Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

P rogress! Baton cheerfully took coffee orders late Sunday morning and thought about how nicely everything was coming together for her and the Colonel.

Thank goodness the Director's spy, Gregory, was no longer underfoot—and the Director was gone too. It had been embarrassing to watch Gregory's incompetence. She'd spotted him right away, but he'd never even known she was in town.

Scythe operatives were supposed to be better than that. Then again, the Colonel had higher standards than the Director.

In fact, the Colonel was incredible. Last night, he'd finally shared his plan for the mutants, and the scope of it left her breathless.

Today, she was ready to kick off another step in the plan.

Yesterday, she'd managed to find the perfect house to use to capture the abominations. Following the Colonel's guidelines, she'd located a two-story home with forest surrounding it except for a long expanse of lawn in front.

Of course, it would have been better if the house was empty. Still, the Colonel would simply exterminate the two occupants.

It had been far more difficult to figure out how to draw the town's children to one place. Along with Patrin, Fell, and their love interest. And mothers, if possible. The Colonel had decided mothers would make excellent hostages for teenaged boy abominations.

How many ideas had she discarded for being impossible? Finally, she'd recalled the last snowfall and laughing at kids sledding on a garbage can lid. And the perfect plan came together.

Now to put it into motion.

With a sweet smile, Baton accepted money for two child size milks, two donuts, and marked a cup with the mother's coffee order. "One peppermint mocha coming up."

"Thank you." The mother gathered her boys who appeared around five and seven.

Baton looked over to the right. "Hey, Talitha."

Her boss was concocting an elaborate sugar-free, vanilla latte with soy milk. "Yes, Renee?"

"Did you realize the kids here don't have a good sledding spot? Back in my hometown, they'd rope off a steep street after every big snowfall and let us sled on it. We even had a bonfire at the top to warm us up."

"Really." Talitha handed the coffee over the counter to the customer before turning to Baton. "That's a great idea. Just this morning, Mateo was whining at how often snow ruins all their fun. Maybe because they've never sledded."

Perfect, the fish had taken the hook. "There's a street"—Baton waved toward the west—"it's the right steepness and dead ends in the square's parking lot. Um, Paydirt?"

Talitha looked that direction as if she could see. "Paydirt might work. There's no real traffic, and a couple of those houses are empty anyway."

"Cool!" Baton gave her a happy smile. "Our town reserved the sledding hill for the littlest ones in the morning, then the daredevils—you know, the tweens and up—got the hill for the afternoon, like, one o'clock until twilight."

The Colonel said the teens, new to shapeshifting, were the perfect ages for training.

"With how short the daylight hours are, each group would get around three hours—enough time to get properly tired." Talitha winked at the mother with the two little boys. "Keeping our crazy teens away from the littles makes good sense."

"Agreed." The mother smiled at Talitha. "I adore your Mateo and Alvaro, but face it, they'll want to go really fast."

"I'm raising speed demons." Talitha rolled her eyes. "Now I have to find them a sled. Doesn't the ski shop do rentals?"

"There are probably plenty of townsfolk with gear tucked away that they're not using," someone from a table called. "I'll ask around if you tell me where they should drop their stuff off."

Baton managed not to grimace. It was sickening how everyone in the coffee shop listened to everyone else's discussions. Nothing was private in this hick town.

"I'll post a sign if the town council agrees and sets a date." Talitha patted Baton's shoulder. "Thank you for the idea, Renee."

"The council better move fast," said the mother with two boys. "The news forecasters say they're tracking some big snowstorm due in seven or eight days."

"A week is do-able." Talitha bounced once on her toes in happiness. "Watch for a sign going up."

Baton frowned. The sledding day might happen in just a week?

The Colonel needed to know so the Scythe operatives could arrive before the storm. And afterward, they'd need vehicles big enough for transport and suitable for snowy roads.

Excitement rose inside her. This was her chance to shine.

And when the Colonel rose in the organization, he'd take her with him.