Straight through the Heart

Chapter 41

We sit quietly in our camouflaged truck. Except for the hum of the vehicle and occasional bumps, all of us remain silent. 

Looking around, I think to myself. The tension is thicc. 

After our debriefing and many disagreements, we eventually settled on a plan. It's a solid plan, but even with so much planning, things can always go wrong. Of course, Peal and Lia are the experienced masterminds so the chances of things becoming shitty is low. 

"The tricky part is getting Lucian before he is transported. He will be driven and guarded by Jacob's personal team. There will be three routes that we need to prepare for. Jacob is personally tasked with watching over Lucian but we don't know which route he is taking yet. Thus, we need to proceed with caution." Pearl seems a little peeved that she can't just blow up the transport vehicles.

"Team A is in position and en route." Lia's voice comes in clearly into my earpiece. 

"Team Bitches is good to go too." The twins quip. I can just picture their toothy grins as their dad Tony rolls his eyes. 

"Team C is ready." Dante whoops loudly next to me. I cringe at his sudden burst of energy, but it helps break the tension.

Lia and Leo are on the route that has the highest chance that Lucian will be on. Even my dad does not know which route they are on because it's all pre-programmed into their car software. I know that my brother has barely slept the past few days in order to figure out the codes in the transport cars. He rigged all the routes for them to glitch "accidentally" at specified times. 

My truck has Dante, Celeste, two family members, and me. Celeste sits in the cargo area with Dean and Kayla, fully prepared and equipped if need be. Dean and Kayla don't really talk much. They sit stoically with their weapons ready for fire. Once we reach the destination we have planned, Dean and Kayla get out and walk towards a regular Jeep Wrangler. They put some casual attire over their bulletproof clothing. The two of them look like a couple in their thirties on vacation now. That is, until you lift up their cargo pants to show hidden guns. 

They nod towards us and drives off ahead of us. I watch the cloud of dirt follow them before I can faintly see their car outline. The rest of us wait several minutes before following after them. Dean and Kayla are to act as helpful bystanders at the time the trucks start accidentally malfunctioning. They will stall and scope out everything before we get there.

Checking our location screens that Rob helped set up, I watch as the two circles with Dean and Kayla's name stop in the middle of the road. We get within range and pull over on the side. Celeste and I get out of the vehicle and slowly make our way towards them on the side in case they need backup. 

The facility is really in the middle of nowhere. It's located on one of the US territorial islands. The island has very few inhabitants--most of them are indigenous tribes or locals who are used to the sight of foreign soldiers. The island is fairly small and not very industrialized. It's not even located on any map and can only be flown by plane. Still, trained men track the air and ground for unwanted visitors. 

 Basically, it's the perfect location to lock up the worst assholes in the world. 

Thus, we need to get to Lucian before he boards that plane and flies off to that facility. 

We have to drive through the desert to get to their transport plane. Currently, we are all hiding in the rocks of the canyons, a lot farther than we would like. However, there is much not coverage anywhere. We spent a day camouflaging the transportation so they would blend into the rocks and sands around the area. 

I wear a sand-colored robe that covers my body from head to toe. I wrap up every inch of skin and put on a sand mask to protect myself from the scorching sun and burning sand. All of us are matching to disguise ourselves and blend into the surroundings. The attire gets in my way but Pearl made sure everyone familiarized ourselves with our new clothing and weapons so not to make too much of a mistake.