"Multiple vehicles," Savage suggested. "Staged at different exit points. Plus air support if we can get it."
"Helicopter?" Arrow asked skeptically. "Bit conspicuous, isn't it?"
"Not if it's already in the area for legitimate reasons," Jay interjected. "There's a hospital twenty miles from the quarry. Their medevac does regular flight training in that sector."
"Can you get us that bird?" Lucky asked.
Jay smiled coolly. "Give me an hour with their scheduling system."
Lily marveled at how methodically they worked through the problem, identifying risks and solutions, contingencies and backups. This was what Blade had meant when he spoke of brotherhood—not just loyalty, but seamless cooperation, each person contributing their unique skills toward a common goal.
"What about Jose himself?" she asked, bringing them back to the primary target. "What's the end game here? Capture? Elimination?"
The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees at her question. The men exchanged looks that spoke volumes.
"Jose doesn't leave that quarry alive," Lucky stated flatly. "After what he and Zeb did to Tim, what he's doing to Marcus, what he planned for you... there's only one appropriateresponse. We eliminate all of the leadership, make sure another head doesn’t grow back."
Lily nodded, neither surprised nor disturbed by the pronouncement. Some people forfeited their right to exist through their own actions. Jose was one of them.
"I want to be clear about something," she said, her voice steady despite the gravity of the discussion. "I'm not going in unarmed. I know the plan requires me to appear vulnerable, to play the sacrificial lamb, but I need to have some means of protecting myself if things go sideways."
"Of course," Blade agreed immediately. "We'll fit you with a gun, something easily concealed but effective at close range."
"And comms," Savage added. "Subdermal transmitter, virtually undetectable. We'll hear everything that happens, and be able to communicate with you."
The planning continued for another hour, covering every contingency they could imagine, assigning roles and responsibilities, timing each element of the operation down to the second. Throughout it all, Lily remained focused, asking questions when needed, offering insights from her previous encounter with Jose and his men.
By the time they finished, a comprehensive plan had taken shape, dangerous still, with multiple potential failure points, but the best they could devise given the constraints of time and Jose's demands.
"Get some rest," Lucky instructed as the meeting concluded. "We move out at 0500. Jay will distribute comms and final briefing packets tonight."
As the others filed out of the chapel, Blade remained, his hand still holding Lily's. She could feel the tension radiating from him, see the conflict in his eyes.
"What is it?" she asked softly once they were alone.
"I should be there," he said, frustration evident in his voice. "Not stuck here, useless, while you walk into danger."
"You're not useless," she replied firmly. "You helped plan the entire operation. Your tactical insights will save lives tomorrow, maybe mine included."
"It's not enough," he insisted. "My place is between you and danger. Always."
She moved to kneel in front of his wheelchair, taking both his hands in hers. "And it will be again. But right now, your job is to heal. To be here when I get back." She squeezed his hands. "Because I am coming back, Blade. To you."
The raw emotion in his eyes nearly undid her. For a man who kept himself so controlled, so armored against the world, the naked fear and love she saw there was staggering.
"I can't lose you," he said simply. "Not now. Not after everything."
"You won't," she promised, though they both knew it wasn't entirely hers to promise. Tomorrow held too many variables, too many potential points of failure. But she would fight with everything she had to keep that promise. To return to him. To the future they'd barely begun to imagine together.
"Come here," he said, tugging her gently into his lap, mindful of his injured chest. She went willingly, curling against him, her head tucked beneath his chin. His arms came around her, strong despite his weakened state.
For a long moment, they simply held each other, drawing comfort and strength from the contact. No words were needed, everything important had already been said. Their feelings laid bare, their commitment to each other clear.
"Stay with me tonight," he murmured into her hair. "In my room. I need... I need to hold you. While I still can."
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," she assured him. "But Doc will have a fit if you don't stay in the medical room."
Blade made a dismissive sound. "Doc can deal with it. I'm not spending what might be our last night together hooked up to monitors in a hospital bed."
