Chapter 10 #2
Jade nodded. “Then they showed me a video of her in the same cell they’d left me in for those six weeks and told me that if I didn’t complete my missions, they would kill Lily.”
Keira met Rogue’s gaze over Jade’s head. “We will get her out,” she promised.
“We need to do a little more research to make what I have in mind work.” Jade squared her shoulders and glanced up at Keira. “Do you remember the logo on the truck that delivered supplies?”
Keira closed her eyes, trying to recall the truck and the image painted on each side. “If I remember correctly, it was a bear pushing a shopping cart.”
Jade nodded. “That’s what I remember, thinking it was dumb to have a bear pushing a shopping cart. But it was because it was a family-owned business.”
“Bear Brothers Supplies,” Keira said.
“We need to intercept that truck, have Rogue replace the driver and sneak me and you into the back.”
“They inspect every vehicle that comes through the gate,” Keira reminded her.
Jade shook her head. “I watched on a number of occasions when the Bear Brothers truck arrived. They only gave the contents a cursory glance and waved it through. I don’t think they’re as diligent when it comes to the supply truck.
The same guy arrives, drops the supplies and leaves.
They’re more concerned about people leaving the compound.
In which case, they’ll inspect the truck as it exits the compound.
No one tries to sneak into the compound. ”
Keira wasn’t as convinced they’d get in as easily as that.
Jade looked up at Rogue. “Do you think you can get your boss to do some data mining and tap into the logistics system for Bear Brothers Supply? We need to know the warehouse location, when the truck leaves that warehouse and when it’s scheduled to deliver to the compound.
We’ll need to either get the three of us in the back of that truck before it leaves the warehouse or stall it along its route, replace the driver with Rogue and slip me and Keira into the back. ”
Rogue took out the satellite phone and called Royce, relaying the information they needed and giving him a good stab at the compound's coordinates. “And we’ll need it as soon as possible.” When he ended the call, he met Jade’s gaze.
“He’s getting our computer techie on it.
He’s an expert at tapping into data through the usual channels or the dark web. ”
“Good,” Jade said.
They sat around the table going over the compound map, the timing and backup plans.
Phase One would consist of getting Rogue, Keira and Jade on the truck. They’d wait for information from Royce to make the decision regarding whether they’d start at the warehouse or intercept the truck en route to the compound.
Phase Two would begin at the loading dock. Jade pointed to the map and the route Rogue would take to reach the back of the main building, where the loading dock was.
Jade met and held Keira’s gaze. “I think it would be best if I stayed at the main building in case we need to create a distraction. If it looks like we’ll have a hard time getting from the dock to the building behind it, I can step out, tell the dock workers and guards that I’m there to surrender and demand to see Viktor.
When the guards take me into the building to make that call, you two can leave the dock.
Once they get me inside, I’ll take out whoever the escorts are, break into the security room, disable the surveillance system, break into Viktor’s office, download all his files and then make my way to the truck at the loading dock and hide in the back while I wait for you. ”
Rogue nodded. “While the guards are focused on Jade, Keira and I will slip out of the truck and head for the confinement building, locate and free Lily, bring her back to the truck then hide her and Keira in the back with Jade.”
“Rogue drives us out the gate,” Jade said. “And we get all the data to Royce in time for his senator to release it to the National Security Council.” She looked from Keira to Rogue. “You know, a download of the Onyx database will be even more compelling than the testimonies of two Onyx assassins.”
Keira shook her head. “That’s a lot of moving parts, and some of them are dependent on everything going according to plan with no hiccups.”
“And you know what they say about plans?” Rogue said.
The two women looked at him expectantly.
Rogue shook his head. “Just because you plan it that way doesn’t mean it’ll happen as planned.”
Keira kept a straight face when she wanted to laugh.
Rogue raised his hands palms up. “Just be ready to back up and punt.”
Still, neither Keira nor Jade responded.
“That’s a football analogy.” Rogue sighed. “Never mind. We’re all trained combatants. If you can’t slip in and out without being seen, kick some ass on your way out.”
Keira grinned, loving that Rogue was trying to lighten the mood at the same time as warning them that things could go to hell in a heartbeat.
