Game of Dust and Ashes (Book Two in the Covert Operations series)

Twenty

Shadow Lawn Mansion, New Jersey. February 6, 2021, 7:26 p.m.

Sitting in the back of a Green Leaf Catering van, Cedric leaned over a laptop.

"Do I need to say again how much I hate this idea?"

"It's not like I have another choice exactly," I told him as I checked myself for the umpteenth time.

"What do you think is going to happen in there, Mel? That you're just going to be able to walk in, find Max, not get killed by Izzy Savalas, and then waltz right back out without any issues?"

I rolled my eyes. We were nestled in the back of the van, bundled up in thick coats and scarves to combat the creeping cold that had started to leach into the interior of the van. "Of course not. It's going to be hell the second I walk in through the door. But we talked about this. We've got a solid plan."

Cedric raised a brow. "Do we?"

"Don't tell me you're second-guessing this all now. We're about to go live here, Ced."

He released a long-held breath. "I'm terrified out of my mind, Mel. This could go wrong. Really wrong."

That, I knew, was the complete and total truth.

The last three days had been a whirlwind. We'd spun so many plans it was hard to remember which one was the real one. Because of course, the only people who knew the plan in its entirety were me and Cedric.

It had been too risky to fully trust the others. With Lia's allegiances hanging in the balance, there was not a chance in hell that she should be fully in the know. Especially with Max's own allegiances still not confirmed.

Max's continued absence had brought a strain to us all. Lia had been snarling around the hotel, a ball of barely contained rage. In the last twenty-four hours, that fire had turned to ice. Growing grim and cold. Her blue eyes had turned icy.

It didn't help that we'd received more images of Max. Exactly every eight hours, her phone would ping! with an incoming message from an unknown and untraceable number. In each message, Max looked worse and worse. The wounds he was sustaining appeared to be consistent with torture methods.

They were a taunt to us, a reminder of what was to come. A ploy to make sure that I arrived and a threat so that I did indeed come alone.

So the mission had been planned sporadically. A puzzle piece here and there. Cedric had been coordinating with Helena. Our backup had arrived just in time and we now had a little team assembled of the GCCO's best. Stefan and Dai were among those who had come and both were itching for a fight.

Two teams of operatives had been created. The first had commandeered the catering company's vehicles and prepared food only an hour earlier. The real caterers were being detained in a safe location with the FBI under careful scrutiny. While we didn't think any of them were Scorpion agents in disguise, there was always a chance that one of them had inside connections. They wouldn't be able to go home until the mission was over.

With the gala set to start at eight pm sharp, it meant that they were already in place. We'd had minimal contact with them but hadn't heard of any issues arising yet, which we were grateful for. The revered guests hadn't started arriving so there was still time for plenty to go wrong.

The second team was to be performing perimeter security. It was a mix between our GCCO agents, MI6, and the CIA and FBI, the latter two of whom had been called in by Neveah Jacobs and Kenneth Riley. Once the guests were inside the mansion, they'd begin taking out Scorpion's watchdogs so that those of us inside would be able to have backup and a clean getaway if needed.