Chapter 3 #2
I had a feeling it was part of the land they had been buying up lately. Some of it was nearly in the heart of the city. It would be the perfect location for a refuge for the homeless. With the right resources, we could have a huge opportunity to help others get back on their feet.
I smiled at Noah and Jace, leaning into Jace to kiss his cheek.
Since Noah was driving, I could only reach up and squeeze his shoulder.
I loved how they supported my siblings. I loved how they didn’t hesitate to love them.
They were just demonstrating more ways to prove what great fathers they would be.
Troy piped up from the passenger seat. “I’ll invest and help in any way I can. I’m sure Pops and Greg would love to invest in this project as well.”
“I have a few contacts who may help regarding the workshops and mental health checks we can conduct.” Lincoln seemed just as passionate about the idea.
“I already have a lot of the research done if you all want to look at it!” Micah excitedly informed them.
I was impressed, but not surprised in the least, by his initiative and planning. Micah may have had to play catch-up with his schoolwork, but he was a smart, capable teen. When he was passionate about something, he threw his entire being into it.
Our conversation was temporarily interrupted as we pulled up to a private airfield that had clearly seen better days. I had to stifle an inappropriate giggle when I saw some goats being shooed off the airstrip. As I watched, a small cargo plane appeared on the horizon.
“They’re early.” Jace frowned, glancing at his watch. “We’re going to have to double-time it.”
“Are you ready, Blake and Lincoln?” Micah asked, appearing beside me.
I jumped, noticing he was hiding a smile. I hadn’t even realized he had left the van.
“There are only three people on the premises. There’s a guy in the control tower, one prepping to help them land, and the third looks like a point of contact of sorts,” he explained.
“Take me to the point of contact,” Lincoln said, grasping Micah’s shoulder.
We had already done our research on Victor Flores.
He held dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States and was a level five operative working in the import-export business.
He used his company as a cover for his illegal operations and hadn’t hesitated to help Horatio with his disgusting dealings.
Along with the research, we were able to access his emails and texts to understand the role he played in it all.
Our investigation also included his social media platforms. The man wasn’t shy in the least. He posted so much that it was easy to conclude what type of guy he was.
That proved useful because Lincoln could study his mannerisms and the way he carried himself.
With Lincoln’s acting skills and his study of Victor, it would be easy to jump the man and “be him” throughout the mission tonight.
Micah was gone in less than three seconds when I heard Lincoln’s voice in my head. “I’m in. Holy crap, this man needs to lay off the cologne. Damn, I wish I could take a shower to get the smell off me. I swear he emptied an entire bottle on himself.”
I laughed, and the others gave me a quizzical look. “It seems Victor likes to wear too much cologne. It’s overwhelming, Lincoln.”
Once Lincoln was in place, we waited for ground control to guide the airplane in and chalk up its wheels.
I waited until all the men had convened in one area before compelling them to one of the back offices.
Casey was too arrogant to check if the area was secure.
He relied too much on people he barely knew and assumed his gift was powerful enough to protect him.
He didn’t think it necessary to bring a few people to back him up or even suspect he would be walking into a trap.
Troy muttered, “Incoming.”
I looked over my shoulder to see a plume of dust rising in the distance. It was evident that it hadn’t rained here in days, or that the land was so thirsty it had soaked up the nourishing liquid as soon as it hit the earth.
I closed my eyes and imagined us as some of the people we had just commanded to hide in the back office. Then I slowly opened them.
“Abracadabra!” I breathed before changing our appearances.
Troy and Noah snorted a laugh and looked at me. “What?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes I feel like I should utter an incantation before performing a magic trick.”
Jace smirked. “It’s not magic, it’s your gifts.”
“You say I’m gifted.” I pretended to be annoyed. “I say it’s magic.”
I completed my statement with jazz hands, quickly stuffing my hands behind my back when the rented jeep skidded to a stop in front of me. I barely averted my face in time to avoid the burst of dust that followed his jackass move. I felt the spray coat my exposed skin and grimaced at its grittiness.
