“Shall I get that?” Wilder doesn’t wait for a response before pulling the door open, a completely out-of-place grin on his face.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Beck retorts, storming past him with a small bag slung over his shoulder. Just like the rest of us, he’s dressed in all black, the long sleeves covering up his tattoos. There’s a determined set to his jaw and his shoulders are pushed back, his chin held high.
“He says he’s coming,” I answer him, as he drops his bag on the island in the kitchen. Turning, he gives Wilder a cursory onceover before dismissing him, pulling open the zipper on his bag.
“Fine, but it’s at your own risk. We’re not going to carry your damn ass if you end up with a bullet in you.”
Beck’s too busy rifling through his backpack so he misses Wilder’s crazy grin. It’s as if the thought of getting shot excites the fucking psycho. I don’t know what the fuck happened to him to make him think taking a bullet is something he wants to experience, and I’m fairly sure I don’t want to know.
“What?” Hawk snaps, turning his glare on Beck and gesturing to Wilder. “He can’t come with us.”
“Why not? He’s another body. We have no idea what we’re going to be up against. If he wants to come, let him.” Beck lifts a handgun—a fucking handgun—out of his bag, and suddenly any argument about Wilder is forgotten as all eyes fall on the sleek, black, metal contraption in his hands.
“What the fuck is that?” I exclaim.
He quirks an eyebrow. “A gun.” Asshole.
I narrow my eyes on him, and he explains before I have to ask him any more asinine questions.
“Cain gave me one for each of us, in case we need it.”
Cam moves closer, looking at the gun with wary interest, and Beck holds it out for him to take.
“I’ve never shot one before,” Cam murmurs, reaching out to take the gun and weighing it in his hand.
“None of us have.” Hawk’s glaring at the gun, looking equally unsure as he debates what to do.
“It’s easy.” Beck takes the gun back from Cam. Pointing to a small lever on the grip, he flips it down. “Safety off”—he flicks the switch back up—“safety on.” He tightens his hold on the grip and lifts it until his arm is stretched straight out in front of him. “Point, aim, and shoot.” He drops the gun back to his side, looking at each of us. “Easy as that.”
I scoff, not buying that bullshit for a second while squashing the questions I have about how he knows how to do that shit. Wasn’t he like thirteen when he left Black Creek?
Lifting another gun out of his bag, he hands it to Mason. Well, he tries to. Mason sneers at the thing and waves it away. “No thanks. I prefer to rely on my fists.”
Beck shrugs, moving to hand Mason’s gun to Hawk. Still scowling at the metal contraption, he takes it, glancing at the safety before shoving it down the back of his pants. Cam follows his lead while Beck hands yet another one to me. Without giving it much thought, knowing I can’t rely on my fists or athletic ability like the others can, I take it from him, placing it in the small bag along with my tablet. Despite the fact I haven’t a clue how to shoot the damn thing, I know I might need it. I’d be a fool not to at least have it on me. If worse comes to worst, I can at least bash someone over the head with it.
He hands the last gun to Wilder, but he waves him off. “Nah, I’m good too.” He pulls a savage looking knife—that’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before—out of a holster strapped to his waist, that I hadn’t initially noticed.
“What the fuck is that?” Cam gapes at the dagger Wilder is wielding with a proud smirk on his face. The blade is about six inches long, with a sharp tip intended to easily puncture through flesh and muscle. One edge is serrated, while the other is a violent looking sawback, intended to tear a person's skin apart as it’s yanked out. It’s clear the weapon is designed for maximum damage.
“This,” Wilder begins, with all the theatrics of a showman, “is a Marine Recon Bowie Knife, or as I’ve decided to call her, Marie.” He flips the handle in his hand while Hawk scoffs.
“You’re going to end up stabbing yourself with that thing.”
Wilder narrows his eyes on him. “I’ll have you know I’m professionally trained, by Sunshine herself.”
“Good to hear she’s encouraging this insanity,” Hawk retorts. “I’ll be having words with her when we get her back.”
“Well, what are we waiting for then?” An unusual seriousness takes over Wilder’s features, and a maliciousness I’ve never seen before darkens his eyes.
I grab my bag with my tablet and newly acquired gun in it, and the six of us hastily leave the apartment. I glance at the others as we walk in silence to the car, taking in their tense postures and the determined glint in their eyes. All of us are more than fucking ready for tonight. Beck catches my eye, his brows lifting in a silent question. I give him a sharp nod, letting him know I’m good, and focus my gaze straight ahead, mentally running over the plan again.
When we reach the parking lot, we split up, taking two cars. I go with Hawk and Cam in Hawk’s SUV, while Mason, Beck, and Wilder take Mason’s four-wheel drive.
The drive passes mostly in silence, and when we’re half an hour away, Hawk dials Mason’s number, the sound of the call ringing over the car’s Bluetooth before he answers.
“Let’s go over the plan one more time,” Hawk says tersely, before Mason can say anything.
“When we arrive,” I respond immediately, diving into the plan. I have gone over it in my head multiple times today, as I’m sure Hawk has, but making sure everyone knows exactly what we’re doing, especially with Wilder's last-minute addition, makes me feel better about our chances of success tonight, “I’ll remotely change all the access codes and lock the guards out of the system. I’ll put the compound on lockdown so no one will be able to freely move around, unless they know the new code. I’ve sent the code to your phones. Beck, can you send it on to Cain?”
There’s a second’s pause where everyone checks their phones before murmurs of confirmation are heard.
“Will do,” Beck responds, before proceeding to fill us in on Cain’s role. “We’re meeting Cain at the back entrance. West, you’ll be able to get us in okay?”
“Won’t be a problem. Once I lock them out of their system, I’ll be able to activate the gate. They’ll see that it has been opened, but they won’t be able to do anything about it, and with the signal jammer Cain recommended, none of the guards will be able to communicate with one another, or send for help to anyone outside the compound.”
“Good.” Beck’s voice comes across gruff over the Bluetooth. “Cain and his men are going to get the kids out, and any willing recruits, so we just need to focus on finding Hadley.”