Page 91 of Power's Fall

Vadisk raked his fingers through his hair. “No. What I’m proposing is way crazier than that.”

Montana and Dahlia exchanged a quick, concerned glance.

“What do you want to do?” Montana forced himself to ask, worried to hear the answer. He considered himself a fairly brave person, but the last hour or so had taken its toll on him, and courage was in short supply at the moment.

“We complete the mission.”

Dahlia was clearly confused.

Unfortunately, Montana wasn’t. “Surely you’re not suggesting?—”

Vadisk looked him dead in the eye. “The Spaniard is the one who knows about the Masters’ Admiralty. He’ll be at Sinaver’s later today. I need to go.”

“What do you meanyouneed to go?” Montana demanded.

Vadisk scowled. “It’s too dangerous. There’s no way I’d let the two of you?—”

“Let us?” Dahlia raised one brow, looking both pissed and slightly dangerous.

Vadisk rubbed the back of his neck wearily. “That came out wrong. What I meant?—”

“No,” Montana interjected. “I think it came out exactly the way you intended. You’re trying to protect us while putting your own neck on the line. Let me just go ahead and say, there’s no way in hell you’re going into Sinaver’s house alone. This was our mission. Ours,” he stressed.

Vadisk shook his head, but Montana refused to relent.

“What happens when you find this Spaniard? How the hell do you think you can get in, grab the man, question him, and then get back out again?”

Vadisk looked slightly chagrined. “I thought I could figure it out once I got there.”

“Wow. Improvising? That’s some top-tier planning right there.” Dahlia’s arms were crossed. She was not amused by any of this.

“Or,” Montana said, “wefigure it out now. We all go in. We get the Spaniard?—”

“Take him and Sinaver as our hostages, and use them to get ourselves a tank and a military escort to the border,” Dahlia said.

Montana and Vadisk both stared at her. Montana cleared his throat. “Not sure how well you can see our expressions, but we’re both a little freaked out.”

“Speak for yourself. I’m turned on,” Vadisk rumbled.

Dahlia laughed. “I was kidding. Mostly.”

“But taking a hostage is going to be our safest bet.” Vadisk’s tone was pure “mission ops” briefing, and Montana sat up a little straighter, focusing in on the plan. “If we could take both the Spaniard and Sinaver, that would be good, but it’s too risky. We can only control one hostage.”

Montana nodded his agreement. “We take Sinaver.”

“Not the Spaniard?” Dahlia asked.

“No.”

“Then why are we going to Sinaver’s house while the Spaniard is there?” she asked.

Vadisk replied before Montana could. “At the very least, we’ll get a good look at him. If we’re lucky, maybe we can ask him some questions.”

“We’re going to do some black ops interrogation while deep in enemy territory?” Dahlia demanded.

“If we can. Wouldn’t take me long,” Vadisk murmured in a tone that said he was speaking from experience.

“We get in, get a good look at the Spaniard, maybe question him, and take Sinaver hostage,” Montana summed up.

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