I meet Nick back at the entrance where I came in. An armed gaurd opens the car door for me and I climb in. Nick sat in the drivers seat, blonde hair neatly combed and white three piece suit immaculate.
"Hey," I mumbled in greeting, putting on my seatbelt.
"Hey," Nick says back. "Was that too much?"
I shook my head. "No, I think I'm okay."
He nodded. "Let's go."
Nick put the car in gear and pushed out into the main street.
"So," I start, "What now?"
"Well we can't just go in there guns blazing, no matter how much I'd like too."
"Then, what do we do?"
"We prepare our teams, work out a plan and launch as soon as possible before they can move."
"What happens if they move?"
"We're back to square one. Evan is an exhausted lead, if we let him go he'll tell Caden and they'll definitely move."
"How long will it take to work out a plan?" The questions were starting to fly out, I could no longer contain them.
"It depends."
"On?"
"We first have to send undercovers, when they pass on the necessary information we can plan our angle. We attack as soon as we run through the plan twice."
"Only twice?"
Nick looked at me. "This is a special case. Ususally, we run through it at least three to four times, but we'll have out best on this one. It shouldn't take us long."
"Who are you thinking of sending in?"
"Other than Mason's six," Nick scratched his head. "Maybe Ivy. To keep anything from spinning out of control."
"What she did back there," I swallowed. "Is she trained for that type of work?"
"Her branch of the three specializes in," he searched for the right words, "Different ways to get information."
"You mean torture." I deadpan.
"Yes. But they are also very good at making plans and fixing every possible fault."
"So Ivy's in charge of planning how we get Mason out."
"Again, yes."
"Where are we going?" The one question I hadn't asked yet.
"We're going to see an old friend of mine." Was Nick's only response.
-
A half hour later we arrived at a bleak looking building. Grey stone walls and graffitti greeted us against the dying sun as we climbed out of the car.
"You're friend lives here?" I ask, skepticism lining my voice.
"Yep." Ncik replied, walking towards the faded, blue steel door.
Yanking it open, he holds it open for me and I walk into the space. A small dripping sound echos through the building and it fills the otherwise silent cavern.
"Jones! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Nick called.
Immeadiately I heard a handful of weapons click, but Nick only smiled.
"Jones, face me like a man you ass." Nick said.
Nearly silent footsteps crept up behind us, and Nick didn't flinch as a hand grabbed him by the shoulder. He took the hand and folded it back, twisting the arm of the person it was atached to and sending him back. I'd barely seen Nick use his arms in a physical fight, he always had a gun on him.
Nick twirled and pushed the figure back, sending him to the floor. The man that the hand and arm belonged to grunted as he fell to the floor, Nick's foot on his chest.
"You should know better by now, Jones. I always win."
"Yeah, yeah. Piss off." The other nam muttered. Nick held out his hand and he took it, hauling himself back up. "At ease."
All at once I heard safeties click back and the shuffle of weapons being taken down from whatever position they were in.
"What do you want King?" A gruff voice asks.
That's when I turn and see the man before me. Intimidating, yes, but not scary. A lean body with a pistol strapped to his legand and a beard covering the lower part of his face with sparkling black eyes switched between Nick and I.
"I came to ask a favor."
-
"You are insane!" Jason cried, slamming his hand down on the desk in front of him. "You cannot possibly want to use my men to sneak into Caden Lrost's lair!"
"Jason, calm down-" Nick started.
"Do not tell me to calm down! Asking me to supply the weapons is one thing, but my men?!" He scoffed. "That's pushing it. Even for you."
"Rach wouldn't have to go, you'd get to choose."
"Just because you're giving me a choice doesn't make this any less crazy!"
"Think of what Ace has done for you!" Nick yelled back. "He practically saved your ass!"
"He also got me into trouble." Jason hissd.
"Listen," Nick said quietly, "I know I'm asking you to make a diffcult decision, but we need the help. Please."
Silece fell over the room as Jason contemplated Nick's offer. Time seemed to stretch before Jason said, "I'll think about it and talk to my men. We'll be in touch in two days."
"Thank you." Nick said back. He turned to me and nodded.
"Calsy," Jason called after me, and I turned. "Good luck."
I managed a small smile and walked out without another word.
-
When I climbed back into the car I let out a sigh.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked.
"How are we going to do this Nick? It's nearly impossible."
"With this family, nothing's impossible."
"I should know that by now though right?" I huff and a smile starts to spread across my face.
"I'd be offended if you still thought of us as normal." Nick chuckled.
A small buzz sounded through his pocket and he took out his phone and sighed.
"I need to head back and give a report. I'll drop you off at your house on the way." Nick told me and pulled out, away from the sone structure.
-
"Is there anything else I can do?" I ask for the third time. My house was coming up fast and I wanted to stall going back.
"Caalsy, like I've said before, you've done enough. Rest, I'll call you when it's time."
I shook my head and got out, waving as I reached the front door, a headache forming like a band around my head.
The headache didn't go away even when the hot water from my shower hit me and my muscles relaxed, or when I lied in bed.
It only got worse from there.