I knew who Casey was the moment he stepped out of the jeep. He looked like a douchebag in his pink polo, white shorts, boating shoes, and way-too-wide smile. If I didn’t know him, I would have assumed he’d just stepped off the pages of a Colgate ad.
He approached Lincoln, Jace, Troy, and me as if he wasn’t here to smuggle people out. He smiled, holding his hand out to us. “Hola, amigos.”
His whole nonchalant attitude was disturbing. He didn’t look guilty in the least. He would have to have no conscience to behave so relaxed and unbothered. If I had to essentially kidnap people, I’d be jumpy, looking around. My conscience wouldn’t allow me to act like I was on a normal outing.
“We already shook your hand,” I informed him.
Vance had already told us that with a simple touch, Casey would realize how strong we were.
That could be dangerous for two reasons.
First, he would realize this was all just an elaborate trap, since none of the people he was meeting ranked above five, and he would become immediately suspicious.
Second, he might try to siphon from us without our consent.
He was like a leech in the gifted world.
He was so skilled with his gift that he could do it without us even realizing it. Jace and Pops were confident we would detect his intrusion, but we were unwilling to test the theory. It was better that he didn’t touch us at all.
He nodded, clearly falling for my compulsion. “Is the merchandise coming?”
I barely contained my look of repulsion. You had to be the lowest of the low to consider people a commodity. I couldn’t wait to lock his ass up. He didn’t deserve to see the bright light of day ever again.
Lincoln confirmed, “They are.”
I looked around, hoping to see the vans.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing when I realized the goats were back on the runway, only this time they’d brought friends in the form of a few scruffy-looking mutts.
As I watched, one of the mutts turned its head and began to trot our way.
I resisted the impulse to bend down and beckon him closer.
Casey started talking about golf, fast cars, and bragging about his wonderful life, so I began to tune him out.
Luckily, the guys were there to pretend to be interested.
Seriously, how can someone be so hung up on himself?
It made me wonder what kind of wives he had.
Did they really find him so charming and handsome that they ignored the walking red flag he was?
“Can we get a dog?” I randomly inquired, directing the question to my guys.
It didn’t take long for the others to respond.
I got a resounding “yes” from Noah, Troy, and Jaxson, and a hesitant “yes” from Lincoln and Drake.
Jace and Remy seemed against the idea, reminding me that with two little ones on the way, we’d probably have our hands full for a while.
Once our house was built, I was confident we could handle one little puppy, even with two babies under or around the age of one.
“Not now,” I huffed, “but one day.”
My musings were cut short when Casey seemed to get sick of talking about himself. He whirled around and looked toward the road, then impatiently glanced down at his watch.
“How much longer is this going to take?” Casey asked.
“What’s the big hurry?” Lincoln inquired.
Casey obviously thought his wives would be done with their spa treatment soon.
Too bad he wasn’t aware that we were bringing his wives to him.
A very small part of me felt bad that they were going to discover what kind of man they were connected to and married to.
I couldn’t imagine living that lie for so many years, only to realize that the person you went to bed with every night wasn’t who you thought they were.
“Me and my wives are heading out to one of those fancy four-star restaurants at the resort tonight,” Casey smirked, rubbing his hands together.
We were saved from having to respond as two large vans began coming down the pitted lane leading to the airfield. The vans swayed and creaked with every pothole they couldn’t avoid.
That feeling of nerves and anticipation struck me once again. It didn’t matter how many times I went on a real-life mission, my stomach still knotted with tension. It wasn’t the sort of anxiety that made me appear nervous on the outside, but it made me hyper-focused.
For instance, I recognized it wasn’t just two vehicles that had pulled up, but three.
If Casey hadn’t been so intent on keeping dust off his white chinos, he probably would have noticed how reality itself had shifted.
He might have found it suspicious that the random black medic weeds that grew profusely by the runway were now bent at odd angles, trapped under the third vehicle Randy had cloaked.