CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Saturday, October 29th

AT 1:00 AM KANDICE WOKE UP to Blake next to her poking her arm.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and he leaned in.

"Lance said y'all needed to be up by 1:00," he said. "I just woke him up. You two were out of it. I tried at 12:30, but y'all didn't move."

Kandice yawned and tried to roll back over. Her whole body cried out, it needed more sleep. But the light turned on, and her blanket flew off. Lance and Blake were both standing in her room and turned around the instant the blanket hit the ground.

"Oh shit! Sorry," they said together.

"What the fuck?" she said.

"You weren't getting up," Lance said. "It's almost two."

They both stepped outside and closed the door.

Kandice was wide awake. She pulled out fresh clothes from her bag and put them on. If they didn't know she slept naked before, they did now.

That will be the last time they take the covers off a sleeping person.

Once dressed, she headed downstairs with Blake. Lance was already in the kitchen cleaning dishes. He made eggs, bacon, and biscuits. Kandice poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down to her plate. The food was great, it helped wake her up more than expected.

Blake and Lance looked over their notes on the computer plugged into the TV.

"Are we ready?" Kandice asked.

"Slava says the compound is at its lowest staff yet," Blake said.

"He must feel safe," Lance said. "It makes me a little worried. He's either over confident, or there is something we've missed."

"Like what?" Kandice asked.

"I'm not sure," Lance said. "That's why I'm worried. There could be any number of things inside."

"What about the security system?"

Blake clicked over to a new image, "This is the phone line connected to the house. It will contact the security company."

He flipped to another image, "This is the main power line."

Another image showed the transformer outside the house, "If we blow this, the power will be out for his house, and probably the whole neighborhood. I suspect we'll have about twenty minutes."

"Is that long enough?" Kandice asked.

"Depends on if backup security shows up," Lance said.

"That's what we were talking about," Blake said. "I'm not sure if the security system will notify someone if the power goes out. Same thing if I cut the phone line."

"What do we do then?" she asked.

"That's the question," Lance said. "Regardless, we have to go in tomorrow. There's no more time. The Council is demanding action."

"Why don't we cut the phone and hit the power at the same time?" Kandice asked. "How long would it take for the security company to respond?"

"If they call the cops, maybe ten minutes," Blake said. "They'll try to contact the mayor first, but that could be worse if they reach his cell."

"We will have coordinate the attack," Lance said. "Slava can act as backup support from the street by keeping cars away from the house for a little while."

Their plan had been to go in where Lance had found a weakness since the motion detectors would be off inside while the mayor was home. If they could, it was still the plan, but they needed to prepare for anything. They spent the next few hours going over all the photos Slava had taken.

Once the sun was up, they felt confident that the backup plan was sound. It was unlikely they would need to use it, but just in case, it was there. Kandice hoped that Blake wouldn't become anymore involved than he already was.

Lance and Blake packed to go to the local shooting range. Kandice and Lance were planning to infiltrate the compound, so Blake would have to shoot the transformer. Having never shot a gun before, he needed to practice first. If the plan went sideways, Blake would then have to cut the phone line, while Slava would do what he could to stop any cars from getting to the house.

When they left, Kandice spent the day binge watching TV. It had been several weeks since the last time. Her favorite shows were 90's Sci-Fi. Something about the retro style was so appealing. That act of spacing out in front of the TV was like meditation.