Page 66 of Bound By Water
“We could take her with us,” Beckett tentatively suggests. “I’m not going to fight. She can stay back with me.”
I scoff. “You’ve lived as a soldier. You know what to expect. She doesn’t.” I turn toward the door. “I need to talk to River before my next meeting. Let me know when you find our new headquarters.”
“Maybe you need to examine why you’re so adamant she stay safe but not with us,” Beckett calls out as I stride out of his office.
I roll my eyes. He’s always trying to analyze everyone, looking for a reason, but sometimes, there isn’t one. Protecting people is my job. I call Quaid.
“Where’s River right now?” I ask, knowing Quaid has his tablet on him at all times.
“Why? What happened?”
“Later. Location?” I prod, not willing to go into everything over the phone. He replies with the information, and I head to River’s Spanish class.
When I get there, I slip into the room and lock eyes with him. Without saying a word, he gets up and follows me out.
Taking a gamble, I start with her secret. “Greer told me what happened with Hightower’s son.”
His eyes never twitch, telling me he’s loyal to her. She obviously trusts him.
I don’t want to reveal that the rest of us are leaving, but I need to find out if he’s willing to take her with him. “She told me you can’t stay because of your mother and sister?”
His jaw locks, but he says nothing.
“She can’t stay here. You know that, right?” I ask, studying his reaction.
He exhales loudly. “Why not? It’s not safe for her to leave.” Worried bright green eyes drill into me. It’s obvious he cares for her. Probably why he hasn’t left yet.
“What if I help all four of you find a safe place? Somewhere off the grid. Would you take her with you and your family?” I ask.
He curls his lip. “No offense, but I don’t trust you. You hide in this compound while Raven captures person after person. Very few even know Phoenix is real and on the streetssavingpeople.” He sneers as he says the word saving. “Not one mention in the discussion boards. No way for anyone to contact you. You choose who to save or not. Everyone thinks you’re a myth. Personally, I think you’re worse than Raven. Their agenda is very clear.”
He's right. Every word. We started out with big goals of saving people, but the military is too afraid the world will end if it knows of our existence. While I’ve tried to broaden the scope of our operations, it has barely made a dent. Hence my resignation. River’s anger is completely justified.
“You’re right. I tried to change things, but the government is resistant. Hightower has their favor and approval,” I admit with a frustrated sigh. “You know we can save your family. Look at you and Greer… and the others here. If you give me your mom and sister’s location, I’ll send a team right now.”
“You mean the government is afraid of us.” River scoffs. “Look. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t trust you to save my family. I’ve got it covered.” Despite his bravado, I can sense he’s worried about the situation.
Might be best to back off for a day. Let him think about it. “My offer stands. I want to help you. Greer, too. If you decide to let me, text me.” When I rattle off my number, his mouth drops open, and I almost snicker. I’ve been aware of his phone since the day he got it. Nash has this entire compound wired for devices.
I leave him standing in the hallway and stride off. Once I’m outside the building, I call Nash, my favorite geek. “I want you to use facial recognition to find where River’s been the last two years. Every location.” Hanging up, my brow furrows.
River made a mistake. He used the word “save” when he spoke about his family. Wherever they are, he needs to save them, which suggests they’ve been captured by Raven.
* * *
While Nash looksfor the information I need, I head back to my office to greet the groups arriving this morning. Several field teams have been begging for a chance to take the fight to Raven instead of sitting on the sidelines. Once I resigned, I told each of them what we were planning and extended an invitation to join us.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how many would be willing to resign, but surprisingly, almost all of them said yes. They’ve seen a lot of action on the streets, and while they saved a few here and there, they’ve also had to stand by while Raven captured one after another. River was right. Few people said yes to the safety we offered because nobody knew if we could be trusted.
“Welcome,” I tell them, striding into my office where I find Quaid and Beckett chatting with them. “Thank you all for coming at such short notice. We need to move quickly on the intel we received with the location of one of Raven’s bases. Based on our surveillance, activity has died down at this site, which gives us a good window of opportunity.”
Captain Walker crosses her arms. “That’s suspicious. Activity has increased across the board. Are you sure the intel is accurate and up to date?” She raises an eyebrow.
Quaid jumps in. “I conducted it myself.” He points to the table where we’ve been planning the attack. “It’s a small place. Maybe fifty rooms for captives. My guess is they’ve run out of space. Guards, both numbers and rotations, have decreased. Less supply trucks going in and out. They’re in a maintain-only phase. It’s been this way for the last three weeks.”
She studies the map. “Looks like there’s some ground cover with this nearby forest, but that’s about it. How are we going to get in without them sounding the alarm?”
Quaid looks at the group and smiles. Everyone stiffens. “This will be a multi-prong attack. So far, we’ve worked out a few tactics, but nothing is finalized. We’ll jam all outgoing communications. Once we’re close, we’ll have David use electrokinesis to overload the facility’s electricity, shutting down all alarm systems. Oliver will use mind control to force them to open the gate and lay down their weapons.”
