The Finish (The Eliminator Series Book 12), Mike Ryan [summer reading list .txt] 📗

“That accounts for something. If this was his main place, this is gonna hit hard for him. Might throw him for a loop. Make him sloppy. Make a mistake.”

“Hope so.”

“C’mon, let’s go.”

Before leaving, Jacobs looked at the whiteboard across from them and went over to it. He couldn’t resist leaving Mallette a message. It wasn’t fancy, but it did the job. Maybe Thrower was right. Maybe this would help Mallette make a mistake. A final one.

Jacobs wrote his message on the board, then took a step back to look at it.

I’m coming — BJ

“Should do the trick,” Thrower said. “Let’s hope it makes him mad enough to get sloppy.”

“Yeah. Just need him to make one more mistake. Just one. That’s all we need.”

5

Mallette was summoned to his office as soon as Daryl Selby had called and told him what had happened. Mallette wasn’t usually the first one there, since he was often attending to different matters. And while Selby didn’t give him the exact details about it, other than someone had broken in, Mallette immediately thought of Jacobs. While it could have been Ames as well, Mallette knew it was Jacobs. This type of operation didn’t seem to be Ames’ style.

Once Mallette arrived, he was led around the upstairs and first took a look at the security room. There was nothing left of it. All the equipment was shot to pieces. He’d have been surprised if anything was salvageable. He didn’t look happy, but he hadn’t lost his temper and gone into a fit of rage as he was sometimes capable of doing.

Then he was led into his office. Mallette took a look around, and while it was messy from being searched, it wasn’t destroyed.

“What do you think they were looking for?” Selby asked.

Mallette shrugged. Surprisingly, the angry look on his face had disappeared. He looked more content, accepting of what had happened. “Who knows? Maybe he was hoping to find out where I go outside of here.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Well, we can’t stay here anymore.”

“We can double up the security. Put more guards around. More cameras. Traps. Really lock this place up tight.”

Mallette shook his head. “No. No matter how much security you have, or how good, there’s a way to get around it. He’s burned us here. No need to compound that mistake by thinking we’re untouchable here. And he could follow any one of us from here to somewhere else, exposing that address as well. No, it’s better to just cut bait now.”

“We need to hit back somehow.”

“I intend to, just as soon as we can find him.”

“I say we sit on that school with that lady he’s sweet on.”

Mallette turned and looked at the whiteboard, reading the message that Jacobs had left. He didn’t get upset in the way that Jacobs had hoped. Mallette seemed resigned to everything.

“Boss? Should we put someone on the girl?”

Mallette stood there, crossing his arms, staring at the whiteboard. He finally relented. “Yeah. Keep them extremely loose at the moment. I don’t want them seeing our guy. Even if that means losing them at first. I’d rather keep them relaxed and thinking no one’s there. We’ll strike when the time is right.”

“Will do.”

“And start packing up everything from here we want to take with us.”

“What about the damaged stuff?”

“Leave behind anything that’s not operating or that we don’t need.”

Selby left to start gathering the things they wanted, as well as getting someone to sit on Tiffany. While he was doing that, Mallette kept his eyes on the whiteboard. He eventually went over to his desk and sat down, seemingly unconcerned with the wreck that his office now was. He rarely took his eyes off the words that Jacobs had left him. He let it rattle around inside him, sinking in deeply.

An hour had gone by, and Mallette hadn’t left that chair. Selby had come back into the room to let him know everything was ready to go.

“Ready when you are, boss.”

Mallette didn’t move at first. He had something rattling around in his head. “Before we make a move on Jacobs, let’s end this with Ames first. That way we can put our full concentration on Jacobs.”

“Got something in mind?”

“I do. Put the word out in certain circles that I’m going to be conducting a secret meeting. Our entire organization is going to be there.”

“By certain circles, you mean Ames?”

“I mean Ames.”

“That’s great, but… how are we gonna do that?”

A little grin formed on Mallette’s face. “I’ve got a plan.”

Jacobs ran his hands over his face, then looked at himself in the mirror. He could see the finish line, but it still seemed so far away. His eyes looked tired. And he had the body to match. He was just about done with this type of life. It worked for a while, when it was just him, but now that Tiffany had entered his life, it didn’t work for her. She deserved better, and no matter how hard he tried to escape this, it just didn’t seem to be ending.

He walked out of the bathroom, and while the others were discussing things in the kitchen, he called Gunner, and the two of them went out in the backyard. Jacobs threw a tennis ball, then sat down in a chair as he waited for Gunner to retrieve it. A few seconds later, he was joined by Tiffany, who sat in the chair next to him. She put her hand on his back.

“You OK?”

Jacobs took the ball from Gunner’s mouth and threw it again. “Yeah.”

“So why do you look so depressed?”

Jacobs shrugged. “I’m not, really. Disappointed, maybe.”

“Because Mallette wasn’t there?”

Jacobs nodded. “Yeah. I was really hoping… I wanted it to be the end.”

Tiffany rubbed his back. “I know it’s not the result we wanted, but we’re getting closer. It’s just a matter of time.”

Jacobs threw the ball again. “Yeah. I dunno. I’m just tired of it all, I guess.”

Tiffany forced a smile. “I know that feeling.”

“I just… if this