Once we were in the air, Brain unbuckled his seatbelt and said, “I need to talk to Ranger. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Duke was sitting in the aisle in front of me, though the seats were tall and luxurious, so I couldn’t see him. I’d brought my e-reader loaded with books, and planned to take the opportunity to get caught up on some reading.
* * * *
Brain
“I assume you’ll create a chart for guard duty?”
Ranger nodded. “You’ll be her personal guard while she’s inside, Duke will take over, with his face reconfigured, when she’s outside the house. The windows have a coating so no one can see inside.”
“So, the rest of you will be alternating guard shifts?”
He nodded. “Three hour shifts, rotated between myself, Gonzo, and Bash. We’ll likely pull Duke in for the occasional night shift when she’s with you. She’ll have two people watching at all times — either you or Duke with her, plus one outside watching the area. I know you’ve brought cameras, and will be watching with those, too.”
“She’s good at strategy, better than Gonzo, Bash, and Duke put together times three, and possibly better than me in some areas, certainly as good as me in most.”
Ranger nodded. “Aaron told me she needs physical protection, but she’s to be involved in all data, info, and planning. Good to know you have confidence in her abilities, as well.”
“She’s damned good at running and evading, so it’s important we not block her from escaping, if things go to shit. She and I’ve already arranged a rendezvous point, should we become separated.”
“I smelled the gun on her.”
“Yeah, I’ve had her in the Atlanta RTMC’s range a few times since we shot with you. She’s faster with her taser, and will likely go for it in a one-on-one situation, but I feel better with her having a firearm, in case we run into a situation the taser won’t help.”
We talked a little more, and I went back to my seat. Duke was sitting with his eyes closed, but not asleep, and Harmony was deep into her book.
I took my seat beside Harmony, kissed her cheek, and pulled my tablet from my backpack.
Chapter Forty
Harmony
Our villa was beyond gorgeous, and it was really too bad we weren’t here on vacation.
Ranger had used a fake Florida ID to rent a family mini-van, which he’d driven into the hangar. The villa came with a garage, so I’d gone from airplane to van to house without anyone seeing me. To anyone watching, there were only guys here.
The veranda was private, designed so stars wanting to be sure the paparazzi didn’t get a shot of them could safely spend time outside. I’d still wear a floppy hat and sunglasses, though.
I had four hours until I needed to get to the bank, to be sure I made the request for cash in time for them to get it in their delivery two days from now.
Gonzo and Bash left to rent two scooters, this time with fake New York identification, and Duke and I went out the side door of the villa. I wore a bright yellow bathing suit and blonde wig with yellow sunglasses, he wore swim trunks and a t-shirt. I carried a medium sized purse.
We walked down the road to a bar, stopped to get a drink. His drink was real, since werewolves can’t get drunk, but mine was just a soda. We went into a family bathroom, I pulled a sundress over the bathing suit, changed to a darker wig, and swapped the sunglasses out for dark brown ones. Duke changed to casual knee length khaki’s and a collared pullover shirt, and we both swapped our lightweight flip-flops for sandals. I pulled a large brown beach bag from the purse, and put the purse and everything else into the beach bag. We’d rolled and packed everything into the purse really tight, but didn’t have time for it, now.
We made our way a half-mile down the street, wandered in and out of some boutique and souvenir shops, stopped to get ice cream cones, took our shoes off and walked down the beach as we ate our treats, and finally made it to the public parking lot where Bash and Gonzo had parked our scooters.
Duke didn’t look like himself. Not even a little. His waist was smaller, his arms were bigger, he was a little taller, and his face was totally different. He also had stuff sprayed in his hair to make it look a lot lighter, and it was styled different.
So, it was easier for me to cut up with him, talk to him, and be natural, even though I kept remembering him coming at me with the needle to knock me out, when I heard his voice. Still, seeing him as different helped make it easier.
We rode to the bank and I pulled my wallet out before I walked in the door, so no one could see inside the zipped beach bag. We asked to speak with the manager, told them I didn’t have an appointment but I had several million dollars in their bank so I assumed he would see me. They asked for my name and account number, and a few minutes later we were taken to the back.