Chapter 321 Chapter 321
Deacon had seen a lot more rescued than she had, the last ones were much better off than some of them found. He didn’t want to crush her feelings and tell her about those that had been in such bad condition they’d never live a normal life. His phone ringing had him stiffen. Pulling it out of his pocket, he answered it quickly. “Hello.”
“Deacon, it’s Jesse, we have more information.”
“Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker.” He tapped the screen and then held the phone in his other hand so Giana could hear too.
“Where are you on your list?”
“We have one more clan to visit and then we’re picking up Konner.”
“You’re making good time.” There were voices in the background. “We’re getting ready now to head down and get the safe house set up.”
Deacon nodded, Illias’ teammate must have found them somewhere no one knew about.
“Tomas has been busy since we were there, they’ve been moving a lot of their captives around, so we’re going to be avoiding working in Chicago for now.”
“Do you know where they’re moving those people?” Giana asked, giving the phone a quick glance.
“We’ve been following them, yes.” He chuckled, “the flyer clan members on the teams have been going for some long flights.”
Deacon frowned, “how long?”
“A few states worth,” Jesse said sounding amused. “Thanks to Illias’ team we’re able to track them and be there when they land.”
He exchanged a quick look with Giana, she was as appreciative of the tech team’s ingenuity as he was. “That’s good.”
“Listen, the first one, it’s going to be messy.” He said in a hushed voice. “We just got confirmation that some of those being held are from my mate’s clan, they’ve been held for over a decade.”
The emotion on Gia’s face made his chest ache.
“What’s the plan?” Deacon didn’t want to dwell on the anticipation of the state of them too long, it would distract focus.
“We’ll send out the location soon. Before you cross, you return the van and pick up a new one. Illias will be calling you with those details. Each team is picking up various items along the way, we don’t want any deliveries dropped at the safe house.”
Deacon watched Giana’s expression go back to determination.
“Once you cross the border, check-in with Illias and he’ll have the information of which safe house you’re going to.” He said something quietly to someone in the background. “We’re setting up two, with two full teams.”
They looked at each other for a moment, the seriousness evident to both. It was a smart move, using two teams to hit two locations at once, not giving Tomas time to prepare in between.
“You can fill Konner in once you pick him up. He’s going to be riding with Asher.”
“Will do.”
“And,” Jesse's tone changed, “we think part of the reason they tracked us was because of the choppers, so pickup has been adjusted to other means.”
Giana’s brows creased.
“It’s going to mean longer drives, so stock up on anything you’ll need before you get here and don’t do it all in one place,” Jesse sounded tense, “and take turns going in to get them.”
Deacon rolled his shoulders. “Got it.”
“Who is driving right now?”
“I am,” Gia answered quickly.
“Okay, I’ll get Illias to send information to Deacon’s phone. His team has been working hard to set up more numbers that are secure, so there’s a shortlist each team will get for contacts.”
Deacon leaned down and picked up his pack to get the notebook out of it.
“We’re also going to need check-ins, every two hours. We can track phones, but unless you miss a check-in, we don’t want to do that. It’s harder to keep something like that untraceable if it’s running for a long time—or something like that.”
He glanced at the time, “starting now?”
“Yes. Illias will send the information of how shortly.” He paused, “Any questions?”
He watched Giana shake her head. “We’re good.”
“Okay, we’ll see you, I’d say early tomorrow morning at the pace you’re going now.”
“Okay, Jesse.” Giana’s tone had that note of back to business to it.
The line went quiet.
Neither of them spoke for a few moments. Then Giana pushed her hat back and looked at him. “It’s getting serious.”
He didn’t want to tell her it was always serious. “It’s good, bringing in another team, we can clear more places that way.”
“Yeah, just as long as I don’t have to work with Nox, it will be fine.”