“Was there any indication of housework being done?”
“They were painting the walls last week, but that should’ve been done already.”
DB looks at me, his eyebrows to his hairline. “Should’vebeen done?”
“It was marked as complete,” I say, finding the order and pushing it across the table to him.
Just as my new boss starts reviewing my work mid-op, Rafi’s scope camera catches movement on the second floor. A woman in pajama pants and a tank top is making her way across the passageway overlooking the living room.
I control the panic in my voice and click on the comms. “Gentlemen, we’ve got a guest walking around upstairs. Female, wearing pajamas. Abort mission, silence your exit, and we’ll try again next week.”
The guys flash a signal that Rafi’s scope camera picks up, silently indicating they’ve heard me. I can’t tell if it’s just in my head, but the crinkling sound is even louder than it was before. The woman stops in the hallway and cocks her head to the side.
Fuck.
“Guys, the upstairs guest can hear you. Forget silent and just make it fast.”
I zoom in on the scope camera and recognize the woman. Turning to DB, I say, “That’s his assistant. I don’t know why she’s staying at his house.”
When the guys start running, I expect for her to get scared and hide, but…that’s not exactly what happens. Nope, she’s sprinting toward the stairs.
“Guys, she’s running right at you.”
Just as the guys make it to the door, she comes flying down the stairwell. All of a sudden, Thane is on the ground. Everett squares up against her and, pretty soon, he’s on the ground as well.
“Do I have permission to kill this bitch?” Rafi growls over the line.
“Negative. We don’t know who she is.”
Apparently.
I pull up all the Marshals’ documents on the tabletop monitor, unable to find the note I had on her. Meanwhile, both Thane and Everett get to their feet and start to work together to neutralize her, but she’s not going down easily. I finally get a good screen grab of her face and bring Jake in on the call. His face pops up and several large in-progress art pieces loom behind him.
“Jake, buddy, sorry to disturb you. Going to need to have you see if you can run facial recognition on this person,” I say as I message him the image.
“Got it. No worries. I’ll pull it up in a second and send it over.”
He clicks off the line, and about thirty seconds later an official photograph shows up on the in-table display.
Fuck.
She’s not his assistant, she’s his security force. How the hell did I miss that? I check my info against Jake’s, and there’s a definite disparity. Also, bonus, she’s got multiple black belts across several modalities. Sweet. Thane’s watched Karate Kid, like, a million times.Maybe he’s picked up something useful, I think to myself sarcastically.
Jake calls the room, and I bring him up on the display. “It looks like she runs a legitimate business. Highly likely she’s unaware of her boss’s proclivities.”
Aaand now I’m worried that the guys are gonna kill or be killed by an innocent bystander.
I quickly click over to the guys’ lines. “Heads-up. She’s security force. Likely uninvolved with what this guy’s doing. Highly skilled, use non-deadly force.”
Thane finally struggles free and wrestles the stun gun from his belt. He bobbles it for a few seconds before finally pulling the trigger. The probes hit her ass and upper thigh mostly by accident, finally bringing her to the ground.
Roly’s voice comes across the line. “Guys. The asshole’s car is at the gate.”
Because of course it is.
“Shit.” Thane’s voice is rough, and I feel like the worst person in the universe.
I clench my fists, trying not to hyperventilate in front of DB. I take a slow breath and switch back over to the comms. “Guys, if she wakes up and regains her mobility, she’s going to be a problem. Tranq her, deal with him, and bring her in.”
