Page 70 of Escape You

“What other job?” I looked to Tyler for an answer.

“Sounds like Marcel came to supervise the operation. He’s the reason Rebecca skipped town.”

“No, we can’t do that.” I glared at the plan Vic and I had drawn. “You can’t save people while you’re chasing others.”

“Actually, you can.” Matt said matter of fact. “We’ll already be there with guns. If our main target shows up, we have to take the shot.”

Come on. There was always a catch. “What if it comes down to the sixty people we’re evacuating and this Marcel guy?”

“Mia, of course, the civilians come first.” Tyler placed his hand on my shoulder. The warmth that seeped through my skin calmed me instantly.

“Vic?” I turned to Vic, who was half-perched on the windowsill.

“Mia, saving those people is the objective tonight. But the endgame is to put Rossi away. I, for one, have every intention of shooting the mother fucker if the opportunity presents itself. If Wesley and Matt want to go after Marcel, I’m okay with that too.” This was the Vic I’d learned to fear when I was a kid. He was also the one who taught me how to stay alive.

“Okay. We’ll give you access to the video feed. See if you can find your guy.”

I took a few more minutes to explain the exit routes. We would have one bus waiting about five minutes from the warehouse through the wooded area behind our parking lot. Tyler would escort everyone there, while my guys and I drive a different bus in the opposite direction. The assumption was Rossi would follow the bus shooting back at them and not the one quietly vanishing into the night.

I didn’t want this rescue mission to turn into a bloodbath. If it came down to it, I was certain Rossi would shoot every one of those people before he let them walk away free with us.

“Can you be ready to go tonight?” Vic had wanted to go in last night, but our best bet was to go in with two separate teams. Waiting for Tyler and his brothers was the only option. “We’re just waiting on transportation and lighting.” I pointed at the setting sun.

“We can make that work.” Tyler exchanged a glance with Wesley and Matt. “How do we get the FBI to concede and go after Rossi.”

“Oh right. I almost forgot. We’re going to tweet about it.”

Tyler laughed. “He’ll definitely not see that one coming.”

“Once the general public knows what’s going on, Clifton will have no choice but to act on all the evidence we’ll very kindly leave for them. Tom says he can post pictures without getting tracked down. I trust him.”

“I do too.” Tyler nodded. “Rossi will be ruined. The Big 5 thrives on anonymity. They won’t get near him if he’s involved in a human trafficking scandal.”

“Right.”

“I like how you think.” Wesley beamed at me. His expression changed when he turned his attention to Tyler. “I’m gonna run a few things by Vic.” He walked by us and sat on the tabletop across from Vic.

“I hate this part. You know, the calm before the storm,” I said to Tyler.

“You did this a lot. Before?” Tyler wrapped his hand around my elbow. A rush and a serenity all at once skipped through me.

“Tyler, it doesn’t matter how you slice it. I am who I am. You keep trying to make me into something I’m not.”

“I’ve never tried to change you.”

“No, but you keep trying to justify everything I do. Even when it’s so apparent where all my motivation comes from.”

He kept walking away from the group and into the living area. I sat on the sofa. The cool leather felt good under my touch. How long had he lived here? How long did he plan to stay? I knew next to nothing about him. I placed a hand over my flat stomach.

“Are you feeling okay?” He sat next to me, our hips and arms touching.

“Yeah. Morning sickness started a few days ago. But nothing major.”

“I miss you.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what? Want to be with you? I was an asshole at the hospital. I tend to get grumpy when people shoot at me. But even when I thought you had turned me in, I understood why. I’m not giving up on us.”

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