Blake listened up. He hoped whatever it was, it was more interesting than the PowerPoint presentation. “What kind of training?”

“It’s a game of evasion.”

24

Rose had pulled him aside, dragging him to the office with her. Now she stood close enough so she only had to whisper to him. Definitely a position Quinn liked. The closer she was, the better.

“He’s much safer here,” Rose insisted.

Quinn shook his head, disagreeing with her. “Keegan knows where we are. If I were he, I’d mount an attack tonight. He can’t afford to give us any time to prepare. I’m surprised he even gave us a warning.”

Rose huffed. “He likes to prove his superiority by doing shit like that. He thinks it’ll scare us and make us surrender.”

“Charming guy. In any case, we won’t surrender. But we won’t be sitting ducks either. We’re getting Blake out of here during the day.”

She put her hand on his arm. “But we can’t be with him during the day.” She jerked her head toward the door. “Wesley can’t protect him on his own. He’s human. And as tough as Nina seems to be, I doubt she can either. He needs us.” Her look was pleading.

Quinn took her hand and squeezed it. “Let me worry about that. I have a plan. But we can’t wait until nightfall to get him out of here. That’s when Keegan will be able to move and go on the attack. We have a much better chance during daytime. This is our turf.”

“But don’t you think he’s having somebody watch the house?”

Quinn grinned. “I would be disappointed if he didn’t.”

Rose gave him a confused look. “But, then . . .”

He pulled her hand to his mouth and planted a kiss on it. “Don’t worry, I’ve been in this business for a long time. I know what I’m doing.” Then he looked into her eyes, holding her gaze. “He’s our flesh and blood. I’ll make sure no harm will come to him.”

Rose’s eyes softened. “You know that’s only the second time you’ve called him our.”

“Yes, and it won’t be the last.” Then he tugged at her hand. “Come, let’s go over the plan with everybody.”

When they walked into the living room moments later, everybody was assembled, now fully dressed: Amaury, Cain, Oliver, Nina, Wesley, and Blake. Quinn motioned for Rose to sit, but remained standing himself. They all looked at him with expectant gazes. He hadn’t even had a chance to share his plan with Amaury yet.

“We’ve been given our first test,” he announced for Blake’s benefit. “It’s a simple hide and seek operation. The goal is to get one of our trainees out of this house without our opposing team finding out where we’re taking him. The second trainee will be the decoy. As with every test, we’re allowed to use all tools at our disposal.”

He looked at the assembled. “Now, as for the roles . . .”

“I want to be the decoy,” Blake blurted.

“I’m afraid, roles have already been assigned. Wesley has been chosen as the decoy.”

Blake’s disappointed gaze drifted to Wesley, who merely shrugged, indicating that he didn’t know any more than Blake.

“Blake, you’ll be the person to be hidden from our opposing team. The hiding place will be a safe house in Twin Peaks. Our opponents don’t know of its existence. To help us with moving our trainee, headquarters has authorized two additional agents,” Quinn continued his deception.

While the plan was essentially what he laid out, there was neither a safe house, nor any additional agents. No, the two people who were supposed to arrive within minutes couldn’t be further away from being agents or bodyguards of Scanguards. Nevertheless, he continued his charade so that Blake would play along without giving them any trouble.

“I was lucky to secure two of the best.” He looked at Blake and Wesley. “Don’t be fooled when you see them. They’re both lethal and the best in their field. Questions?”

Amaury straightened. “What do you want me to do?”

“You’ll help secure the property once Blake has left.”

Blake raised his hand. “How are you planning to move me out of here without anybody noticing?” He made a movement with his hand, indicating the size of his body. “I’m not exactly easy to overlook.”

“Good question.” But Quinn had already thought about this and found a way. “You’ll find out in time.”

“When are we starting?” Wesley asked.