Chapter XI

Chapter 11 of the novel Reapers

"So she wanted to just pack up your brother and ship him off to her secret lab, never to be heard from again?" Emery questioned, leaning against the bar of Scottie's in confusion.

"Yeah, I mean it was just all so strange. Not to mention awkward when my mom basically told them to get out," November explained, her gaze fixed on the scribbles of notes before her that lied next to an open textbook.

Scottie's was currently dead, so November often found herself doing homework in the midst of working hours.

"Wow, no offense, but I wonder why you guys?" Emery asked.

"I've wondered that myself, I think she said something about perfect circumstances or some other lame excuse to get us to believe we were special. Who really knows? Maybe Nate was just going to be able to make her the most money. I'll bet that was it." November concluded.

"That's a very good possibility. You know how big businesses like that can be, especially in pharmaceuticals. I'm sure it was for the best that you didn't agree to it. Just seems off, you know?" Emery added, watching November gnaw at the end of her pen. "Keep it up and you're going to have a mouth full of ink." He warned.

"Oh, right. I know. I always do this, it's like some kind of weird habit I've formed when I'm trying to cram," November explained. "Damn, this was my last pen, too." She groaned, patting her hands on her apron to check for more.

"Don't worry, I gotcha," Marielle chimed in as she tossed a pile of brand new pens onto the counter. "I mean, we could always look at the other side of this. Maybe she was being genuine. The woman may have had a real plan for all we know. Miracles happen. They're rare, but they do happen." She concluded, flashing them a smile before making her way to restaurant's kitchen.

"I wish I could do that," November commented, seeing Emery look at her with confusion. "You know, see the good in everything like she does."

Learning of the impending attack on the Brooks family, Ryker had gathered everyone into the Mercedes RV parked inside the abandoned warehouse, each of the wall-mounted screens displaying a different face belonging to Lillith Devereaux's group.

"Alright, time for some profiles. I reviewed all of the security footage from our stealth surveillance drones and traced the plates and ran facial recognition. This is all of the information that I've gathered so far on these characters in the short time we've been on this case. First up, Ekko Von Furst. German, well, a*****e, for lack of a better word. Total hardass, his one goal is to do anything and everything Lillith tells him to do and will stop at nothing to accomplish his task at hand. He's been here for weeks, even longer than us. He's been scoping this town out from every angle so that he knows when he gets his prize, Nathaniel, he'll know how to get out of town with him. And quick.. We need to be one step ahead of him at all times." Michael explained, a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth. Smoke billowed from his nose as he continued on, moving to the next screen. "This firecracker is Rosalind Snow. If you look at Ekko as Lillith's right hand, Rosalind is her left. Anything Lillith says, Rosalind does. Unfortunately, I don't have nearly as much information on these other three as I do Ekko because they haven't been in town nearly as long, but from what I've seen from afar, be on high guard because I think we may be dealing with a psychopath with this red head," Michael continued, taking another long drag on his cigarette.

"I've seen her...somewhere," Ryker added softly, running through his memories to try and place where he knew her face from.

"Keep in mind, if I get any new information on these few, it'll be relayed to you as soon as possible. Now, this stocky fellow is Gunner Mason. He's the muscle. He's basically just another Ekko, but stronger and more than likely less intelligent, since Ekko seems to be the one running the show. Finally, we have Isadora Von Furst," Michael added, nodding to a thin blonde on the last screen. "She is Ekko's sister and is never seen far from Lillith's side. I believe she controls the guards at the VAMP Corp. headquarters back in New York because she and Lillith left town right after their little meeting with the Brooks family. As for now, this is all we know, so Ryker, if you would," Michael concluded, extending a hand graciously to give Ryker the floor.

"Good work, Mike. I know we didn't have much to work with. Alright. This is a delicate situation, boys and girls. We've never dealt with such a high profile operation like this. We're talking about a billion-dollar corporation involved in all sorts of illegal activity. That means if we don't have our s**t together, this could all blow up in our faces. Our job usually consists of taking out a few strays that get out of control. Never have we taken on a highly organized team like this one. Most of all, we're talking about bringing down one of the most influential figures in medical science of the past century. The last thing we need are our faces plastered all over CNN. However, when we took the oath for this job, we knew that no matter the perpetrator, we get the job done, am I right?" Ryker called out.

"Right," Michael, Ezekiel, Aurora, and Cavanaugh repeated.

"That means we go in, we do it right, we save lives, and most of all, we do it discretely with little to no collateral damage. This cannot be made a mess of. We don't have our usual backing on this. The faith in this job was put on my shoulders when Perry allowed us to come here on a whim. They're moving on this kid tonight, and we're going to be right there to stop them." Ryker announced firmly, walking calmly in front of the others with Kyra pacing softly behind him.

"Michael, do we know anything about their plan of attack?" Cavanaugh asked.

"Indeed, we do," Michael chimed, jumping onto a stool and rolling up to the keyboard that sat in front of the numerous screens. "This is the floor plan to the Brooks house. When we went to the bar that night, I got her to drop one of our 3D scanners into her apron pocket and when she brought it home, it gave us a full digital scan of their home's layout. The best part is, I reconfigured it to fit inside of a pen, so she never even knew it was there. It was tricky, but I'm the best, so, you know," Michael gloated as the digital model pulled up on the screen. "From the conversations I've heard Ekko have with his team, I know they plan to use the darkness to their advantage. They want to enter Nathaniel's bedroom window, unseen." Michael explained, pointing to the upstairs window on the right side of the house. "Then be in and out without a sound. That way, they won't have to deal with the unnecessary noise of two frantic women. This is the part where it gets a little rough, though. In order to get out Nathaniel silently, they're more than likely going to need some sort of sedative or tranquilizer. My first guess would be choroform. It's simple, easy to get, and all he has to do is wake up, inhale it, and he's out. As for the others, they plan to "dispose of" them, meaning Lisa, the mother, and November, the young woman we met at the bar. I am not entirely sure how they plan to do this - all I know is they made it clear it had to "look like an accident" which is never good news."

"That's where we come in. Our job is to make sure that no one is kidnapped, no one dies, and those who are guilty are apprehended. By any means necessary." Ryker advised.

"But, Ryker, don't you think we should warn them? I mean, we pretty much know what's going down, why not just tell them so they can protect themselves?" Ezekiel asked. "We've never handled an attack like this. There's a lot of variables here that could go wrong, is all I'm saying."

"So you're ready to compromise this entire mission so that you can give them, what? A few days, a week, maybe, of a headstart?" Ryker asked, leaning into Ezekiel's face, his steel eyes narrowing. "Wherever they go, do you think that VAMP Corp doesn't have the means to find them? Without our help, this family is dead. Whether it be now, or weeks from now. So go ahead, warn them. Let Lillith's people see that we're onto them. Then she'll pull the trigger before we can do anything about it, and this family's death will be on your hands." Ryker said grimly, his finger dug firmly into Ezekiel's chest.

"Yes, sir." Ezekiel said softly, his eyes difting slowly to the ground is disappointment.

"I'd take this time to get rested. The Brutes are putting wheels to the pavement at 2400 hours." Ryker advised. "So I'd suggest you be ready."

The remainder of the group met his commands with nods of recognition as they departed from the large vehicle to prepare for the forthcoming events. Ezekiel, however, had something different in mind.