Page 306 of The Black Trilogy

“Mack, start tagging and tracking them.”

She clicked away, assigning each intruder a number. Luke hadn’t seen this side of Mack before. To him, this was the girl who cried at the end of sad movies and puked if she saw a nasty photo. But now she worked quickly and confidently, no hint of drama. At her command, the software working the cameras that covered the whole house, all the outbuildings, and parts of the grounds would now follow each person as they moved.

According to Mack’s calculations, there were fourteen bad guys roaming the estate.

Luke counted the people in the room. Discounting Jed, who still walked with a limp, and Bradley, who Luke couldn’t imagine holding a gun let alone firing one, there were eleven including himself. But he didn’t know how to shoot either. In fact, he’d always been kind of averse to the idea until he met Emmy, but right now, he was having a rethink. If he survived the battle building up outside, he’d take lessons, but for tonight they had ten. Ten people who might be useful.

He gave a nervous cough. “Is this room secure enough to keep those people out until the police arrive?”

Emmy laughed. “The police? Are you having a laugh? They’d make a complete mess of everything then bury us under paperwork. We’ll deal with it ourselves, and they can help clean up afterwards.”

Luke looked at her carefully, searching for signs she was kidding, but her expression remained determined. Was she serious? Sure, Blackwood worked in place of the police on some jobs, his sister’s kidnapping being a case in point, but this looked like a war was about to start.

“But there are more of them than us, and they’ve got machine guns.”

“And what do you think we have? Water pistols?”

Luke tried again. “Shouldn’t you play it safe?”

Emmy smiled, only there was no mirth in it, and the glint in her eyes scared him. “I prefer to play it dangerous.”

What had he got himself into?

Emmy turned her back on him and asked more questions. “How’s Riverley Hall looking? And the guesthouse? Anything at the office?”

Nate called up more locations on the monitors. “They all look clear.”

“Get the office on the phone.”

It was odd to see Emmy taking charge and ordering everyone around. Usually, she seemed quiet and almost deferential around Nate. Nobody else batted an eyelid though, which led Luke to believe she’d been in similar situations before. He didn’t know whether to be more or less worried by that.

“Do you want them to send reinforcements?” Nate asked.

“No way. If I was Black’s killer—let’s call him Blanco for today’s purposes—that’s the first thing I’d expect. Lock everyone down then have a team sneak out the back. I bet you a hundred bucks there’ll be a group of Blanco’s foot soldiers waiting somewhere around the exit to the driveway.”

Nate called headquarters and communicated the instruction, nodding as he hung up. “Done.”

Next, Emmy picked up the phone herself and dialled Blackwood in London. “I want Ryan to go to Tia Halston-Cain immediately. Get him to take her somewhere safe, and he doesn’t leave her side until this is over. Everyone else stays in lockdown.”

A lump rose in Luke’s throat. “Do you think Tia’s in danger?”

His sister had already been through a nightmare a few months back when she got abducted. He dreaded the thought of her being flung into more trouble of the sort he was living through right now.

“Just a precaution, but I’m not taking any chances.”

Luke’s heart thumped against his ribcage. Bad enough that he was stuck in this horror movie without his sister getting pulled into it as well. He sure hoped Emmy knew what she was doing.

“What’s going on outside?” she asked.

“They’re stacking up at the doors,” Nate said. “Looks like they’re about to come in.”

“Right, there’s ten of us excluding Luke, Bradley, and Jed...” she started.

Jed opened his mouth, but Emmy interrupted whatever he was about to say. “Don’t give me that, Jed. You’ve got a broken leg, so you’re not going anywhere near this one. You can’t creep quietly in a cast, and I didn’t drag your sorry butt out of Syria just for you to get shot at home.” Jed closed his mouth, but he didn’t look happy. “So, as I was saying, there’s ten of us. Mack, you’re staying here. Luke and Jed can help you. Carmen, you’re on the roof at Black’s. The rest of us split. Evan and Logan, you head for the guesthouse. Jack, you and Alex come from Black’s. Me, Nick, Nate, and Dan will head upstairs, and the team down here can direct us where to go.”

Thank goodness Mack would be staying in the relative safety of the basement. The last thing Luke wanted was for her to go out and get shot at.

“What’s Black’s?” he whispered to her. “I thought that was Emmy’s nightclub?”

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