“Where and how are you supposed to make good on his demands?”
“There’s a back door. He wants us to leave the Camaro with a full tank of gas running there, money and the booze in the back seat before five.”
One-Mile glanced at his phone. He had time, not a ton…but it would have to be enough. “I need to scope the area back there.” He gave a visual sweep around the parking lot. “I’m assuming you have the building surrounded?”
“Yes, and we’ve advised him of that. We’ve also evacuated the rest of the businesses in this strip mall.”
That was a plus. “Once I’m in position, you need to clear everyone out from behind the building.”
“And leave you alone?” Gaines’s scowl said that wasn’t happening. “I don’t think—”
“If Schading sees your men surrounding him with weapons drawn, we don’t know how he’ll respond. If he doesn’t feel hemmed in and threatened, he’ll be more predictable. And I’ll stand a better chance of getting off a clean shot.”
“What if you miss?”
“I don’t. But if you think you’ve got this under control, I can leave.”
Gaines gritted his teeth as they exchanged numbers. “When you’re in place, give me the word. I’ll tell everyone back there to clear out.”
“Perfect.”
The other man scowled. “You’re every bit the arrogant asshole I heard you were.”
As the precinct commander turned away, he heard a familiar laugh behind him. “Look at you, making friends wherever you go.”
One-Mile couldn’t not smile back as he turned to find Caleb Edgington. He stuck out his hand. “Good to see you, sir.”
“You, too,” the tall man with silvery temples said. “Don’t mind Gaines. He has short-man’s disease.”
“I know his type.”
“I’ll soothe his little feelings,” the colonel promised. “What are you thinking here?”
“I need to scout out back.”
“Want me to walk it with you?”
“Yeah.” He welcomed the colonel’s seasoned opinion.
“Happy to.” Caleb kept pace beside him as they used the nail salon beside the grocery store as a thruway to the back of the strip mall. “How have you been getting along with my sons since my retirement?”
One-Mile hesitated. “You want the truth?”
“I don’t want bullshit.”
Fair enough. “They’re all right. But I hired on expecting to work for you.”
“I know. I’m sorry that didn’t happen.”
“I get it. Things change. People move on.”
“But you depended on me—all of you—and I let you down. That’s bugged the hell out of me.” He hesitated. “Did you know Bryant felt the same?”
“No.”
“The evening after I delivered the news in our team meeting, he called to ream me a new asshole.”
Finally, something he respected Bryant for. “I wanted to.”
“I figured you would, so I kept you busy with another job.” Caleb winked.
“Sly dog.”
“I’ve learned a few tricks over the years, but give my sons a fair shake. They’re all-around badasses and good men.”
“Yes, but they’re not you, sir.”
“I appreciate that, but they’ll win you over in time. I’m sure of it. They’re just not used to handling someone who scares them.”
None of them seemed to be shaking in his boots. “Come again?”
“Not literally, but you’re a different breed than their SEAL teammates.”
Those guys were like brothers. Hell, closer than family in some cases. Snipers like him tended to be loners. “You’re saying they don’t know how to relate.”
“Logan is trying. Hunter and Joaquin are watching how you shake out. Bryant is easy for them to understand. He’s damn good at what he does, and he has a noble streak a mile wide…”
While One-Mile himself was morally gray. “Got it.”
“You don’t. They know you’re important. Special. They just don’t know how to take you. And it’s not like any of them are well known for their interpersonal skills.”
One-Mile smiled. “So you’re asking me to be patient?”
“I’d appreciate it. They only took over the business a few months ago. A lot of this is new for them, but especially someone like you.”
One-Mile wasn’t dumb; the colonel was buttering him up, but he understood the basic message. He wasn’t a team player since that wasn’t his role, and that made relating to him difficult. He also had a chip on his shoulder because Bryant had Brea, and he wanted her way more than he should. The colonel’s sons were running a security firm, not overseeing a daytime drama. Hence, Logan’s warning to keep his angst out of the office.
“I’m reserving judgment, doing my job, and keeping my nose clean. Speaking of which…” He scanned the alley behind the grocery store.
It looked typical. A lot of concrete, a couple of dumpsters, painted brick topped by a flat industrial roof. A retaining wall blocked off access to the street behind the strip mall. A residential development lay directly beyond that, leaving the gunman’s easy path of escape an adjacent highway that led straight out of town. It also limited the places One-Mile could set up a shot in the immediate vicinity.
But across from the cookie-cutter neighborhood, he saw possibilities.
“Give me a minute.”
At the colonel’s nod, he jumped and grabbed the top of the eight-foot retaining wall, then hoisted himself up for a look-see over the whole vicinity. To his left, he saw a bank, but he didn’t like the pitch of its roof or close proximity to the grocery store. If Schading was observant enough, he’d be spotted up there. Behind that stood a doctor’s office, but that roofline was also too sloped to provide the proper stability for his setup. He could see rooflines beyond that but didn’t know this part of town well enough to know what businesses they housed.
One-Mile whipped out his phone, found a satellite map, and answered his own question in the next thirty seconds.
He jumped down to
