Heedless (The Hellbound Brotherhood #4) - Shannon McKenna Page 0,11
to fix it.
But first things first. Keep it simple. Cut the head off the fucking snake.
Kimball wanted his virus back. He’d been secretly excavating up at GodsAcre for years, but now he was blocked, while various branches of law enforcement, plus the CDC, poked around up there. They’d found nothing useful yet, and were losing hope that they’d ever find anything at all. All they knew for sure was that exposure to this virus that Kimball had spread thirteen years ago rendered a person vulnerable to a weapon that Kimball and his goons had in their possession, one that Eric had named a “death-pen.” If it was pointed at a person who’d been exposed to the virus, they dropped dead, of a stroke, a heart attack, something like that. It was different for everyone.
Kimball had been using this thing at will. He’d murdered Otis, the Trask brothers’ foster father, with it. Both of Demi’s parents, too. He had to be stopped.
He was getting impatient. Maybe even desperate.
With Nate’s strategy, perhaps they could lull him into a false sense of control, feed him information, and flush him out, choosing their time and ground.
“I’ve got a set of burners for the sensitive intel,” Nate said. “Use your regular cell for normal daily business. Always assume its mic is on and Kimball is listening, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.”
“My team at Erebus is working on plugging the security breach. In the meantime, we turn his hack against him,” Eric said. “Stay in the open if you have to talk about our business. Don’t talk in cars, or indoors, or near your smartphones.”
Nate reached into his bag, pulled out labeled burner phones and passed them out. “I’ve programmed our numbers into each one. We’ll get fresh ones in a few days.” He handed two each to Anton and Eric. “Make sure Demi and Fi know the drill. I’m going to give one to Elisa, too.”
Mace’s eyes sharpened. “Elisa? Why?”
Nate felt self-conscious. “She should be in the loop. She’s Demi’s confidante. She works at Demi’s restaurant, which is compromised. She put me on the spot while I was mapping bugs in Bluff House. She didn’t know what I was up to, and I couldn’t explain. It was awkward.”
Mace grunted. “Fine, as long as she knows the drill.”
“I’ll see that she does,” Nate assured them. “We’re safer with her on board.”
Eric, Anton and Mace exchanged knowing glances. Eric cleared his throat. “So, about Elisa,” he said carefully. “Are you two, ah…”
“No,” Nate broke in. “I’m nowhere with that. Don’t rub salt in the wound.”
“Sorry you feel that way,” Mace said. “But I think your conclusion is flawed.”
“Mind your business,” Nate said. “I’ll give her a burner after the reception.”
“Let’s bait the trap tonight.” Mace’s eyes had a glow of wild eagerness. “Let’s get him going right away. It would be fun. Why wait?”
“Because I’m leaving for my honeymoon,” Eric said harshly. “We wait.”
“Oh. Yeah. Right,” Mace said sourly. “The honeymoon you absolutely could not delay.”
“I’m done delaying,” Eric said. “We’ll start when I get back. You only get a honeymoon once. If you put it off, it’ll never be the same.”
“Jesus,” Mace muttered. “Who knew you were such a sentimentalist.”
Eric and Anton exchanged glances. “He doesn’t get it,” Anton said to Eric. “He can’t get it. So there’s no point in trying to explain it to him.”
“Damn right,” Eric agreed. “His time will come. He’ll eat his words.”
“I fucking hope not, at least while all this shit is happening,” Mace grumbled. “And I hope it never does, if it fries my brain like it has for you two bozos.”
Eric shrugged. “Be that as it may. I have to go make our grand entrance to the party with Demi. Who’s covering the approaches?”
“Kamal’s in the trailer covering the monitors,” Jim Wong said. “We’ve got two men patrolling outside, and two inside.”
“Good, then,” Anton said, his voice resolute. “Let’s do this thing.”
Eric gave him an ironic glance. “We’re not going into battle,” he said. “It’s just my wedding reception, okay? Lighten the fuck up.”
Anton just looked at him. “I still have a bullet hole healing in my shoulder. Fiona had to shop all over town before she could find a dress that didn’t show the stitches on her back. And you’re telling me to lighten up?”
Eric looked defensive. “I couldn’t wait for this one second longer,” he said. “Kimball is never running my life again.”
“Let’s skip this conversation,” Mace suggested. “We’ve got good people