Chapter 70: Preparations

 Everything was set. Peter and Bennet were in the car waiting for the prison transport and sure enough the van came to the police station and looked around for their escort. The prison guard in the passenger side came out and approached their vehicle cautiously. Their car was tinted therefore the guard came to Peter's side and knocked on the window. He rolled down the window and when the guard saw them in their gear, he immediately looked surprised.

"That's quite a lot of company for just one man" Peter started the conversation as he pointed to the extra guard escort that was with the van. In it he could see two guards.

"You're telling me, you both look like special ops or something" the guard responded." Mind if I ask why Hunters is getting this type of escort? "

" You're asking me? We just do as we are told" Bennet answered as he presented the letter that Tyler had created

"I mean it does seem a little too much for a nobody" the officer said as he scanned through the document. Peter, not wanting to engage deeper into this conversation decided to fire a warning shot. Not literally, but metaphysically.

"If you have any questions or doubts I can call the commander of Sin City and you can ask him those questions yourself" he said as he pulled out his phone and making sure that the officer could see what he was doing, speed dialed a number that was saved as 'commander'. He saw panick flash on the officer's face as he put it on loudspeaker and it started ringing

"There's no need for that. Let's get going so that we can be done with this" the officer said as he handed them the document and rushed back to the van. Peter rolled up the window and turned to Bennet who just looked at him blankly

"That was a ballsy move" Bennet told him

" It had to be done. The faster we get going the faster we get this done" Peter told him

" So, who were you calling? Because I know it wasn't who you just said it was"

" It's just an famous drive through joint. I want to order something for when the job is done " Peter answered

There was some static in both of their ears before the signal became stronger. It was Tyler trying to reach out to them.

"How did it go?" Tyler asked through the earpieces

" So far so good. We have successfully become Hunters escort " Bennet answered

" Great work with those documents " Peter praised

" I just did the small part, Jason is the one who came up with the idea. I'm surprised and glad that it worked. So where are you right now? " Tyler asked

" We're just about to leave the pickup point and head to the courthouse. I hope you have found a good vantage point to near the park. " Bennet said as Peter was putting the car into ignition

"Yeah, I'm just scouring the environment to make sure that I have enough exists to pick from and that I'll be able to camouflage long enough for you to do the snatch" Tyler answered

As they talked, Peter adjusted the police radio that was installed into the car so that they could be in communication with the prison transport guards..

' come in alpha squad' a voice was heard. It was one of the officers referring to Peter and Bennet

'we hear you loud and clear' Bennet responded

'we are clear to go ' the voice said as they started driving off heading to the courthouse

"Tyler, I think there's something you should know" Peter said into the earpiece as he started following the two cars

"What's that?" Tyler asked

"On the ground, I'm sure you know that we'll try as much as possible to cover for you. But just in case, be ready to receive some heavy fire. In short, make sure you'll be somewhere where you can't get hit easily" Peter said a he glanced over to Bennet who he knew was having the same thought as him

"Don't you worry about that, like I said, I've found the best spot. I'll camp up here and wait for you to be on your way back." Tyler said confidently

As he was saying this, Tyler inside an unfinished building that was not so far from the Sin City Park. He had just selected which floor he would use and set down his bag. He had ensured that no activity was going on inside the building and one reason why the building was deserted this particular day was because of the court hearing. He was about twenty stories up and down below in the ground floor was his ride. A black Ford Ranger that he was to use to extract the others from under the bridge. He put his back down and started assembling the rifle piece by piece without any hurry. He had three magazines with him. Two of them had similar bullets that didn't do so much damage while the other one had the same size and caliber of bullets that he had used before in the court attack before. After assembling the entire rifle he loaded the gun with the magazine that had the destructive bullets first. He then anchored the gun and checked through the window he had cut a hole through to see if he had a perfect shot and if it allowed for movement. He then laid out a blanket on the floor and lay on it waiting for noon.

As he lay there, he said a short prayer because he knew that in the next few hours he would need all the blessings and willpower of any supernatural forces if they were to pull it off flawlessly. 

In all the minds of these three men there were dozens of scenarios playing out of ' WHAT IFs? '

They all thought about how they were planning to execute such a plan in broad daylight and hope that everything goes well. All these thoughts even made them forget the fact that there was a major case in Panem that millions looked forward to. Peter and Bennet were brought back to reality when they drove into the courthouse compound and saw the multitude of people just standing outside the gates. The number was nearly double that that was there last time. It seemed that Tyler's attack had generated more interest to the public than before. 

They drove through the crows and were surprised by the huge presence of security officers in the area. The place nearly looked like the Whitehouse. They went to the underground parking where Hunters was taken from the van into the building where he would be take to the court chambers for his case to be heard. As this was happening, Peter and Bennet informed the guards that they would wait for them in the car till they got back

"Did you see that crowd?" Peter asked Bennet

" Are you kidding me? How could I not see it? The place is packed, no wonder most of the streets are deserted. " Bennet replied

" Paint a picture for me guys" Tyler said over the earpiece when he realized that he couldn't see the courthouse that clearly from the building he was in. Bennet gave it a thought and finally settled on one

"Remember when Yuri passed and on his funeral people thought that the Ghost would show up and maybe even reveal himself?" Bennet asked

" Yes, I remember seeing people flock in the thousands just in case that happened "

" That's how this place looks like. But the security is crazy here, you would be surprised how many are even not in uniform " Bennet said

" With some world leaders from around the globe coming to see this, you should expect such a reception " Peter said 

" By the way, who did Jason say was representing this Hunters guy again? " Bennet asked

" I think all he said was that it was just a team from LA associates and that was it." Peter responded

While Peter was saying this, Tyler was deep in thoughts as he was wondering what Jason had done. There was a few seconds of silence and Tyler, not being able keep it to himself any longer just had to ask the burning question directed to Bennet.

"Ben, why would Jason make contact with our Serbian contact after all this time?" Tyler asked, Peter didn't know what that meant and saw it best that he doesn't ask what they were talking about

"He did that?" Bennet asked in a calm and composed tone. It was as if he wasn't even surprised by this revelation from Tyler

"Yes"

"Well I can't say I know why but I knew for sure that something like that was inevitable. What I can say knowing Jason, is that if he did that then it had something to do with today"

" Is it common for Jason to do things solo without even involving you? " Peter asked

" Common yes, surprising no. Jason has always been a weird character but he always knows what he's doing most of the time. In simple terms, he only lets you know what he is planning when it is important to both you and him. But sometimes, he will do things on the side and combine them with the ones he has involved you with and almost certainly do the things all align together. " Bennet answered him