Peaceful as a pond, that one. At least until you ruffled the waters too much.
“We can’t keep fighting with our hands tied behind our backs, and you can’t keep running from your past,” he told her calmly. “No matter how ashamed you are of it.”
Her throat bobbed, her eyes misting over. The wheels were turning in her head, cogs spinning wildly. She’d been running from her problems for so long that I doubted she remembered what it was like to face them head-on. A few more tense moments of silence hung in the air before she nodded her head.
“Okay,” she whispered. “We can meet here Friday night, but I have a job for you all first.”
The brothers nodded before settling back around the table.
“Tell us what you need.” Wolf was all business. There was a tick in the corner of his right eye. Histellwhen he was irritated or frustrated. No doubt he was frustrated with Granny’s secrets. Irritated at the fact that she had been holding back from him. Wolf didn’t like secrets; his life had been full of them. He’d thought he knew Granny, that she trusted him, and that was no doubt eating him up.
“In the file I sent you is an aerial photograph of four silos owned by Delta Feed that were put up on the Miller’s farm just weeks after they purchased it.”
“That’s fucking fast,” I muttered.
“They’ve been planning this, no doubt.” Granny shook her head. “They haven’t started processing anything yet, as far as I can tell. If we can get perfectly timed explosives into each one, we can set their work behind schedule. We can also raid the office at the same time. See if we can uncover any dirt.”
“They’d have to start from scratch.” Switzerland smiled as he looked over the photograph. “Should be easy enough to remotely detonate some C-4. Target the feed silos and the manufacturing plant first. The explosions should divert security from the office and allow us enough time to grab any pertinent files.”
“You can get the C-4?” I confirmed.
Switzerland nodded. “Buddy of mine has a stockpile of it in his bunker.” He laughed. “We’ll have plenty.”
“Good,” Wolf praised. “Then let’s make a plan.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The silos were just ahead. We’d tucked our motorcycles and one of the cages a few miles from the feed mill and headed in on foot. The distance was easy to cover with our enhanced speed. Shifters didn’t move at the speed of a bullet, but we could cover a great deal of distance over a short amount of time.
The five miles to our destination took us less than fifteen minutes and barely winded us. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, my pupils dilating to allow more light in. Our enhanced senses gave us an edge over humans, but the men who owned the mill weren’t human. They were like us, and from what we gathered from Granny, they were experienced and skilled.
When we reached the edge of the farmland, we separated into smaller groups, heading off toward our individual targets. We all knew what we were supposed to do. There was no need for whispered words or discussion. Bruiser and Switzerland headed toward the first two silos, while Chaos and Viper took the last two. Gunner, Hunter, and I veered off toward the office while the remaining men watched our backs and looked for signs of trouble.
“Sensing anything?” I whispered to Gunner as we approached the office. We’d brought him along to the office in case it was warded by magic. Gunner shook his head.
“Nothing,” he assured me. “Warding magic has a distinct smell. Almost citrusy, but there’s a bite of iron to it because wards require blood to work.”
Hunter’s nose scrunched in disgust.
“I hate magic.” He shook his head. “Shit is evil.”
Gunner shrugged. “Magic is neither good nor evil. It is the one who wields the power who decides how it’s used. Magic in the right hands can be cleansing and full of light. It’s when the user twists the words and tools for their own gain that magic take on a darker tone.”
Wonderful.
“Granny said there should be a back door right over…” Hunter snapped his fingers. “Found it.”
He slowly creaked the wooden door open, standing slightly to the side, his body covered by the outside wall in case of an ambush.
Nothing.
“Tell me something,” I wondered. “Why is this place unguarded? Where is the security? There isn’t a soul here as far as I can tell.”
“Do you think they knew we were coming?” Hunter peered around the corner and into the darkened hallway of the office.
Empty.
“If that were the case, I would have expected an ambush.”