"Merged?"
"Yeah. Chadwick used surveillance cameras and security measures to keep an eye on you and then study what you did to find your weaknesses. And here we've just been throwing ourselves at these cartels and kingpins and just attacking what we can see. Why not take a page from Chadwick and set up surveillance at a suspected house and drain them of as much information as we can before we try to take them out. I mean we might have to ignore some of the evil they're pushing for a bit, but it would be for the greater good."
"Ren, I've already done that," I tell him. "I used to sit outside these houses and watch them for hours. There's really not all that much to learn. I tried."
"No, Cat, you didn't. You're still thinking like you or us. Think like him. I don't mean you post yourself outside one of their houses and watch. I want you to sneak inside and bug the place. Set up cameras and microphones and let me listen to their conversations and figure out how they operate. For days or even weeks. Or maybe indefinitely if we're lucky."
He turns to face me, and his eyes are shining and bright. He's thought this out, and he wants it to happen. This is the most excited I've seen him in a long time. But bugging one of their houses? Is that possible? Can he get his hands on the technology to do that?
I shake my head. Of course he can. That isn't the real worry. My real worry isn't whether Ren can hold up his part of this plan. It's my part. Can I get into one of these houses without choking on the poison in the air? Or without choking on the overwhelming desire to throttle every human being I come into contact with? The thought of getting that close to one of their fortresses, or even getting inside one, and not destroying it goes against everything I’ve come to believe in. It goes against every reason I've been doing what I do.
But Ren's right. What if it leads to better targets that we never would have found out about previously? In that case it may be worth it. I just have to put my trust in his plan.
"Ok," I say after thinking it through. "So you just want me to break into one of these houses and drop some cameras and microphones around the place and let you go all 'creeper' on them, right? I can do that."
"Actually," he says standing up and shaking out his body after sitting on the cold floor. "I told you I'd been trying to think like Chadwick. There's actually a little bit more to it than that."
Then he laughs. But it isn’t his normal, humorous chuckle. No. He commits to a full out evil-villain-hiding-in-his-lair-planning-the-overthrow-of-mankind laugh. And it is wonderful.
It’s enough to make me believe the cartels are finally in for some real trouble.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
After Ren finishes explaining his plan, I'm all for it. Even if we don't glean the information from them that we want to, he's worked in a failsafe to cover all the bases. It's ingenious and very much in line with Chadwick. Which should bother me, except in this case I'm all for it.
The only drawback is that we have to wait a little over a week for all the supplies to get shipped to us. Ren may have come up with the thought a few days ago, but he hadn't moved forward with all the expenditures until I was fully on board with him. I'm a bit bummed at having to wait before getting out and putting it all into action. Now that I've decided to embrace the outside world again, I'm anxious to get out and make it happen.
But Ren assuages that anxiety by upping my exercise routines to focus more on stealth training over combat. I start by doing a lot more climbing and vertical scaling of the environments around us. Ren has me go outside and practice finding ways to get up to the upper levels of the surrounding buildings without damaging anything or making any noise. It's far from easy and it's surprisingly taxing on my intellect (I'm used to the just-charge-right-in-and-beat-them-to-a-pulp method as opposed to the analyze-everything-from-every-angle-before-approaching one.), but it's fun. And it's nice knowing I am training for a purpose. I have a goal now other than just trying to avoid suicide while tackling impossible odds.
Turns out I am almost as skilled at sneaking as I am at hunting. I haven't had quite as much practice at it, and quietly being near a person without trying to attack them does go against my very nature (Well, at least, my most recent nature, that is.). But it is all for a good cause. Whenever Ren doesn't have me training, I spend my time either resting and trying not to think about anything at all or sending messages to Leyna. And since I don't have to sleep much that means there isn't much reason for down time. It's exhausting. The only real breaks I get are when I run out of energy and need to feed. Then he'll give me a few hours to relax and digest what I’ve taken in. But those breaks are few, and the training sessions are many.
