Page 11 of Sloth
Evan whooped. “All right. Road trip.”
“No,” Parker said immediately. “You stay behind.”
“What?” Evan groaned. “Why?”
“You and Griffin have flashy powers. If you’re not here, and you’re seen there, people will put two and two together. We need a good cover story and stealth. Sloan, you’re obviously in.”
Her face paled, but she said nothing.
“I’m happy to help,” Max offered, hoping to piss off Sloan even more.
“We need you here,” Wyatt replied. He’d been quiet the entire time, but with this, he spoke up. “Misha is three months pregnant. She’ll start to show soon. If the Syndicate find out she’s carrying my child and I’m not there…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
“Got it,” Max said. “Security on her will need to be increased.”
Wyatt gave him a curt nod, but gratitude blazed in his eyes.
“Does that mean you’ll go?” Parker asked Wyatt. “Having a super on the team will be beneficial in case we run into trouble.”
“How long will it take?”
“Well…” Parker glanced at the map on Sloan’s screen. “There’s a national park on the east side of the black site. What if we plan a hiking trip there?”
Wyatt pointed at a spot. “That’s near the mountains.”
“Base jumping. Nice,” Evan added.
Even from Australia, Max had heard about Parker’s cliff climbing and base jumping exploits.
A slow grin formed on Parker’s face, showing a glimpse of that wild beast within. “It’s all coming together. I’ll get Tony on board and we’ll go to the charity gala—show our faces, donate some cash—act like we’re stopping by before heading off on a boy’s weekend.”
“Boy’s weekend is fine with me,” Sloan said. “I’ll just stay here.”
“It was a figure of speech. Your presence is not up for debate. You’ll be required to install the back door program into the closed circuit system so we can access the Syndicate data from here. Then we can take our time searching through their files from a safe distance. You’re coming.”
Wyatt added, “How long will it take to hike to the site from the national park?”
“Two days, give or take,” Max suggested. “Maybe do it in less if you don’t stop to rest.”
Wyatt’s hard blue eyes met Max’s. “You’ll have around the clock security on Misha while I’m gone?”
Max nodded. “Whatever you need.”
“Good. I’m in.”
“Great. It’s settled.” Parker clapped his hands. “I’ll go apprise Tony. Wyatt, you make arrangements with Misha. Sloan, you…” Parker’s brows lifted in the middle as he took note of his sister, now with the end of her braid in her mouth. His top lip curled in distaste. “You need to clean up. You can’t go to a high-priced ticket charity gala looking like that. Get your hair cut. Buy an outfit. It’s black tie.”
She spat her hair out. “You’re an asshole, too.”
Parker flipped her the bird and then left the room.
An awkward silence filled the space Parker left.
Max turned to Evan. “Do you mind if I use the gym?”
“You gotta stop asking, bro. Just use it.”
A short nod, and he left, scooping up his duffel bag on the way.
