He left his backpack and the weapons bag on the hill, pushed deep inside a thicket, locked.
He had his Glock, several spare magazines and his knife on him. No disguise. There was no longer any need for that. No armor, either. They’ll search me and remove it.
He went down like a wraith, slipping through the shadows of the trees and then onto the street. A tall, lean figure who used the darkness of the night to his advantage as he got closer to the house.
He felt empty, relaxed; he knew he was at his most lethal in that state.
How I feel doesn’t matter. I’ll either come out of this alive, or I’ll be dead.
He knocked on the metal gate at nine pm.
Ten miles to the east, Matt Lasko opened his eyes.
Toros made the call at the same time. He knew Janikyan would kill him if the gang leader found out, but, what the hell! Covarra paid well for his information.
‘There’s a meeting going down in Beverly Hills,’ he told Salazar. ‘Right now. Janikyan and Grogan.’
The deputy ran to his boss as soon as he hung up. ‘I know where Grogan will be,’ he burst out.
Fifteen minutes later, Covarra and Salazar rolled out of their safe house, along with several hitters.
Zeb checked Beverly Grove Drive up and down. No traffic. The two SUVs in which they had arrived were deep inside the driveways of two adjacent, empty houses.
‘You expect trouble?’ Meghan joined him and looked up the hill. The hairpin bend was barely visible in the night, but the house was unmistakable.
‘I’ve got that feeling.’
‘Beth and I’ll go down the hill,’ she said. His inner radar was known to them. ‘We’ll check out approaching vehicles and warn you if we spot anything suspicious.’
‘And,’ added Chloe, who had come up to them, ‘Bear and I will go up and check out cars that are coming down.’
‘He’s here,’ a banger yelled toward the house, as he opened the gate and checked Cutter.