Page 68 of Fight or Flight

He lets go of his cup and comes to slap me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, brother, but I don’t have an answer for that.”

Once again, I feel the devastation over losing Claire before determination sets in. She’s still out there somewhere. I can’t act like a weeping pussy if I’m to rescue her. “Okay, so what now?”

“Now we go over the plan,” is Brody’s response before he opens his laptop.

CHAPTER XXIII

“I’M NOT SURE ABOUT this, man,” I whisper to Brody, who squints at his phone, looking for something.

“You’ll be fine,” he mutters absentmindedly before exclaiming, “Got it!”

“What?”

“So here’s the code to the gate. Remember, you need to go in and behave like this is exactly the place that you’re supposed to be at. You can handle a gun, right?”

“Um, yeah, but I think you would be way more suitable for that than me. What if they know about me?”

“I doubt it, but it is a possibility. Anyway, you’re better suited for the job, believe me. It has to be you. My leg makes me too distinguishable, and in no way would they allow an invalid dude working on the perimeter. Maybe they knew Claire was seeing someone or somehow learned about her past. However, I know men like the Ramirez brothers. They aren’t concerned about people that they don’t see as a threat. I doubt they even know their guards’ names except those they allow close to them. Just wear a scowl on your face, which shouldn’t be too hard when you think about whom the guards work for, and play a brainless mass of cells, which shouldn’t be a problem for you either, right?”

“Fuck you, man,” I snap, and Brody chuckles before shaking my shoulder lightly.

“You’ll be fine, man. Just stick to the plan, don’t let the emotions take over your actions, and you’ll be dandy. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I sigh.

“Good, let’s go grab your woman then, so you can show her that you’re truly worthy of that second chance she gave you, yeah?”

“Yes, let’s do this,” I say, then pause before opening the door. “Hey, Brody.”

He looks up from his phone once again and raises his brows expectantly.

I rub my sweaty palms on my suit pants and clear my throat nervously. “Um, just, thank you for everything. I owe you forever. Not just for what we’re about to do now. I mean...”

“It’s fine. We’re cool. Now, before you go all sappy on me, you have a mission to do, soldier.”

“Right.”

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