Vanni tucked her head and rested it against Smiley’s chest. She liked him holding her on his lap. It was illegal to be in a moving vehicle without a seatbelt but he’d said no one could see inside. She had no desire to scoot away and take the middle seat.

Chapter Sixteen

“We have trouble,” Wager growled from the driver’s seat.

Smiley tensed, lifting his chin off the top of Vanni’s head. “What is it?”

“The front and back gates are packed. They’ve had a significant increase in traffic in the last few minutes.” Wager met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Do you want an earpiece?”

“Yes.”

Flame twisted in the passenger seat and held out one of their communication devices. Smiley grabbed it and placed it on his ear.

“Four news crews at gate one,” a Species announced. “We also have six unmarked vehicles lining up. They could be reporters.”

“There are two news vans at gate two and a lot of foot traffic. I’d guess four dozen humans. They aren’t holding signs but they don’t appear to be friendly.”

“This is Smiley,” he chimed in. “What about gate three? Can we go in that way?”

“Negative.” Smiley recognized Trey Roberts’ voice. “There are too many cars on that street and they’ll see you enter. The businesses are opening so employees are arriving at work.”

“What about four?” Gates three and four were secret so one of them should be clear. Smiley just wanted to get Vanni inside without incident.

“No,” a male growled. “We have children on the field. They are having some kind of outing in the park across the street from my location at four. It’s too dangerous.”

“They are children,” Trey responded. “How are they a danger? All they’d see is an SUV pulling into what they’ll assume is someone’s home.”

“We don’t risk children,” the male responded. Smiley identified Creed’s voice. “What if they are being followed?”

“There are still two possible tails on us,” Slash responded.

Smiley turned to look out the rear of the SUV. There were a lot of cars on the street but he wasn’t sure which two held Slash’s attention.

“Understood,” Trey announced. “We’ll go to backup plan B then. Go to that location and I’ll send the helicopter to meet you.”

“Cancel that,” Tim O’berto demanded. “I’m here now. Enter gate two. It’s not critical. We can handle the traffic.”

“I don’t want to take any risks.” Smiley turned his head to peer at Vanni. She seemed to be handling the situation with grace but he wanted to be reassuring. “It’s going to be fine,” he reassured to her.

“Exactly,” Tim muttered. “It’s going to be fine. I’m watching the monitors and the foot traffic doesn’t appear aggressive. Just drive in. We’ll be ready at the gates, right?”

“We are,” one of the officers responded. “We’ll pull in the two news crews to the holding area and that way the SUV can just drive around them.”

“Don’t do that,” Tim snapped. “Leave them outside. You don’t have time to search their vehicles properly before they reach you. No vans past the first gate section without an inspection. Order the media to back out.”

“We tried that. They are refusing.” The male sounded irritated. “Would you like us to pull the drivers out and move their vehicles ourselves?”

“Hell no,” Tim cursed. “I don’t want that on the evening news. Tell those bastards someone will give them a statement if they comply. That usually works.”

“We’ll try,” the irritated male grumbled.

“Wager,” Tim instructed, “enter through gate two. We’re sending extra officers that way now. They are on the move. You’re still two minutes out so they’ll beat you there.”

“Understood.” Wager glanced in the rearview mirror again and reached up, probably muting his side of the coms. “I don’t like this.”

“Nor do I.” Smiley lifted Vanni and put her on the seat next to him. He leaned forward to peer out the front.

Wager turned down a few streets and they neared the gates. Humans were milling around the sidewalks and two news vans still blocked the entrance, parked side by side in front of the gates.

“Fuck.” Smiley didn’t like it.

“Keep calm,” Jericho demanded. “You’re frightening your female.”

Smiley looked back and saw Vanni’s pale features. She hugged her waist and was pushed up against Jericho’s side. It was a stressful situation. He masked his features. “It’s going to be fine.”

“I trust you,” she stated. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Engaging tamperproof locks,” Wager called out. The snap of locks sounded. “I see one of our officers talking to a driver. I think they are going to get out of the way and let us pass.”

The SUV stopped in the street to allow one of the news vans room to maneuver. The driveway to this gate was narrower than at the main entrance. Smiley glanced up at the top of the wall, grateful to see a strong presence of uniformed officers. More joined them until they stood shoulder to shoulder, their weapons in view. Humans would have to be stupid to attempt anything.

He glanced at the humans gathered on the sidewalks. A male caught his attention when he reached around, going for something tucked in his waistband. Smiley tapped his com. “Possible gun!”