Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“That’s good to know.” Elliott turned pensive and glanced at Reese.
The two seemed to communicate well without actually speaking.
“We don’t want a new Djibouti on our hands,” Reese murmured.
“Which time?” Elliott smirked. “No, you’re right.” He ran a hand through his hair and faced the rest of us. “I was thinking about interceding earlier—grabbing Gajero before he disembarks, but that could turn messy real fast.”
Yeah, no. I understood how his mind went there, but we’d be in the middle of one of Europe’s busiest ports. Unless he thought about boarding the freighter in the middle of the sea, at which point we’d have a massive ship to search through. It was better we waited.
We didn’t even know if Gajero would get off the ship at the port, or if he had someone…hmm.
I turned to Mercier. “You don’t happen to know how big Gajero’s crew is, do you?”
“Unfortunately not,” Mercier answered. “I tried to dig for information, but Marco was tight-lipped about it. We can guess that he’s traveling with a minimum of five guards, though that depends on how many hostages they have. Considering he’s supposed to establish their human trafficking operations—and considering Marco’s interest in the matter—we can’t dismiss the possibility of catching him with several innocents aside from Blake and Marisa.”
I rubbed my jaw and looked at Elliott. “Maybe we should appoint a rescue unit just in case.”
“That’s a good idea.” He nodded. “I already know Gray will wanna be part of that. What about you, Shay?”
“Um, yeah—what does it mean?” Shay sat up straighter.
Reese answered. “In short, the others take the heat. You won’t be near combat. You and Gray—and whoever else—will focus on rescuing hostages.”
“I can be their security,” Crew offered. “A second line of defense, if you will.”
“That would make me feel better.” Reese nodded. “I’m sure we can include Darius as well.”
Elliott made notes on the board. “It’s a good unit. Shay, you and Gray will be in charge of the rescue once the coast is clear, and you’ll have Darius and Crew covering you.”
We all remained silent as he drew up the units he had in mind. First line of defense, snipers and hand-to-hand combat. Which meant Ryan Quinn and me, along with Elliott, Reese, Ortega—
“Switch places between Crew and me,” Mercier said. “I’m decent with close combat, but Crew is actually trained for it. You need him on the front line. I can cover Gray and Shay with Darius.”
He wasn’t wrong. Crew was one hell of a soldier. Or jarhead.
“You know how to make me feel special, papi.” Crew popped a kiss to Mercier’s jaw.
“It’s just the truth,” Mercier replied.
Elliott and I looked at each other. Papi?
“My God, the apple does not fall far,” Reese muttered, amused. “Let’s get Greer back here, so he can be proud of his nephew.”
I smirked.
“What!” Crew jutted his chin. “It’s not ’cause we’re kinky or anything. It’s because he’s old. We’re dirty on a vanilla level. You feel me?”
I snorted and took a swig of my coffee.
“How about we move on?” Mercier asked stiffly. “And I’ll show you vanilla later, kid.”
“What—you don’t wanna discuss your sex life with us?” I drawled.
River and Shay chuckled.
“You’re in a better mood,” Reese noted.
Who was he talk—wait. He was talking to me?
“Huh?” I uttered. I was like Mercier in this group—as in, brand-new. I got the feeling he needed to be eased into the PMC banter madness, and maybe I got that sense because I felt the same thing.
“Nothin’.” Reese smiled and gestured at Elliott. “Proceed, buddy.”
Elliott did proceed, and after making the switch from Crew to Mercier in the rescue team, he added Ramirez as our intel.
We had no idea when and where we would strike; it could be a warehouse, a cabin up in the Andorran mountains, a garage bay in a Barcelona suburb… In short, we’d need the intel in our ears to be vocal, and I’d heard Willow was nonverbal around strangers. She was better running her genius mind in the background.
I hoped I got to meet her one day.
“Before we move out, we gotta gear up,” Elliott went on. “Coach gave me the combination to another supply closet where we’ll find combat gear, weapons, and ammo. There’s a room filled with clothes too, some new, some used. It’s part of undercover training, so we’ll ship it all back when we get home. Pack for a week—and we’ll meet up in the garage out back in half an hour. Any questions?”
“I’m hungry,” Crew said. “Will there be food on the plane?”
“No, and I’m glad you mentioned it,” Elliott said. “We’ll buy that on the way to the airfield. The flight is long, and we need it to sleep and eat.”
Roger that.
“So it’s a private plane?” Crew pressed.
“Yes,” Elliott confirmed. “This model seats twelve passengers in two sections, and I’m gonna pull rank to reserve two of the four chairs in the back section, because they convert to beds. You’re obviously last on the waitlist since you love to remind us how old the rest of us are.” He smiled at Crew.