* * *
By the time we arrived back at T&M, I’d reluctantly accepted the arguments Dave and Nate hammered home. Don’t go back to a snake pit, unless you want to get bit. The fact it happened to me in the past helped to underline their reasoning. Didn’t mean I had to like it, though. I trudged up the stairs, exhaustion nibbling at my heels. The rest of the team were gathered around Marty’s desk, and looked up when we entered.
“All the sensors you installed work fine,” Tony said. “Plus Marty’s come up with a pretty good defense of our place. How about we give you a quick briefing, and then you can tell us about your visit to the Crosby residence.”
For the next ten minutes Marty held us spellbound with his in-depth defensive plan.
“…Some of my cousins volunteered to help, along with a few of their friends. Long as they don’t have to get involved in any shooting. ‘Less somebody shoots at them, that is.”
“Make sure and brief them on what to do if our plan doesn’t work for the guys they’re keeping an eye on,” I said.
Marty nodded. “No problem. If any of ‘em leave our office, they’ll just follow and let us know where they end up.”
“Let’s go through the whole plan once more,” Tony said. “Wouldn’t want to have a mix-up during the event.”
Marty scratched his nose, a thoughtful look on his face. “Yeah, an’ I’d like to know more about the team that’s so hot after Willie and his crew. Are they really part of Crosby’s group, and if so how’re we gonna get a handle on them?”
“One plan at a time,” Tony said with a headshake. “Once we’re comfortable with this one, we can worry about our next move.” He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “unless you think they might become a problem?”
I shrugged. “Don’t think they will, unless they are part of Crosby’s gang. We should know for sure if we’re successful at listening in on any meetings Crosby has in the next few days.” I held off on my latest suspicions. Maybe tell them later.
Everyone but Alice headed for bed. We’d converted several rooms below the office into bedrooms for the duration of the emergency, making security easier. It’d been a long day, and Alice volunteered for first watch to listen in on the bugs we’d planted. From now until this was over, someone would have to keep an ear tuned in to make sure Crosby’s gang didn’t pull a fast one on us.
Nate and Tony headed out next morning after breakfast to pick up a couple extra weapons and the special equipment our plan called for. I’d just managed to stagger out of the shower still more asleep than awake, when my cell phone buzzed. “Hlo?”
“Francis, you sound half asleep,” Lenny said. “This a bad time?”
“No, no. Just got out of the shower. What’s up?” I sat on the bed, toweling my hair.
“Thought I’d better update you about a couple things,” she said, sounding pensive. “First off, I’ve been put on medical leave.”
I stopped drying myself at the tension I heard in her voice. “Lenny, you all right?”
There was a pause of several seconds. “Um–I’ve got some medical tests being done over the next several days. Apparently my concussion was worse than they thought.”
My breath quickened. “There anything I can do?”
“Not at this point. Once I’ve had the tests, I’ll let you know how they come out. In the meantime, Mike wanted me to still be your unofficial contact.” Her voice firmed up. “We’ve been hearing rumors that Crosby’s business has taken some hits lately. Seems like someone got brave, or stupid, and raided a couple of her drug caches. Not sure how much was taken, but it was enough to stir up her gang like a nest of hornets. You know anything about this?”
I stood and began pacing. “I’ve heard rumors that it was Willie’s crew. He might be building a stash to help him stay disappeared.” I switched the phone to my other ear. “Meanwhile, we’ve gotten word that Crosby’s planning on wiping us out. Nothing solid on that yet. Soon as we know more, we’ll pass it on.”
“Don’t take any unnecessary chances, Francis,” she said. “Keep your head down. Like I said before, you and all of your friends would be wise to pull a disappearing act. Let things cool down for awhile.”
“Don’t worry about us, hon. You just do as the doctor tells you. And keep me posted on how you’re doing, okay?”
A quiet chuckle echoed from the phone. “Hon? You realize you just called me hon? Man, it’s a good thing you’re thousands of miles away, or I’d ‘hon’ you. Call me tomorrow,
Babe.” The line went dead before I could reply.
I took my time getting dressed, thinking back over the call. The main concern, in my opinion, was Lenny’s physical condition. Would she be all right? Other than the tenseness in her voice, she’d sounded okay. The information about Crosby just verified Phil’s information. It showed a chink in her armor. Might distract her enough at the right time to allow us to take them down. I finished dressing and headed upstairs.
Marty paused before shoveling half a pancake in his mouth. “Well, looky here. Sleepin’ beauty has awoke.”
I gave a half wave and walked into the kitchen where Nate was holding court over a griddle, pancakes browning nicely on it. Time to fuel up before…God, I hoped she was okay. Since Lenny had unloaded the news about her physical problems being a serious issue, my brain had splintered into pieces. Hard to concentrate.
A balled up napkin landed in the middle of my plate before I got the first bite. I looked up, ready to snarl at whomever had done it, but was stopped cold by the serious look on Alice’s face.
“Okay, what’s up? We’ve been talking to you for the last minute and get nothing back.”
I laid my fork down,
