Once the abduction was accomplished, Neil would watch the security cameras in order to see when the members began to gather. If there was a delay, Moose would begin delivering flowers to them, expressions of sympathy from acquaintances. Noah even planned to order flowers from other local florists, just so that no one would get suspicious about the same van coming and going all the time.
Noah and Sarah would handle the abduction, and they had already prepared a room in the warehouse as a temporary place to keep the nanny and children. They would go out sometime the next day to scour the thrift shops for cribs and a bed, then stock up on diapers, baby food and other necessities until a pair of specialists from another branch of E & E arrived to take charge of them. The children would be placed with an adoption agency in another state, and the nanny would be released unharmed in yet another after the mission was complete.
Neil would be in charge of keeping them under guard until they were retrieved, with Moose to relieve him periodically. That would allow Noah and Sarah to keep moving, while staying close to the Gomez home. They would be waiting for word from Neil that the gathering had begun, and as soon as they were sure that at least a majority of the targets were inside, Sarah would bring Noah close enough for the detonator remote to work. All of the detonators were programmed to channel 7, so the shrine and flowerpots would all explode at once. There should be enough explosive within the house to level it completely and shred everyone inside.
Sarah glanced at him, and for a split second Noah wondered if she was reading his mind. He knew she was worried about the children, about the unavoidable trauma they would suffer after being kidnapped and losing their families, but there was simply no way to completely protect them from it. These children were innocent, and would probably be raised by a new family without ever knowing their true history. It was the best Noah could do for them.
“You okay?” Noah asked, and she shrugged her shoulders, but with a grin on her face.
“I guess so,” she said. “You know, all those years when I was growing up, I didn't ever really think about the fact I was helping my dad steal cars. I always thought of myself as a pretty good kid, you know what I mean? If someone had told me even three years ago that I would one day be helping to make bombs to kill a bunch of drug dealers, I would've said they were crazy.” She rolled her eyes. “Now look at me. I'm so deeply entrenched into this, now, I'm not only part of an assassination team, I'm in love with a man who kills people for a living. It's not exactly the Cinderella, happily-ever-after kind of thing that most girls dream about, you know?”
“I can imagine,” Noah said. “Let's face it, I'm not any kind of Prince Charming, anyway.” He looked at Moose. “How's it coming?”
“Better, now that Sarah is helping me out. I can stuff potting soil in a pot, stick flowers in there all day long, but I just don't have the eye to make it look like something pretty. She does. With her helping, people might actually believe these came from a real flower shop.”
“Good, we need this to look as realistic as possible.” Noah glanced at his phone to check the time. “It's almost five thirty,” he said. “Anybody hungry?”
They all admitted that they could eat, so Noah sent Sarah out to pick up sandwiches, fries and drinks. She was back within half an hour, and they took a break to have dinner. By the time they were finished, the last flowerpot had been taken out of the printer. All four of them worked together to finish the last four floral arrangements, with Sarah advising them all.
“Okay, let's make us a skeleton,” Neil said.
The skeleton would have to be assembled, with each section printed out separately. The feet, shins, thighs, pelvis, spine, rib cage, shoulder blades, upper arms, forearms, hands, neck bones, skull and lower jaw were each individual designs. He called up the feet on the monitor, and set it to printing the right one first.
Each section would require a separate detonator, so there were a total of twenty of them involved. As fast as the printer was, it still took over four hours to make all of the parts, including a rod to help it stand up, and then they had to be snapped together. Luckily, they had been designed for easy assembly, but it was still almost 11 o'clock before the entire four-foot skeleton was laid out on the table.
They were as prepared as they could be up to that point. All that remained was to wait for the dress to arrive the next day and gather up a supply of jewelry with which to decorate the shrine.
“All right, let's go get some rest,” Noah said. “Tomorrow morning, Sarah, you can run out and see what kind of jewelry you can find.”
“From what I see online,” Neil said, “it doesn't have to be expensive stuff. Old costume jewelry would work just fine—the shinier and flashier, the better.”
“That ought to be easy. I can hit some of the thrift stores, they usually have lots of that kind of stuff. Salvation Army, here I come!”
When they got to the hotel, they said goodnight and went to their rooms. Sarah waited until they had gotten inside before she turned and put her arms around Noah's neck, pulling him down for a kiss.