Ethan appears in the doorway and smiles at Cassie. “You ready?”
She nods and blinks rapidly. She’s trying not to cry.
“Go on.” I watch as Ethan and Richard lead her to the stairs. They’ll keep her safe, and if it comes to them needing to, things have gone so fucked, we’re likely all dead.
“Okay.” I go back into the kitchen. “Let’s take our positions.”
I’m in the turret, along with Luka, Andrius, and Vasily. Vasily because he’s injured. Andrius and Luka because they are amazing shots, and me because I’m manning the M16.
Andrius and Luka will be using their deadly accuracy whereas I’ll be using the good old spray and pray approach.
Vasily has an M16 too.
I wish we had a rocket launcher like Damen claims to own back in Athens. Fuck me, that would be epic. Just blow the fuckers to smithereens. Problem is tonight’s little drama is going to have the police crawling all over us because no way the gunshots won’t be heard.
We’ve all got suppressors fitted, and the idea is only to use the M16s if absolutely needed. Andrius and Luka will take out as many of their men as possible. Marcus will turn on them from within the car, if he gets the chance, and use his knife. Liam will also most likely use his knife on any of the men who come near the house initially, as he and Alexei will be hiding in the bushes by the side of the house. One on either side.
I’m hoping the element of surprise, the speed at which we attack, and their vulnerability in relation to us will give us the upper hand. It’s not a dead cert, though. It could all go horribly wrong.
Either way, we’d better pray that the sway Marcus, myself, and Liam have with the police will mean we don’t all face many years in jail. Marcus has a lot of leeway, he says, with his supervisors in intelligence. They have looked the other way at worse, if certain goals align, or so I am told, because who knows what goes on in that world really. Although that doesn’t automatically mean they will this time. Or that the local plod, or even the courts, will play ball.
We reach the turret, knowing the rest of the men are in place, and I step up to my weapon. I check the spare magazines and then position myself at the window.
The plan is to let the men get close to the house, even right up to the door as they believe they have my system taken down, then flip the floodlights on.
They’ll be sitting ducks. They won’t be able to see a thing, but we’ll see them clearly.
“Why do you think Aram believes he can do this a second time?” I ask Andrius. He knows the man, after all.
“Two things. His belief in his men, and with Tigran gone, Marcus is going to have stepped into that void. Secondly, his arrogance.”
“See, if it were me, no matter what Vasily or Bohdan told me, there’s no way I’d believe someone I’d hit once would be vulnerable in the same way again. This bothers me about this plan. What if it’s a double cross?”
“Marcus wouldn’t do that,” Luka says.
I turn and glare at him. “You know him? You never let on.”
“Couldn’t. I did some off-the-books shit back in the day. I shouldn’t be saying this now. I’m only doing so to make you understand that if anything goes wrong here tonight, it won’t be on Marcus.”
I’m not sure I believe him.
Then again, I’m a paranoid fuck.
“Damen wove a damn convincing trap. Aram already believes he has millions of your money.” Andrius shrugs. “Because he does have millions of your money.” He chuckles. “He also believes he’s hacked into your life. He’s seen the evidence. Now, he’s going to know there are hacks and counter hacks, but Damen is one of the best. The stuff he does? I’ve not seen anyone who can weave a fake life from tech breadcrumbs the same way he can. Aram would have to disbelieve the evidence right before his eyes, as well as disbelieving Marcus.
“He thinks Marcus is one of his top men now. You can bet your life too that Marcus will have talked to the others in Aram’s organization and worked on convincing them as well. If it is a trap. If they’re prepared, unless they’ve got a fucking rocket launcher, or a helicopter, they’re still going to be the underdog