“Why?” Reese asked.
“Because, I saw Cap carrying a massive weapon into the woods. They’re obviously preparing for something, but they don’t want us to know. I bet Jackson and Craig told you to stay in your rooms too.”
Raegan looked to Reese and then back to me. “Yeah.”
“So, we’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Why would they be preparing for war at a wedding?”
“And why did they leave us out of it?” Emma added.
I walked back to the door and pressed my ear against the wood. When I didn’t hear anything, I opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. “Coast is clear.” I slipped back out into the hallway, waving the ladies on behind me. We made it to the stairwell this time and down to the first floor. Peeking out into the lobby, I saw that the coast was clear.
The four of us scurried across the lobby to the back of the lodge where we could see better what was going on. I realized now that where they had been, you couldn’t see from the main part of the lodge. They had better cover than I expected.
“Look,” Emma hissed. “Over there!”
We all looked in the direction she was pointing. A few of the guys were carrying what looked like suitcases into the woods. We ran over to the window, hiding behind skinny Christmas trees that were placed in clusters.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Raegan asked.
“I’m guessing they’re not going to make us camp out there,” Reese retorted.
“Should we go check it out?” Emma asked.
“No,” I shook my head. “Not now. It’s too dangerous. We’d get caught and then they’d have someone guarding us.”
Voices trailed down the hall and we quickly moved into the breakfast area before whoever it was spotted us. There was no place to hide, but then I spied a door and ran for it. We all stuffed ourselves into the small closet, which held things like sugar packets and plastic utensils.
“They’re not giving in. We need something drastic to make them realize what a mistake they’re making,” one of the men said.
“What do you want to do?”
“They have families. Let’s find their weak points and use that as leverage.”
My eyes went wide as I stared at the other women. I looked out the bottom half of the window, hoping to get an idea of who they were. The man wore a knee-length wool coat and a fancy scarf around his neck. The other man looked to be someone that worked for the lodge. He had a name tag on his shirt.
“We have to be careful. If they find out it’s us, we’re done for.”
“Then make sure no one sees what you’re doing. Now, let’s get out of here before someone sees us. We’ll come back tonight around nine and set our plan in motion.”
They said a few more things, but the four of us were looking at each other in shock. Sure, we knew that people had been after us in the past, but never had we actually heard it from their lips that they wanted to and were planning it. We slipped out and quickly made it back to Raegan’s room. We were all breathing hard by the time that we shut the door and sat down.
“I’m sure there was a perfectly good explanation for what we heard,” Reese said, being the diplomat of the bunch.
“Yeah, and that explanation is that they’re going to use us to get to our men,” I said. “We need a plan. We need to let the other women know so they can be on the lookout.”
“Shouldn’t we tell them that we know?” Raegan asked.
“And have them yell at us for leaving our rooms?” Emma scoffed. “Yeah, I’m really looking forward to that.”
“But they have to already know,” I said thoughtfully. “Otherwise, why would they have all those weapons?”
“She’s right,” Raegan nodded. “They know and they wanted to be prepared.”
“Then why did they bring us here?” Reese practically squeaked. “I mean, if they knew it was dangerous, they would have tried to keep us away.”
“They did,” I said, a lightbulb going off in my head. “They were telling us all to stay away, that it was too cold and icy. But they wanted us to stay away because of these guys.”
“Why didn’t they just cancel the wedding?” Reese asked.
I thought for a moment. There had to be something we were missing. “Okay, in order for them to have all these weapons, they had to know ahead of time that something was happening. We need to figure out first how they came across this information and why they would come after us for it.”
“How do we do that?” Emma asked.
“We spy. One of them worked here. What we need to do is find out who that guy is and why he would want to knock us off.”
“Ooh!” Raegan said, jumping up excitedly. “There’s always an office near the main desk. If we can get in there, we can find out who this employee is. Then we can call back to Rob and have him find out any other connections we might have.”
“What about what we overheard?” Reese asked. “Should we tell the guys that they’re coming back to do…whatever they’re going to do at nine o’clock?”
“I think we should find out everything we can first. Emma and I will go to the office and check it out while you lead whoever’s in there on a wild goose chase.”
“Got it,” Raegan grinned.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Reese said reluctantly.
“Listen, when you become a part of Reed Security, you’re either all in or you’re not. So which are you?”
“Fine,” she grumbled. “But if we get caught, I’m blaming this all on you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Gabe
“So, why don’t you guys stay up here for a while. We’re going to check and make sure there are no bears or wild…antelope around.”
“Antelope?” Isa asked. “I’m pretty sure that antelope don’t live in Pennsylvania.”
“Uh…” I cleared my throat, berating myself for coming up with such an idiot response. Even Jon was looking at me like I was an idiot. “Yeah, there’s a new species. You didn’t hear about it on the news?” They all shook their heads no. “Yeah, it’s, uh…a new mixed breed, and it lives only on the east coast.”
I felt myself nodding along and I knew that I looked like a fucking idiot, but I just couldn’t bring myself to admit that I had just said the stupidest fucking thing ever.
