Page 75 of Renegade

He leaned close and whispered in my ear, “If it’s all right, I still want to top sometimes.” It took a second before I registeredwhat he said, and by then, he was striding away from me, into the office.

I shook my head, chuckling as I followed him in. We clustered around a large conference table. It wasn’t quite as large as the one in the other office, and someone had pulled all the chairs away to make room for the big group. Mark, Thayne, Jarrett, Damon, Mac, Miguel, me, and SAC Sarah Connor—who’d insisted I call her Sarah—were all looking over floorplans laid out on the table.

“Sutter told me where Mendez, Rosina, and Bishop are staying,” Damon said. “They’re holed up in the Plaza La Reina in Westwood.”

“Near UCLA,” I said.

“Yes. They’ve got side by side grand suites on the Mezzanine level. It’s only up one floor and the walls are easy enough to scale from below or rappel down to from the roof when we’re ready to enter through balcony doors.” He pointed to a wall which opened onto an area marked “courtyard.”

“Cassanova and Bishop are in one and the other is where Mendez stays. There’s a living area, a kitchenette with a wet bar, bathroom, and bedroom with a balcony which overlooks the outdoor courtyard which is a common area for all guests.”

He pointed to the areas as he talked. “We’ll make sure the courtyard is free of other guests before entering so we can surprise them. French doors open to the courtyard but there’s only a small patio.” He pointed to a small square. “This is the patio. One team will access the patio and make entry through the double doors and the other will access the room from a passkey which we’ll get from the manager.”

Jarrett pointed to an L.A. city map. “There’s a lot of sniper perches here, Sarah.” He glanced at his father. “I know we’regonna attempt to take them alive but if one of ‘em gets a drop on our entry teams, I ain’t gonna be responsible for anyone dyin’.”

Mark nodded, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t expect you to, Jarrett. It will be good to have you cover one of the rooms from a rooftop not far away.”

“I’ll cover the other room,” Sarah said. “I’m looking forward to having a sniper rifle in my hands again. It’s been a while.”

Mark smiled. “Very good.” He turned back to Damon. “We should do this tonight. They won’t be expecting it, and we have a window at least until tomorrow at 0800 when Sutter has to check in with Mendez again.”

“I agree,” Mac said. “We should take the rooms simultaneously and I’m volunteering to lead one assault team.”

“I’ll lead the other,” Miguel said.

“Good,” Mark said. He said something else, but I didn’t hear it because I was swamped by a sudden, overwhelming panic coursing through me.

“Damon, you’ll go in through the patio of Cassanova and Bishop’s room with Miguel,” Mark said. “I’ll take the front door. Thayne, you’ll take the patio of Mendez’ room with Mac, and Raven can take the front door.”

That sounded good to me, but I felt Miguel stiffen beside me.

“Raven’s not law enforcement and he’s never been military.”

I flushed with embarrassment, feeling way out of my depth. He was right. As much as I wanted to help out, I had only really learned to use a gun in the last few months. Miguel must have felt it because he turned and shrugged.

“I’m sorry, Raven, but it’s true. You don’t have the same training we do.” He didn’t wait for me to reply but looked atMark. “Sutter and Vonne took down doors with me for years, sir, and after everything, I think they deserve to be a part of taking these bastards down.”

“Miguel’s right, Mark,” Mac said. “Call it therapy.” The big redhead grinned.

Mark nodded, letting a trace of a smile cross his features. “If they’re willing, it’s decided then.” He looked over at me. “Will you cover the front of the building?”

“Not alone,” Miguel said. “I doubt they’ll get past us but—”

“I will,” I said before turning to Miguel. “Let me check in with Dolly. If everything is going smoothly over there, Cassidy and Mike can come back to watch the front with me.”

Miguel nodded once. “Good thinking, Raven.”

Sarah looked at her watch. “That’s settled then. It’s 2050 hours now. Let’s go visit the armory, get suited up, and plan on being in place by 2300 hours.”

We all filed out of her office, and I called Cassidy while Miguel went into the conference room to talk to Vonne and Sutter. They stood and listened as he explained the situation. As I waited for Cassidy to pick up, I noticed that both men were sporting red-rimmed eyes. Vonne let out a whoop of glee just as Cassidy answered.

“Ryan.”

“Cassidy, it’s Raven. Everything’s okay here. How’s it going over there?” Even though I knew he would have called one of us, had anything gone wrong, I still wanted to hear him say it.

“Everything’s fine, Raven, but you two are in the doghouse with me. Why didn’t you tell us what was happening sooner?”

“It kind of happened quickly. It was only a couple of nights ago that I learned what happened with Sutter getting lost in a sandstorm. Then Miguel got threatened at the Getty, and Sutter showed up just hours ago. I’m really sorry. I hope you can forgive me because I have a really big ask.”

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