The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)(85)

I let her push me toward the stairs, and after one last goodbye, I headed down. Mags and Alejandro were on the second floor, where the stockpiled supplies had been kept, watching carefully as ammo was being distributed, magazines refilled.

I slapped my empty one down on the table next to Gregory as I went by, and he didn’t miss a beat as he continued to slide bullet after bullet into the chamber. “You can do it yourself, Croft,” he said as he tapped the magazine and handed it back to the owner.

“Didn’t put them there for you to do, Miller,” I shot back, and he laughed.

“Arthur and Marna volunteered,” said Mags hurriedly. “So did—”

“Margot and Cad,” I finished for her, trying to speed things along. “I ran into her on the steps. We almost ready to go?”

Mags smiled and pulled out her map, tapping her finger on our position. “After you left, I realized there was another good reason to go after this building in particular,” she exclaimed. “We can just cut straight across here”—her fingers indicated—“using the alleys. They’re not on the maps, but I know they are there. Two blocks, Viggo, and we’re there.”

“What about the Porteque guys?” I asked.

“The ones who got away will seek shelter within other buildings, and the others will avoid the streets until they know what’s going on. Either way, it’s two blocks, and practically a straight shot. We should take it.”

I studied the map and then nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Moving back over to the table, I blinked as I picked up my magazines, the rounds packed in them. Gregory smirked as his fingers continued to move, and after a moment, I slipped them into my pocket and clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks. Almost done?”

“Four more and we’re good,” he said, tossing a completed magazine into a duffel bag on the floor beside him. “I’ll meet everyone on the ground floor.”

I exited the room, practically plowing into Cad as he stepped onto the top step. “Hey, did—”

“I know you’re staying,” I said. “Margot told me—and I’m glad for it. Just be careful, okay?”

“Of course. Good luck at the plant.”

We exchanged a brief hug, and then I moved downstairs. Mags was already waiting by the door, a crowd of our men behind her, filling the hall. She surveyed the street, her blue eyes flicking up to me as I slowly pushed through the crowd, angling for the young man standing at her side.

Tim beamed up at me as I reached out to gently ruffle his hair. “You okay?” I asked. “You had me a little worried with that superhero thing… But I’ve gotta admit, it was pretty awesome.”

“I sit. Good duck.” His reply was flippant, but I knew he had been a little rattled.

“You did a good job, Tim. I mean that… Just next time, wait for me, eh?”

“No promises,” Tim said, and I sighed. I often forgot that Tim and Violet shared the same trait for being headstrong and stupidly brave. I was going to have to keep my eye on both of them from here on out.

“How’s it look?” I asked Mags.

“Just waiting for the all clear from the fourth floor,” she replied.

I studied the street through the glass doors, looking past the bullet-riddled bodies and the torches still burning on their sides on the black street, to the park across from it. It offered plenty of cover. If I were lying in wait to shoot someone, I’d do it there.

“Park is clear,” announced Cad through the bud, and I heard people passing out the message to those who didn’t have comms. Then a beep at the command channel had me switching once again, hoping it wasn’t Ms. Dale telling me they were going to start without us.

“Guys, we got a big truck rolling up on the guard post,” said a less-familiar feminine voice instead, and I recognized it as Tasha, the Liberator who headed the small group we’d left to hold the guard post and cover our escape route, just in case. “It’s coming up fast.”

I checked my watch and cursed. It had been twenty minutes, give or take, since Desmond had escaped, and we had anticipated she might go for the nearest guard post, which was incidentally the one we’d captured—the worst way to puncture a hole in our defense.

“Roger,” said Henrik’s voice. “Violet is behind her by a few minutes, so just fend her off. Be careful.”

“We got this,” Tasha replied confidently, and I had to clench my teeth together to prevent myself from saying anything for fear it would make that confidence diminish. Moments passed with no update, and then thirty seconds… Even though I wasn’t there, I felt tense for them. I just hoped they had stopped her.

Forty-five seconds, then a minute… Still nothing. That wasn’t a good sign. Mags was raising her eyebrows at me, waiting for the sign for the final dash to our rendezvous, but I held on a minute longer, hoping something would come through.

“Tasha, report,” Henrik’s voice cut in finally. Silence greeted us both. I held my hand up to my earbud, clenching my teeth together as Henrik repeated Tasha’s name.

His voice was resigned as he said to everyone, “With no response from Tasha, I am ordering us to go to tango foxtrot. I’ll let Drew know we changed the main channel.”

A sinking feeling in my chest, I acknowledged his order and then switched channels, first to inform my team, then to check in with the rest of command.