Page 107 of Beyond Protection
Counting down with us.
Chapter fourteen
Eamon
Adrill bit screamed through Douglas fir siding at five forty-three in the morning. Marcus worked the ladder outside while Michael fed him cable from below, coordinating patrol units by phone. I watched from the dining room window while the house woke around me.
Behind me, Ma's table had transformed into a command center. Maps. Surveillance photos. Timeline in red marker. Walkie-talkies still in shrink wrap.
"Tell me again why we're not moving him to a safe house." Marcus came through the back door, rain dripping from his jacket.
"Because she's watching his locations," I said. "Every place Mac goes gets added to her map. Here, we control the variables."
"You mean we make ourselves bait."
"I mean, we make this ground ours."
Michael ended his call. "Clairmont's confirmed for tomorrow night. Eighteen hundred assembly, twenty-one hundred breach." He marked his map with tactical precision. "Full team. No mistakes."
Twenty-four hours. Smart—don't rush it and risk everything going wrong.
Ma appeared from upstairs. "Someone needs to eat. Where's Mac?"
"Upstairs. In the guest room." Miles spoke from Graham's chair, tablet on his knee. It was a therapist's assessment, carefully neutral. "Went up about an hour ago."
That wasn't good. Mac paced when anxious. Went silent when shutting down.
I headed for the stairs.
I found Mac at the window, forehead pressed to cold glass. Feet bare. Hair disheveled.
Outside, Marcus's drill hit metal.
Mac flinched—full-body recoil.
"Hey." I kept my voice low. "You doing okay?"
He didn't turn. "How many motion sensors?"
"Twelve exterior. Six more going in."
"Cameras?"
"Four. Covering all approaches."
He nodded. His fingers tapped against his thigh—one, two, three, four, repeat.
"Come away from the window," I said.
"I'm fine here."
"You're backlit. Anyone with a decent scope could—"
He moved fast. Two steps sideways, spine against the wall. Chest rising too quickly.
Damn. I shouldn't have said that.
"I'm sorry—"
