Jack and I gently collected weapons hidden in other floorboards of the cottage, and carried them towards our jeep in crates, lugging them in with some difficulty on my part. I breathed a sigh of relief as we loaded the last piece, a large assault rifle, snugly into the back of the vehicle. “Is that it?” I asked, wiping a sweaty pool away from my forehead, which gave me bangs, the kind that never looked good. I brushed them aside and flicked the excess sweat away, looking for some imaginary hand towel, or rag, that I knew was not available.

  That's it,” Jack affirmed, nodding and looking over the haul before slamming the trunk of the jeep shut, and dusting his hands off in the arid mountain air, the orange glow finally coming down on us into a beautiful sunset. “We should be--”

  BUZZ. BUZZ. A vibrating sound cut him off.

  Jack and I exchanged curious glances, as he reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone. His eyes narrowed as he looked at it, before swiping to accept the call.

  “Jack!” The voice of Elliott chimed in, its jubilant relief evident over the phone, whilst not on speakerphone. “Where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you!”

  “Where am I?” Jack yelled into the phone, as we stood beside the cottage, admiring the deft and efficient skills of Angus, who had already cleared out the bodies and done some landscaping in the grasslands. It didn’t look great, but better than the hole filled house, and approached us as the phone buzzed.

  “Where are you?” Jack” continued, “Not picking up the phone any more?”

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  “It wasn’t going through,” Elliott said. “I wasn’t there when it all went down, but Beckman told us to meet elsewhere. I can send over the coordinates to you. Decode them on your phone.”

  Jack sighed. “Why didn’t we meet at the usual spot?”

  “I don’t know. This is just what I was told.”

  “Who else is there?” Jack asked coldly.

  “Uh, well, us two lowly office workers and Beckman. Oh, Natalya just got here too.”

  “Is that right?” I uttered, speaking up, perhaps a little too loud, and hoping it didn’t come across the phone as I stood next to Jack.

  “How about you?” Elliott asked.

  “It’s just me,” Jack said, before glancing at my lips. “And Ari. Just us.”

  I raised a brow curiously.

  “What about Angus?” Elliott cut through again, static overtaking his voice at times.

  Jack quieted for a moment. “Haven’t seen him. Haven’t heard from him. Don’t expect he’d be reaching out to me with open arms anyway.”

  Elliott laughed. “Guess you’re right there.”

  Angus stood nearby, hands on his hips, watching and waiting, a curious eye upon Jack.

  “Alright,” Elliott said, “let me get this over to you. Looking forward to catching up.”

  “Thank you, we’ll be there asap.”

  Jack ended the call, looking at me with a narrow gaze.

  Angus nodded. “You sure you want to walk into another trap?” He said gravely.

  “Elliott is in on this?” I asked, befuddled.

  “Not necessarily,” Jack followed up. “But we can’t trust anyone there for the time being.”

  Jack looked to Angus and exhaled slowly, before extended his open palm. “The only people to trust are right here," he quieted momentarily. "Can we do this?”

  Angus held strong and silent for a moment longer, before accepting the gesture and shaking his hand.

  “Good,” I smiled. “What’s the plan?”

  Jack felt a buzz as he received a vibration on his phone and looked down to inspect the coded message. “We get a move on.”