Chapter 14 #2
“Shelby’s blond,” Lissette pointed out. “Holly’s mom has darker hair. You need someone with dark hair. I’ll go in as Evangeline.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Simon said.
“I don’t care,” Lissette said. “If it gets us inside and Holly out, that’s what matters.
I want to do this. Let me help my cousin.
” She held Simon’s gaze in the starlight.
“You can trust me to do this. I promise, I might not always say or do the right thing, but I love my cousin and my aunt and uncle.”
“We don’t have much time,” Remy said.
“If you come with me, you have to follow my instructions,” Simon said.
Lissette nodded. “I will. I promise. Now, we’ll need disguises. Can we get lab coats? We need to look like scholarly scientists.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Remy promised.
Lissette ducked into the bathroom and emerged with a brush, going to work on the tangle of her long, wet hair.
She pulled it back into a severe, tight knot at the nape of her neck.
With her face free of makeup, the difference in the clothes and hairstyle changed her appearance from the usual sultry seductress to a serious scientist.
Simon began to believe they might get away with the charade.
“The fastest way to get to the facility is by water,” Remy said. “Do you have a boat?”
“We do,” Simon said.
“It should take approximately twenty minutes by water to get to the facility. I’ll text the GPS pin for the location to the number you’re calling from.”
A text pinged through. Simone checked the pin on the map application. “Got it.”
Simon could hear the tapping of a keyboard in Remy’s background. “Shelby just left. She’s swinging by the coroner’s office for white lab coats. She’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”
Simon wanted to say hurry, but they needed to have everything and everyone in place before they attempted to make the trade of scientists for Holly.
“I put out an SOS call to all Bayou Brotherhood Protectors,” Remy said.
“So far, seven out of our ten have responded. I expect to have everyone here within fifteen minutes. Shelby is mobilizing the sheriff’s department on the down-low in case the people at BioEnergen are listening to the police scanner.
Sheriff Bergeron is fueling up the sheriff’s department’s watercraft. ”
“How do you plan to get the team out to BioEnergen’s location?” Simon asked.
“Working on that,” Remy said. “Just woke Mitchell Marceau. He’s headed to the marina to prep rentals. Should have them ready when our guys get there. Our newest recruit, Anton Noel, a former Air Force PJ, just let me know he’s bringing a drone so we can get eyes in the sky.”
“Now, all we need is the National Guard, SEAL Team 6 and the Bayou Reapers,” Simon said. “Seriously, I’m worried they’ll have sentries positioned around the complex and will spot the army of people converging before Lissette and I can get inside.”
“And I’m not excited about you going in before we have our people in place,” Remy said.
“Rafael and Landry did a thorough reconnaissance around the facility. Other than the guards on the exterior of the building, they didn’t detect additional positions in a wider perimeter.
We need to get our team in place, ready to take out the exterior guards before you and Lissette show up as Holly’s parents. ”
Simon’s gut clenched. “There are a lot of moving parts. I’m worried for Holly.”
“Shelby should be there about now with the lab coats and communication devices. I’m on the way to the marina now. Our guys are converging there. We’ll be set up with radio headsets. Shelby’s also bringing you an array of weapons to choose from.”
“I doubt they’ll let us go in fully armed.” Simon stepped out of the houseboat and crossed the gangway to the dock, anxious to get moving. “We’ll take whatever we can get away with.”
Headlights flashed at the end of the driveway, leading down to the houseboat.
“Shelby’s here,” Simon said. “We’ll be leaving the dock within the next five minutes.”
“Good, I’m almost to the marina now. Let’s make this happen.”
Shelby parked the Sheriff’s department SUV and leaped out. With a handful of lab coats and a small duffel bag, she ran to the dock. The first items she pulled out were bulletproof vests.
Simon shook his head. “They’ll frisk us, and those would be the first to go.
“Good point.” Shelby handed them the lab coats.
They slipped into them quickly and buttoned the fronts.
Lissette’s coat swallowed her, which would work in her favor as the people negotiating the exchange would expect an older woman to be a little thicker, not fashion-model thin.
Lissette glanced up at Simon and then reached to smooth his hair straight back.
“That’s more like a studious scientist. But if the guys who attacked you are there—which I suspect they will be—they’ll recognize you immediately.
” She frowned and looked around. “You need glasses, a mustache and a hat. Anything to help disguise you.”
“I have sunglasses in my vehicle,” Shelby said.
Lissette nodded. “Get them.”
Shelby ran up to her SUV and returned with sunglasses and a floppy fishing hat.
“Found this in the back on the floorboard. I think it belonged to Bobby Smart. I brought him in the other day for drunk and disorderly conduct to sleep it off in one of our cells.” She handed the hat and sunglasses to Lissette.
Lissette placed the hat on Simon’s head and tugged it in place.
Then she held up the sunglasses. “Nice sunglasses,” she said, then grimaced.
“Don’t hate me for this.” She punched the lenses out of the frame and handed the glasses to Simon.
“Hopefully, they won’t look close enough to notice there are no lenses.
” She stood back and studied him. “Better.”
Shelby motioned to the duffel bag. “Choose your weapon.”
“I already have mine.” Lissette bent to pull up her pant leg, displaying a sheath with her bejeweled dagger tucked neatly inside.
Simon wanted to load up with a gun, several magazines full of ammunition and a couple of smoke grenades.
His hand hovered over the K-Bar knife. Finally, he shook his head and stepped back.
“Can’t. They’ll frisk us before they let us inside.
They probably won’t take offense to Lissette’s knife, though they’ll confiscate it.
But if I go in with a weapon, they’ll see it as a threat.
” He’d have to rely on his hand-to-hand combat training and the fact they wouldn’t be expecting a scientist to jump them.
Shelby handed Simon and Lissette radio earbuds.
As Simon pressed his into his ear, a sheriff’s boat drove up to the dock. Sheriff Bergeron waved from the helm.
“There’s my ride,” Shelby said. “Good luck.”
Simon felt in his pocket for the rabbit’s foot and remembered it was still in the wet jeans he’d left in the houseboat.
“I’ll be right back.” He ducked back into the houseboat, found the rabbit’s foot and tucked it into his pocket. He was back on the dock seconds later.
“Ready?” he asked Lissette.
She nodded, her face set. “I’m ready. Let’s go get Holly. My pirogue or the skiff? Either way, I’m driving.”
Simon’s lips twitched. “Are all the Gautier women so...”
“Bitchy? Demanding? Cocky?” she offered.
“I was going to say confident and self-assured,” Simon said.
Shelby laughed as she climbed aboard the Sheriff’s vessel. “You have to have balls of steel to tangle with Voodoo Queen’s spawn. Bonne Chance.”
“We’ll take the pirogue,” Lissette said decisively. “The motor is quieter.”
She climbed into the pirogue, took the cell phone with the map app open, so they could find the location they needed to reach, and waited silently while Simon settled into the middle seat.
Hand on the tiller, Lissette maneuvered the small craft out into the bayou.
Ridiculously aware of the damp rabbit’s foot in his pocket, Simon prayed it truly was lucky and that it would help him get Holly out.
Alive.