Page 83 of Dark Reunion

Wolf’s whisper was a rumble. “I can see about fifty men. Two in the tower. Four on the east wall. Two by the gate. Four walking the yard. Pace lazy, and it’s the same on each side. Who knows how many we can’t see or are sleeping inside the walls.”

“Lazy gets you dead quick,” Morry said, peering through her scope. “Look, they’ve got dogs too. Don’t know how well trained they are, but mean and teeth are all they really need.”

Kes tapped Trev’s shoulder and pointed. Cameras. Cheaper, but still there. It was wild to Trev. This man had a massive number of men at his disposal, including trained soldiers, and yet this place was sloppy.

“There is a generator shelter, north corner,” Trev said quietly. “And there are fuel tanks near that large warehouse-style building. That one looks new. I’m going to take a guess and say it has all the Righteous equipment.”

“Water tower ladder missing two rungs,” Kes added, amused.

“Who cares, we’re blowing it up, not inspecting it for safety,” Morry bit out.

“It’s still good to notice the little things,” Kes stated.

“Like your dick?” Arek asked, earning a glare.

“Look whose talking,” Kes growled.

“Knock it off, all of you,” Trev ordered. “We have one of ours in there and Maeve. Keep your heads on the mission.”

“There are two satellite dishes. One by the east tower and the other in the southwest corner,” Arek noted.

Trev looked through his binoculars and spotted them, a satellite dish bolted to rebar on the roof, badly grounded, cable running down the wall like a drunk snake. The second was on a pole, and although it looked brand new, it was in a terrible location and vulnerable to destruction.

Patrol patterns were random. That was either genius or pure stupidity. One guard rubbed the back of his neck when he reached the gate and then slowly turned to make his way back in the other direction. Another smoked, leaning up against a wall as he scrolled through his phone. They were bored enough to make mistakes, but not stupid enough to leave the gate unmanned.

“What entry are you thinking?” Arek asked.

“South fence, there is a blind wedge,” Trev answered. “We’ll run the arroyo to cover our scent. Dogs are lazing, not working. They’ll bark at motion, not air.”

Kes nodded. “We could ghost the lights too. Pop that flickering one, it will offer more shadows.”

Arek shifted his focus to Trev. “You good?”

Trev’s answer was a quiet exhale. He was better than good. He felt the machine of normalcy heal parts of him that only turned under this kind of pressure. They weren’t being shot at, but the constant threat awakened a part of him that being a lawyer could never touch. The timing, trust, and the next breath belonging to the man beside you. Whatever else they were, whatever else they had broken or lost, this still fit.

He opened his mouth to answer when his phone vibrated. There were only a couple of people who had his number. He pulled it out of his pocket and squatted down low, covering his mouth to keep the sound from traveling on the breeze.

“Cody, this is not really a good time,” Trev answered.

“Yasmine called,” Cody said, and everyone turned to look at the phone.

“What did she say?”

“She sounded relieved to know you were on your way there. She says that she and the kids are safe, Dean had gotten them out, but Maeve and him are still in there,” Cody relayed, and Wolf’s hand clenched into a fist. “She also said that Carlos has been controlling the Righteous for years, and the man who is now heading the organization is someone by the last name of Keene.”

“Edward Keene?”

“She didn’t mention a first name.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if it was. He was a staff sergeant who ended up with a dishonorable discharge for stealing weapons from targets and selling them. The DOJ knew he was up to no good, but only ever caught him stealing. Keene denied selling them, so he ended up with a thirty-day hold and a slap on the wrist.”

“How do you know so much about him?” Cody asked.

Trev locked eyes with Arek, who looked as annoyed as he felt. “Because he was my staff sergeant and I was the one who turned him in when I found out.”

“Isn’t this a small fucking world. Apparently, Dean didn’t run because he is trying to take down his father and Keene at the same time. Yasmine wasn’t sure if the meet was still on, but knew that Keene was flying in tomorrow night.”

Trev looked at the four soldiers with him. “Understood, we will wait until tomorrow to attack. Do you have a callback number?”