Fighting Chance (Misty Grove Book 1) (26 page)

Two days earlier

Piper sat in the back of the room as the briefing began. Xavier Sanchez had been assassinated three weeks ago. Two of those weeks she’d been kept in isolation until Lee Monroe was convinced she could play nice with them. Piper wasn’t stupid. If they had no use for her, they would have killed her already. She was part of Lee Monroe’s grand plan to dominate the world of private armies.

It didn’t take them long to enlighten her about this new alliance. Lee Monroe was the original ES prototype that Dr. Moses Devlin had developed and even kept secret from the rogue CIA officer, Harold Baxter. From what Piper could tell, he had a screw loose due to some faulty programming in his genome edit. She knew the first few prototypes had to be “destroyed” because of psychological issues. The process had to be tweaked and the superior subjects turned out to be the Foster and Reed twins. Piper and her twin, Charles, were a product of an ambitious plan to remove their expiration date, but that failed abysmally. Cubby died painfully from a pituitary gland tumor due to an overstimulation of the HGH. Now the focus was on the Foster and Reed lines, which have proven to be close to flawless.

“Satellite tracking has zeroed in on the sheriff’s property. The place has good security, but is not impenetrable,” Lee Monroe stated as a Victorian house out in the middle of nowhere came on the projector screen. “I still think it’s a waste of resources and opportunity to attack on this front alone.”

“I’ve done my research on Stone Tactical’s clients,” Deb said. “They only work with the best. You can be sure Trent has secured that perimeter with cameras, motion sensors, and trip wires. But with our own advanced technology, I’m sure we can get around it.”

“Trent?” Monroe raised a brow. “You seem to be on a more personal level with our dear sheriff.”

“Fuck you, Lee,” Deb snapped.
 

“Ah, but you have,” Monroe replied lazily. “I’m not jealous, but it amuses me how this failure to seduce the sheriff still sticks in your craw.”

“We’re the same, you and I,” Deb replied tersely. “We don’t handle failure easily. This is why you don’t want to merely capture Cassandra Reed. You want payback from Matt Foster. That’s why you have some of our men casing Misty Grove.”

“You’re planning an attack on the town?” Piper spoke up. This was news to her. “Are you crazy?”

Monroe cast a dismissive look her way and turned his attention to Hugo, his second-in-command. “What do you have?”

“Typical small town with mom and pop shops. The only trouble I see coming is from Foster’s mechanics. Some of them looked like typical ex-military. Law enforcement can respond within twenty minutes once a 911 call is placed, less if they already have a squad car in the area. We also need to prevent them from calling for help from Montgomery Ranch, which is five minutes away.”

“That doesn’t allow us much time.”

“There are alternatives.”

“Tell me.”

Piper listened in bewilderment at the elaborate plan being hatched and realized what money, the right equipment, and crew could buy you. She still had one concern. “Kate could get hurt.”

This time Monroe paid her attention. “We’ll try to avoid collateral damage. Let’s face it, that woman isn’t Kate anymore. There’s no one home.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Would you prefer we delay finding a cure for your expiration date, Piper? Your clock is ticking.”

“Scout has always been the target, not the entire town.”

“Plans do change,” Monroe countered. “We need to be strategic about this. Taking out Foster and Lucas reduces the likelihood of anyone coming after us, especially since we’re not sure what kind of tracker is planted in Scout.”

“Are you forgetting that your biggest obstacle between Scout and our plans is the sheriff?” Deb pointed out. “You know he’s not exactly what your files say about him. No way will Matt or Bear entrust Scout to him if he wasn’t as capable as they are.”
 

“We will deal with the sheriff as needed, Deb,” Monroe said.

“Are you going to massacre the entire town? I don’t think you want to risk that much exposure,” Piper argued.

“That’s the whole point of making Matt Foster look like the target. He’s got a reputation of trafficking drugs. We can make it look like a drug war, a vendetta if you would from the mafia, an MC, or the cartel. Any more questions, Piper?”

When she didn’t answer, Monroe scowled. “Are you with us on this, girl? I can’t have you flaking out on us.”

