“Roger that.” The man nodded and spun away from the rest of them.
Ace placed his hands on his hips and stared at the damage. “If you were a serial killer, where would you go?”
Jeremiah sent his eyes down the street to the meat processing plant. “There.”
Ace followed his gaze. “What’s that?”
“A meat processing plant. If I wanted to kill someone, I’d go there, lure whoever I wanted to kill in. He could string up his prey and work on them without hurrying. That’s what he enjoys. Taking the time to make his victims suffer.”
“Jesus. What are we dealing with?” one of the other Guardians spoke up.
“A man that has no remorse,” Jeremiah answered.
“Stud, get up on the top of the cafe and see what you can see.” Ace slapped the thermal imaging device in the guy’s hands.
“Roger that.” The man took off.
“He knows we’re here now.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “He knows you’re here. He doesn’t how many others.” Ace was the only one with him when Kerry was knocked out. They stood in silence and he scanned the darkened street of the small town he loved. They’d have to rebuild again. For some, it would be too much. The ones without insurance would probably move on, find another place in another small town.
A short whistle caught their attention. Ace put his earpiece in. “Shit. All right. The main door is open. Everything else is shut tight. He’s not close enough to get a heat signature from the building, but other than us, he can’t see anything else in this part of the town. Nothing is moving.”
“Then we go to him.” That’s what Cyrus wanted, after all. What he’d wanted in the prison. For Jeremiah to give himself over.
Ace nodded. “We’re going to put you on the end of a hook and use you for bait, Wheeler.”
He sent a sideways glance at the Guardian. “Under one condition.”
“And that is?”
Jeremiah crossed his arms. “If I get a bite, I get first shot at taking that bastard down.”
“No way, man. You pull him out into the open and we’ll take the shot.”
“Have you ever craved revenge, Ace?” Jeremiah stared down the street.
“On more than one occasion, but that isn’t what this is about. This is about taking down a serial killer. You put revenge into the equation and that bastard has an edge.”
Jeremiah cocked his head. Ace was right. He needed to go in emotionless. A tick of a smile tweaked the side of his mouth. That would infuriate Cyrus. So be it. “If you get a shot, take it. If I get a shot, I’ll do the same.” He took his weapon from his holster and handed it to Ace. “I won’t need this if you have my back.”
“Thank God. Civilians with weapons scare the fuck out of me.” Ace chuckled and checked the safety before he inserted it into loops on his vest. “All right, here’s the plan. The three of us are going first. Give us ten minutes to get set up. Then you walk down the middle of the street and call to him. Distract him so we can enter the building. We’ll locate him, take him out if possible. If not, we’ll always have one sight on you while the others move through the facility and try to find him. Now, tell me as much about the inside of that building as you can.”
Jeremiah told him as much as he remembered of the building. He’d been in there twice and it was a basic design, but he went into as much detail as he could remember.
“All right. Ten minutes, Wheeler.” Ace slapped his arm, and he and his men filtered into the darkness.
Chapter 20
Jeremiah stepped back into the garage. Zeke looked up at him and smiled. “Come see who’s awake.”
He was at her side in three strides. She grasped his hand. “Cyrus is here.”
“I know. We’ve got a plan and Guardian is setting up near where we believe he is.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “Are you in much pain?”
She closed her eyes and opened them again. “Not much. Zeke gave me some happy juice.”
He glanced over at the doctor. Zeke shrugged. “I’m not setting that arm without an x-ray and we want a CT on her just to make sure that head injury won’t cause any further problems. I gave her something to help the pain, but not enough to knock her out.”