Chapter Nineteen #2
Stalking the halls at an accelerated pace, I head for the corridor between solitary and the East. I’m meeting Rook and Velle there for one last rendezvous before the countdown begins. Sure enough, I find them waiting for me, wearing their determination on their faces.
Winds whip at the building, Velle’s eyes gliding upward. “It’s hitting hard out there…”
“As good a time as any to fuck shit up.” I grin, and he winks.
“How’s 48?” He asks, beginning that pacing he does when he’s ready to go, like his body has too much pent-up energy and if he sits still, he’ll explode.
“I mean… he’s alive,” I breathe.
Rook swallows visibly.
“I stashed that bag for him in Darcey’s room. He’ll be able to access it if he needs to.” He pauses, wringing his hands. “Peters and Reyes will handle it once everything is in motion.”
I nod. “What are we gonna do about 102?” Velle stops moving and peers at me. “I just ran into him and Byron… Just waltzing around the East, looking for Dr. Love.”
Velle scoffs, shaking his head. “Yea, apparently that’s a thing.”
“62 said it was harmless,” Rook murmurs.
Gotta love the guy for his blind optimism. Though I won’t lie, sometimes it drives me nuts.
“Yea. Right.” Velle rolls his eyes.
“So The Ivory’s been letting them walk around.” Rook shrugs. “I don’t see why it’s a problem for us. I mean, what could they possibly be doing?”
“That’s not the point,” Velle grumbles. He’s honestly seemed just as butthurt about Kang hooking up with Fenwick as Luthor and Ren, which is surprising.
I didn’t know he cared that much… “Fenwick has been spying for The Ivory, and you know as well as I do, he doesn’t let you just stop working for him.
When it’s all said and done, 62 will have to make a choice. And we’ll have to trust that choice…”
He breathes out a rough one, rubbing his eyes. “I’m not in the mood to deal with a snake in the grass. Not when every move we make in here has to go off without a hitch.”
“Baby, things go wrong,” Rook takes his hand. “Shit gets fucked up, you know that. If it does, we’ll adapt and fucking handle it.”
Velle doesn’t appear sold on the whole Kang and Fenwick thing, but he moves on, because we don’t have much time. Peeking at me, he asks, “Love got Darcey out?”
I nod. “Yea, they’re gone. On their way to the mansion.”
Which is why it’s even weirder that Kang said he and Trevel were down here to see Dr. Love… He never mentioned anything about meeting with them.
“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” Velle hums, also not sold on the Felix and Dr. Love aspect of this thing.
But once again, he doesn’t have much of a choice but to take them at their word that they can handle The Ivory, and hope that their part of the plan won’t blow up in our faces.
“Let’s focus on what we can control,” Rook cuts in. “Pedroia’s meeting should be happening after lights out.”
Velle checks his watch. “Twelve minutes and counting.”
God, that’s so soon. I’m freaking out.
“Peters is on point,” Velle goes over the details we’ve already hammered into our brains repeatedly. I’m sure he’s just speaking it out loud to placate himself. He glances my way again. “You’re taking Hancock and Jasper to the Attic…”
“We’re meeting there as soon as I’m done with you,” I tell him with confidence made to ease his mind.
But he just nods and goes back to pacing. “He’s still here for some reason… But he has no reason to stay after light’s out. Once we have the armory, we’ll get guns to the prisoners. Lucas and Soto will signal the control rooms, and we’ll—”
“Lucky…” I grab him by his holster, forcing him to stop moving. “Take a breath.”
He scowls at me, but I scowl back until he concedes and does what I say. Inhaling deep, and letting it out slowly, I witness a fraction of the tension fall from his shoulders.
“This plan is solid,” I tell him. “Everyone knows what to do, and they’ll do it.”
He nods reluctantly, and I smirk.
“We have the advantage,” Rook adds. “Because we know every crevice of this building, the mansion… This island, as a whole, is ours. We’ve got this.”
“You’re right,” he grumbles, rolling his neck like he’s preparing for a boxing match.
Rook and I smile. And we take one last opportunity to hold hands and kiss before everything changes.
“It’s gonna work,” I tell them with every ounce of confidence I can muster. “Seriously, we’ve proven that we can handle anything this place throws at us.”
“Hell yea.” Rook grins as the lights flicker.
What could go wrong?
Leaving the prison, I’m up in my head once again.
If anyone can pull off something like this, it’s my partners. I trust them with my life, and that’s saying a lot, because I never used to trust anyone who wasn’t blood. Not after what The Ivory did to my family…
Speaking of, once I’m within sight of the the old armory, I tug my phone out of my pocket. I’m pulling up the contact, ready to place the call when I pause.
