Waters of Lethe, Book 2

37. Convoy

The issue turned out to be that the program downstairs was almost over. In thirty minutes, people would be filing through the doors to leave for the night, and we'd be left with zero acquired targets.

"Do you really think that I'm going to help you guys kidnap more kids?" I asked Alex in disbelief as we stood in the gift shop. Jai was unusually quiet, but I understood that this was an extremely confusing night.

Alex ran a rushed hand through his hair. "There are people in here that still want to get these kids, you know."

"Did you run into any downstairs?" Jai asked.

"One. Took him out. But he didn't look beaten and battered, like he'd been knocked out thirty minutes ago. Did you guys see anyone else up here?"

"No," I answered. "But I believe there are more than we're seeing." The problem was whether or not I believed the targets would be okay if they went back home, alone, with their parents.

Alex tapped his foot impatiently and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Let's see if we can't turn to the same page, here. These people, like the one you killed? If they didn't know about the targets before, they do now. If we let the targets walk out, the people chasing them, number one, can track them easier. Number two, they won't stop until they get them. And they will get them. And we're not kidnapping them," he threw in. "We're helping them."

Jai, who was quiet by my side, looked at me. "He's right."

Alex and I both stared at him, both said, "Huh?" at the same time.

Jai looked between us. "How do you plan on getting the kids out?"

Alex explained that a helicopter was currently sitting on the roof, waiting for the hand off. "The copter will bring us all to the nearest airport, we'll get on a private plane, and fly back to Toronto."

Jai pursed his lips. "That's elaborate."

"We aren't exactly amateurs," Alex shot.

"I never said that you were—"

"Back to the point, you guys," I cut in, sighing. "Why is he right, Jai?"

Jai wasn't finished and continued to look at Alex while he spoke. "How often do you return to Toronto empty handed?"

"Never. Unless it's a scouting mission, in which we'd expectantly return without a target."

Jai turned his body to face me. "You have to do this. Scott and whoever else sent you will be expecting you to bring them back. It'll be suspicious if you don't. I'll figure out a way to come to you, and we can get everyone out. Together."

I shook my head. "How is that going to work?"

"I don't know. But we'll figure out something."

"Alright," Alex said, not allowing us to go on, "we need to get moving. I've got an idea that might work."

*******************

Alex's bright idea was walking right up to our targets and asking them to follow us to get pictures of them with their awards and trophies. We found an empty room on the first floor that had stairs leading up to the second, which had stairs close by that let us access the roof and the helicopter. No one but Alex thought this would work. To everyone's surprise, except Alex's, of course, it did.

The parents of the kids simply thought their kids were wandering off with well-dressed individuals to get their pictures taken for some kind of fancy shmancy magazine. Alex and Natali gathered all three of our targets from their tables and led them back to the empty room that Jai and I were in.

Jai and I waited in the room, not hiding behind anything, because hiding was pretty pointless if Alex and Natali delivered on their part of the plan. Alex had given Jai his stun gun, so when he and Natali strolled in with the three poor kids all Jai and I had to do was pop them and knock them out.

They all fell to the floor quickly. I noticed the blonde haired girl and the eighteen-year-old boy Natali and I had found while sitting at our table. Added to the bunch now was a tall African American girl named Zoe.

After we'd gotten the three targets in the room, Deebo, Piper, and Ming joined us.

Deebo and Ming immediately pulled their guns on Jai. I stepped in front of Jai, though he was taller than me, so that I stood between him and the two guys in front of us.

"Who's the guy?" Ming asked.

Alex, who was separating the bodies on the floor, stood and held a hand up. "This is El's friend."

"And you trust him?" Deebo asked incredulously.

Alex looked at Deebo, then at Jai, then at me. He nodded his head at me, "I trust her."

Deebo lowered his weapon. "Good enough for me."

It took Ming a while to decide if Alex's words were good enough for him, too. Eventually he dropped his gun, but he still eyed the two of us hard.

Natali and Piper eyed us, too. Their gazes settled on Jai, who, by this point, was the man of the hour. Everyone was more focused on him than on the three unconscious kids at our feet. Rightfully so, too. Even if the three unconscious kids were conscious, Jai would still be the most dangerous person in the room. Besides me. Besides Alex. Because, if Jai wanted to, if he had the heart to, there wasn't much he couldn't do by way of hurting someone. His heart made him different.

While Alex said something to Natali about keeping watch outside the door, I noticed that Piper was still peering up at Jai with her icy, questioning eyes.

Jai noticed her looking and returned the stare. He even tried to smile at her. As soon as their eyes met, however, Piper looked away and at Alex. Whatever bond Piper and I had been working on creating might as well have been sliced in half when she took in the fact that I voluntarily stood beside Jai, public enemy number one to us all.

Gears were shifted when Natali went to stand outside the door to make sure no one stumbled in on us hauling three bodies upstairs. As soon as Natali gave us the all-clear, Ming threw blondie over his shoulder, Alex threw the boy over his shoulder, and Jai picked up Zoe, cradling her instead of being as rough as the others were being with their targets.

I headed up the stairs first, taking up the front, while Deebo took up the rear of our little convoy. Piper followed along close behind me, followed by Alex, who no doubt wanted to keep her as safe as I did. She'd seemed to forgotten about the gun strapped to her little thigh because she walked along empty handed, which was alright by me.

As soon as we reached the second floor, we heard a crash from downstairs, as well as shouting in a language that sounded like Swahili that came from strong sounding men. Natali shouted back at them in Ukrainian. I looked back at Alex, my eyes questioning him.

And then we heard gunfire.