I've tried to do my best to ignore the irony of the fact that it took a self-imposed banishment and no longer seeing her for me to become close to my sister. But we are. We are talking more and more often, and I'm really getting to know her. Plus, it's allowing me to feel a little bit more normal. A person can only train for so many hours on different ways to take down an opponent quickly and silently before they start to lose a little bit of a connection to that seventeen-year-old-girl life. I don't think I really share too many interests with my peers any more. But with Leyna we can just talk.
Except about her new boyfriend. On that she is still relatively silent. I try not to let it bother me too much, but I don't like the fact that she has this big secret and she won't open up about it. I know I have to give her time and she will when she's ready, but it still requires a higher level of patience than I'm ready to give. I do, though. For her.
Not that that means I don't keep asking her about it every chance I get. I'm sure I've annoyed her with my pestering, but it amuses me. And right now, I could use all the amusement in my life that I can get. Even if it comes at the discomfort of my sister.
"Just leave it alone for now Cat," she told me during our last conversation. "It's a slow process, and I'm not trying to mess it up. I'll tell you more when it's time, ok?"
"Well, at least you're not calling me Kitty," I tell her. "And come on, Leyna, I want to live vicariously through you since I can't live that part of my life on my own. But how can I do that if you won't give up the info? You're killing me here."
"'Kitty' is for when I'm happy with you, and that's not happening right now," she grumbles. "And you can't live my life any faster than I can, and I'm not ready to speed things up with him. Right now we're just talking. We haven't even gone on a date, yet. When we do," she pauses and sighs melodramatically, “I'll be sure to let you know so you can have some kind of annoying little celebration. Does that work?"
"That's all I'm asking for, Leyni," I giggle in spite of myself. Her sarcasm is just so adorable. "I'm looking forward to it."
She's thinking it'll be another week or so before he asks her to go out somewhere, so I'm preparing myself for the big event to happen next weekend. My little sister might be going on her first date with a boy! It's about time...even if she does have me beat in that area.
Ren's supplies come in a week and a half after we decide to commit to the plan, and it only takes him a few more days of playing with the equipment and testing it out before he declares them ready. He dropped a good chunk of our savings on the technology. We wanted to get the highest quality available to us so that he can remain at the warehouse while he does the monitoring. Plus, there was the little bonus failsafe he had added in and that wasn't cheap, either. Hopefully we won’t be forced to use it for a while, or ever, but if we do it will be effective. And it had better be for how expensive and hard to find it was.
While I've been training over the last couple of weeks, Ren has been combing through every bit of information he was able to dredge up about the cartels. We need to figure out which buildings would be the best candidates for a visit. He narrows the final list down to five, but we only acquired enough equipment to hit three. Knowing that limitation (and not wanting to spread what we have too thin), he takes another day to weed out the final two.
"I don't want to waste your time, Cat," he t
ells me after I bug him with my impatience about the delay. "It's better to take the time now to pick the best targets rather than figure out I chose poorly later on. I want to make this as effective as possible."
Once he manages to eliminate one of the houses (It's located too close to another option, and he wants to spread out our "eyes and ears" as much as possible.), I finally get him to just eeny-miny-moe for the final three. My rationalization is that he worked this hard to get them down to four, then they must all be good choices. This is like trying to decide between which sports car to buy, the Lambo, the Ferrari, the Porsche or the Mercedes. They're all great choices with advantages and disadvantages, but you can't go wrong with any of them. He reluctantly sees my logic and removes a house at random.
With our final selections made, I pack a bag full of supplies for the trip (One never knows when a few battle necessities could come in handy in case things don't go as planned.) and double check to make sure the Zero is charged. Our plan is for me to hit as many of the locations as I can in one night and get Ren soaking up the information as quickly as possible. I can then take a few days to rest and recharge while he analyzes everything, and then I'll start systematically dismantling their operation while he continues to monitor the results.
