“What’s the Lair?” Tommy asked.
“The old Ritz hotel,” Kyle said. “Good, it’ll be easier to get him. I need you three to know that we do this according to my plan and the first item is, you can’t kill him until after I’ve gotten what information I need out of him.”
They each looked at each other and nodded.
“I suppose you’re looking for you wife?” Dana asked.
“Yeah, what do you know about it?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know for sure but I’ve heard they have several trading partners for slaves. One in the RMR, one in the Sinaloa Cartel territory and one in New Texas, Amarillo station,” Dana said with confidence.
“Do you know where?” Kyle asked hoping he could just bypass going after Barry and leave directly to go find Portia.
“I only know Amarillo Station as a specific locale, I’m not sure about the other two and I should be honest that I only got this second hand. Who knows what’s accurate?” Dana said.
“In the event Number Two is incapacitated, his right hand person, Cisco probably knows,” Cal said.
“Who the hell is Cisco?” Kyle asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Cal said.
“I want Barry, period. He knows for sure, so again, he’s mine until I get what I want out of him.”
Cal gave the other two a look and faced Kyle, “You have our word, but if you want this to go smoothly you’ll need to follow our plan.”
“No way,” Kyle insisted.
“Then tell me how you plan on getting in there? He must have fifty guards posted on the outside and inside,” Cal said.
“If I remember right…”
Cal stopped him and said, “Dana here is Cook-Twenty-two and guess where she’s assigned?”
“The Lair," Kyle answered.
“Yes. Are you ready to listen to our plan?”
Tommy couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Kyle cut him a look and said, “Go ahead, I’m all ears.”
“Dana has a shift starting in two hours, but she normally goes in early to do prep work. Actually, Dana why don’t you explain what we’re going to do.”
“Before you do that, if you have this nailed down, why did you call Leviathan?” Tommy asked.
The three looked at each other with Cal explaining, “Because we need to make sure it gets done.”
“That means you don’t have a plan once we get inside?” Kyle asked.
“There are so many guards inside, we figured we needed a highly trained assassin versus, you know, us,” Cal said pointing at himself and the other two.
“Dana gets us in and from there you’re clueless?” Tommy asked.
“Not clueless, just outgunned,” Cal confessed.
“Here’s what I need to know, where is he in the building and what is the most direct route to him without taking the main elevators or the stairs which I presume will be guarded,” Tommy said.
“There’s a service elevator near the back. I’ll be driving a produce truck on site, you’ll hide underneath some boxes in the back. Once we’re in the loading dock area I’ll take you to a service elevator. Number Two is on the fifth floor,” Dana replied.
“And where’s his room from this service elevator?” Tommy asked.
“You’ll exit the elevator and turn right, you won’t miss where the room is because it’s heavily guarded,” Dana replied.
“How many guards you talking about?” Tommy asked.
“I’ve counted eight before, could be less,” Dana answered.
Tommy glanced at Kyle and asked, “You ready to bring you’re A game?”
“Always,” Kyle answered. “However, if we go onto that floor guns blazing we’ll get to Barry but we’ll have an army coming down on us in no time.”
Tommy walked away, grabbed a large bag and brought it back. He unzipped it, opened it wide and said, “This will help keep it a bit more low key.”
“Rifles and pistols all with suppressors, nice,” Kyle said.
“And I’ll cause a distraction,” Dana said.
The guys all looked at her as she unbuttoned her shirt to show her cleavage. “I was blessed with these things and I’ll use them.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Cal said.
“No, it’s a good idea,” Kyle said.
“But it puts her at risk. We specifically hired Leviathan to reduce our exposure,” Cal countered.
“I’ll be fine and this helps us, I can take care of myself,” Dana said as she buttoned her shirt back up.
“Men are fucking stupid animals and will go chasing a piece of ass any chance they can get. All she needs to do is lure a few of them away, to a room where we’ll be waiting, we’ll quietly take them out. Trust me, this is a good plan. I have to admit you guys are impressing me… finally,” Kyle said with a smile.
“I’m glad Dana’s sacrifice makes you feel better about us,” Cal growled. He looked at Dana and snapped, "This wasn’t the plan we agreed upon."
“No more arguing, this is a solid plan, I like it, I think Kyle’s on board too. All agree?” Tommy said.
Everyone nodded.
“Good, then we leave in forty-five minutes,” Kyle said.
Dana walked over to Kyle and said, “You’re an asshole but thanks for supporting my plan.”
“This is your idea?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, the entire thing,” Dana replied clearly proud of herself.
“I’m impressed and don’t worry, we won’t let any of those guys hurt you. I just hope you’ll be able to pull a few of them away without incident.”
Dana jiggled her chest and said, “I won’t have any trouble doing that.”
“Line up and face out,” Earl hollered.
Portia and the other women did what he ordered.
Starting from the left, Candace worked her way down. “No, no, yes, no, yes, no, no, no, yes, yes.” She stepped in front of Portia and paused, “Sorry, sweetheart, you didn’t pass the grade.”
Before she could step off, Portia grabbed her hand and pulled her close, “My husband might come looking for me, give him this.” She put her wedding ring in her hand. “Tell him where I went. My name is Portia, it’s etched on the inside of the ring.”
“No talking!” Earl barked from the far end of the hall.
Candace’s heart melted for her. She wrestled her hand away and whispered, “I’ll see what I can do.”
Portia gazed at her left hand and the noticeable pale skin around her ring finger. Her mind went back to the day she and Kyle had gotten married and the first time he placed that ring on her hand. By giving the ring away, it was the last physical remnant of their love.
“Do you have a problem?” Earl asked appearing out of nowhere.
She snapped up and looked at him. “No problem, I just have to pee.”
Earl chewed on the twig in between his teeth and pondered. “Down there,” he said pointing to a doorway at the far end of the bar area.
“Thank you,” Portia said and scurried off. Once there she found a stall and closed the door behind her. Her heartrate was elevated and vertigo was setting in. “Pull it together,” she told herself.
The door to the bathroom opened.
Portia didn’t think about who might in the bathroom too until a tap on the stall door startled her. “It’s occupied.”
“Sweetheart, I’m all about helping other women, especially the ones in our predicament, but I think you left out a piece of critical information,” Candace said.
“What’s that?” Portia asked surprised Candace was eager to help.
“His name?”
Feeling stupid, she answered, “Kyle, his name is Kyle Grant.”
“Got it. Now you better hurry up before your guy comes in here and drags you out by your hair.”
Portia opened the stall door and peeked out.