I hear something off in the distance. It sounds like… a moan.
Is someone fucking out here??
The noises fade off, and my chin tips as I take in the scenery. These woods are creepy as hell at night, especially right now, with this storm swaying the trees and spitting rain in my face.
Not that I’m afraid or anything, but I decide to wait until I’m sure the armory is secure before making my call. I get inside, and verify that it’s all clear, then step outside again.
Standing, posted up by the door, I press call, listening past the ringing for any nearby sounds. Jasper and Hancock are due out here soon, but we also need to be on alert for any of The Ivory’s men.
“Cailin?” My dad answers, sounding out of breath, like he just ran to the phone.
It makes me smile. “Hi, Dad. How’s it going?”
“Never mind how it’s going,” he grunts. “Are you alright? John, Harley…?”
I chuckle. My scary Irish mob father is such a teddy bear, I swear. “We’re all fine, Dad, I promise.”
He sighs hard into the phone. “Good… That’s good. I’m still worried, but I trust you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” I snicker.
“Don’t crack wise, young lady,” he grumbles. “You tell me that prick is making threats, after what he’s done to us… After years of torment, and you expect me to sit back and not interfere?? I thought you knew me better than that, cailin.”
Biting my lip, I shift on my feet. I haven’t told him that The Ivory kicked us out of the house yet… And I think it’s best that I keep it to myself for now. It’s only going to rile him up more, and I can’t have that. Not with our plan going into effect.
The last thing I need is to be worrying about him worrying about me. And as much as I know my father—and his men—can handle themselves, Velle was very clear about me convincing him not to show up.
He wants us to do this on our own, and I get it. I’m happy to fight on behalf of Southie.
“I do know you. Which is how I know that as much as it’s driving you crazy, you’ll stay put and let us finish this,” I tell him with conviction. “I know you know I can handle myself, and that Velle and Rook would sooner die than let me, or anyone they love, come to harm. They’re like you that way.”
He’s silent for a moment. I pull the phone away to check that the call is still connected.
“Cailin, I don’t want to stress yeh out more,” he hums, softer than I’ve ever heard him before. It’s twisting my gut like a pretzel. “I do know all of those things… But I’m still… and I won’t… after years…”
The call is breaking up, his words coming in and out.
“Dad, I think I have bad service…” I huff, checking my phone. “Can you hear me??”
“What… are yeh… I don’t…”
“Dad??” I bark, walking away from the armory a few feet to see if I can get better service. “Shit… Fucking storm. Dad, are you there??”
I really want to know what he was trying to say. It sounded important.
My father isn’t one to show much emotion. Hearing him sound so vulnerable really cuts into me.
“Cailin?!” He croaks in my ear, but it’s too choppy.
A bright flash startles me, a bolt of lightning striking a nearby tree. The thunder is immediate, and so loud that I jump, dropping my phone.
“Holy fuck!” I gasp, slapping my hand over my heart.
Jesus, that was intense.
Maybe I shouldn’t be standing out here…
“Shit,” I mutter again, bending to look for my phone. The ground is covered in wet leaves. My boots are being swallowed up by mud as it is, and now I can’t find my fucking phone.
Fuck my life. Even if I find it, it’s probably gonna be all waterlogged. Hopefully, I can find some rice in the caf after we…
Footsteps have me going still. Slinking behind a tree, I take cover just in case. I’m expecting Jasper and Hancock, but the last thing I need is one of The Ivory’s guys finding me out here alone. And so close to our rendezvous point.
Checking that the coast is clear, I make a run for the armory, slipping inside and closing the door quietly. I stand off to the side, listening as best I can. The footsteps are growing closer… My hand falls to my Glock.
But then I hear a whistle.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, I open the door for them.
“Party’s here.” Hancock smirks, stomping inside with Jasper close behind.
“Okay, Snooki, calm down,” I huff.
Jasper cackles, while Hancock fakes a laugh, shaking the water from his shaggy hair.
“This storm is no joke,” he sighs, shedding his soaking wet jacket.
He looks like he’s about to drape it on the handlebars of Velle’s bike, and I snap, “There’s no way you’re that stupid…”
He rolls his eyes, tossing his jacket onto a wooden crate instead.
“How’s it looking?” I ask them.
“The East was clear,” Jasper answers, brushing his fingers over Hancock’s lower back on his way over to check our cache. “Quiet.”
“Almost too quiet,” Hancock adds. My head cocks. “It was weird. I mean, it’s always weird down there, but something felt…” He swallows visibly, shaking his head. “I dunno, it’s probably nothing.”
“If you noticed, it’s not nothing,” I say pointedly. “You tell Velle?”