Page 19 of Trigger Discipline

Blake rolled his eyes. “That’s a lot of sarcasm for someone who got hip checked into a fire hydrant.”

Gabriel laughed, feeling some of the tension melt out of his shoulders as he conceded defeat. “Got me there.”

They stayed silent for a moment. It wasn’t awkward, but there was a pregnant pause in the air. Like both men wanted to say something, but neither knew what. Or if they should.

“Do you have a way to contact your boss?” Blake finally asked, leaning against the countertop and crossing his arms.

The setting sun and drawn curtains meant the station was getting dark, fast. Only a few feet separated them, but Gabriel was already having difficulty making out the lines of Blake’s face.

“Not unless we get some kind of radio up and running,” he admitted, feeling like he just swallowed a brick.

Blake didn’t say sorry. Or offer up any kind of ‘bullshit’ as he so eloquently put it. Gabriel appreciated it.

“So what’s the point?” Blake asked. “No offense or anything, but why are you even here?”

“Our mission is primarily to reestablish communication with the outside world. If we can do that, then it’s possiblewe can get some reinforcements. But at the moment, without any intel, it’s unlikely the powers that be will be willing to launch any kind of attack.”

Blake seemed to be processing what he said. He leaned back against the table. There was a rip in his uniform shirt over his collarbone, stiff with dried blood. It looked like his own. “So how do we do that?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and Blake continued, “Ifthere are any powers that be. You said the government was scattered.”

Blake was sharp. And right. Getting communications up might be pointless, but he had to try.

“Government or not, we have a mission. We need comms to reach Irving. At the very least, he can get us out of here.”

“Who is Irving?”

That made Gabriel smile. “It’s more likewhatis an Irving. Technically, he’s my boss. He manages Kinetic Solutions and plans our missions. Really, he’s a Mensa powered one man wrecking crew.”

If anyone could organize a makeshift government, plan and execute evacuations,andmanage any intel Gabriel and his team brought back, it would be Irving. The number of desk jockeys Gabriel trusted could be counted on one hand, but Irving was one of them.

Blake wrinkled his nose. “He sounds interesting.”

“Oh, he’s absolutely insufferable,” Gabriel laughed. “But he’s the guy.”

That seemed to be the only answer Blake needed. He grew quiet, still, except for his hands. The medic was constantly cracking his joints. Absently, like he didn’t know he was doing it. Once he finished one hand, he started on the other. Every knuckle pulled and pressed until it audibly snapped, then he moved on to the next.

It left Gabriel with room of his own to think.

What was his next step?

The last bit of intelligence they’d received had been about a cell phone tower. It didn’t look to be in too bad shape, but the last images and information was a day old. It could be gone now. Still, he didn’t have any other leads. They would need to get to the cell phone tower.

Gabriel pulled out the small map from his pocket and laid it across the counter. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he retrieved a small, chipped crochet hook. Fiddling with it, he used the point to trace a possible route. And then an alternate route, if that one was blocked.

Gabriel would have to go alone. Judd was in no state to travel quickly, and he needed Phin to stay behind with the civilians.

“There’s construction,” Blake said, interrupting his thoughts.

Gabriel looked up to see Blake leaning over, also studying his map. He pointed to the intersection his crochet hook was resting on.

“They’re widening the road, or something. Whole thing is messed up. They detoured over to…” he spun the map so he could get a better look and traced another route. “But it’s completely trashed. We drove by earlier. Whole thing is blocked by downed buildings. You could take Park Ave; traffic won’t matter now, but you’ll have to walk. No way you’re getting a vehicle down that street.”

He resisted the urge to groan. Gabriel would give anything to have a working satellite with a team behind it giving him real-time directions.

“Where are you trying to go?”

Quickly, Gabriel explained his plan with the cell tower. “I know the area. I can get you there.”