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"No." Simon's voice cut through sharp and clear. "We don't get everybody riled up. We don't scatter. We treat this like any other mission: focus on defeating the Russians and keeping them away from town entirely."

"How?" Nolan asked. "If they come in asking questions, threatening people⁠—"

“Think about it,” Code interrupted. “They won’t do that. They’re going to come in soft, trying to finesse information.”

"They won't make it into town." Simon stood, resuming his pacing. "We direct them somewhere else. Somewhere isolated. Somewhere we control."

"Where?" Jase asked.

Simon stopped pacing. "My old cabin. Up the mountain."

"You still have that place?" Jase sounded surprised. "I thought you sold it years ago."

"Kept it. Good investment.” He paused. "Renzo and I had to defend it once. It's isolated, single access road, elevation advantage. It's defensible."

"But how do we get Viktor to go there?" Nolan asked.

“He’ll do some reconnaissance,” Code answered. “He won’t just be knocking on doors in town, looking for Katherine.”

The strategic part of my brain—the part that had spent fifteen years studying how people operated, learning motivations for roles—suddenly kicked into gear.

"Exactly," I said, leaning forward. "How would any operator get information in a new town they don't know? He’ll do the same thing the PI did. He’ll go to restaurants. Coffee shops. Places where locals gather and talk. Where you can have casual conversations and gather intel." I thought about Little Grandma's sharp eyes, how she'd known exactly who I was the second Angelica introduced me as "Kathy." How she and Lettie had fed that PI complete nonsense about Hulk Hogan. "So we get Pearl, Little Grandma, and Lettie in on this. Ruby from Java Jolt.”

Simon snorted out a laugh.

“What?” Jase asked.

“We get Florence into the mix,” Simon answered. “It would only make sense that she be the one to ultimately give them the information.”

“Can we trust her?” Nolan asked through the speaker phone.

I didn’t know who they were talking about. I looked at Code and he shrugged too. At least we were both in the dark. Simon must have seen our confusion. “Florence is the town gossip. Nothing goes on in Jasper Creek that she doesn’t know. But she doesn’t have a malicious bone in her body. She won’t share something if she thinks it will hurt someone.”

“She’s one sharp tack,” Jase chimed in.

“So we get Pearl, Little Grandma, and Lettie from the Down Home Diner, Ruby from Java Jolt, and Florence together and tell them their roles, is that what you’re thinking?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Jase agreed. “Normally, I’d wait for Simon to explain it all, but we need to get the ball rolling now. Do y’all think it’s going to be Vincent asking the questions? Do we have a photo of him?”

“Yes and yes,” Code answered. “Most likely he’ll have one of his men with him, two would be overkill. I’ll get you the photo.”

“Where do you think they’ll be staying?” Nolan asked.

“I think they’ll want to handle this today if they can, but they’ll probably check into some place in Knoxville. Nine men checking into a hotel in Jasper Creek would be too suspicious.”

“Now that we know who’s going to do the talking, and who they’re talking to, what are they going to say?” Jase asked.

"Make it subtle," I said, working through it. "Don't point them directly at the cabin. That's too obvious. Make it sound like... oh, Angelica and Kit mentioned needing some time away from it all. Somewhere quiet. Make Viktor work to find out where. I don’t think it should all come from one person.”

I could see Simon’s eyes light up at my suggestion. Code put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

“So the first person is vague, saying something like wanting to stay secluded up in the mountains, maybe?” Nolan asked.

“That would be perfect,” I agreed. “Then when Viktor leaves with that information, he moves on, and the next person will tell him about the delightful little cabin. They won’t give the specific location, but enough of one that Viktor and his goons have an idea of where to head. The women can call each other so they know who he’s talked to and what he knows.”

“I like this, Kit.” Simon beamed. “Jase, can you pull the ladies together?”

“Absolutely.”