The Lost Angel

Chapter 16

Once in Adam’s room everyone wanted to talk at once. I allowed them all to chatter while I came up with a plan. I knew what would have to be done although I dreaded it with every fiber of my being. Regardless of the situation, they were both my friends. No one wants to fight a friend to the death.

“So, what are we going to do?” Sara sounded almost matter of fact but I could hear the tinge of fear.

Everyone looked to me, sometimes being in charge was not what everyone thought. It didn’t matter about my feelings or what I wanted. I would have to be the one to end this and kill my friends. I’d have to do it alone. There was no way all of us would be able to sneak out of here with the lock down.

“Well, the first thing we need to figure out is if this room is bugged.”

“You’re right Jake, however, I believe we should be fine. Adam is not associated with us in any way so no one would think to bug his room. If it would make you feel better, you may check.” I knew I was right but if they needed to check then that was fine.

Jason searched the room for bugs, when he came up empty the tension in the room decreased a fraction. “We’re clear Angel.”

“Ok, the room is clean but we still need a plan. Unless…you already have one Angel.” Sara looked at me expectantly.

“Well, I think she would agree that we need to get out of here to be able to do anything. The lock down is going to make that difficult to say the least.” Jake sounded thoughtful.

“How are we all supposed to get out of here unnoticed?” Lee asked the one question that everyone should be asking. “We could get one or two of us out but not both crews.”

Adam snorted, “we don’t need to get everyone out just enough to rescue John and neutralize the threat.”

“So how do we decide who will stay and who will go?” Tony sounded nervous but he brought up a good point. “I don’t know if we should be involved in this since we aren’t field agents like Angel and her crew. Maybe we should just hang back and keep an eye on things here.”

Everyone in the room looked at Tony with awe and respect. I gave him a small smile. He is definitely intelligent and shows promise for strategy and planning. I would want him on my side in a war. Seeing my smile brought a blush to his cheeks. How sweet, he’s shy too.

“Thank you, Tony. You bring up a very important question, although I disagree with you. My crew and I might be in the field but you are very much apart of this. I believe that I have come up with something to solve our dilemma.” All eyes were on me as I spoke. “Some of you my not like my idea but it is really our only option to cover all bases. For starter, Jason still needs to visit the hospital wing if I’m not mistaken. Tony, I would like you to accompany him there. Jason is the best hacker that I have met and I believe you will have some wonderful thoughts on assisting him to route out the hack into our systems and who is behind it.”

“Can do boss!” Jason sounded excited now. Tony smiled and nodded.

“Next, I need a team here that will distract everyone from what the recue team will be doing. Travis and Jeremy cannot leave until they have passed their auditions, so someone will need to remain with them.”

“No can do chere, I go where you go. I owe you for saving my life and I have no intention of letting you out of my sight.” Jeremy simply looked at me with a blank expression on his face.

“Fine that changes things a little but still doable. Adam you and those remaining in your crew will be my distraction team. You will need to find a way to distract the handlers and guards, so we can get out.”

“I think we can do that.” Adam smiled as he looked at the other members of the distraction team.

“Good. Jake, you and the rest of my crew will be with Travis in plain sight. No one will expect that I have escaped with Jeremy. If anyone asks then you can say I am off somewhere with him. That’s vague enough that no one will expect a thing.”

The room erupted in angry yelling from every man in the room, other than Jeremy of course who would be going with me. I couldn’t make out exactly what was being said since everyone was talking at once. I could tell that they were all in an uproar about allowing me to do this alone. Funny thing is, I don’t need permission from anyone. I just need them to follow my orders. All of the courtesy I show them means nothing when it comes to the safety of those, I consider mine.

