Shadowgame

'At least ten pairs, sarcastic one. I'm not certain I can fit my body into this thing,' she said but hurried into her bathroom to clean up quickly and try to squeeze into the pantsuit. 'I'll look like a sausage.'

'I'll help,' Gator offered.

'I do appreciate your offer,' Lily said, 'and I may take you up on it.'

'I'll shoot you first,' Ryland warned Gator.

'He's so touchy, Lily,' Gator said.

Lily came around the corner making a face at Ryland. 'He's a big baby, is what he is,' she told Gator and fell into line beside Ryland as they hurried toward the tunnel. She leaned close to him. 'There's no possible way to wear underwear in this outfit.'

He covered her mouth and sent a steely glare toward his men. Not one of them had the audacity to make a comment but they all smirked at him.

IAN rolled under the hedge and scooted close to Ryland. 'I don't like the feel of this place at all, Captain. Someone's in there and if it's the general, he's not alone.'

I count four in the house and two guards on the north side. It was Nicolas checking in.

I've got two in the house and one guard on the balcony on the east side. This was Kaden giving his report.

Sniper on roof. One on roof across the street, Jonas added. That is two snipers, two separate buildings.

Ryland assessed the situation. We need to be in the house. Any evidence that the general is inside?

Man down in kitchen near the table. I can't see him well enough to know if he's staff or an aide. Best guess, the general's in the house and he has unwelcome company, Kaden offered.

Then we have no choice. Nico, clear the rooftops. Kaden, Kyle, and Jonas, take out the guards. If you don't know whose side they're on, make it soft. Otherwise make it clean and no guns. Absolute silence. Signal when you're clear and we have a go.

Lily hunched in the corner of the car, making herself as small as possible. She was a block away from the action. She knew Ryland had left one of the men close. She suspected it was Tucker and he had a way of making anyone feel absolutely secure. She couldn't see him, but he was out there making the night safe again. Arly sat in the front seat, betraying his own anxiety by tapping his hand on the steering wheel.

'You shouldn't be here, Arly,' she said nervously. 'I can't believe you came with us. John and Rosa…'

'Are safe. Rosa would have my head if anything ever happened to you. She told me to see to it personally that you returned safely. Well,' he hedged, 'you and your young man.'

'Someone set guards around the general's house. Ryland's men are clearing them out now,' Lily reported. She leaned over the seat. 'Arly, how long have you and Rosa been an item?' She tried to sound very casual.

He looked at her sharply. 'How long have you known?'

'Why did you want to keep it a secret?'

'I didn't want to keep it a secret. I've asked her to marry me a thousand times. She won't. It was always because she couldn't have children.'

'Rosa's too old to have children, Arly, why would that matter?'

'That's what I told her yesterday. Not that I mind sneaking around-it adds a little spice. But I'm getting too old to be climbing in windows and creeping down hallways.'

'Did she say yes?'

'I told her with the things we did together, she'd burn in hell if she didn't marry me. So she said yes.'

'That must have been a charming proposal.' Lily leaned over the seat to kiss him. 'I'm glad, you need someone to keep you in line.' She took a deep breath. 'I'm really afraid this time. For Ryland. For the general. For all of them. And for us.'

Arly squeezed her hand. 'So am I. But I've seen some tough men who deal with some rough situations and I'd stack up your Ryland and his crew with them any day of the week.'

All clear, Kaden reported.

All clear, Jonas echoed.

All clear, Kyle said.

Ryland held off waiting. If it were possible to clear the rooftops, Nicolas would do it. Ian was showing signs of extreme discomfort. That was a bad sign. Ian was much more sensitive to violent or murderous intent, the malicious waves of energy seeking him out, rushing for him almost to the exclusion of the others. Ryland could see the sweat beading on his skin.

It's a go. The rooftops are clear, Nicolas reported in the same soft tone he always used, giving nothing of his feelings away. One soft, the other definitely hard.

Ryland sighed. That made it much more difficult to choose. Higgens had brought soldiers with him, men simply following orders. Only one or two were in on his schemes. There was a higher risk in going into a situation knowing some of the men were innocent dupes. He made the decision.

We have four in the front of the house. If the general is home, that's where he'll be. Break into four sectors and make a sweep. Take out everything between you and the general. You must assume there are members of staff but treat them the same. Incapacitate and keep moving. Ryland was already making his way across the broad expanse of lawn, scooting on his belly, staying low in the open area.

Lily winced when she heard the order. She didn't want to distract them as they made their way into the house but she had a few questions to mull over. She posed them to Arly, needing to think things through. 'It doesn't make sense that Higgens would have so many men willing to betray their country over this one project. He has to have a long history to be able to recruit and trust more than a couple of men.'

Arly shrugged. 'He's been in the service a long time, Lily. He's an officer, a person in power who might easily read the weaknesses in others.'

'But Phillip Thornton and Donovans…' She trailed off, her mind racing. 'We do have several contracts dealing with security issues but… Oh no. We could really be in trouble, Arly. Donovans has the defense contract dealing with satellite intelligence. If Higgens has access to that data in any capacity he would be able to sell the locations of U.S. satellites.' Her fingers dug into Arly's arm. 'He would have the information on our early warning systems or our ability to retaliate against a large-scale attack. Even the communications information would be available to him. Thornton doesn't have that kind of security clearance. There's only a few in the company with that kind of clearance.'

'Is Colonel Higgens part of that?'

'Not to my knowledge.' She tapped the edge of the seat. 'This could be really bad, Arly. Surely Thornton's not that big a fool to sell national secrets.' Lily wanted to pass the information to Ryland, but was afraid to distract him. The men were breaching the house, going in from four directions.

Ryland slipped over the porch railing, dropped silently onto the decking, and rolled away from the edge to give Ian room to follow. Dark shadows swarmed around the house, moving in from all directions, silent like the ghosts they called themselves. Blink and they were gone.

Ian moved into position at the door, making such short work of the lock it barely slowed them down. Ryland and Ian went inside nearly simultaneously, one going left, the other right, both at floor level and rolling into position to come up with weapons locked and ready. The entryway was clear. The house was dark, no lights on.

Somewhere outside a dog barked. Ryland felt the brief surge of energy and the animal subsided. He could hear the murmur of voices coming from the room opening to his right. He signaled to Ian and they positioned themselves to cover the entire layout of the room.

They've got a gun to Ranier's head. Do I have a go? I need a go right now. As always there was no tension in Nicolas's voice.

Do you have a clear shot? Ryland demanded.

Take out his aim, Nicolas responded.

You have a go. Ryland fed the energy already pouring into the room, using the power of their minds to twist the gun pointed at General Ranier away from him. When Nico fired the silenced shot, a bullet precisely between the eyes of the man holding Ranier hostage, there would be no chance of the gun going off and