“You’re eating twice as much as the rest of us,” Transporter shot back.
“I’m taller than all of you. I’ve got more to fill up just from sheer size alone,” Maestro pointed out.
Steele shook his head. They were all crazy, but it was a good crazy.
“I’m with you, Steele,” Savage said suddenly. “I like the idea of bringing others on board. Gavriil was talking to Czar the other day, and he pointed out that there were four schools. We had it the worst, but the others had it bad as well and they were trained in the art of assassination, using every means possible. They had to go through similar trials. There are quite a few of our brethren out there. Men who survived the training and the missions and later, Sorbacov’s purging when he tried to kill every single one of us and sweep us under the rug. The more men we have that we can count on, the stronger we’re going to be.”
Steele nodded. “I agree. I think we need to bring them in slow though. The Diamondbacks are definitely going to protest if they see our numbers growing, especially if it’s done too fast.”
“Lana’s making her show,” Preacher announced. “She’s laid out her towel and pulled off her suit and she’s pinning up her hair, making certain if anyone in that house is looking, they’re seeing something worth getting a closer look.” His rifle was inches from his hand. He was fast, and more importantly, he didn’t miss. He was all business with a rifle.
Immediately the attention went to the lake, and then to the backyard of the Abernathy estate. Lana stood in the boat, body swaying with waves, making a show of smearing suntan lotion over her skin. She paid a lot of attention to her breasts, rubbing in the lotion and then placing one foot up on the cab so she could spread it over her leg. She concentrated on making certain every inch of her front was covered before she lay down on the towel and put her sunglasses on to cover her eyes.
“Nice, Lana,” Maestro said. “You’re going to get skin cancer.”
“Not in the half hour it will take to get this done,” Transporter objected.
“How do you know? It could happen in the first few minutes of exposure,” Maestro informed him knowledgably.
“You’re so full of shit,” Transporter said. “I read a book on that—”
Maestro cut him off. “You’ve read a book on everything, but if whoever wrote the fuckin’ book didn’t really know shit, then quoting them makes you look bad.”
“I’ve got movement,” Preacher said.
Every eye went to the glass back door. A man stepped out, scratching his crotch as he walked to the other side of the wide patio and spit over the wrought iron railing. His eyes were on the boat anchored between the two properties, but more toward the estate.
“Donk,” Preacher identified. “We hit the mother lode first time out. Nice hunting, Steele. All that work you did paid off.”
Elation burst through him, but Steele held it in check. They had yet to see Zane. Until they did, they had no way of knowing if he was alive, dead or sold to some pedophile. If Donk was there, for certain, Bridges was as well.
“Mechanic,” Steele spoke into the radio. “Donk has eyes on Lana. Tell her to keep him occupied. When he starts to turn away, we’ll let her know. In the meantime, you try to pick up sound. We need to know as close to the real number, how many are in that house.” He hesitated. It hurt like hell to even express his worry, but it had to be said. “Or if Zane is there.”
Zane. His son. He wouldn’t be able to face Breezy or himself if he couldn’t get his boy out of the situation. He wasn’t leaving the child behind.
“Steele.”
Savage’s voice was low, but it brought him up short. Steele looked around at the others on the roof. The building trembled. Just a little. “I’m good,” he managed and picked up the binoculars to sweep the area.
Ink hadn’t moved. He was so still he could have been a carving. Steele knew he was concentrating on reading the impressions the wildlife surrounding the house was giving him. It had been Ink who had drawn out the original tree that represented Czar in their colors. That sturdy trunk with the many roots. The seventeen branches represented the survivors. In the original drawing there had been eighteen branches. The