We'll never really be hurting for money (I've stolen more from these men than we can ever hope to spend.), but Ren is constantly pushing me to replenish whatever we dip into. He wants to be prepared in case we ever hit a dry spell. Even though I'm convinced we'll never make a dent in what we have, he disagrees. Apparently once we start purchasing big ticket items or start calculating bribes at government institutions (Ren has let slip that that is how he gains some of the access he has acquired. It's not all computer skills. Sometimes it is about knowing who else has the access, and then finding a way to access them. Still sounds brilliant if you ask me.), then the money could flow through our fingers much more quickly. And we'd be devastated if we hit a short supply in the middle of a critical strike. So because of that I've been told that tracking their current money supply will be one of his first priorities.
I'm fine with that. Ren knows what he's doing. And even when we're robbing them of their liquid assets, I am still hurting the men that are poisoning the streets. And I'm sure I can work in an opportunity for pain at some point. A girl has to have her own priorities at times.
Once my pack is prepped and tightened onto my back, Ren brings over a new saddlebag that he attaches to the Zero behind my seat.
I watch him buckle the shiny, black leather into place for several moments before speaking. "Is that it?" I finally ask.
He continues to tighten a belt that he's looped through a rigging on the bike as he answers me. "This, Cat, is all the supplies for tonight. I've separated everything into smaller satchels that can be removed and carried to make things easier on you." He stops fiddling with the strap long enough to tilt his head and look up at me above him. "You do remember all the pieces I showed you and how they work, right? It's imperative everything is installed exactly like I showed you. We can't really go back in and make adjustments later."
Smiling, I tap the side of my head and say, "Perfect recall, remember Ren? I can't forget it even if I wanted to. You explained it to me and made me watch the installation videos. If I'm confused, then I can always just bring up the replay." I pause and wink at him as he frowns slightly at me. "Plus, I'll have you right there with me the whole time. I can just ask you if I run into any issues."
"Cat," he says sternly and burns his eyes into mine with a glare. "That's the point. You can't just stop and ask me. This is a silent operation. No sound. At all. No alerting them. If they even knew you were in the house, then everything is just rui-"
I cut him off mid-rant before he can get himself worked up. "I was kidding, Ren. Relax. I've missed having the old uptight and high-strung version of you around. I just wanted to make sure he was still in there. We're good," I tell him and give him my best no-one-can-hate-a-teen-girl smile. All it gets me is an eye roll and a recommitment to the saddlebag, but at least he calmed down.
My tone may have been flippant, but I was serious about missing this side of Ren. Our world had been thrown into turmoil with Chadwick and his efficient dismantling of how I viewed my own existence. Ren couldn't be his adorably curmudgeonly self while I was wallowing in doubt and anxiety. He wasn't happy having to be the 'cheerful' one in our group, and it didn't feel right to me, either. But now the world is back where it's supposed to be. Chadwick is out of my life, hopefully forever, I'm focused on my abilities and getting better at what I do, and the cartels are firmly in our sights. The only real change has been for the positive, and that is my conscious desire to live a very long and very successful life.
It's just going to have to be a life that pits me into danger on a consistent basis. But what other life is really worth living?
Strapping on my helmet as Ren puts the finishing touches on the saddlebags, I wait until he straightens up before jumping onto the bike, flicking the starter with my thumb and gunning it out into the welcoming night.
It's past time for the fun to begin.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
My headset is vibrating with Ren's voice by the time I hit the main road outside our warehouse and turn north. "Are we in a bit of a hurry tonight, dear?" His attitude is light despite his sarcastic tone. We're both excited for what the night holds for us. Me for the chance to get out and prove to myself that I'm not beaten yet, and for Ren it's a chance to get to play with some really nice high-tech toys. Oh, and we're making a difference in the world, too. There's also that.
I smile at his remark, but I don't say anything out loud. He doesn't need me to. He knows the answer already. "Well don't let that enthusiasm get the better of you once you're on location. I don't want you forcing any encounters that we can avoid."
