Caught in the Crossfire

It had been a few days since the group last met, with Louis storming out halfway through their meeting. Luckily, Wren was able to calm down and get him to agree to come back, but it took about a day and a half, which was far longer than Liam wanted, and everyone knew it. He was eager to stop the maniac before anyone else got hurt. He seemed the most eager of them all.

Tapping her fingers against the table, Ashton watched as Penelope worked her magic on Harry’s computer, which then flashed a live map of London across the large overhead screen. They were lucky Harry had so much money and already had the equipment installed. It made figuring things out a whole lot easier, and made Penelope’s work even more efficient.

Liam stood up, making his way over to the large screen. He has his hands at his sides, with his posture perfectly straight, as though he’d been giving executive speeches his whole life, even though Ashton knew he was a simple factory worker. He played the part well, though, so she had to give him credit for that. And, the fact that him leading the group pissed Harry off only made it that much better for Ashton.

“Since we’ve all agreed that this maniac needs to be stopped, I’ve put a lot of thought into exactly how we can do that, and I think I’ve finally come up with something that will work,” Liam said, as he folded his hands in front of him. Everyone’s eyes were on Liam, and he had the room’s full attention, even Harry’s. He pointed to the large map, at the large clock tower which laid in the center. “Penelope has done a fair bit of research, and we have reason to believe that the next target will be Big Ben.”

Penelope spoke next, her voice not nearly as confident as Liam’s. “It’s a large landmark, and hundreds of people visit every day. I’ve been monitoring it using these cameras, and it seems to have a far bit less security than it should, and as smart as our guy is, he probably knows this and will use it to his advantage.”

“But you can’t know for sure,” Harry interrupted, as he kicked his foot onto the table. “You can’t know for sure that’s where he’ll strike.”

“Well, we can’t know anything one hundred percent,” Liam said, quickly standing up for Penelope. “But we can make ourselves prepared for if it is.”

“And if he attacks a church miles away? What then? We’ll all be stationed at your clock tower.”

“We can’t be everywhere,” Liam responded. It was obvious he was getting frustrated, but was still trying to keep a level head. “This is better than nothing, and Penelope will be monitoring from here, in case something else happens. If it does, she’ll alert us immediately, using the wireless head pieces she had you order.”

Harry had nothing left to say, and he simply smirked, as he waved his hand for Liam to continue. Harry hadn’t phased Liam, but it was obvious he’d made Penelope a bit taken aback. Ashton wasn’t sure she’d say anything for the rest of the meeting, out of fear that Harry would snap on her again. If she knew how often Harry talked about how nice her ass was, Penelope would know she had nothing to worry about, but Ashton would never tell her. Better to have Penelope scared than hitting on Harry, even though it was clear she had a thing for Liam.

Clearing his throat, Liam continued speaking, his voice as clear as it had been before. “We’re going to plant ourselves around the tower, but no one is to go inside it, is that clear?” The group nodded, and Liam continued speaking. “We want to keep ourselves safe, so it’s better if we’re out in the open, where we can easily fight back. We’re going to pose as normal citizens, which means no crazy gadgets.”

Everyone looked immediately Harry, as they all knew he was the one Liam was referring to. He had money, and with money, came a love for fancy and expensive toys that he loved to show off.

“Got it, captain,” Harry joked, as a wicked smirk plastered across his face. Ashton wondered how long he was going to keep up with the power struggle with Liam, but she imagined it would only last until Liam found a way to knock him down a peg or two. Maybe that was something she could help him with.

“Penelope is going to have her eyes on the city,” Liam continued, ignoring Harry’s jab. “She’s going to alert us of anything out of the ordinary and keep us all connected, and we need to keep our eyes open as well. While we keep up our act as tourists, we’re going to be looking over the area for anything suspicious, so we can alert Pen of it right away.”

“And we’re just going to stay there for weeks?” Harry asked, his voice as smug as ever. “We’re just going to pose as tourists every day until this guy strikes again.”

Liam sighed, shaking his head. “No, we’re going to pose as tourists tonight, because tonight is when he’s going to strike.”

Harry chuckled. “You can’t know that.”

“But we do,” Penelope interrupted, her voice shaky as she stood from her seat. She moved next to Liam, as the map of the city was replaced with a straight line, which was set to play a sound clip. “I set up my server to track key words that are said in every phone conversation, online chat room, and public place throughout the city. A lot of it came up as rubbish, aside from this.”

Penelope pressed a small button on the keyboard, and the group’s ears were met with static, before it was replaced with the sound of a man’s voice.

“Tonight, love. We end it tonight,” the voice said, low and almost at a whisper. Just the sound of it sent chills through Ashton’s body, and a part of her just knew that this was the guy. A small rustling came through the speakers, before his voice came once more. “We’ll be all over the news, with our names on the lips every person in London. They’ll never forget us Val, and they’ll finally learn the pain they caused us both. We’re going to put on a show that they’ll never forget.

Though the words weren’t definitive, and the voice never said it would harm anyone, the group knew that this was their guy. They had no evidence or reasoning, but they had their gut feelings, and in a room full of people like them, gut feelings counted for a lot.

The maniac was going to strike that night, and he was going to put on a show that they’d never forget.