"The countdown has started." Jack wasn't about to waste time being diplomatic. He slapped a file down on the conference table. "They've taken a little girl and she'll be under the death curse by morning. We have to stop them before it touches her."
"Do we know where she's being held?" Larabee barked as he and the rest of the pack started pulling extra weapons out of the drawers of the desks that they had been given.
"No, but they have to bring her to the adoption agency for the ceremony. Ms. Lechen delivered the supplies there and nothing has come back out. They haven't taken anything into the building large enough to hide her in nor have they brought in any children matching her description since she was taken."
"No holster Buck," Chris said without looking. "You may need to change when we go in."
Buck grinned over at Vin and Ezra, and Jack noticed that they weren't the only ones who were sporting smiles that looked like someone's death. That's when he made his decision. No matter what happened, he didn't want these men to work for him. He'd be more than willing to work with them on any case, but he didn't want them in his department.
"I got the plans to the building!" JD cried as he ran back into the bullpen.
"Let's get them up on the board." Vivian took some of the papers from JD and together they covered one of the white boards. Jack started filling up the one next to it with the information on Maggie Benson, age two and a half.
"Where's Sam?" Danny asked committing the little girl's face to memory.
"She's going to pick up the Bensons and then the warrants. I want to be able to have this little girl back in her parent's arms, safe and sound by morning people." No one bothered to do more than nod that they agreed. These people wouldn't kill another child or tear apart another family.
"This looks like a good spot for you, Vin," Chris said as he tapped a mark on the blueprints. The only room large enough for the ceremony in the building was in the basement and the little alcove was not only an exit that Vin could block; it was also raised enough that he could use it as a sniper position and it had a clear view of the basement. "Do you have your new rifle yet?"
"Nope, I ain't gone through a course yet. Next one starts on the fifth," Vin grumbled. He hated that he was so far behind the times when it came to his sharp shooting.
"Within the confines of this structure and with the safety of the child in question you would want a rifle you are more familiar with in any case," Ezra stated. "I had your collection shipped up as soon as we bought the house. They arrived the same day as the horses did. I checked them all out and they are all still in good condition."
"How am I supposed to explain that; a sniper using antique weapons and the fact that he isn't even certified as a sniper yet?" Jack grumbled to himself. He knew he'd ok it though. What Tanner could do with a pistol was probably nothing compared to what he could do with his rifles, especially rifles that he knew every millimeter of. Absently he wondered which one Tanner would pick for this job.
Danny smirked as he caught Jack's almost silent grumbling. He'd better let Vin do what he wanted if he wanted to get on Larabee's good side. Plus, the man had more experience than most snipers even if he didn't know anything about the more modern and powerful rifles, none of which would be good to use within a basement anyway.
"They won't start the ceremony until one am," Josiah rumbled. "It has to be cast in the first hour of the new day, signifying the new life the child must lead."
"That gives us some time to get everything in place." Jack looked over the blueprints again. "We'll need people at all of the exits, here, here and here," he touched all of the places on the paper that Vin wasn't covering. "Can we get some people inside before closing without them figuring it out?"
"If Agent Spade doesn't mind posing as my wife, I do believe we would make a most tempting prospect," Ezra pointed out.
"That sounds good to me," Sam said as she approached the table with a man and a woman following her. "Jack, this is Mr. and Mrs. Benson."
Jack shook hands with both of them and introduced himself. "I'm Agent Jack Malone and I'm in charge of the Missing Persons Unit. We have a strong lead on your daughter. If all goes well tonight, she'll be back in your arms by morning."
"Oh Thank God!" Mrs. Benson cried. Vivian gently whisked them away to a waiting room.
"Danny, go to Judge Tasker and get the warrants, Sam work with Ezra and get ready to go in. I want to know everything you can about the layout of the main floor. The blueprints don't show anything but a large single room. They have to have divided it into cubicles or offices somehow." They all nodded and walked off, Danny headed for the door and elevator and Ezra and Sam headed for the locker rooms on the first floor.
Vivian returned and answered the look that Jack sent her way. "They don't want someone to hold their hands. They want all of us working on getting Maggie back to them safely."
"In that case go requisition warding charms for all of us. I don't know what kind of magical security they have, but when we interrupt them they're going to be throwing something at us."
"Better safe than sorry," she agreed and hurried off. She had to get there before the equipment department closed for the day. The rest of them buried themselves into planning their assault.