“So, anyway, yeah. We’re just going to look out for those…things.”
I walked out the door, relieved that I wasn’t around them anymore, but then Jon yelled out for me.
“Hey, Gabe, wait up.” He jogged up next to me. “Were you seriously going to leave me in there with them?”
I laughed a little. “Yeah, I guess that would suck.”
“No kidding. So, what are we really going to do?”
“Uh…just like I said.”
He stopped me with a slap on the arm. “A mixed breed of antelope? Really?”
I sighed, “Alright. Let’s go, but you can’t freak out.”
“About what?”
“You’ll see.”
I led him out the door and to the woods where the other guys were gathered. Cazzo caught my eye and stormed over to me, pulling me off to the side, away from Jon.
“What the fuck are you thinking? He can’t be here!”
“You try keeping him in the room with your sisters,” I shot back.
“Fine, but you get to explain all this to him, and tell him that he has to keep his mouth shut.”
“Keep my mouth shut about what?” Jon asked, walking up to us. “Seriously, is this some kind of super secret thing for the wedding? Because I can keep a secret as well as the next guy.”
Cazzo glared at me. “Jon, the thing is, we’re sort of…preparing for battle.”
Jon looked at me funny and then his eyes lit up. “Like paintball? I love that.”
“Yeah, this…isn’t at all like paintball.”
“Then, what kind of battle are you preparing for?”
I looked to Cazzo, who shifted un
comfortably. “See, the thing is…”
“Well, it’s really more of like playing Battleship.”
Jon nodded along. “Okay, I see where you’re going with this.”
“You do?” I asked.
“Yeah, you know, team building. I get it. You set up a battle in the woods to help you train and understand strategic maneuvers.”
I nodded and so did Cazzo. And then I laughed a little, because he just gave us the best fucking excuse ever. “Yeah, that’s exactly what this is.”
“Cool. Can you show me around?”
“Of course.” I shot Cazzo a nervous look before taking him into the woods as the other guys continued to set up.
“What’s this?” Jon asked, grabbing a block of C4. I gently pried it from his fingers and set it back with the other bricks.
“Uh, that’s just a little C4.”
“Oh, you mean, to simulate what it would be like in a fight?”
“Sure,” I shrugged, walking over to Knight. “What do you need me to do?”
“Take these and wire them up over there.” He handed me some homemade explosives and the wires that went with them. Then he looked to Jon with a raised eyebrow.
“Jon, this is Knight. Knight, this is my brother-in-law, Jon.”
Jon held out his hand, but Knight just glared at it, like it had offended him. “I never shake hands.”
Jon chuckled nervously. “Yeah? Had one turn out wrong?”
Knight walked over to him, stepping into his personal space until he was just a breath away from Jon. “You think a handshake is friendly, right? But what happens when that asshole yanks you toward him and shoves a knife in-between your ribs with the other?”
Jon had a look of terror on his face, and rightly so. Knight sounded like he was the one about to grab the knife and shove it between Jon’s ribs.
“Still want to shake hands?”
Jon shook his head furiously and Knight walked away, shooting me a smirk. Well, that could have gone worse. Knight might have decided that Jon was the bad guy and killed him for good measure.
As I walked away with Jon, he leaned in close and whispered, “That guy’s a little intense. Maybe he needs a Prozac.”
“I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t help.”
Hoping that Jon didn’t ask too many questions, I went to work.
“Wow, you guys are really getting into this.”
“Yeah, well, that’s why we’re the best. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure that setting up security in a house can be dangerous. Mean dogs and cranky wives.”
“Sure,” I said noncommittally.
I placed the devices as Knight said and wired them up. Knight had everything hooked up to one main device that he could control everything from. It would make everything neat and orderly, and keep the mess away from the lodge.
“So, when does the battle begin?”
“Don’t know.”
He nodded. “So, surprise attack. That’s good thinking. Keeps you on your toes.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that it’ll be a surprise for all of us,” I said, playing along.
“You know, we once did this team building exercise at work where we all wrote out grievances and then put them in a hat. They were drawn anonymously so that no one would get their feelings hurt. It really helped us to work on our issues and talk them out. Maybe you guys should try something like that.”
I could see that happening…never. One of us was bound to pull out a gun and shoot someone. But Jon had no idea just how…invested we were in our jobs. Hell, when we went on the run, Knight got Isa a burner phone to text her sister on so that she didn’t worry. All this time, Aurora thought that we had gone on a year long job. And I wasn’t about to correct that assumption.
“You know, I’ll mention it to the guys. Maybe they’ll like that idea.”
He smiled proudly, but then looked around and leaned in closer. “Except maybe Knight. I get the feeling he’s not exactly a team player.”
If he only knew.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Lucy
“How long does it take to check the woods for coyotes?” I said with a huff. “I’m getting claustrophobic in here.”