“Every plan is risky when you’re outnumbered, twenty to one,” Keira said. “But it’s the best shot we have to free Lily.”
Jade’s brow furrowed. “It might be the only shot we have.”
They spent the rest of the day cleaning weapons, loading ammunition into magazines and going over contingency plans.
“Keira and Jade will wear the radio earbuds,” Rogue said.
Keira frowned. “What about you?”
“I’ll be with you,” Rogue said.
“I’ll have to go in unarmed. I’ll hide my earbuds in my ponytail until I get past the gate and take my escorts out,” Jade said. “Hopefully, when they search me, they won’t make me take down my ponytail.”
“And how are you going to take out your guards without weapons?” Rogue asked.
Jade exchanged a glance with Keira. “We have our ways.”
Keira nodded. Their training had prepared them for this.
“Our abort signal will be the word punt,” Rogue said. “If anyone initiates the abort signal, it means all hell has broken loose. Head for the back wall near the trash bins. Those bins give us the best chance of scaling the wall.”
“What about the concertina wire on top of the wall?” Jade asked.
“I’ve got wire cutters in my truck,” Keira said. “We’ll add it to our kit.”
By nightfall, they had everything lined out, packed and ready, waiting for additional information from Royce.
They cooked up a couple of cans of chicken and dumplings and ate the soup with the saltines. After they washed the dishes, they took mugs of tea and coffee out to the porch to admire the clear Texas sky with a blanket of stars casting an inky glow over the Hill Country.
Jade leaned against a post, her cup of tea clasped between her hands. “Our mother had such big dreams for Lily and me before she got sick.”
“What happened to your mother?” Keira asked.
“Breast cancer,” Jade said. “We went along as a happy threesome after our father left us for his secretary.” She shook her head.
“Mother wanted me to be a research scientist since I was so good at science in school. She thought Lily would grow up to be a nurse or a doctor because she cared so much about others. When Mom died, her dreams and ours died with her. We were shipped off to a foster home where we were treated like live-in babysitters for their small children. Because they needed us at home after school to care for their children, we couldn’t commit to sports or after-school activities. ”
“Why didn’t you go to live with your father?”
“He and his young wife rented a fishing boat out of Port Aransas one summer and never came back. They never found them or the boat.” Jade stared out at the night.
“I ran away from the foster home, determined to get a job, find an apartment and return for Lily. I told her I’d be back for her.
” She paused. “That’s when Viktor found me and convinced me I’d be better off with Onyx, that when I finished my training, they’d send for Lily and they’d take her in as well.
I didn’t know what I was getting into until it was too late. I thought I’d found a place where...”
“...where you belonged,” Keira said.
The satellite phone perched on the porch rail chirped.
Rogue grabbed it. “It’s Royce.” He answered the call and set it on speaker. “Hey, Royce. The gang’s all here. You’re on speaker.”
“Good. I had our tech guy, Swede, search satellite images for the coordinates you gave us and then tap into the Bear Brothers Supplies online logistics system. The supply truck scheduled for the location will depart the warehouse facility at eight in the morning. It has two delivery stops en route before its expected delivery time of thirteen hundred hours at the Young Ladies Rehabilitation Camp.”
Keira snorted. “Is that what they tell the world is located in the compound, a young ladies rehabilitation camp?”
“I’m surprised, with a name like that, they didn’t have any mandatory social services oversight,” Rogue said.
“I had the same thought,” Royce said. “Swede dug deeper to find that a charitable corporation funds the camp. He dug deeper and found that the charity has ties to a company in which Marcus Kaufman owns a majority stake. Alan Strickland also owns a significant number of shares. I’m sending you the locations of the stops en route as well as the exact coordinates of the camp.
” Royce paused. “Please tell me you’re not going to do something incredibly stupid. ”
Rogue’s lips twisted. “Define stupid.”
Royce responded with, “Assaulting a fortified compound with three people and limited ammunition. I’ve seen the satellite images. That place is a fortress.”
Rogue’s gaze met Keira’s as he responded to his boss. “Then yes, we're about to do something incredibly stupid.”