“You might think differently sitting in a pit in the dry heat,” Tristan muttered.
My eyes locked with his and there was a mutual respect gained between us. Tristan had spent years at the farm in Afghanistan. He knew what it was like and instead of burying what happened to him, he fuckin’ uprooted it by spending his life making something of himself in order to get Chess and shut Vault down.
Had a hard time respecting any man, but I was beginning to respect every one of them. I was beginning to give a shit about them, too.
“We make our move now. Not dusk,” I ordered and brows lifted, all eyes shifting to me. “Moreno isn’t going to give a shit about the kids even if they’ve been conditioned for years. He cares about how he looks to others. We take his farm, it damages his pride and makes him look vulnerable. That’s what we play on.”
“Agreed,” Vic said. He crouched at the side of the building, his binoculars out as he surveyed the yard. “Give me an hour for habits.” He was looking for vulnerable spots, finding the habits of the watchdogs in the compound.
Ernie was talking to Tristan and they were putting on their headsets. Ernie was good. He knew what this op entailed and what would happen if it went south.
Deck offloaded his gear. “Okay,”—he glanced at his watch—“two hours.”
Tyler dropped his bag and took out his laptop and powered it on.
I stared at the building, and despite the heat, the cold wash of familiarity of this place hit me. “I can tell you where they will be the second the watchdogs radio trouble.” Tyler stopped typing. “I know every inch of that place.” I was sixteen when the farm moved here, so I spent two years here before I was assigned to Georgie.
There was silence for a few seconds. Then I turned, and Deck chin-lifted to me and started walking away from the group. I followed.
“You going to be solid?” he asked.
I stiffened, brows rising at his question, but I knew where it came from. Bad shit… really bad shit happened here. “I’m solid.”
Deck nodded, his brows low as he continued to walk until we reached the opposite side of the building. “Don’t trust you, Kai, and my men are going into this without much intel. And we are because there are kids involved and losing them isn’t an option. Moreno living isn’t an option.” His stance was wide as he met my eyes, unflinching and direct. “You have anything to share, do it now.”
Deck had men who had his back because he gave a shit. It was the complete opposite as to what I was accustomed. Operatives from Vault did missions on their own and we didn’t care about one another because we were conditioned not to care. Getting an assignment or mission done took precedence over all else—even lives.
And that sat heavily on me. It rubbed me wrong and it was wrong.
But I did have something to share. “London.” Deck nodded. “Anything happens to me, make sure she stays safe.”
His scowl deepened. “Everyone gets out alive. You can look after your own fuckin’ woman.” He slapped me on the back and it was a surprising gesture coming from Deck. “Don’t like you, Kai, but I get you now. So, I’ll let you live and I’ll have your back.”
The corners of my lips curved up. “No invites to Sunday brunches at your place?”
Deck huffed. “Fuck, no.”
Vic took out the two guys on the roof with his sniper rifle before we went in. Then he shot the grappling hook onto the roof with the crossbow and within seconds, we zip-lined onto the roof of the compound. Since it was daylight, we had no cover and no cover was shit, because we were visible to two guards.
Tyler and Vic unsnapped and dropped before we hit the roof and each took one out. We went in from this position because Vic said they were lazy fuckers who smoked too much and hadn’t bothered to look up in the hour he’d been watching the compound.
“Landed,” Deck said into his headset.
Vic responded, “Clear.”
Tyler repeated, “Clear.”
Deck and I kept low and made our way to the north side of the roof. I had the rope out and grapple hooked within seconds before I rappelled over the side. I hit the ground and had my knife in the side of the guard’s throat before his finger flicked on the trigger of his rifle.
“Clear,” I stated and Deck rappelled down and quietly landed beside me. I dragged the body in through the door and dumped it in the first door on the left, which was a classroom.
“I’m in,” Vic said. He was coming in from the south while Tyler had eyes on the front.
“North clear,” Deck said.
Dimly lit hallways, damp musty smell, and fuck-as-all hot with no circulation. I shook my head as the familiar smells hit me and I staggered, placing my hand on the wall. I’d been compliant by the time I was moved here, but the pain hadn’t stopped.
I’d been dragged down this hallway, the bottoms of my feet bruised, and then beaten until I couldn’t walk.