“There’s an implication of overseeing and ownership, but okay. I’m the lawyer. I can give you counsel, and if I know who you are and who you want to be, I can tailor that counsel. My tendency is to be conservative, because there’s a lot we don’t and won’t know.”

I nodded. “There’s a degree to which I want conservative.”

“I hear you. I would strongly encourage something more lawful. Calling first, letting authorities know, checking with the lawyer, doing what you’ll do, working with authorities after.”

“Not every situation allows for that. Having a plan is great, and I’m all about laying stuff out and being smart about things. Sometimes there’s no time, and you have to make choices.”

“Yes,” Natalie said. She paused, fixing her glasses. “Yes. If these are the three stages of the plan, with prelude, action, follow-up, maybe you can skip one, and you can explain it away to the authorities.”

I nodded. “That’s not unreasonable.”

“Except… If you have to skip two and rush the other, is it possible that you shouldn’t have acted at all?”

“We should have just let Houndstooth’s group get attacked from behind?”

“Or waited to send them in,” Natalie suggested. “Or not had them come in at all, if you couldn’t be sure you’d be able to handle the lead-in and follow-up.”

I drummed my fingers on the table. “There’s more to it. These guys are in contact with people. If we let them operate as normal, try to catch them in the act, they’ll use their leverage and catch us first. We have to apply some sustained pressure. Test their relationship with their contacts. We’ve talked it over with other groups and they agree it makes a degree of sense.”

“Houndstooth?”

“They were one. They really liked it, even.”

Natalie’s brow wrinkled. “You said sustained. Do you have more lined up?”

“A team is going to call a local realtor, looking into the possibility of moving in. We’ll see if they react.”

“Then?” she asked.

“We might have some more people lined up. Another group might be passing through, and we’ll be more ready if something comes up. My cousin is swinging by.”

More brow wrinkles. “You’ll pressure them until they crack.”

“Until they start to. Then we or someone we trust targets that weak point.”

“When things crack, it’s often sudden. Hook and Sink would be an example of that.”

I nodded.

“If it’s sudden, it’s hard to take the necessary steps before and after,” Natalie said.

“It could be,” I said.