“He knows you’re here?” Tanner was aware that Jonas had ordered them to remain on active duty. Hours later, Cabal had flipped him the finger and walked out of the Bureau. Jackal had followed with a smirk, Cabal related.
“He shouldn’t know shit,” Cabal growled. “We went to Sanctuary first and slipped out from there. By the way, Callan said you’re getting your ass kicked when you get back.”
Tanner grunted as he slipped the noc’s, the short-range, multiuse glasses used for ground warfare, from Cabal’s face and set them over his eyes.
Son of a bitch. Council soldiers and enforcers were each pretending they didn’t know the other group was there.
“Wild,” he muttered. “What the f**k is up with this?”
“The Council crew is half a dozen of their best,” Jackal whispered. “Men they only call out in extreme circumstances because they charge an arm and a leg for the service. The Breeds playing patty-cake with them are part of what Jonas calls his Alpha Team. They’re the best of the best. Jonas recruited each one personally.”
“The other half of Alpha Team is concentrated around the comm shed at Sanctuary, and some of the equipment they’re using is definitely not standard issue.”
“Like?”
“Like short-range transmission locators and translators.” Cabal stared back at him. “They’ve been listening to every frickin’ message coming in and going out, and Callan wasn’t informed. That equipment wasn’t even through R&D last we heard.”
“If they’re everything he says they are, then they can be programmed for specific words or phrases while monitoring every damned frequency known to man at one time,” Jackal continued.
“What about encryption?” Tanner knew the few transmissions they had actually picked up from Sanctuary to Tallant had been intricately encrypted.
“All you need are the encryption keys,” Jackal said. “And I bet you they picked up something here. Does your princess have a radio?”
“Not possible.” Tanner shook his head. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing had come out of those caverns.
“Agreed.” Cabal’s voice was less than a whisper. “So tell me what the party is here?”
“They know about the caverns,” Jackal suggested. “It’s the only reason for both teams to be pu**yfooting around like that. They’re looking for the same thing.”
“Jonas went to Sanctuary night before last,” Cabal mused. “You could hear him and Callan roaring at each other, but not much else.”
Tanner winced. “They’re looking for her.” He pushed his fingers through his hair ruthlessly. “I can understand Tallant putting out the effort, but why Jonas?”
Cabal glanced back at him worriedly.
“You got the op from hell goin’ on here, Breed,” Jackal said and sighed. “How we gonna play it?”
Jackal turned to look at him. The wicked scar that ran from his temple across his eye and the bridge of his nose, then down the opposite cheek gave him a brutal appearance. The navy blue eyes, so dark they were nearly black, and shoulder-length black hair didn’t help things.
At thirty-nine, he kept swearing retirement was at hand, but his gaze glittered with glee at the mere thought of taking on Council soldiers, supremists and their inbred purist cousins.
Tanner had opened his mouth to speak when he felt the silent alarm vibrate on his belt.
“Breach,” he hissed.
Council soldiers and Breed Enforcers were forgotten as the three men turned and melted into the forest, racing back toward the cliffs and the caverns.
Scheme had been searching for the damned exit every day she had been there, he knew that, but he didn’t believe she could have found it. He didn’t believe she had the desire to find it. And even if she did, he had made certain to never take the same tunnel to it twice, and that she was asleep each time he left.
That meant, possibly, someone else had managed to find the hidden entrance.
And Scheme was undefended.
CHAPTER 16
It could barely be called daylight. And was she in a forest? Trees, grass, dirt ground, with bugs and slimy forest things?
Ewww.