"I'm good," he replied over the circuit. "I'm just getting the last of my gear ready now. Leaving the normal Glocks behind tonight."
"What's your load?" I asked, more for curiosity's sake as I pulled in the rest of my systems. I looked over at Tabby. "I want you on the monitor. Tell me as soon as you have an image, and I'll redirect it to zoom in on the city. It's run like you'd do Google Maps, so you can type in your destination and it'll take you right there. So what's your load, Mark?"
"One Glock 18's, four clips for it, along with the MP7."
"Not the MP5?" I asked, surprised. Getting ammunition for the MP7 was difficult, there weren't too many places you could buy the exotic 4.6 mm ammunition.
"I'm going to need the armor penetration of the MP7. These idiots will have learned from the last times they tangled with me. They should be in full armor."
I looked over at Tabby, who nodded. Just then, a rumble went through my stomach, and I looked down at my belly as a tightness spread through the muscles. I didn’t have time for this right now. "Ready. Tabby's going to be patched in, she's got eyes on the building."
The system went silent for a bit as Mark left Mount Zion, and I heard him peel out in the SUV. He'd have the license plates covered, that was easy enough, but still, it wasn't his bike. I really wish we could have gotten another all electric multi person vehicle to augment his bike, but Mark had worried that if we did, it would give Mount Zion too much of a similarity to his signature as the Snowman. So, while the SUV was a hybrid, the engine did roar on occasion. I only prayed it wasn't going to happen on approach to Pressman Contractors.
My belly tightened again, and I glanced at the clock. Nine minutes. Shit. "Tabby."
"What?" she said, her eyes still glued to the screen. "I've got what looks like four trucks, but that's the same as last time. I see two men outside, no damn clue what's going on inside."
"Tabby."
"What?" she said, glancing at me. "What do you need?"
"I'm contracting," I said, looking down at my belly. "Nine minutes apart."
"Shit," she said, blinking. "Uhm, what the hell should I do? I mean, this is so not part of the birthing plan."
"Don't tell Mark," I immediately said, "he's got to focus on the mission."
“Okay. Here, give me the headset," she said, holding out her hand. Putting it on, she squeezed the send button. "Okay, Mark?"
"What're you doing on the mike?"
"Sophie wanted me to take over because I'm looking at the scene directly from the weather satellites," Tabby explained. "Where are you?"
"Seven minutes out. What do you see?"
"Traffic cams and overhead show four trucks, all but one of them Pressman contractor trucks. There are two men outside, one looks like he's carrying something, maybe a rifle or something. The other I can't see anything yet. Roof and backside of the building are clear."
"They'll expect an attack at the rear then," Mark replied. "You can't get a visual of inside the building?"
"No, bad angle for the cameras. Most I get is that the lights are on."
"Understood."
Another wave of pain rolled through my stomach, and I gritted my teeth. My daughter wanted out, and she wanted out now. The only problem was, while we had made plans for a home delivery with a local midwife, Mark was currently planning an assault on a building full of people, most of them carrying automatic weapons, while Tabby's fiancée was being held hostage. "Tabs."
"Yeah babe?" she asked, turning. "How are you doing?"
"This baby's coming," I replied. "Help me down onto the floor?"
Coming over to my chair, the two of us kept an eye on the traffic cameras projected on the main wall of the room. My keyboard and touch pad were wireless, so that wasn't going to be a problem, I could still help in between contractions. This wasn't exactly the way that I'd wanted to have my daughter.
Another contraction gripped my stomach in a steely grip, and suddenly the floor beneath me was wet. Tabby sat back, her face an open O of surprise, and looked at me. "Uhmmmm...."
"Get my pants off, get a bath towel from the hallway, and get back here quick," I said between short little breaths. "Looks like you get to be the nurse that delivers your goddaughter."
Chapter 13
Patrick