“Shit. Hold up. You got company,” Jay said. “Two men in front. Two headed round back. All of them with guns out.”
“Police?”
“No and nothing on the scanner.”
“Security?”
“Nope. Suits and silencers. These guys look like professionals.”
Adrenaline kicking up a notch, Chase pulled a one-eighty and two-timed it back up the stairs. He could hear the nurse come into the kitchen as he disappeared around the corner. Making like one with the wallpaper, he poked his head around so he could see.
“No, sir, I haven’t seen anything unusual…a security breach! Oh my. No, I don’t see any lights at all on the alarm panel. Yes. Yes, of course. I’ll let them in right away, sir!” The frightened woman left the kitchen with surprising speed, presumably to open the front door.
“What the fuck?” Chase whispered. “Who are they, and how the hell do they know we’re here?”
“Who gives a shit? It’s four against two, dumbass. Get a move on.”
Chase flipped Jay a one-fingered comeback on his way past the hall camera. “Technically, it’s four against one. Think maybe you could offer a solution to the problem at hand?”
“Take the second door on the right.”
“Not helpful, asshole.” Already headed in that direction, Chase moved quietly but quickly. He entered the large corner bedroom and closed the door behind him. Enough light filtered through the sheer curtains for him to see his way around the nautical-themed room. A shrine to Jonas Junior, he suspected, and as plastic looking as the commercials featuring those perfectly tailored young adults hawking striped sweaters.
Chase opened one of the big windows facing the side yard and removed the screen. “All clear?”
“Think so,” Jay said, “I don’t see any guys with guns. Stick to the left of the sunroom. You should be good.”
Chase hesitated, half his body dangling out the window, the foot looking for purchase against the brick wall of the house halting mid-search. “The left side?”
“Sorry, my bad. Meant the right side.”
“My right or yours?”
“Your right. If you’re facing the other way.”
“Jesus Christ, Jay. If I’m killed because you’re directionally challenged, Gray’s going to be pissed.”
“Then hurry it up,Rambo.You got two suits in the upstairs hall.”
Chase dropped to the lower roof, forgoing stealth for speed, and in two long, fast strides, he launched himself to the lawn. The shouts of the men in the house followed his descent.
Off balance, he executed a shoulder roll before hitting his feet and making the hundred-yard dash for the property line. Separated from an easy getaway by a ten-foot wall of rock, he was damned relieved to see Jay’s shadowy outline lean over the top, an arm extended in his direction.
A bullet whizzed by his head and ricocheted off the stone in front of him. Without slowing, he planted his foot against the wall and clasped Jay’s palm. Using Chase’s forward momentum to his advantage, Jay hauled him over the top. They landed side by side next to the surveillance van wearing identical WTF expressions.
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
Due to a four-carpileup that had backed up traffic in Lincoln Tunnel, Adam had been required to grease some palms to get their original flight schedule changed. The last to board the private jet, he arrived in time to see Bodak hide behind Rich Kaminski, his gun jammed into the big man’s ribs.
“Close the door, Sergeant Grayson.” Bodak’s grin changed to a scowl when Adam hesitated. “Do it.”
With his cover somehow blown and Kaminski’s life on the line, Adam felt he had no choice. As instructed, he secured the door.
“Cuff him.” Using the silencer attached to the muzzle of his gun, Bodak shoved his former bodyguard forward. With his free hand, he produced a set of metal bracelets and dangled them from a finger.
Leave it to the sadistic prick to have handcuffs in his pocket. Adam suspected they were originally meant for Gray, but apparently, there had been a last-minute decision to make a sibling substitution he was unaware of.
Allowing Adam to live was Victor Bodak’s first mistake. The second followed hard on its heels. Kaminski took the metal and secured Adam’s wrists in front of his body. Bodak hadn’t insisted on his arms being hooked to the rear. Fuckup number two would be the one Adam used to kill the bastard later. For now, there was still the question of the widow maker buried in Kaminski’s back.
