~Ash~
I woke up to Seth opening the curtains in our hotel room, letting the sun hit my eyes. "Get up, Ash. The sooner we get today over with, the sooner we can go home." He sat back down on his bed and got out his phone as I threw my arm over my eyes.
After laying there for another minute or two I groaned as I finally got out of bed and walked over to the window, closing the curtains again and falling back into the comfortable bed I had slept on.
After talking to Esther for another fifteen minutes last night and finally getting myself composed, I walked over to Parker and Roy's room where the whole team and I hung out until midnight. That meant I had to stay up until almost two in the morning to figure out our plan for today.
I reached for my phone and turned it on to check the time. It was already ten in the morning which means Seth had let me sleep as long as he could. "As you can tell, I let you sleep in but we need to get moving now otherwise we won't catch Anthony today."
I finally stood up and walked over to my bag to grab some clothes for today, knowing Seth was right. "Send Roy and Tim out to watch Anthony Meager's house. Tell them to let us know when he's there. I have another rental car waiting in the parking lot which the rest of us will take to his workplace."
Seth walked out of our room and towards the other men's room to tell them the plan while I changed my clothes. I threw on a white t-shirt with black pants and my boots. Slipping my phone in my back pocket and grabbing the key for the room, I walked out and let the door shut behind me as I walked towards the other guys' rooms. We had to split up into three rooms since the hotel only had two beds in each room so I walked a couple doors down. Hearing talking coming from the door I was in front of, I knocked and waited for a response since I didn't have an extra key.
Kyle opened the door soon after and stepped aside to let me in. Seth was sitting in one of the chairs by the bedside while Tim and Parker were sitting on the bed next to him. Roy was sitting on the other bed and all eyes moved to me as I walked in, pulling out the chair at the small desk in the corner and sitting down. "Back to what you were saying, boys."
"I was just telling them your plan but I think everyone understands it, right?" Seth looked at everyone else, waiting for an answer.
"If Roy and I take the van, how would the rest of the team get there when Meager arrives? Would we have to come back and get you all?" Tim spoke up, looking between Seth and I.
"I have another rental car waiting for us in the parking lot. While you and Roy are watching his house the rest of us are going to be watching his work. There's a better chance of him being at work right now rather than at his house which is why I'm taking more people." I answered. "Any other questions?"
Everyone shook their heads 'no' so I stood up and dismissed them all. "Get going, call in if you see him or any signs of him, we'll do the same." Roy and Tim nodded and grabbed their things, taking the van's keys from Seth as they walked out the door. "I want everyone else to meet in the parking lot in a few minutes." I announced as I walked out of the door and back towards Seth and I's room.
After walking into our room to grab the keys to the new rental car I had ordered last night and my gear bad which held my pistol, pistol case, my bullet-proof vest, and a small first aid kit in it, I walked out of our hotel room once more and walked towards the stairs to meet the rest of the guys in the parking lot.
The guys were huddled around our van with their gear bags hanging on their shoulders, waiting for me when I got there. Roy and Tim were in the front seats of the van but they hadn't left yet as they were still talking to Kyle, Parker and Seth. "Tim, Roy," Their heads snapped to me as I called for them. "I gave you the address for where Anthony works, right?"
"Yes, I already got it programmed into the GPS." Tim replied from the passenger seat.
"Then get going already. It takes longer to get to his house than it does to his workplace and I want us to arrive at the same time."
"Right. Sorry, boss." Roy responded. He shifted the van into drive and pushed on the accelerator, driving away from us and out of the parking lot.
"You guys," I looked away from the van driving out of the parking lot and looked back at the three men in front of me. "get your gear and pile into that one." I gestured to the small white Ford Taurus parked on the opposite end of the lot from the space we were standing in.
"I get the passenger seat." Seth called first but only a second or two later Kyle joined in.
"You can't call dibs unless you get there first." Kyle took off running.
"That's not fair, you fucker! You've got to count down first." Parker caught up to Kyle quickly as Seth started running after them.
"Screw you! I'll do what I want! First one there gets the seat, slowpokes." Kyle called back as he got closer and closer to the car.
I rolled my eyes as I started walking over after them and watched as they all clutched their gear bags to their chest while they ran to the car. They're like damn children.
"Suck my dick, losers!" Seth called as he passed both Parker and Kyle, getting to the passenger door first.
Seth reached for the door handle and opened the door, unknowing of the two men still running up behind him. He opened the door but before he could get in Kyle grabbed him with one hand while throwing his bag over his shoulder with the other, purposefully throwing Seth backwards. Parker tried to slip into the seat while Kyle and Seth were both distracted but Kyle let go of Seth and grabbed Parker, throwing him out of the way too.
Kyle finally sat down in the passenger seat and looked at the other two men with a proud grin on his face. "Who's the loser now, bitches?"
Parker and Seth both glared at him while I walked to the drivers side and leaned my chest against the door as I continued to watch them. They seemed to be having a silent stare off while the grin on Kyle's face never faltered.
"Are you children done yet?" I asked after thirty more seconds of their stare down. Seth sighed as he looked away and accepted defeat.
"Yeah, whatever." Seth threw his gear bag in the back of the car and sat down behind Kyle's seat while I sat in the driver's seat.
Kyle handed his bag to Seth as Parker walked to my side of the car to sit behind me. "Here, take this."
Seth reached into the front to grab the bag from Kyle as Parker opened the door behind mine and got in. Seth hit Kyle in the head with it as he pulled the gear bag into the backseat. "Sorry, didn't see you there." Seth sarcastically apologized.