“Why do you hate Matt so much?”

“That’s between him and me. Now I repeat, are you with us?”

Piper nodded. She had lost her scruples long ago anyway. Might as well join this band of bloodthirsty mercenaries. Her new family.

*****

“Great, the air conditioning just conked out.”

Cassie groaned at Millie’s announcement. It had been only a matter of time. That cooling unit was as old as dirt and couldn’t hack it when temperatures soared in mid-summer. And mid-summer in Georgia was no joke.
 

“You know, if you want this to be a foodie stop, you’ll have to get a new one in here pronto,” Cassie said. “I hope you won’t waste more money trying to fix it.”

Luckily, it was after the lunch-hour rush, and there were only a couple of tables finishing their meal with coffee. Although, at this point, they should be asking for iced coffee.

“The phone line is dead. I couldn’t call the AC guy,” Kyra told her boss.
 

“That seems to be a common problem lately, ever since you combined cable, phone, and internet on one line,” Cassie remarked. “Now instead of the internet only being down, all of them don’t work.”

“Tell me about it,” Millie grumbled. “I was never a fan consolidating all that, but we had no choice. You’d think service would improve, but that’s the disadvantage of living in a small town, I guess. No one gives a shit.” She handed her personal phone to the head waitress.

Her waitress frowned. “The calls keep dropping off.”

Cassie checked her own smartphone. It had a few bars. Choppy reception was common in Misty Grove, but this was becoming worrisome. She saw a message from Trent and sent a response. A red sign saying ‘Not delivered’ appeared below her message. “I’ve been telling you to get a satellite phone like what we have at the ranch, Millie.”
 

A niggle of anxiety started forming in her gut. Her eyes met Millie’s, who seemed to be on the same wavelength.

“Looks like it’s going to be one of those days where nothing works,” Cassie reacted casually. “I need to have some ice cream and pecan pie. Want some, Kate?” She glanced over at her sister who was sitting idly in one of the booths. Still no response, but Cassie wasn’t going to quit trying. She would get her sister back.
 

She headed to the pie cabinet. Millie was right behind her.

“I’m not liking this,” the other woman whispered.

“Makes two of us,” Cassie responded.

“I’m going over to the garage and see if their phones are working. I’m doubtful since we’re on the same line. If not, I’m heading into Edington to bring back the AC guy.”
 

Cassie nodded and sliced two pies, smiling at Kyra who handed her two bowls of ice cream.
 

“You two are going to eat me out of my house,” Millie teased, trying to act normal as well. “This is turning into a godawful day.”

It was getting uncomfortable in the diner fast. The nape of Cassie’s neck was getting sticky and she could feel a film of sweat clinging to her forehead and scalp. She might have to hang out at the garage with Kate for the rest of the day.
 

“I need to get the HVAC guy in here, or at least get a portable unit from the hardware store,” the older woman announced as she untied her apron. “Kyra, can you take care of the diner while I’m gone?”

“No problem, boss.”
 

“You two going to be okay?” Millie asked her.

“Yes, Mother,” Cassie replied dryly. “I’ll head over to the garage after ice cream.” The garage itself and the boxing gym would be stifling, but at least Matt’s bachelor pad atop the garage would be cool.
 

Millie hadn’t been gone twenty minutes when she heard the roar of Harley pipes. Lots of them.
 

Wasn’t the biker rally this past weekend?

Holding her second slice of pie, she walked over to the window and watched the motorcycles stop in front of Matt’s garage.

This didn’t look right.

In fact, it looked downright troublesome.
 

A strange calm came over her; the anxiety she was feeling retreated in the background. There was nothing an assassin hated more than the unknown, and now knowing where your enemy would strike certainly allowed you to center your nerves.

“Kyra, lock the door behind me when I leave.”

“Cassie...”

“Get everyone to the back.”

“What’s going on?” Simon asked her.

“I’m not sure, but something tells me shit is going down.”

“Cassie, are you forgetting that you’re the one they might be looking for?” Simon protested roughly. “You should be escaping out back like everyone had discussed!”

