Page 42 of Peaceful Chaos

Lapse in Judgment

Sin

Raven takesmy hand and leads me inside the apartment. "I have a bad feeling about this."

I cradle her face in my hands and press a gentle kiss to her lips. "I know what we're going into. Chaos has more and better trained soldiers. You don't need to worry. I'll be back by the time you get up in the morning."

She shakes her head against my hands. "I'm going to worry no matter what you say, and I really don't think we should be apart."

I drop my hands. We could be here all night arguing about this, and I doubt Holbrook has much longer. "I don't like being away from you either, but I know you're safe here. I need to focus if we're going to be able to get your uncle out of Blackthorne Manor."

Raven nods. "I know everything you're saying is true. That doesn't make this feeling in the pit of my stomach go away."

I can't find the words to reassure her, but it wouldn't matter anyway, because she's going to worry until I come back. I'm getting better at expressing my feelings for her with words, but sometimes when the emotions are too strong like right now, I still have to communicate through action. So, instead of struggling to figure out what to say to convince her, I choose to make a move that will make both of us feel better.

Taking both of her hands in mine, I stroke my thumbs over her knuckles. I hear her breath catch. I love the way she responds to the smallest touch. Her hands slide up my arms and around my neck. Her fingers twist in my hair, tugging on the strands. She stretches up, trying to bridge the nearly foot of distance between us.

I grip her waist and lift her up. When she wraps her legs around me, I move one hand into her hair and grip it tight while using the other to hold her up. Twisting her long hair around my fist I use it to guide her mouth to mine and give her a real kiss goodbye. This is more than the chaste kiss from a moment ago. Everything I feel pours into it, and my mouth tells her without words that she is everything to me. She's the air I breathe and the beat of my heart.

"Now you have to believe I'll be back. There's no way we're not finishing this later." I set her down and quickly move away from her before she can convince me to stay, because it wouldn't take much.

When I step out of the apartment I see Javier loading one of the larger vehicles with weapons. The Chaos plane is fueled and waiting for us at their private airstrip. I'm anxious to get on the road, because the sooner we're in the air, the faster I'll be back home with Raven.

"There's a couple more cases to load, and then we can head over to the office and review the infiltration strategy one last time," Javier says.

"Can't we just go over everything on the plane? Arthur's plane had plenty of space to hold a meeting," I argue.

"If our discussion elicits any changes we won't be able to make too many corrections if we're already in transit," he counters.

Lucien strolls over and casually leans against the vehicle. At least he wants to appear casual. "If we wait too long you better stick a body bag in the cargo bay, because we're running out of time for there to be any chance my uncle is still alive. I don't know what we need to go over anyway. We need a lot of guns and a lot of people firing them."

I clap my hands. "Now that we've gone over the finer details, I'm in agreement with my brother here."

Lucien nods his chin in my direction. "We need wheels up now."

Javier shrugs. "You're both the experts here. Besides, I'm not about to let an FBI agent die on my watch. I love it when those bureaucratic assholes owe me a favor."

On the plane, Javier pulls out a set of blueprints for Damien's house as soon as the pilot lets him know we've reached cruising altitude. "If we are lucky we will have a few minutes to find and extract Holbrook from the property."

I lean back in my seat, and glare at him. "Please tell me there is more to this plan than hoping for luck. I've told you not to underestimate these men. Yeah, they aren't as good as Lucien and I, but they have managed to build and hold on to a major criminal organization for years."

Javier taps his fingers against the table. "Of course there is more to it. We train hard to be fast and quiet. Maybe I should say, unless they get lucky we should be in and out of there in under an hour."

Javier starts to mark the map as he explains. "You and Lucien will go in through the basement egress. My unit will go in through the back door with a more direct assault while the other two units will scale the porch and enter through the upper windows. I know Ted has been cleared to go back to school, but that gun shot wasn't very long ago. Are you sure you're up for this?"

Ted nods. "If they go, I go."

Javier shrugs. "Fine, but you stick with me. I don't usually let my men in the field so soon after being shot in the stomach. You don't need to worry about Sin and Lucien anyway, they are used to working as a team of two."

Ted nods. "I can agree to that. You don't need to worry about me though. I'm nearly a hundred percent."

"Nearly isn't completely healed. Like I said, I like to know that my soldiers are in peak condition before they are out in the field."

"Ted can handle himself. Even injured, I'd want him on my side," I speak up.

After a four-hour flight, the plane touches down at a private field in Devil's Crossing. It borders the forest that runs along the back of Blackthorne Manor. The rear hatch of the aircraft comes down and Chaos soldiers begin unloading weapons and several matte black dirt bikes.

Javier jerks his chin in that direction. "Those are electric with modified mufflers to make them as quiet as possible. We manufacture these and have a contract to distribute them to military special forces for urban combat."

---