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“Mine’s a rental, and there’s not much there,” Michael added. “Koslov probably won’t bother. But I do think he’s likely to go big. He’ll attack everything simultaneously. And soon.”
Mills nodded. Geo raised his finger. “I agree. I’m sneaking another team in. They’re all new, but the regular replacements coming in are extremely experienced. They’ll pair up. Pete, now would be a good time to pull in your buddies for daylight duties. I’ve got to tell you all, though, that the bulk fuel place to the south of Deb’s worries me. There was activity there last night. It’s a huge explosion waiting to happen, and could spread a fire through the whole downtown. Koslov would love to see Marcus burn. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried it yet.”
“He’s tried.” Wiz put a video up. Two men walked along the alley to the south of the bulk fuel supplier, carrying large backpacks. They reached the back fence, pulled wire cutters and snipped through the fence, squeezing through the hole. Both took off their backpacks, reaching inside and pulling out pressure cookers. Blue and red lights flashed, and the two men abandoned their bags, sprinting away. At the front, they split up, but more law enforcement pulled up and both were taken into custody. “This was last night. I believe, Mills, that those are FBI vehicles, not locals. This is considered a terrorist act, correct?” The video disappeared. “FYI, Mills. I allowed the infiltration into my surveillance. That can be rescinded at any time. Understood?”
Mills nodded. “Understood, but it has nothing to do with me. Yes, the men are being charged with terroristic acts. Tying them to Koslov is harder.”
“You didn’t alert my people, Wiz.” Geo scowled. “They reported police activity, but didn’t know why.”
“No, I didn’t. I shut them out, because I knew the feds were actively watching and planning a response. I didn’t want your folks responding and possibly getting injured.” A smile flickered across her face. “It wasn’t as risky as you thought. The trucks coming in with fuel and log oil last week? Those were empty. They pumped everything out and took it to another location. Blowing up the empty tanks would still cause a large explosion and possibly a fire, but it’s less severe. The owner would like to sell the place, but it’s been used for decades, so environmental cleanup will be expensive.”
“Wiz, I don’t appreciate being kept in the dark.” Geo glared. “My people are risking their lives here.”
“You remember Tom and I are at ground zero, right?” Wiz sniffed. “But I won’t do it again. I only did it this time because I knew the feds anticipated this and were ready to deal with it. They were already staged.”
“You knew?” Mills’ tone was accusatory. “How exactly did you know that?”
Wiz shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. What does matter is what they, and you, do next. I don’t know that. Do you?”
Mills glared but shook his head. “No. As I said, Koslov is using couriers.”
“So have the FAA do a routine check on the aircraft, and use that opportunity to search for drugs.” Wiz gave him a challenging stare.
“We don’t need you teaching us how to do our jobs.”
Sam clapped her hands together once. “Evidently, you do. So spill.”
Mills glared. “I don’t know what Koslov plans. I also don’t know what the FBI is doing. I’m on medical leave, remember?”
Sam waved. “Since you can’t help, I think it’s time for you to say goodbye.”
His mouth opened, and then his picture disappeared. Wiz smirked. “Good riddance.” She sighed. “Geo, I really am sorry to keep your people in the dark. But I didn’t want Mills to know how far I’d gotten in their system and I didn’t want anyone becoming collateral damage. So I showed your people old video and told them the two people were vagrants. Sorry, not sorry.”
“And how are we supposed to trust you now?” Geo glared.
Michael had the same question. Nobody had made Wiz commander, but she was too used to working alone.
“Because she’s doing the best she can with what we’ve got!” Deb leaned into the laptop’s camera. “We’re all tired. We’re all struggling. Let’s give each other a little grace, please. Because while I truly appreciate everything everyone is doing, the last thing I want is for us to turn on each other. That would be the biggest tragedy of all.”
“Except Mills,” Erin said, snickering. “The rust-picker can go pound sand.”
Michael laughed, Pete joining him, and eventually everyone did, too.
Eventually, even Geo cracked a smile. “The guy really is annoying. It’s like he’s trying to irritate us.”
“He is.” Michael remembered Geo hadn’t been in their first meeting with Mills. “Nic can give you the scoop later. The bigger problem is Koslov probably has access to military-grade hardware, at least grenade launchers, maybe anti-tank weapons. Wiz’s place can be defended, but not the rest. Do we pull everyone out for safety?”
Wiz said, “I’m digging into local area surveillance, trying to figure out where Koslov is keeping his people and his hardware. He’s at the fancy resort, but his lieutenants aren’t. I’ve caught a few meetings, more by chance or by watching the feds, but they’re grasping at straws, too.”
“A lot of the people he’s using are day laborers or drug addicts looking for fixes, not mob enforcers,” Nic offered. “We use day labor for some jobs. Let me ask around.”
“Great idea, just be careful.” Wiz frowned. “After last night’s attempt failed, he’ll be ticked. I bet we can expect another attack tonight or anytime over the next seventy-two hours. Tom and I will work with Geo’s folks on escape route alternates; we all need to be packed and ready. Pete, bring the trailer with the ATV, tomorrow, please? We’ll leave the trailer in the lumberyard. That way, Geo’s folks can take the bikes for a fast get away and Tom and I will take the ATV.”
“You got it.” Pete tipped an imaginary hat to Wiz.
Michael said, “I’ll hang out in your house’s sniper perch tomorrow night, Wiz. Deb, you and Pete should sleep in Wiz’s house. Nic, maybe you and the family move into the main house, too, in the basement.”
Tom said, “There are blow-up beds down there, but I don’t think there are enough for six people.”
