Chapter Forty-Five

Dane reached out to tug on the end of Lena’s ponytail. When she glanced over at him, he winked, hoping to reassure her. She’d turned pale and seemed more than a little overwhelmed.

He knew it wasn’t normal for people to share a bag of potato chips while waiting for the feed to come in from the satellite they’d hijacked.

“Are you sure she’s not an actual angel? She is in control of the heavens,” Lena whispered.

“Trust me, she’s too devious to be the real deal.”

Thorne moved his chair so he could see the big screen, and crossed his arms as the picture came up.

“It’s your turn. Enlighten us with your brilliance,” Justin said, earning a glare from Angel.

Dane chuckled. No doubt, she assumed Justin was patronizing her, but the truth was, they always relied on her to get them where they needed to go. They might have intel and other people working the tech, but they all looked to Angel to verify it was legit. She could hack into anything.

It was both frightening and impressive.

“We will definitely need two teams if we plan to strike simultaneously.” Angel used her pointer to indicate two different targets…with the whole United States in between them. One was in western Canada and the other just north of Florida.

“It’s imperative that we hit both locations at the same time. Once Viktor realizes we’ve double-crossed him, he’ll be looking for revenge,” Dane said.

He’d figured the operation wouldn’t be convenient, since Lena mentioned palm trees and also where Butch was born. Until now, Dane hadn’t worried about that. He thought they would have plenty of people to direct a proper coordinated assault.

Now they only had the people in this room.

Angel frowned and stood up. “You’re right. But Tobey and Kenzie are about as far apart as they can get and still be in North America.”

She rested her hip on the table so she could lean over to circle a place on the paper map with a marker. Vancouver. Then she edged off so she could circle another place closer to her. Savannah, Georgia.

“Viktor always sets up in port towns,” Colton said. “I’ve never been to the Vancouver complex, but I’ve spent some time at his place in Savannah. I can draw up a map of the inside.” He pulled over a tablet and picked up a stylus to start drawing.

“Here’s the satellite map of the Vancouver complex,” Angel pointed to the screen. The picture was so detailed Dane could see the men patrolling the gate. Unlike with Google Earth, the pictures were live, and the men were moving.

He swallowed. Because the complex was so huge, they would need to stay hidden while they found Tobey, then they would somehow have to get him out undetected, along with any other children that might be with him. Due to the small size of their team, a frontal attack was off the table. Which meant stealth and a quiet extraction. They couldn’t risk stirring up the hornet’s nest.

“Tobey says they have bunk beds. There are other boys with him,” Dane reminded everyone.

Garrett tapped the screen. “My guess is they’re being kept here. There are guards posted at the end of this long building. It could be a bunk house.”

“Viktor has a bunkhouse at Savannah, too.” Colton pointed at the building on the printed satellite map on the table. “He keeps people here until he has enough to ship out in a container.”

“From what Lena’s described of the place where Kenzie’s being held,” Justin said, “it’s not the bunk house. I’ll know more when she calls tomorrow and we can see what’s in the background. Hopefully Colton will recognize it.”

“It’s okay if you don’t,” Angel said from behind him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” She kissed his temple.

“I spent more time in Philadelphia and Gulfport,” Colton explained regretfully. “But I’ll do my best.”

Even if Colton’s knowledge of the Savannah complex was limited, it was more than they knew about the facility where Tobey was being held. Dealing with more boys would also complicate their mission.

Dane hoped they would be able to locate the kids quickly and get them out without alerting anyone. They wouldn’t have enough people to engage in a firefight. Not while protecting a group of children.

He looked around the table and wondered how they would be split up. That was Thorne’s call. While this wasn’t a sanctioned mission, he was still in charge.

Any marshal around this table would be an asset to the mission, so Dane didn’t have a preference as to who he was partnered with. He just wanted to get going. He wanted to do something. But he knew they couldn’t move until every detail had been worked out.

They couldn’t afford to be sloppy or impatient.

Too much was at stake.