Parker reached over to Seth and gave him a high five as they both had grins on their faces.
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I pulled the car into the back parking lot of Anthony Meager's workplace, which turned out to be a small supermarket, so I could watch the employee door in case he came out the back. "Parker." I looked at him over my shoulder. "You go around the front and stay outside to watch the front doors in case Meager comes out there."
"You two," I turned my attention to Seth and Kyle as Parker got his gear out of his bag and put it on. "I want you to both go inside and split up to look for him in there. Act like a normal customer and call me if you spot him. I don't want to have to chase him unless it's needed."
They both nodded, telling me they understood and reached for their gear bags. Kyle grabbed his bag from the back as both Seth and Parker stepped out of the car to put on their bullet proof vests under their jackets.
"Hey, boss?" Kyle looked up at me from his bag as he continued. "I don't have my vest. I think I forgot to grab it before we left our building." In other words the only thing in his bag is his gun and his ammunition. How the fuck did he forget his bullet proof vest? Dumbass.
I sighed. "It's fine, we shouldn't need them anyway but use mine just in case." I told him. Grabbing my gear bag from the backseat, I opened it and handed him my vest. If everything goes according to plan we won't need them but I normally want myself and my team to have the vests with them just in case anything goes wrong.
"Thanks." Kyle took the vest from me and stepped out of the car so he could stand while putting it on.
"Alright, I'm going to go find someplace to watch the front doors, let me know if you find him." Parker slipped his phone into his back pocket as he walked away from us and towards the front of the supermarket.
"You ready to go, man?" Seth asked, looking at Kyle who had just slipped his gun into the waistband of his jeans after loading it.
"Yeah, let's go." He answered as he shut his door and walked around the front of the car and towards the store with Seth following closely behind him.
I threw my gear bag into the backseat once again after loading my gun and slipping it into the waistband of my jeans in case I would need it. Hopefully Anthony would make it easy on us all and let us take him without a fight but, knowing most criminals, I had a feeling he wouldn't be so quick to comply.
I got comfortable in my seat as I watched the back door of the supermarket, waiting for Anthony to walk out of it.
After only a few minutes of watching the door my phone started vibrating from its place in one of the cup holders. I picked it up to look at the contact and quickly answered it after seeing it was Tim calling. "Have you found something?" I asked as I raised the phone to my ear.
"He's not at work. We just saw him through one of his windows." Tim confirmed my thoughts.
I hadn't seen Anthony's car when we pulled in so I had my doubts of him being here but I wasn't going to call this off just because of that. He very easily could have driven a friend's car or gotten a new one before he came.
Tim's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as he kept talking. "He lives alone though, doesn't he?"
"Yes, we all talked about that." It was one of the many things we had talked about while we were all on the way to our hotel yesterday. Meager lives alone and the only family he has lives in Arizona, around twenty-three hours away from where he currently lives in Ellendale, North Dakota.
"Then we've got company. There are four cars, other than his, sitting in his driveway and yard."
"Shit." I mumbled. I'm really hoping this was just a really ill-timed family gathering instead of the possibility Anthony knew we were coming and decided to call in some friends. "Stay there but park somewhere that doesn't look suspicious. I'll be there with the rest of the team soon and I'll figure out a plan while we're on our way."
"Sounds good." I hung up the phone before Tim could say more. I needed to call the rest of the guys and get them back in this car.
I called Seth first since he was first in my contacts. He pickled up after only two rings. "Find Kyle and meet me at the front of the store. Meager isn't in there." I quickly informed him.
"Got it. We'll be out as soon as possible." I hung up first once again. We didn't have time to waste right now. I don't want Anthony seeing Tim and Roy in our van and ditching his house, knowing we are here for him. That is, if he hasn't already figured it out.
I called Parker after finding his contact in my phone and he picked up after a few rings. "Hey, boss." He greeted.
"Parker, I'm going to drive around the front to pick all of you up. Meet me at the front doors." I grabbed the keys and stuck them into the ignition, turning on the car as I spoke.
"Did they find Meager?"
"Tim and Roy saw him through his window." I confirmed as I shifted the car into drive and pushed on the accelerator.
"Okay, I'll be waiting by the front doors." He ended the call and I quickly drove around the front.
I pulled up in front of the glass sliding doors just as Seth and Kyle walked out. I looked over the parking lot and saw Parker walking towards us from a small garden that gave him a perfect view of the front doors without looking suspicious. It's a great spot, I'll give him that.
"So what's going on?" Kyle asked as he opened the passenger door and got in the car while Seth sat behind me.
As Parker got in the car, sitting in the backseat behind Kyle, I started explaining. "Tim called me to tell me that he and Roy saw Meager in his house through one of his windows." I drove out of the parking lot and towards Anthony's house while I spoke. "I need everyone to be on their guard when we get there since he isn't alone. There are four cars in his driveway that don't belong to him. Although this could be from a family or friend gathering it could also be from him calling in some friends if he somehow figured out we were coming and wants to fight instead of run."
No one else spoke the rest of the drive. We were all too busy thinking of the ways this could go wrong, at least I was. I started to think about what would happen if Anthony was actually waiting for us. I'm sure he and his friends would be armed and if more than one person came in one car then we'd surely be outnumbered. I knew we'd win, we always do, but I wasn't sure that we'd all get out scotch-free if he was armed.
One thing I knew though was that I'd die before I let my team take a bullet on a mission I sent them on.