The only one that did not protest or get angry was Sara. She just stood by Jake smiling at me. Although she looked close to tears, she held it together. As I locked eyes with her, she nodded to me. I knew then that whatever I had decided to do that she would have my back, whether she liked it or not. The men noticed that I wasn’t paying attention to any of them and their ranting. I smiled at Sara and nodded as well. I never knew that when her and I resolved our issues that she would become my greatest ally. At that moment, I realized that she would forever be my little sister and I would do anything for her. She would be good for Jake as well. All of the men in the room looked between us and then focused on Sara.

“Angel is the best, she knows what she’s doing.” That revelation from Sara seemed to calm everyone down even though they were still a little disgruntled.

A knock on the door set everyone on edge. Adam went to his door and answered it, on the other side was a messenger who looked alarmed to see so many people crammed into the room. The tension was thick and I’m sure on some level the messenger could sense it.

“Can I help you?” Adam sounded a bit irritated for the interruption.

“I’m sorry sir, but I wanted to let you know that the luggage had arrived. I was told to let everyone know.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we were all together so you didn’t have to hunt us down. Please let the handlers know that we will come get our things shortly.”

I tried to be pleasant to the little messenger even though I could tell she was afraid. She just nodded and scurried away quickly. No one said another word as Adam shut the door again.

Sara piped up, “there is no reason to delay any longer. Angel will do what needs to be done and she will have Jeremy with her. We need to back her up and do what we can to keep anyone from guessing what will be going on. I know none of you want to have her out there without us to help her but we need to trust in our leader. Angel may be the only one that can pull this off. She knows Widow and Plague better than any of us. John is like a father to her so she will never allow anything to hurt him if she can help it. And with us here we can take care of the rat. Face it gentlemen, her plan is the only one that makes sense if you think about it. I say we get our things from the handlers and get the show on the road.”

Silence fell heavily in the room as everyone thought about what Sara had just thrown out there. When this was over, I was going to have to spend some time with her and thank her for her absolute faith in me. Maybe a spa day or shopping day just us girls, perhaps both.

“Angel has my vote.” Jason smiled cheerfully at me.

“I don’t like it. But Sara is right. Angel, you have my back all the time, I’ll have yours as well.” Lee shocked us all but I could only smile and nod.

Brooks and Jake were silent and refused to look at myself or Sara. They were looking at everyone who hadn’t spoken yet.

Ben stepped forward, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks but I will follow you anywhere you chose to lead us, Angel.” The rest of his fellow crew members nodded in agreement, even Adam.

Brooks sighed and shook his head, “I’ll do whatever you say Angel. Just don’t except me to be ok with it.”

“I understand Brooks.”

The last to be heard was Jake. He looked murderous as his eyes met mine. “No.”

“Jake.” My voice sounded sad and tired. “I love you and you are the only family I have had for a long time, but our family is expanding. It’s not just us any longer and we won’t always be together. You are my bother as well as my partner, I will always care about your concerns but I can not allow them to stop me from doing what I must do. Deep down you know this is the best option considering the options before us. Everything Sara said was right and I must say that I certainly didn’t expect her to agree with me. When this is all over Sara, I believe you and I are long over due for some girl time. Jake, I need you here. I trust you more than any other. I know with you here to cover for me that I have nothing to worry about. You will take care of everyone in my absence and I need that. I will worry about all of you while I’m gone and that can distract me. Please Jake, don’t make me override everyone and issue orders. I need you with me.”

Jake sighed and pulled me into a hug. “You know I will always be with you. I love you, my sister. I just don’t like you going without me. I will watch things here so you can bring John home to us. Please be safe."

I hugged him a little tighter. As we pulled away, I nodded and smiled at him. He sighed again and motioned to the door. Without another word we all left the room to retrieve our things. I had to get ready and get myself and Wolfie on a plane to Russia as quickly as possible. I didn’t know where John was but I could start there since that was where he was going. I had to find him and bring him home. The thought of killing my friends was weighing on me, but I will do what must be done as I said. Pushing those thoughts from my mind I headed to the handlers for my luggage with Jeremy on my heels.