No one wanted to talk, so I was left to pace restlessly until the door to the AV room banged open, making everyone jump. Sean barged in. Even in the darkened room, I could see the beginnings of what would be a magnificent black eye by morning.
“Where’s that little girl who jumped me? I don’t usually hit women, but…”
I walked over to him. He smelled of alcohol and tomato sauce. “She’s outside trying to determine if the FBI has surrounded the house yet.”
“I don’t...what?”
I gave him a quick overview of what was happening. He stared around the room. “Well, what are we all doing just sitting here? We need to be arming ourselves. Surely this Colin guy has a stash of guns around here.” He looked around like they might actually be in the AV room.
David stood up. “Actually no, he doesn’t. He doesn’t like them. But even if he did, that is not how we are going to handle this. The last thing we need is a standoff.”
Sean looked furious. “Oh, come on! What do you think they’re here for? To bring us a freaking casserole? Do you think they’ll put down their guns just because we don’t have any? We have to defend ourselves!”
“The first thing we have to do,” David said, “is determine if there is even anyone out there. Which we are. IF there is, then we will make a plan to defend ourselves. IF we need to. We are not going to start any fights if we don’t have to.”
Sean looked like he wanted to yell some more, but threw his hands up instead. “Fine, suit yourselves. I’ll be at the bar.”
“I don’t think so.” I followed him out of the room and grabbed his arm. “You need to lay off the booze for a while. We might need you.”
He pulled his arm away. “Go back to your cowardly friends.”
“Look, I get it! I agree with you.” I did not like saying that. “We need to be prepared to defend ourselves and if it comes to that, we will need you. There aren’t many here that would be very useful if it does come to that. David’s not saying don’t fight, he just wants to make sure there is something to fight first.”
“Great! Then come get me when you all decide to pull your heads out of your asses.” He turned and walked away.
I stayed in the library to pace some more. The other room was a bit too crowded for me now. Ben came back and took up his spot in the corner without a word. A few minutes later, a noise drew me to the front hall. I ran into the entryway with Ben and Sean close behind. We found Mel and a very white faced Anna standing just inside the door.
“What happened?”
Anna only shook her head.
“We found them.” Mel said.
The others must have seen their entrance from the AV room, because we were met by a crowd in the library. Anna looked too scared to speak, but Mel had no problem giving details. Not much seemed to phase her.
“There are two unmarked cars sitting at the turnoff by the road. One’s got two guys in it and the other’s empty. We found maybe four guys wandering in the woods around the perimeter, but Anna couldn’t be sure she didn’t see the same guy twice.”
David looked shaken by the news. “I’m locking down the house. At least we'll know if they try to get in.” He left for the AV room. Sean was waiting for him when he came back.
“You think sitting in a locked house waiting for them to find a way in is a plan?”
Ben raised his hand. “Listen…”
“No,” Sean raised his voice. “You listen! I’m not going to sit in here and wait for them to call for reinforcements. If we take care of them now, they’ll think twice about coming back!”
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“No! We are not going to start a war.” David spat.
“They don’t give a damn about your morals. They will kill us if they get the chance.”
“David, he’s right.” Everyone turned to stare at me.
“You want to go out there and murder those men?” David asked.
“No! Of course not. But we have to do something. Do you think they are just going to let Colin and the others pass them with no trouble? What do you think they’re here for? You said it yourself, they’re probably waiting for them. We have to help them.”
“She’s right.” I was surprised to hear Anna speak up. “We have to do something before they get back. They’ll never make it past those men.”
David looked from one person to another but found no help. He looked defeated. “Alright, alright! Does anyone have any ideas?” He looked at Sean. “Preferably ones that don’t involve killing people.”
Everyone was silent. I racked my brain, but this wasn’t really a situation I was prepared for. Regardless, I knew there had to be a way.
“We could take a couple of cars and lore them out?” Cooper suggested. “Maybe take a swipe at one of their cars. They will be more interested in chasing us than waiting for Colin.”
David shook his head. “I doubt we would get past them and I doubt Colin would appreciate us wrecking his cars.”
“Doubt he’d appreciate us letting him get picked up by the feds, either.” Mel said.
“Does anyone know how to hot-wire a car?” Everyone turned to stare at me again. “Well?”
“I do.” Ben answered. He looked at me defensively, but I didn’t care how he knew just that he did.
“Good. Ok, so we sneak out to the empty car you saw, hot-wire it and take off. The other guys should follow when they see what’s going on. We can lose them later and find another car to bring us back. That should get rid of them long enough for Colin and the others to get back.”
“That’s if the car is still empty.” Sean held up a finger for each point. “If they don’t just shoot you on the way out, and if they follow you. And if you can lose them.” Another finger came up, “and if they don’t just call a squad of feds down on us as soon as you're gone.”
“Well, do you have any better ideas? I’d love to hear them. We’re running out of time.” Nate and the others would be back soon, and they had no idea what was waiting for them.
“That’s a lot of if’s Jemma,” David said. “And what about the guys still wandering around out there? They aren’t just going to walk home when you take off with their ride.”
“I’m assuming they will be called back with the other guys to follow us, but just in case, we can send Sean and Mel to make sure they go. If not, they can make sure they don’t hurt anyone until we can all get back.” I turned to Sean. “Subdue them I mean. Just until we all get back safely.”
“It’s a pretty risky plan,” Kennedy said. “And what do we do with them then? It’s not like we can just say, ‘sorry, be on your way now’ when it’s all over.”
“It is risky. Hopefully, there won’t be any reason to even get near the guys in the woods. But they’ll have a lot less trouble getting past a few guys on foot than a blockade in the driveway. We have to do something fast. We can’t just let them take Colin by surprise.”
David started pacing around the room. “Ok, but Stephen can go with Ben to the car.”
“But…”
David held up a hand to stop me. “He can hide himself and Ben until they get to the car if they go slowly. It only makes sense. But I’ll go with Mel. I don’t want anybody getting hurt.”
“Sean...he can help.” I looked at Sean pleadingly.
“Yeah. I can take care of them before they even know what hit ‘em.” He held out his hand as a book flew from the shelf and into it. “I promise I won’t hurt a hair on their little heads.” I groaned.
“Wow...” Kennedy was staring wide eyed at Sean.
“Well.” David cleared his throat before continuing. “Ok, fine. But no one gets hurt. We’re already going to be breaking a dozen laws. We don’t need to give them any more reason to come hunting us.” He still looked worried as he turned to me. “You and I can cause a distraction closer to the house, help draw their attention away from the car.”
“What about me?” Anna asked.
“You go with Mel and Sean. Help them find what they need. And Kennedy will stay here.” Kennedy looked like he wanted to protest, but David rode over him. “Someone needs to stay here and watch what happens.” He motioned toward the screens. “If something happens, you call Colin and tell him not to come back, and then you get the hell out of here.” His tone did not welcome argument. “We’re losing time. If we are going to do this, let’s get it done.”
Mel led Anna and Sean to the dining room door. Mel and Sean were talking quietly about how to approach the men in the woods around the house.
“You should go the back way as well.” Ben motioned toward the door the others had just walked through. “They are most likely watching the front.” After they left, I joined David in the hall.
“And what about us?” I asked. I was beginning to think this was an idiotic plan even if it was mine.
“Well, we want to be seen, right?” He headed for the entryway without looking back.