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“We kind of figured that’s what you guys were doing while we were up there and offered, she’s got a load of studying to do, and Demelza already took her up a sandwich and some snacks,” Mason explains.
“Alright, dinner is ready,” I say, putting the pie in the middle of the table, “dig in.”
Everyone is silent for a few moments before something occurs to me, and I ask, “We’ve got to go up to Rip’s place after we’ve dealt with Daniel to make sure that it's safe for his grandparents to return, right?”
Ace nods, “Yeah, amongst other things, that’s one of them. Why?”
“Why didn’t we check the cameras to see if it was safe while we were in the security room?”
“Because cameras don’t always show you everything, and although we have to rely on them for Daniel’s place because he poses a big threat with quite a lot of backup, I’d rather check out my place myself. We know that the staff is there, and unless we go there ourselves, we aren’t going to know if they can be trusted or if they are loyal to my parents and pose a risk to my grandparents,” Rip explains.
“So looking at the cameras won’t actually give us that much information. We’ll still look at them before we head over, but there’s not much point in doing it now,” Rome adds.
I feel my eyebrows rise, “I hadn’t thought about it like that, but it’s a good point.”
After that, the conversation turns to better subjects, and I become glad that we’re managing to carve out this time together. It’s important. The food is delicious, and I have to admit that I’m proud of us, not that we actually cooked a lot of it, but still. I seriously hope that my grandmother cooks for us more often while we’re here because she’s damn good at it.
We’re just finishing our meal when my phone rings.
“It’s D,” I tell the others, who are all looking at me curiously as I press answer. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Alaric said he can do it for you. The only problem is that they’ve got a really small window before they need to be somewhere else. So, if this is the way that you want to play it, then it needs to be done quickly,” D explains immediately.
“That’s great, thanks, D. How soon are we talking?” I ask, the guys listening to the one-sided conversation intently. It occurs to me that I could’ve put the phone on speaker, but, it’s too late now, and I don’t want to risk missing something while I make the switch. I’ll just have to remember that for next time.
“They can be in town early afternoon, but if you aren’t ready with the guy you want to be extracted by then, he’s not going to be able to help for a while. Liam has stepped up his game,” D explains.
“Okay, got it. From your use of ‘we,’ I assume that Atlas is coming with him?”
“Yes and Rage, although they’ll both be dropped off before Alaric makes the exchange with the people who are going to take your guy to the prison and start the transfer.”
“Alaric is still keeping their involvement in it under wraps?”
“Yeah, it’s for the best they’re both only seventeen at the moment, and although they’re highly skilled and better trained than most of his agents that are twice their age, no one is going to take kindly to how young they are.”
“Yeah, I thought that might be the case, and under normal circumstances, I would agree, but Atlas and Rage's circumstances aren’t normal, just like mine aren’t. They may be seventeen, but their life experiences have aged them far more.”
“Yeah, I agree. I’d have them working jobs for me over some of my older members. They’re damn good at what they do,” D replies.
“They are, and I can’t wait to see them. It’s been far too long since we had a catch-up.” I reply and then add, “We’ll be ready for them.”
“I have no doubt about that,” D replies, and I can hear the smile in his voice as he promptly hangs up. He’s never been one to say goodbye on the phone.
I asked him about it once, and he said that in his line of work, saying goodbye feels like signing their death warrant, and he tries really hard not to say it. It’s a superstition he’s picked up over the years.
“What’s going on?” Rome asks, and I quickly repeat everything that D just told me, including that Atlas and Rage are coming along to the extraction as well.
“So ideally, we need to go early tomorrow morning in case we run into any problems, and then we should be ready to keep him until Alaric and the others arrive,” I reply.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to come up to any of the houses,” Rip says.
“No, I agree. We can get him to meet us on the edge of town?” I suggest we need to keep our link to this place on the down low as much as possible, and we have more chance of doing that, if they don’t actually see the town for themselves. It’s obvious that there’s something more going on here, and I’m really surprised that it hasn’t been investigated before.
The guys frown at my suggestion, and I can see why. The way that we came into town is very exposed, and anyone could be watching or even decide to take us out. I mean, there is always a chance that he has people loyal to him.
“I don’t like the idea of doing it at the main entrance to the town, but how about the entrance on the east? It’s not in great condition, but it is shielded by the trees on either side. Which although could mean that there are people hidden there, I doubt it. That road has been closed since we were kids, and we can scout ahead first.” Rip suggests.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Rome replies and then looks at me, “if I give you the directions can you text them to Alaric?”