"Ren," I say warningly. His mothering can be refreshing at times to a girl who is missing her parents, but like any human just a little bit of it can go a long way.
"Sorry, Cat," he says quickly. "I'm just nervous.
"Not about you, though," he quickly adds after a moment's hesitation. "Just this whole situation. I have some high hopes for what we're doing, and it's been a long time since I've felt this way." There's a contemplative pause as we both think about those words.
"Me too, buddy," I tell him quietly. "Me, too." And then to get us on to a more productive topic before I commit my first home invasion of the evening I say, "Why don't you run through the specs of the first house again? Maybe it'll help keep me calm."
I have no actual worry about my own emotional state, but I didn't want to have to listen to Ren's worried chatter any longer. And talking like this will keep him distracted until I get there.
We had decided to start with the furthest house and then work our way backwards throughout the night which makes my initial drive a long one. It's annoying to start the evening with such a delay, but at least at the end of the night it should be a short jaunt back to base. (Base? What am I, a rebel soldier camped out on Hoth? Geez. I've already been doing this too long.). It takes a solid thirty minutes of travel through the city's late evening traffic before I get to my first stop. I wanted to wait until dusk and the street lights had kicked on to minimize the light out here (Even though the helmet Ren found for me does an amazing job of darkening my view of the world, I figure there's no point pushing my luck in case I run into trouble. Without eye protection, I'm nearly blind in the daylight.), but even with the later hour there are still a number of commuters out on the roads clogging the thoroughfares.
Approaching the neighborhood where the first house is located, I let Ren know I'm almost ready to park and begin the operation (I'm sure the GPS he has on my bike told him the same thing, but it couldn't hurt to speak up.).
"I'm slowing down now and trying to find that empty house we had picked out. House numbers are a little tough to read." It only takes me another few moments of checking the brick and siding-covered buildi
ngs before I find the one I want (a large “For Sale” sign helps me locate it): a well-kept but empty two-story house on a darkened side street. Even though I've been checking the maps online of this area and have it all memorized, there's still an adjustment period to seeing it in real life.
Stowing the Zero behind the house's detached garage (We figured this way it could sit undisturbed and be close enough to allow me a quick getaway if needed.), I dismount and open the first saddlebag to get my supplies. Looking inside it, I get an idea.
"Uh Ren," I say in my best worried voice. "I thought you said you packed these bags with supplies."
"I did," he says hurriedly. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Nothing much," I tell him in a forcibly relaxed tone. "It's just that the first one I opened is empty. There's nothing in it. Is it supposed to be that way?"
"What?" he nearly hollers through the speaker. "That can't be right. Are you sure? Maybe they fell out? Abort, Cat. Get out of there. Let me-"
For the second time tonight, I cut him off mid-rant. "Just kidding Ren. It's all there. I already have a pack on, and I'm moving across the yard towards the house." I wait and listen to him breathe heavily into his microphone without saying anything. That was fun. "Sorry, Ren. It's ok. I just wanted to break the tension and lighten the mood. Now that you've gotten your pre-emptive heart attack out of the way, we can relax and enjoy ourselves."
He still doesn't say anything for the length of time it takes me to get to the target house's back fence and crouch down. Finally he just says a quick "You’re a horrible person, Catarina Perez. But good luck." And with that declaration I hear his microphone click off, and I know he has gone into silent mode for the rest of the time I'm here. That means it's time to begin.
Although my heightened abilities make combat considerably easier, we realized it doesn't necessarily facilitate a covert surveillance operation. At least not the type we have planned. My goal is to not break windows or doors (something I have become quite skilled at doing), but I have no background in disabling alarms. That means I have to approach these places while they are still occupied with people. I can avoid humans prowling the place much more easily than I can disarm keypads and security systems.
Catharsis (Book 2): Catalyst Page 14