They rounded the corner and Denise pulled some keys out of her bag, hitting the alarm. A large black SUV halfway down the block beeped in reply.
"We need to hurry. Apparently the power will be back on in 7 minutes, including that camera that is watching your house. We need to be gone by then" Rufus yelled from the back of the pack. They all turned to look at him and he held up his phone.
"Blocked text message" he said, shrugging. Lucy huffed loudly but continued forward. They all threw their things in the back of the car and piled in, Denise jumping into the driver's seat and bringing the car to life.
"Full tank of gas, official plates – we are out of here." With that, she peeled away from the corner and into the darkness. They hit the interstate as the lights in Denise's neighborhood came back on.
"OH SHIT" Denise yelled, keeping an eye on the road in front of her and behind her.
"What?" Lucy asked from the back.
"I left the lights on in my bedroom. That camera is going to pick up on that and…". Jiya pulled out her computer, going back to the feed of the house. "All good" Jiya said. "No lights on anywhere in the house. From the outside looking in, you have the flu so bad you didn't notice the power going out."
"But…" Denise said quietly.
"Fucking Flynn!" Lucy yelled, punching the back of the seat. They all paused, staring at her, the only noise being made in that moment was the car on the road.
Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Sorry" she said as she exhaled. She opened her eyes and looked at all of her friends. Jiya gave her a sad look but no one else thought it was a good idea to try to respond.
"OK" Denise said, merging into what little traffic there was at this time of night. "Where to Jiya?" Jiya looked at her computer.
"Head west for…. Ok, everyone, get comfortable. We are going to be in this car for awhile." They all groaned, but settled in.
Throughout the night and into the morning, they all took turns driving. Really only stopping for gas and snacks, they pushed on through the morning and into the afternoon. Wyatt was at the wheel, Lucy in the front seat for what they thought might be the end of this drive.
Rufus groaned from the very back of the car, looking out the window. "Oh. So this is what they mean when they say the middle of nowhere. When was the last time we saw anything but trees?"
"About 40 minutes" Denise replied, also rubbing her hands over her eyes.
"We are almost to the coordinates" Jiya chimed in, staring intently at her computer. "Take a left in 500 feet and drive straight for about 2 miles and that's it."
"Just tell me when" Wyatt said. They all sat straight up, looking around. "Here" Jiya yelled. Wyatt slammed on the breaks and they all stared left, seeing nothing.
"Jiya, there is no where to turn" he said, looking at her in the rear view mirror. She shrugged back at him.
"Uh…." Lucy pointed. They all stared. "There" she said.
"You mean that gravel thing between those two tree? Will this car even fit?"
"You see anywhere else to turn, Wyatt?" Lucy said, eyes wide. They all shook their heads. Wyatt sighed and turned the car, doing his best to keep it on the gravel as they pushed through the trees. "This last two miles is going to take forever" he said, moving the car forward.
And it did. An hour later, the path opened up into a clearing. With a large house. Wyatt pulled the car up in front and they all stared at it.
"Who the hell builds a house out here?" Rufus asked.
"A damn nice one at that" Jiya chimed in.
"Should we get out?" Rufus asked. Denise groaned. "You all can do what you want. I've got my gun. I'm getting the hell out of this car."
They piled out and froze as the front door started to open. "Took you all long enough". They all started to laugh and Denise took off up the steps, enveloping Connor Mason in a huge hug. One by one they all walked up the steps, saying hello to him.
"Come on, you all need to get inside. Just cause we are in the middle of nowhere doesn't mean we should be hanging around outside. Plus, you all need showers."
Several hours later, they found themselves around the table, bellies full and minds relaxed, thanks to the beer and wine that was plentiful that night. They all had showers and overdue sleep, which is how them found themselves still sitting at the table at it closed in on 11 PM. Connor had been regaling them with the tale of how he came to be here.
"So, you've actually laid eyes on Flynn, is what you are saying?" Jiya asked. Connor nodded.
"Yes."
Lucy immediately darted her eyes around. "So where the hell is he?"
Connor motioned over his shoulder. "There is a small guest house out back, that's where he usually stays…" Lucy didn't bother to listen to the rest. She immediately shot out of her chair and started to move.
"He's not there, Lucy!" Connor said before she could get more than three steps away from her chair. Defeated, she sat back down.
"Then where is he?" Wyatt asked.
Connor cleared his throat, seeming to sober up at the question. "I wasn't really supposed to get into this until tomorrow but…" they all stared at him. Hard.
"The 'creepy assholes' as Jiya has so lovingly dubbed them… their base is on the other side of that mountain. Jessica and the baby are up there too. Flynn… once he got the ball rolling three days ago, he packed up some camping stuff and just left. I have a feeling he's out there till this is over."
