation. “No, she agreed to take a deep undercover job for me. None of us will hear from her for a while. I’m sure she’s fine. Miranda is well trained, as you know. She went through the same training we did. I’ll let you know when to worry,” I tell him.
Miranda came to me and told me she needed to disappear for a while, so I gave her a job. I wasn’t sure about it at first due to her triggers, but she jumped at the chance. Now, I’m hoping I won’t have to drag her ass out of the fire. There’s too much happening here for another emergency to crop up. I have to believe her training will keep her alive and well.
“Yeah, well that makes sense then,” Crew rumbles. “I’ll let you go to push your plans into motion, boss. Talk later.”
As he’s hanging up, I’m already standing, dragging a hand through my buzzed hair. “Fuck,” I mutter.
Turning off the heater, I walk back inside to look for Derek. I wasn’t out there long enough to have needed the warmth, but damn is it still cold outside.
Spotting Derek working on a laptop in the living room, I stalk towards him. “I need to move a few things up on the timeline,” I begin to explain, dropping onto the couch. Waiting for his eyes to flick to me, I take a breath. “Xav is planning to run and just cut his loose ends. I need you to tease and then announceThe Darkest Nightsshow.”
Derek blinks for a moment, and I watch him think through what that means. There’s no emotion, except for a small tick in his jaw. He’s deciding what to do, looking at the big picture. “Jordan!” he barks, turning back to his computer to start putting things in motion.
Jordan jogs into the room, moving quickly for an older man. “What happened?” he asks, knowing Derek rarely uses that tone.
“I need you to be on board with my leaking the cage photo today, teasing that there’s a big announcement. It’s about three in the afternoon, so I’ll say that I’ll release the information at nine tonight,” he states, glancing up. “I need you to tell whoever you need to that we’re all on board with this. The media invites have already gone out, and they’ve been informed they aren’t allowed to say anything until we do.”
Jordan nods, beginning to open his contact list. “I need the concert ticket link to be live at nine tonight when I post the news, and someone watching for when we’re at capacity,” Derek continues. “What am I missing, Jordan?”
“Not a damn thing I’m not already in charge of. I got this, get people hyped for this,” Jordan tells him, walking across the room to make calls.
They work well together, making all of the pieces fit seamlessly. Leaving it to them to sort things, I stroll out of the room. Lennon raises her brows at me as she sees me, and I walk towards her.
