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"Let's see what they say." The screen remains black long enough that Ghost turns his attention back to the man. "If you fucked this up, it's gonna take fucking days."
The man shakes his head. "No, I swear. It's legit."
A faint dark red glow lights up on the comms unit, barely visible and pulsing slowly. Ghost taps the button. There's a new message there.
Good work. Confirm when your team has cleared the blast zone. You've got three hours.
Tex is looking over Ghost's shoulder on the other side from me. "Cleared the fucking what?"
33
JESSICA
"We needto get everyone the hell outta here," Hellfire's voice is low, meant only for the immediate circle around him. There's something else there too. Sadness? The Outlaw Sons are proud of their clubhouse, and now it sounds like it's going to get blown up, and us with it, if we don't get out of here.
Tex pulls me close. "If there's anything you need out of Bonnie's, better be quick." I rack my brain trying to think if there's even anything here I'd even care about. Maybe some changes of clothes, but I’m mostly considering how many of the pictures of General I should grab. Definitely her old ‘property’ patch.
Hellfire's phone rings. "Hidden number," he grumbles, but he takes it. "Hellfire. This better be fucking important."
The sudden crack of a gunshot cuts through the air. I start to turn, but Tex urges me forwards. "Nothing to look at. We gotta get you outta here." I guess Ghost made good on his promise of making it quick. I've seen more than enough death for one day.
"Tex! Jessica! Back here! Ghost and Riot too," Hellfire calls out, still holding his phone.
We gather around and he puts his phone on speaker. "They're here. Repeat what you said."
The moment I hear the voice that comes through the speaker, a core memory is triggered way back in my mind. It's a voice my body formed a primal connection to from even before I was born. Any doubts about our informant are brushed away with the speed and ease Ghost cleared out the attackers. "Mom," I whisper. Tex pulls me closer. So many emotions run through me that I don’t even know where to start picking them apart.
She speaks in a clipped tone with no time to waste. "I have to keep this quick. I was as good as exposed as soon as I tapped into the phone lines, but this is too important. Kane has a missile aimed at the compound. His yacht is somewhere offshore. I’m not exactly sure where and I don’t have time to track it. It's more than powerful enough to clear not just the compound, but the whole neighborhood around it. He's already got someone ready to spin it as a chain gas explosion."
Oh my God. My stomach drops, knotting into a lump of tension. I knew Victor hated losing, but something like this? I'm just glad Anne and Bonnie aren’t here to worry about. They’ll be okay. I grip Tex's arm tightly, taking all the comfort I can from having him next to me.
"Jesus fuck," he rumbles.
"Is there any way to stop it?" Hellfire growls.
"Yes. It's why I'm risking a call, but you'll have to act fast. And it means breaking into Kane's estate before he realizes what you're up to."
Ghost snorts. "Assaulting what's basically a goddamn fortress doesn't seem realistic in so little time. There’s a reason we attacked him at his beach house."
"I know. And Jessica knows."
I'm so distracted by the sound of her voice that I'm caught off guard when she mentions me. "Me?" While everyone else is suddenly looking at me, I stare at the phone in confusion.
"There's no time to explain all of it, but I designed and coded the guidance system for that missile. It's why Kane came for me. But I put a backdoor in that missile control code. If someone gets close enough to send the right signal, it won't just abort the launch, but the missile will blow up. I was hoping for an opportunity to take out Kane with it. I have a remote in the lab keyed to the right sequence, but without a way to get out of here to get to the yacht, there's nothing I can do."
Mom's smart, I knew that, but this makes it sound like she's some kind of super hacker. No wonder Victor wanted her on his team. I guess it's too much to wish that Dad survived too.
"The lab's at the estate?" Riot asks.
"Kane likes to keep development close. Look, I have to go before they pinpoint my signal."
"We got no time to lose," Hellfire says. "Can you help us get in?"
"I can take out the alarm systems if you make a hole or two in the walls."
Skyhigh grins when she mentions that, like a kid given free reign at a self-serve ice cream shop. "Holes are my specialty. Be right back. Sinner, come help me carry!"
Mom continues, "I hate to say it, but the easiest way into the mansion itself is with Jessica. Her fingerprints should still be good for the scanners, and I can't access the system that controls that. The lab is in the locked down east wing of the mansion. You'll have to find your own way in there, where the remote is. And I am."
