Page 77 of Gluttony
Griffin tugged on his collar and nodded at his wife. “Family forgives.”
“And we stick together.” Lilo took Griffin’s hand and kissed his knuckles.
“I have something,” Sloan added. “We’ve tracked her to that building on the far side of the Quadrant. All we need to do is up our surveillance, put a plan in place, and roll it out. There are five of us now with powers. Surely we can infiltrate the place and take her out of there.”
“But are there five?” Parker gave Tony a condescending look.
He stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you’re never here. We plan—”
Tony held up his hand, interrupting. “I’m taking a break from acting.”
That shut the smug bastard up. Parker’s jaw closed with an audible click. “You are?”
“Yes.” Tony glanced at his mate who smiled gently back. “I can’t be in two places at once. You were right. I’m telling you all here and now that I’m committing to the team full time. At least until we’ve dealt with the Syndicate.”
“Won’t that affect your cover?” Lilo asked from across the room. She had a wily mind, that woman.
Griffin nodded in agreement. “Lilo is right. As much as it pains me to admit, having an airtight alibi is good for all of us. If you suddenly quit and disappear, it could raise questions.”
Tony shrugged. “I guess I could do some volunteer work in the meantime. Considering my stint in rehab, I don’t think it will come as a surprise.”
“I’m proud of your choice,mijo.”
“You’re always welcome at the sobriety house,” Bailey suggested.
“Thanks, babe. That’s a really good suggestion. In fact, I’m going back this week.”
“Okay,” Parker said, taking control of the meeting. “So, Tony’s on-board. Sloan’s looking into Bosch. We’re all agreed we need more resources, and we’re going to kidnap Daisy, turn her and then use her to take the Syndicate down. Just exactly how are we going to extort the sister we left behind to burn?”
Mary winced, and Flint glared daggers at his eldest son.
Evan threw a scrunched-up piece of paper at Parker with a scowl. “Do you have to be such a dick about it? We’re trying.”
Liza rubbed her nose. “I can call my friend at the FBI. Maybe it’s time to get them involved.”
“Assuming they don’t know about it already,” Bailey piped in. “Hell, even the CIA and Homeland probably know. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do to check that won’t raise red flags. I don’t trust any of my old colleagues.”
“She’s right,” Parker added. “This operation is world-wide and the Syndicate has friends in high places. We all saw the breadth of the black site operation. They’re preparing for war on a global scale. For all we know, this comes from the government.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Wyatt snapped. “Can’t we just bomb them?”
Parker tapped his lip, actually considering it.
Mary stood up. “I think it’s time I call the Hildegard Sisterhood.”
“No,” Flint growled. “They want you dead.”
Mary shrugged. “Let’s be honest. It’s been years since I defected. At first, we assumed we hadn’t heard from them because we were in hiding, and we were good at it. But we’ve been in this city for years and the children haven’t exactly been quiet. The world knows about the Deadly Seven and their abilities. It’s almost a given that they’ve already found us.” She stood, flicked out her hands and began pacing alongside the couch. Her husband rolled to his side, tugged a dagger from his belt and handed it to his wife. She shot him an appreciative glance full of love and then flipped the dagger with perfect precision. She did this while pacing, thinking aloud. “All the Sisterhood wanted was a world without the destructive influence of men. They trained assassins as sanctionedSinners.” She glanced at the newcomers to the family. “I was one of them. It was my job to infiltrate organizations, take down any male-dominated tyrannical organizations from the inside. Toward the end, their objectives moved more toward ending the general world domination type terrorism, regardless of whether women or men were involved.” Pausing for a breath, she twirled the dagger attentively, and then continued. “They tried to do good, albeit sometimes misguided. Since the start, they were against the Syndicate. The very fact that they knew about the organization means they have good intel. I wasn’t the only psychic on their team.” She took a deep breath and then stopped, mumbling in Latin, “Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei.”
“My friend, the enemy of my enemy…” Parker’s brow crinkled in concentration. “Okay. Let’s say we agree. We reach out to the Sisterhood to make them our allies. How would we contact them?”
Wyatt growled and scrubbed his face. “This is insane. I’m bringing a child into the world, and it’s gone insane.” This time, when he took Misha, they left.
Parker turned to Tony. “Are you serious about your commitment?”
Tony replied with a nod.
