But there was another direct line of sight into the room that would afford a view of everything but the exact area where his desk sat. Should anything happen, Mercedes and her daughters knew they were to stay behind that line. If they came upon the office and the sliding doors that led to it from the hall and from the attached bedroom were open, then they were to get out of the house.
Fast.
“There’s two other views in if there’s trouble,” Lyrica stated softly, quickly explaining the line of sight into the office.
“Checking.” Hard, without emotion, a female voice came over the line.
“I have sight from the west,” a male voice answered. “Sliding door retracted, no one in sight.”
“Sight from the south,” said the female long moments later. “Door retracted, no one home.”
Lyrica shook her head.
The small area where it was possible to hide would have been large enough for Timothy, her mother, and Zoey. It would have been crowded, but very possible. Of course, no enemy would have much of a chance if they were that close to Tim.
She swallowed tightly.
Someone was there. Wherever her family was being held, they were no doubt being held. She knew it from the absence of the weapon normally hidden under the prep counter, the doors left open to create the view into his office, the utter silence in the house.
She waited.
Dawg, Natches, and Graham were too focused on the doorway at the moment.
“Options?” Tracker asked.
Graham’s gaze shifted to Dawg’s, Natches shook his head, and he blinked.
Lyrica moved quickly, rushing through the doorway into the dining room and sliding out of their reach.
“Wait!” she hissed when Graham moved to follow her.
He paused, but his expression assured her that only surprise had him pausing.
“They don’t know you’re here.” She kept her voice at a breath of sound then tapped her ear. “You’re with me. Cover me.”
Graham was shaking his head.
“Can you do this, little sister?” Dawg asked somberly. “Are you sure?”
“No.” Before Graham could pass through the doorway, both Dawg and Natches were blocking him.
“Back off,” Natches hissed.
“Lyrica?” Dawg asked again.
“You two taught me,” she whispered. “You taught me how to do this, just in case. Right?”
They’d taught her and her sisters how to help them protect or rescue them. Dawg, Natches, and Rowdy had also taught them how to play the decoy if they had to.
This was a have-to, she thought.
“No,” Graham growled again as Dawg stared back at her for long, tense seconds.
If he didn’t agree with it, then Natches would make sure it didn’t happen.
“Did you think she was a little china doll we just wrapped up in cotton and sat on a shelf to look pretty, Graham?” Dawg asked then, his gaze still holding Lyrica’s.
“No, I didn’t,” Graham snarled, furious. “She’s not a soldier, either, nor is she a trained agent.”