"Is it?" Denise asked. "Is it almost over?"
Connor nodded, pushing himself out of his seat and moving into the small alcove between the dining room and the kitchen. He pulled a notebook out of the drawer and came back, handing it to Wyatt.
"He told me to give this to you. That you would make sense of it. Could make sense of it. That you were the one to help him finish this thing." Wyatt stared at it for a moment before opening it, flipping through the pages.
"What is it?" Lucy asked.
Wyatt was quiet for a moment, flipping through the pages, eyes wide. "It is almost over" he whispered, moving back and forth through the pages. "It's a plan. It's how we gain entry to their… whatever… and get Jessica out and… blow it up?" He quickly flipped through the last few pages a few times. "Yup. Once we are clear, we blow the place up. Shit, Flynn." Wyatt's eyes darted between all of them, finally resting on Lucy.
"The man has spent some time on this."
"The last 10 months at least, if not longer" Connor replied.
"But how do we actually succeed? We can't just walk in there with my hand gun and our charm?" Denise asked.
"Flynn may have spent the last 6 months amassing quite the arsenal in the basement" Connor shrugged, finishing the last of his beer.
They all shot up from the table at the same time. "Way to bury the lead, Connor!" Rufus yelled. They all hurried to the basement. Connor followed, turning on the lights. And in the corner, a large array of weapon. Wyatt whistled. "Nice" he whispered under his breath.
"I'm assuming what's missing is what Flynn took with him?" Denise asked. Connor just nodded. "I'm assuming. I didn't see him when he left. He left me a note and was gone."
"Typical" Lucy muttered. Connor rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure this is only going to be a consolation, but know… Lucy, there wasn't a day he didn't mention you or think about you over the last year. All this? He did all this so you could live an actual life. One on your terms, not someone else's. That was his whole goal." Lucy nodded, fighting back tears. She took a deep breath , taking just a moment to feel sorry for herself. Almost over she said in her head. And then… who knew. But it had to be better than this.
She shook her head. "Ok. Wyatt. What's the plan?" He looked over at her. "Let's go back upstairs and I'll try to unpack it as best I can. We have to be ready to move at sunset."
"Everyone in position?" Lucy heard Wyatt ask through her ear piece. Flynn really had thought of everything. One of her first questions was going to be where the hell did all the money come from for this.
They all responded in kind, keeping an eye on their watches, all perfectly in sync, all supplied by Flynn.
"How will we know when to move?" She heard Rufus ask.
"It's been obvious up to this point, hasn't it? I would imagine that trend will continue" Jiya replied. Lucy stared intently at the large open window that she was to enter through. They all had their points of entry around the small building.
"Eyes up. 2 minutes to sunset." Lucy watched the time count down on her watch face. The sun set exactly at the time it was supposed to and she could feel them all freeze. Then, one minute after sunset, something unexpected. Fireworks. Lots of fireworks.
Lucy watched at the door next to her window open and three guys came out, all staring at the sky and point. They took off, remembering to shut the door but forgetting about the window.
"GO" she heard Denise yell through her ear piece and they were all off and running.
Lucy stood there, in the midst of the chaos, surveying what they had done. They had followed Flynn's plan down to the letter and they had succeeded. She had heard Wyatt yell over her ear piece 10 minutes ago that he had Jessica and the baby and was getting them out. Denise and Rufus had taken care of the tech hub. All that was left was to get out and blow this place to smithereens. And Lucy would gladly hit the button herself.
"I told you to stay in your lane, Ms. Preston." Lucy turned to find herself staring down the barrel of a gun. She looked up and those eyes greeted her, the same eyes from a year ago in that hospital room. Rage and anger and hatred coursed through her veins in that moment.
"Kiss my ass" she spit out.
"Oh Lucy. You may think you all have won. But you won't. And before I turn Garcia Flynn over to the CIA and Interpol, I'm going to make sure he knows he's going to spend the rest of his life in jail because of you. When social services comes to take away Jessica and Wyatt's baby, I will make sure they know it is because of you. When Denise Christopher's family doesn't make it back to the ship from a port stop, she will know it is your fault. All you had to do was live your life."
"On your terms!" She screamed at him. He shrugged.
"We all have to make sacrifices, don't we. I guess you weren't willing to make your own to…" and with that, his head exploded. Lucy was frozen. All she could hear was buzzing in her ears. Her eyes were glued to the man who had just been threatening her seconds before, dead on the ground, a bullet taking him out that had come somewhere from her left. She knew she needed to move, to run, to get the hell out of there so they could blow this place back to hell, but her body wasn't cooperating.
Suddenly she felt arms around her, picking her up, cradling her. Her ears were still buzzing, but one sentence come through.
"I've got you" she heard a low timber say before it all faded to black.