Page 119 of Hell and High Water

“Clive always struck me as an old soldier. I’d love to talk tactics with him.” Gavin leans over the table.

“He was. Marine. Two tours.”

Gavin just nods appreciatively.

“So, what’s the plan?” Ora flops down, looking at each of us.

“Well, we just got back to town to find our enemy already here, so we were kind of hoping you’d have the rundown at least. Then we can meet back up with Hell and Evan and?—"

“Hell’s back? YES!”

“There’s more, too?—”

“And I want to hear it, but first I need to tell you a few things. Granddad wants what you want. He’s looking to fight back and combine our forces.”

Gavin and I both tense. “You told him about Hellena. The Sinful?”

“I had to share a few things to see what he knew. Trust me, it would take a whole lot more to surprise Xavier Clive. And you can trust him. Trust us. Besides, I had to let him in just in case I got taken hostage or something. Needed to make sure this alliance goes through.”

“What makes you think you’d get taken hostage?” I snark.

“Um. Have you seen this ass? Very ransom-worthy.”

Gavin chuckles but sobers quickly. “You’re sure? I know he’s your family, Ora, but he must have worked for one of the Sinful too, if he was at the Ball…”

“I trust him with my life. He's not going to sell you guys out to Marco. He doesn't want anything to do with that motherfucker or the Sinful anymore, either. He wouldn’t say much else about them, but I got the impression he isn’t their biggest fan. And like I said, he's ready to swear himself to whoever's willing to step up and take charge.”

“Why not do it himself?”

“That… I’m not sure.” Ora frowns. “So, right now, it’s us and every resource we can drum up.”

I shrug. “It will have to do.”

“We’ve been looking at our numbers and it’s not great, but I think people will rally if they see that someone is willing to fight. Did you guys find out anything else about the Sinful, who’s in charge or why they aren’t doing anything?”

“Yeah, some. But Hellena is still researching.”

“So, nothing.”

“For now. You said Xavier was setting traps, redoubts?”

“Yeah. One thing we really need right now, though, is communication.”

“Hmm. I might have a few ideas of what we could do. Old radio tower out past my place has a lot of abandoned equipment. Analog stuff. I have some leftover equipment from… back in the day, too.”

“Ooh, man, one of these days, I have got to hear about your spy days, Dump Truck!” Ora claps the table.

“You gotta get him drunk, apparently,” I chime in, swatting for Gavin’s arm. He leans away, chopping stiffened fingers into my ribcage.

“Yowch!”

“I wasn’t a spy. I was a mercenary.”

“How about you, Tell? Don’t you have a web of secret agents feeding you info?”

“Sort of. Most of my big-time contacts are either bought or compromised. But there’s still the ‘rabble’.”

“What do you mean?”

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