Lee frowned. He hadn’t noticed Rodney locking it, but this wasn’t an accident. What was Rodney planning here? Why hadn’t he told Lee what to do?
He cautiously closed the door again in case someone came to check on him. In the distance he heard Brandon and Dot talking in the main office.
I’ll let you know. When I send word, bring the treasure.
That wasn’t helpful, but he knew better than to ask for more details.
He sat and considered the options. Lucas still wanted the treasure, so at some stage Lee was expected to break out of here.
The heist would happen tonight.
He would have to neutralise Brandon. His gut swirled. From what he could see, a door led from the back area into the offices where Brandon would be with Rodney and the treasure.
With the rear exit leading to a locked car park, the most likely escape route would be straight out the front door.
Sounded like something Lucas would have the balls to do.
He lay on the hard bench and put his hands behind his head. There wasn’t much he could do until he got word from Lucas.
He closed his eyes and rested.
It was past midnight when Lee’s phone finally vibrated.
Meet you outside in 10. Bring the treasure. Tell Rodney it’s now.
His heart raced. Right. It had been quiet for the past couple of hours, and he didn’t know where anyone was.
He tucked his phone into his back pocket and pushed the door open. Slowly he moved down the corridor and peered through the window into the office. Brandon sat in a chair facing away from him, talking to Rodney.
Where was Dot? Had she gone home, or was she in her office?
The treasure sat in the middle of the main room, so it wasn’t something he could sneak out without Brandon seeing.
Not that Lee expected anything else. Brandon wasn’t stupid.
He peered into the room again and took stock. He would have to come into the room at ninety degrees to Brandon, which meant he couldn’t sneak up on him. It would have to be fast.
He crouched down under the window and moved to the other side. The corridor came out in another room and on the bench lay a taser gun. Lee turned it on in relief. He could disable Brandon without causing him permanent injury.
Next to them was a set of handcuffs. Lee tucked the cuffs into his back pocket and crept to the door which led into the office. This was when he would find out whose side Rodney was really on.
He listened to the conversation in the room.
“Have you got any stories about Dot and Nhiari from the academy?” Brandon asked.
“We didn’t hang out in the same crowd,” Rodney replied, a chill in his tone.
Because neither woman would have a bar of him. Lee hated the idea of tasering Brandon, but it was far preferable to knocking him unconscious or shooting him.
Lee exhaled and then stepped into the room, shooting the taser at Brandon. Brandon had time to turn, widened his eyes before the taser hit him in the chest then fell to the ground, jerking.
Rodney whirled, hand on his gun.
“Lucas says it’s now,” Lee yelled at him as he followed Brandon to the ground, making quick work of handcuffing Brandon to the desk. “Sorry,” he murmured. “Amy would kill me if you were hurt.”
Brandon glared at him but hadn’t quite got control of his muscles yet.
“Catch.”
