The silence of the room seemed to throb like a festering, rotting wound as everyone stared at Emily. She unfolded the laptop and plugged in the cable to the television screen. “This is the house.” She stated calmly. “You’ll note that there are floor plans and I want you to be sure you’ve got them memorized. We’re not taking in a map.”
Ghost glanced at the others before focusing on Bulldog who simply nodded. There would be no tenderness, no compassion this night. Whoever got in the way would either be terminated or evacuated. Inhaling a deep breath, she focused on that small part of her mind that controlled her gift. She would need her powers, need to see inside the souls of those they were going to see.
“It’s a fairly common layout, three bedrooms upstairs, den and living area downstairs. Kitchen is off to the right. There are three exits,” Emily pointed them out. “A set of patio doors, a backdoor on the east side of the house, and the front door. I hacked into the computer system of his security company; it’s got a low level wired system. Codec24 to be exact, which means that Tinker’ll have it disabled remotely before we get to the turn off for his block.”
“Family?” Ghost asked softly.
“He’s got a wife and three girls. His wife is named Elaine and his daughters range in age from one to twelve. Ghost, you’re gonna have to be the one to find out if there’s been abuse.” Emily swallowed, “I can read their minds but I’d rather not. This will be traumatic enough without having someone violate their bodies like that.”
Ghost nodded. Their souls would reveal all the secrets without the bodies being aware. “Animals?”
“No. Apparently, Elaine is allergic to pet dander which works in our favor.” Emily paused as Bulldog’s cell rang.
“Excuse me.” Bulldog stepped into the other room and closed the door. He pushed a button and held the small device to his ear. “Hello, Bulldog speaking.”
“How’s it going?” Deke’s voice drifted over the line.
“We’re on schedule. Have you talked to Piotr lately?”
“Earlier today. Angel still hasn’t woken up, but he’s hopeful. Logan’s out of the picture for now. I called and sent him with Rogue to Milwaukee. Said we were looking at a new property and wanted him to take care of that since Piotr couldn’t. I don’t expect them back until tomorrow morning.”
“Good. The team is nearly ready to move out. Be prepared to have an emergency evac done. If things go south, I want to be prepared.”
“Hey, we’re trained professionals. Don’t worry ‘bout us.” Deke chuckled humorlessly. “Besides, you and I both know that we can do this without any problems. Where’s the evac going? Your place or…”
“We’ll see. I’ve got a temp apartment set for a few days if it’s needed but the truth is that we’ll have to figure out a permanent placement for them. I want you to contact Witchdoctor and get her on that part of this.”
“What’s Angel going to say?”
“What’s she going to say?” Bulldog replied. “She doesn’t even know about our own little ‘team’ within her organization. Do you want her to know? Do you really want to watch her go through the hell that death brings to her on a regular basis?”
“Piotr should be told.”
“In good time. Right now we’ve got this matter to deal with. I’ll fill Piotr in on our activities and such when it’s advisable. Until then, we must keep this quiet. Am I understood?”
“Sure boss man, just saying Angel needs to be sheltered from this even more than anyone else. I’ll keep up my end, just be sure you do the same.” Deke replied.
“What about Jack?”
“You and I both know what he’ll say.” Deke replied. “He’s been behind us every step of the way, and that ain’t about to change now.”
“Let me know if you need anything.” Bulldog hung up quickly and stepped back out into the meeting. He cast a glance around at the assembled bodies and sighed. He felt a tinge of guilt at the way they’d kept Angel unawares but it was necessary. She’d risked so much for all of them, and continued to risk it all. They owed that woman more than just a bit of muscle, each of them had a normal life thanks to her efforts and if killing someone was the payment for that… then so be it.
“Who was that?” Emily paused in her presentation.
“Deke. He’s concerned.”
“About what?”
“Keeping Angel out of the picture.” Bulldog tossed aside his phone. “We’ve managed to limit her awareness to our positions within her teams. He’s concerned that she’s going to figure out that we’re doing more than just the simple pick ups and beatings that we’ve been doing.”
Ghost glanced at the others before rising and walking toward him. “So how do we keep her unaware? I’d rather be dead than have her know about the blood I’m wading in.”
“Angel wouldn’t pass judgment upon us.” Bulldog drawled. “She’d simply take it as not having done enough. Angel offered all of us a chance, I’ll be damned if I’m going to turn my back on that.”
“So what do we do?” Tinker demanded. “We’re specialists. We’re killers, devoid of emotion, does she not…”
“Angel is injured; she’s out of commission for now. I want to allow her to keep her naivety about us. I will not turn my back on our mission. We all took an oath, Tinker. Remember? Our job is to Enforce the will of the LFAA. To protect and serve those whose souls have been bartered for a few dollars. That is what we’re going to do. Now, as her Specialists, let’s show this bastard what happens when you cross hairs with us.”
The slow, dark grin that spread across their faces told of their views on the matter. They would protect the one who’d protected them even as they sought vengeance and reckoning from one who wallowed in evil.
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