“I always wondered what I would do when this day came,” Cassie said as she opened the door. “I’m not running away.” Not when Lucas and Matt were in danger. Looking at Simon, she said, “Take care of Kate.”

*****

Trent moved a stack of papers on his desk and sent his tall cup of overpriced iced coffee over the edge of the table.
 

He unleashed a string of profanities as he stared at the mess he’d created. He’d been on edge since he’d noticed an uptick of bikers in Misty Grove. The rally checked out over the weekend, and there had been no incident. So why wasn’t he feeling settled. Maybe the heat wave was getting to him.
 

“Are you okay, Sheriff?” Betty’s voice came over the intercom.

“I’m fine, just knocked over my damned coffee.”

“I’m about to make a coffee run for the department. Want me to get you another one?”
 

“Sure, why not.”

As his assistant left to get iced brew for the department, Trent made his way to the break room to get some paper towels to clean up the coffee puddle on the floor. As he walked the hallway, he checked his phone to see if he had any text messages, particularly from Cassie.

There was none.

He’d sent a text over an hour ago asking her if it was okay for her to hang out with Lucas in the garage tonight since he would be working late. He sent her another message.

Trent: Hey, are you too busy eating to respond. :)

He pocketed his phone, a smile playing on his lips. She probably was indeed too busy eating. Sometimes he wondered if she valued food over him.
 

Chuckling, he grabbed a couple of paper towels from the dispenser and made his way back to the office. He ran into Brooks, who was standing by his entryway. “Hey, Sheriff, we’re on tonight?”

“Yup.”
 

 
A couple of suits from Homeland Security had concerns about domestic terrorism brewing in their area. With the county in close proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport, Buckland County was part of the debriefing area.

“Couldn’t they keep regular hours?”

“They want to appear busy,” Trent gibed. A nagging feeling had him checking his phone again.

No text from Cassie.

“Checking on the missus?”
 

“Yes,” Trent responded absently. “These messages don’t appear to be getting through.”
 

He decided to call her instead and got an out-of-area service message. He dialed twice and got the same message. He called Millie and got the same recording.

“Something wrong?” Brooks asked.

Trent forced himself to quell the rising panic in his chest. He called the diner landline and it wasn’t ringing.

“Dammit,” Trent growled. “Come on.”
 

He headed to the armory and ordered Brooks to gear up.
 

“The landlines and cell phones are not working in Misty Grove,” Trent told his deputy. “Not the diner, not the garage. It’s not unusual for one or the other to go out, however, both of them going down is too much of a coincidence.” And given the threat against Cassie, this escalated the odds that this was deliberate.

“And we’re heading in by ourselves?” Brooks asked.

“What’s going on?” Another deputy walked in on them in the armory.
 

“Be on standby,” Trent answered tersely.
 

He walked out of the armory holding a shotgun, but ever since Cassie’s first attempted abduction, he’d carried his Barrett-M82 sniper rifle in the trunk of his cruiser. He had used it in the Route 11 shootout and it looked like he’d be needing it again.

He headed to the dispatch desk. Some of his men gathered around him, including Frank, who asked him the same question.

“I’m heading to Misty Grove on a hunch,” Trent said. “I do not want to raise the alarm until I’m certain of what’s going on, so you’ll know in a few minutes.” Turning to the dispatcher. “Don’t leave your desk for anything. If you don’t hear from me in twenty minutes, send in the cavalry.”

*****

Cassie crossed the short width of the street toward the garage. She had left Millie’s gun with Simon because, given her attire of shorts and tank top, there was no place to hide one. Her plan wasn’t outright hostility, but to get their unexpected guests complacent enough to let her close.

Matt and Lucas were already in front of the garage with three of Matt’s mechanics standing directly behind them. None of them looked visibly armed, although she wouldn’t know if they had a gun tucked behind their waistband. The bikers seemed to be in wait mode, their motorcycles idling, but their assault rifles were in full view. They didn’t come here to have their bikes fixed; they came for war. It would be foolhardy to engage them in a shootout.