n

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nAngelo just didn't know how to feasibly make this plan work with only one super suit. The people in their network weren't anything special. For the most part they were scientists. Good minds but no amazing physical specimens among them who would be able to help pull off a kidnapping. If they were going to do this they might have to involve mercenaries but he would prefer to avoid that. He didn't want to leave a trail that Hunsacher might be able to follow.

nTo go down that route he would need to plan everything perfectly where it was all anonymous and there was absolutely no way they could be tracked from it. The mercenaries couldn't know anything about the people involved or where they ended up either in case Hunsacher did find out and tried to buy them out.

nIt was a delicate process. Accounting for every possible contingency was hard. That was why this stupid plan was taking so long in the first place.

nAngelo had been consulting with . All the people they had gathered up to work against Hunsacher across the entire country. This was not the sort of thing any one person could come up with alone.

nTo scatter the scientists and their families sufficiently they would need to set them up in safe houses near various renegades from their network. Putting them all in one place was too risky. He was trying to work out the logistics of who would go where since there were a dozen biochemists implicated on the flash drive.

nHe planned to hole up one in California, where they had quite a few people, one in Washington, one in rural Wyoming because no one would look for them there, one in Florida, and one in Montana but was still working out the rest. Finding safe houses wasn't as easy as it seemed.

nThey had to be close enough that people from the network could bring supplies but far enough from civilization that no one would get suspicious and go poking around. He also had to make sure that they were in dead zones that no one could track that didn't have internet access to outsiders but did have security footage he could monitor. Setting all of this up would take time even with all of the people on their side.

nAngelo's guess was a couple of months at least. He wasn't sure they had that kind of time. Who knows what Hunsacher's scientists could recreate by then?

nAnd what if the situation changed? What if he caught onto them and put safeguards into play before they could act and they missed their chance? Ideally, this would be done in the next few weeks but setting that up seemed just about impossible unless they all worked on it 24

/7.

nLeah had offered to do as much as she could since she wasn't working but the rest of them had jobs. Many had families. They couldn't devote their all to making this happen.

nHis frustration was at an all-time high. What would his father do in this situation? Would he be able to pull things off faster?

nHaving Jorge here helped a little. He was a good sounding board if nothing else and was reading over Angelo's shoulder so he knew what ideas the others involved were tossing around. But he had to leave all too soon because Maribel was done at the spa and wanted to hang out.

nHe shot his cousin a glare on the way out. There were more important things in life than dating! Why was everyone he worked with giving into sentimentality when they had a job to do?!

nAngelo hadn't been happy about Jorge dating but hadn't given him as hard a time as he gave Avery because he was just the getaway driver. Maribel didn't suspect a thing because he often had odd hours as a trucker.

nThey had only needed him for their insulin delivery system thus far. If they ever needed his truck for anything else it wouldn't be too suspicious for him to disappear for a while on a supposedly longer route than usual because his cover was airtight.

nIt wasn't like that with Avery. She was a cake decorator. Disappearing all the time was suspicious in and of itself.

nPlus she was absolutely vital to their cause. They wouldn't be able to do any of this without her. She was more visible, went into action more often, and was at a higher risk of getting caught.

nAngelo huffed in annoyance. They were over here acting like dating was more important than freeing the world. They really needed to sort out their priorities.

nJorge had been dating Maribel since about six months after he started helping them out. Angelo had no doubt that he would be attending another wedding in the next couple of years. Whenever she wasn't with her girlfriends and he wasn't on the road she was plastered to his side. They went to all of each other's family events and everything.

nHang on, did this mean Avery wasn't going to come around for holidays anymore? The Wests had always tagged along with the Cruzes. He couldn't remember a time she hadn't been there making a racket along with everyone else.

nWould she be spending all of them with the Slaters now since the Cruzes weren't

"officially

" family? Or would they switch off?

nThat was one part of this mess that was so normal and mundane he hadn't bothered to consider it. He was too busy worrying about the secret identity part of it all to think about regular things that happened when people got married. Losing Avery in such a way would be weird. Wrong, even.

nAngelo sighed and drummed his fingers on his keyboard. Romance was overrated. Sure, he had dated around before all of this happened but he didn't have time for that nonsense now.

nAvery was fairly convinced he liked Vanessa at this point and maybe he did but that didn't matter because he couldn't act on it. So what if he thought she was beautiful and enjoyed being around her? She wouldn't help him change the world so she was a distraction.

nHis best friend should take a page out of his book. If Vanessa was still single when this was all over maybe he could try to make a move but he didn't want to rock the boat. He saw her a lot because of Avery. If that went south things would be awkward forever.

nHe would rather have some sort of contact with her than not so it was probably for the best that his side gig didn't allow him to date. Thinking about this was pointless! It wouldn't help him figure out a plan so he needed to push it out of his head. His lack of love life while everyone around him was stupidly pairing off didn't matter right now.

nAngelo continued diligently trying to work things out for hours until it was time for him to go pick up that cake. He had made some headway but not nearly enough and would have to get right back to it after this.

nIf Avery didn't forgive him he didn't know what he would do. It had been hard enough concentrating with her mad at him the past week.

nWhen he arrived it was fifteen minutes to closing and a white figure stood with her arms crossed behind the register when he arrived.

"'Sorry for doubting your judgment and giving you a hard time. I swear I'm actually happy for you'? Seriously?

"

n

"You can send apology cakes but I can't?

" Angelo asked a bit defensively.

n

"You literally had me make my own apology cake.

"

n

"Yeah, but you got paid for it.

"

n

"What are you even going to do with this? I still have cake at home so I can't take it!

" Avery said, trying to keep scowling but clearly fighting a smile.

nAngelo was relieved. If she was trying not to smile it probably meant she found it funny. It was always easier to make her cheer up when she was amused. Most of their arguments growing up had ended due to laughter.

n

"I can give part of it to Jorge. I'm sure he and Maribel will happily eat it on your behalf.

"

n

"And that won't be embarrassing at all for you?

" Avery asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Considering what's written on the cake.

"

n

"No, because he's the one who talked some sense into me. I'm not willing to lose you over this, Güera. You're family. It's my job to have your back even if I don't agree with what you're doing.

"

n

"Are you really happy for me or did you just say that so I'd stop being mad at you?

"

n

"More accurately, I would be happy for you if the timing was better. Christian is the kind of guy I always hoped you would end up with,

" Angelo admitted reluctantly.

nAvery's eyebrows nearly shot off her face.

"Really?

"

n

"Yeah. He came banging down my door earlier because I upset you and got insulted on your behalf. He's crazy about you and you deserve nothing less. Just…be careful, okay? Please. I don't want to see this backfire on you.

"

n

"I'm always careful, Angelo.

"

n

"You need to be more careful than usual! If you're going to do this you have to be the most careful person that ever lived. Then when it's all over you can have what you want and ride off into the sunset dramatically or whatever it is people living in fairy tales do.

"

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