“You’re looking at this all wrong,” Jessica said, stretching out on the bed and flipping through channels, finally settling on a Disney movie. “This is like a vacation. We have beautiful rooms with a small Christmas tree and little Christmas villages. There’s a fire going and the guys are nowhere in sight.”
“And we’ve been tasked with babysitting. No offense, Payton.”
She shrugged. “I’d rather be outside too.”
“See? Even Payton doesn’t like being stuck in here.”
“Well, I’m enjoying it. I think it’s nice to sit back and enjoy some time without any worries.”
“And what do you have to be worried about?” I asked.
“I’m just saying, you don’t have a kid with you and you’re pregnant. Enjoy it.”
“I would enjoy it a whole lot more if I there was a spa,” I grumbled. I stood, walking around the room, trying to make the minutes move faster and the men hurry back. It wasn’t working. In fact, all it was doing was making me even more antsy. “Let’s go.”
“What?” Jessica said, sitting up in alarm. “But, they told us to stay.”
“Payton, we’re leaving.”
She hopped off the bed and followed me to the door. Jessica scrambled off the bed, shutting off the TV.
“We can’t leave,” Jessica hissed.
“Bullshit. I’m not sitting around here for one more minute.”
“But…what if something happens?”
I stared Jessica down, a little pissed at her bad attitude. “First of all, I know how to shoot a gun, and even though I don’t have one, I could use it if I did.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Jessica shouted.
“Second, while you may suck at all things defensive, we have a secret weapon in Payton. She’ll take care of us if the boogeyman attacks.”
I turned back for the door and peeked out into the hallway. I jerked my head and Payton followed me out and down the hall to the elevator. Jessica scurried after us, scowling as she stepped on behind us.
“This is so wrong.”
“No, what’s wrong is that color nail polish. It clashes with your hair.”
She looked down at it and then back to me with a death glare. “You know, you’re really a bitch today.”
I shrugged. “Hey, I’m hormonal and I’ve been locked in a room for hours. What did you expect?”
I moved ahead quickly, stopping at the end of the hall when I saw Reese and Raegan knocking on a door behind the front desk. A moment later, a man came out and followed them as they started waving their arms around wildly with wide eyes. They hurried off toward the hallway we were in. I spun and shooed Payton and Jessica back down to a maintenance closet, praying they didn’t open the door. When I heard feet hurrying past, I opened the door again, just in time to see Ivy and Emma slipping into the office.
But just as the door shut, a man that had a name tag on his shirt, obviously an employee, snuck behind the counter and looked around.
“What’s he doing?” Jessica asked.
“I don’t know.”
We watched with rapt attention as the man dug through something in the drawer and then slipped it into his pants. Everything about him was screaming suspicious. When he hurried down the opposite hallway, I took off after him.
“Wait,” Jessica hissed. I heard her scrambling behind me. I looked to see if Payton was following, but she was actually right on my heels.
When the man slowed, I ducked into an alcove that seemed to be a sitting area of sorts, and peeked around the corner just as he was checking the hallway in both directions. He pulled something out of his pocket, the same pocket he had slipped something into and the stepped up to the door. It was a key. Looking both w
ays again, he stepped inside and quickly shut the door.
I spun back to Payton and Jessica. “We have to find out what he’s doing in there.”
“Why? He’s an employee. It’s none of our business.”
“Because the guys locked us in our rooms and didn’t want us to leave. Now employees are sneaking around, and I want to know why.”
“This is ridiculous,” Jessica muttered.
“We need to see inside that room.”
“The vents,” Payton said excitedly, pointing toward the ceiling to a vent. “We’re only one room away. We just need to climb up into it and look down through the vent in that room.
I snapped my fingers at her. “Pull over a chair.”
Jessica scrambled to get one all while shaking her head. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Shut up and keep a look out.”
I climbed up, but when I got the vent off, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to fit up there. “I can’t do. Payton, we need to see if you fit up there.”
She grinned and climbed up on the chair and I hoisted her up into the vent. It was a tight fit, but she wiggled until she was able to make it. “Are you okay in there?”
“Yeah.” She disappeared for what felt like hours. I was trying to see where she was in the vent and Jessica was looking out for anyone passing, muttering about stupid ideas. When I heard the door open, I quickly shut the vent and sat down in the chair. Jessica tossed me a magazine that had been sitting on the table and we both pretended that we were just hanging out. After the man strode past, I hopped up and pulled down the vent.
“Payton!”
“I’m coming, but I keep getting stuck,” she hissed.
I looked at Jessica in panic. How was I going to explain to Morgan that I had gotten her daughter stuck in the ventilation system?
“Payton, just keep moving back until I can grab your legs. I’ll pull you out.”
She kept coming and I was just about another inch from being able to grab her and pull her out.
“Lucy!” Jessica hissed.
“Hold on. I’ve almost got her.”
“Lucy, you need-”
“Just give me a minute. I’m so close.” I stretched as far as I could, but she was just too far in and seemed to be wedged. “Jessica, she’s stuck. I bet your arms are longer than mine. Come help me.”
A Mad Reed Security Christmas Page 16