Page 54 of Twisted Empire

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I hadn’t realized how quickly the techies could work once they combined their skills. In the mid-afternoon, Logan and Gideon called us into Beckett’s rooms to go over their findings. The room was big enough that even with my four guys, Mercy and her four, and me all clustered around the sitting area, it didn’t feel crowded.

Gideon brought up a map on his tablet. “Here we are, and here’s the building we’ve determined that Doom’s Seed is running the majority of his local operations out of.” He pointed to a pin marking a spot quite a distance away in a different city.

The same city where Yvonne had taken me when she’d kidnapped me, I recognized.

“It’s not the condo Logan’s mom brought me to, is it?” I said, startled. I hadn’t noticed much activity while I was there, but then, I had been shut in a closet for most of that time.

Logan shook his head. “No, it’s at the other end of the city, but the presence of the condo helped us narrow things down.” He smiled tightly. “Her kidnapping attempt worked against Doom’s Seed in more ways than one.”

“We’ve found the place,” Dexter said. “But if that location is important to Doom’s Seed, he’ll have a lot of his people guarding it, won’t he? And they’ll have the advantage of being on familiar ground. We can’t just lay siege there in the middle of the city for days on end.”

My mind leapt to the memory of how we’d tackled the enemy forces when they’d had Beckett’s people under siege. “We create some kind of distraction nearby to draw as many of them away as possible. He doesn’t know we’ve located his main base, and we’ve never gone directly after him unprovoked before. He might not even realize it has anything to do with us.”

“Especially since there’s new blood in the mix.” Wylder grinned and rubbed his hands together. “His people aren’t familiar with ours, and we’ve got the manpower to keep them busy for a while. You five have a better idea what you’re looking for. I say we divide and conquer.”

Mercy’s eyes lit up in anticipation. “Perfect. I’ll take the Claws to one part of the city, you take the Nobles to another, and Beckett can bring his people to the base once it’s less guarded.”

Gideon motioned to the tablet. “We also identified a few major businesses Doom’s Seed is running in the same city. Those would make ideal targets. We pick two that are far apart and not very close to the base, and that should divide his force.”

Beckett inhaled slowly. “All right. We don’t want too big a commotion at the base, or Doom’s Seed will catch wind of our plan and call his people back. I’ll bring a small squad of Storm people who are loyal to me and…”

He looked at me and hesitated. “This is going to be the most dangerous mission we’ve carried out—riskier than anything you’ve been a part of before.”

I could already see where he was going with this. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t you dare suggest that I lounge around here painting my toenails while you and the other guys go charging into danger.”

Beckett held up his hands. “I have to try. It’ll be easier for me not having to worry about you getting hurt.”

I raised my eyebrows. “And you won’t be worried if I’m back here with hardly anyone left guarding the house? Doom’s Seed already threatened to attack you here too. At least this way you’ll know I’m okay—I’ll be right there grabbing the proof we need with you. You know I’ve put up a good fight before.”

His mouth tightened, and Mercy rolled her eyes at him. “Come on, Beckett. I thought you knew better than to try to leave a woman out of the action. She’s obviously made of strong stuff if she’s stuck with you this far.”

Beckett’s gaze jerked to her, dark with stormy emotion. “She isn’t justawoman. She’smywoman.” He paused and let out a sigh. “And that means I support her choices even when I don’t totally like them.” He caught my gaze. “I’m sorry. I had to say it.”

I gave him a half-hearted glower. “Just don’t say it again. You don’t have to like it, but I’m not leaving you guys to do this alone.”

“None of us are staying back,” Logan said emphatically, for once not joining Beckett on the over-protective side of things. I guessed he’d learned his lesson. He rubbed his mouth, considering the map. “And if we can find my mom while we’re there, I can use that to our advantage. With whatever influence I have left with her, I’ll gather any information I can.”

My pulse stuttered. I hadn’t thought about him having to come face to face with Yvonne again. “Do you have any idea where she’s been staying?”

His gaze was pained when he met my eyes. “No. As far as we can tell, she hasn’t been back to the condo building since you escaped. We haven’t been able to trace her movements since then.”

She could be anywhere. There was no reason to assume we’d encounter her. But she was deeply entwined with Doom’s Seed, and this was his primary center of operations in the area.

We might even have to face off with Doom’s Seed himself.

A chill ran through me, but I willed it away. It didn’t matter how much danger we were facing. This man had destroyed my family, attacked my mom and my men, and been ready to kill me at the drop of a hat. I wasn’t letting him get away with any of that, no matter what I had to do.

“All right. We’re agreed, then.” Beckett drew himself straighter, looking around at all of us. “I hate that the situation has come to this—I hate that more people may die today. But all of us have been through the wringer with people who think they can control us and claim our territory. It doesn’t matter what tactics our enemy has been willing to use or what threats he’s made, I know we’ll come out on top. All Doom’s Seed cares about is his business, but we’re fighting for something much more valuable.”

His gaze flicked to me, and then around over the others again. “We’re fighting for family.”

Kaige let out a little whoop of approval, and Slade offered a brief round of applause. Tears pricked behind my eyes at the sentiment.

I couldn’t help seeing how we all marched out of the room with an extra pep in our step, buoyed up by Beckett’s words.

He’d come into his own as a leader in every possible way, no matter what his dad had to say about it. No matter how much the old Storm disapproved of his son’s choices.

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