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“She’s with me,” Caleb told Shooter. “I’m on point. We’ll take the front entrance.”
Shooter turned to Tex and Hawk. “You two are on the rear entrance. Hawk, you take point on that one.” Tex didn’t argue. If guns blazing was the plan, any one of them could charge in first, but no one was stealthier than Red Cloud.
Izzy eyed Shooter’s sniper rifle warily. “If they’re dead, we don’t get paid,” she told him.
Shooter grinned at her. “I won’t kill anyone, Izzy. I’m just the backup. And don’t worry about getting paid. We live here, and this is in our wheelhouse, so we’re helping out our brother. No one’s taking your money from you.”
Izzy nodded. “I appreciate that.”
She watched the men finish gearing up. “What?” Shooter asked her.
She shook her head. “Nothing,” she told him. “I was just thinking about Pop, that’s all.”
Shooter placed his large hand on Izzy’s shoulder and squeezed. “Family’s family, Iz.”
Tex stepped forward and looked up to the ridge. He frowned. “We should have brought Abby,” he declared. “For the girl.”
“I’ll take the girl,” Izzy told him. “You handle the others. We’ll call RCPD once everyone is locked down.”
“Alright,” Shooter said firmly. “Let’s move out. Everyone knows their assignment. Stay out of view of those windows and wait at your points of entry for Go.”
Everyone nodded and spread out quickly and quietly.
Tex and Hawk headed left, through the trees and up the hill. Shooter, Easy, Caleb, and Izzy turned right together, though Easy and Shooter broke off from them as Izzy and Caleb maneuvered toward the shoddy one-story cabin that rose into view ahead of them. Caleb and Izzy reached their destination first, as it was closest. He crept up the porch, placing his boots on the sides of the steps to avoid stressing the cracked wood. When he reached the top, he swung right and pressed himself up against the wall, just beside the doorknob.
Izzy reached out and gently tested it. When it gave just a bit, she let go of the knob and nodded at Caleb.
“We’re in position,” Caleb said softly. The earpieces were top of the line and picked up even the barest whisper.
“Understood,” came Shooter’s voice.
“Uh, we got a problem,” Tex cut in. “Our entry’s locked.”
Caleb frowned. The rear door was closest to the kitchen. It was imperative that they breached that entrance, even more so than the front. Before he could say anything, Izzy said, “I’m on my way.”
She crept back down the steps and edged toward the right side of the house. Which was smart, he noted. There were two windows on that side, but one of them was blocked by curtains. If the girl was in that room, she wouldn’t cry out in surprise at seeing a heavily armed woman sneaking past her window. Plus, Shooter was on that side. He and Easy were spotters for the operation and they’d safely navigate Izzy to the back door.
Caleb watched as Izzy disappeared around the corner of the cabin. He held his breath and steadied his hands. He didn’t like it when she was out of sight. He pressed his back further into the wall behind him to fight the urge to go after her.
“Easy now,” came Shooter’s voice over the earpiece. “The one in the living room is on the move.”
There was a long moment of silence as Caleb imagined Izzy waiting by the window, tensed and ready to move past it at the lieutenant’s word. Finally the word came and just a few seconds later, Caleb heard Izzy say, “Hold this.”
The sound of a snort came over the earpiece. “You hold Vegas’ purse,” Hawk whispered. “Now Izzy’s shotgun. Must feel good to be useful.”
“Fuck you,” Tex whispered.
“Shut it,” Shooter ordered and they maintained radio silence while Izzy picked the lock on the back door.
Caleb looked down at his watch and timed it, for lack of anything better to do. At the 47-second mark, she said, “Got it.” He smiled to himself. That’s my girl. The thought had come to him unbidden, and it surprised him, but he didn’t have time to think about it now as she made her way back to the front of the cabin to prepare for entry.
“He’s back,” Shooter told her. “He’s on the couch. Go ahead; he can’t see you.”
Within seconds, Izzy appeared around the corner of the house again. Caleb felt his stomach uncoil now that he could see her again. She crept back to her position by the front door. “Okay,” she whispered.
“Stand by, sports fans,” Shooter said. Half a second later, the front tire on the rusted-out truck parked in front of the cabin jerked. Caleb heard a slow, quiet hiss of air as the tire deflated. After an adjustment, Shooter fired another silenced round from his rifle and disabled the second vehicle.
