“Rude,” Evan muttered, but slid over, and let Tenny drop down to wedge himself against Reese’s side.
Reese’s brow smoothed.
“Alright,” Fox said. “Walk us through your setup.”
Maverick nodded. “We’ve got Shaman’s people in the suite, hallways, and in the lobby. As far as my guys go, you saw Pongo and Toly downstairs. I’ve also got guys on the street; they’re moving in shifts, plainclothes so they don’t attract attention. No one goes in or out of the hotel without having their pic snapped.” He pulled out his phone and offered it to Fox; Albie leaned in close so they could both see the array of telephoto lens snaps taken of each entrance to the hotel. “Even got the emergency exits covered.”
It wasn’t a bad use of resources, all things considered. “Good.”
“Also,” Maverick continued, “we’re on good terms with the crew who runs the bar on the corner. If anything too obvious heads our way, they’ll let us know.”
“Right. So. If we’ve got the hotel on lockdown, then we can use it as our base.” He took a sip. “Not the best option – too many windows, too many chances for a security breach, too many civilians.”
“Maybe that works in our favor,” Albie offered. “These guys are operating under the public radar. They won’t want to cause a huge scene and end up on the news.”
“No,” Fox agreed, “but there’s a lot of them and they’re good. Still. If they know we’re here, there’s no sense moving; they’ll find us wherever we go.”
“A lovely thought,” Ian said with an attempt at dry wit. His throat bobbed as he swallowed.
“Base?” Evan asked. He leaned forward around Tenny and Reese. “Aren’t we just gonna take your sisters and…” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and whistled.
“And do what?” Fox countered. “We talked about this in the truck. I was on the phone with Ghost for an hour.”
Evan went sheepish. “I was taking a nap.”
“JesusChrist,” Tenny muttered.
“Don’t berate the boy,” Fox said, mildly. “He’s our secret weapon.”
“I’m what?” Evan asked.
Tenny turned a scathing look on Fox that plainly saidyou’re joking.
“Our dear Evan,” Fox continued, “hasn’t been targeted. Hasn’t even been mentioned. He isn’t on these wankers’ shit list because, quite frankly, nobody thinks he’s any sort of threat.”
“That hurts, bro.”
“The plan – which you clearly slept through the discussing of earlier – is no longer to guard our flanks and chip away at the underbelly of the beast. We’re going straight for the throat. Andyou, Evan,” Fox grinned at him in a way that had Evan shrinking away, “have the vital role of pretending to be an idiot douchebag.”
Albie smothered a chuckle.
“Finally,” Tenny said, “a part he’s been practicing for his whole life.”
“I have feelings, you know. And, also, um, what the hell do you mean byidiot douchebag?”
“We’ve been fighting these people,” Fox said. “And that’s not working. Time to change tack – we’re going to court them instead.”
~*~
They talked through and fine-tuned their multi-front approach for hours. Fox had just decided to send someone to fetch the girls, when they came to them – or, rather, Axelle did. She looked tense in a way she hadn’t when they first arrived. “Babe. Fox. Y’all are gonna want to come hear this.”
Several other heads perked up. “Everything okay?” Alec asked.
“Yeah. We’ll fill everyone in, but I think Albie and Fox should hear it first.” She hesitated. “It’s about Cassandra.”
Fox traded a glance with Albie, whose brows rose in subtle alarm, and they got up to follow Axelle to the suite’s second bedroom.
She paused outside the closed door, and turned to them, frowning. “Okay, she did something stupid and careless – but she didn’t do it on purpose, and she feels terrible about it.”
