Was that someone skirting back from the ramp’s edge?
He flipped the strap on his holster, fingers curling around the butt of his pistol.“Who’s there?”he called out, voice echoing around the cement pillars and empty spaces.There were so few cars on this level at this hour, only a handful left from overnight.Hearing no response, only the whistle of the wind down the ramp, Nic crept cautiously toward the back of the truck.From the tailgate, he could dodge either direction for cover, if needed.“Hello!Who’s there?”he called again.
Nothing, at first, then feet shuffling over concrete.In a hurry.Aclank, metal on metal like something falling.A second later, a pipe came rolling over the edge of the ramp and in its wake, a loudclick.
Like a pistol loading.
Nic yanked out his own and darted behind the nearest pillar.In his mirror, he watched a shadow move down the ramp.
Crouching, Nic skirted from one pillar to the next, closing in.
Only to have his quiet approach shattered by squealing tires and shining LED headlights.Nic thought for sure he was headed for a repeat of Tuesday night.But then the lights swung and a car pulled into a spot on the other side of the pillar.Black, sleek, with Irish punk rock bleeding out of the windows, louder even than the car’s roaring engine.
Aidan.
Secure on that side, Nic whipped back to the other, only to see another car rolling down the ramp.A police cruiser from the pool parked a floor above.The officer drank from a travel mug as he drove past, like it was any other absurdly early morning.Was that all he’d heard before?An officer getting into his car, maybe knocking away a stray piece of metal pipe?But what about theclick?Locks on the car, maybe?He made a mental note of the cruiser’s license plate tag.He’d have Lauren run it, find out which officer had checked it out and whether his accounts had any errant deposits.If it hadn’t been the officer, whoever it was had surely dropped back by now as the garage came to life.
“Dominic,” Aidan called behind him.“Why’s your gun out?”
He holstered his weapon and turned around with a tired half smile.“Not enough sleep, too many shadows.”
Good enough, it seemed, because Aidan had bigger issues, judging by his thunderous expression.“Let’s go.”
Nic grabbed his briefcase and rushed to catch up, Aidan halfway to the elevator already.“What’s happened?”
“Got a call about a robbery last night.Car dealership two blocks over from the club where the meet was supposed to be held.”
No coincidence there.“Cam?”
Aidan nodded as they stepped into the elevator.“Left us a fingerprint.”
Nic didn’t bother punching the button for his own floor.“She had him boost a car?”
“Same security system as the museum.You wanna guess the model of vault door they lock the money, papers, and keys behind each night?”
He didn’t need to guess.“AmSec 8000 series.”
“Case closed, Attorney Price,” Aidan replied, missing his usual flair of excitement at those words.They were both attorneys by training, Aidan getting more out of the trial part of a case than most agents.
“It was a test run,” Nic surmised.
“A try-out.”Aidan led them off the elevator onto the thirteenth floor.“Though now I have to explain to the very angry car dealer and SFPD why a federal agent broke into a car showroom and vault last night.”
Both their phones dinged at once.Nic scrambled for his, disappointed it was a message from Lauren, even if it was a valuable one.“I’d say he passed.”Ten thousand had just hit Brady Campbell’s bank account.“When do you think they’ll move on the artifacts?”
“Fundraiser soft open is Saturday night.Opens wide Sunday.”Aidan tossed various bits of pocket detritus on his desk—phone, keys, badge.“I’d say tonight or after the soft open Saturday.The latter would give them more time to plan and integrate Brady.”
“Not much time for Cam to find out who Becca is working for.”
“Byrne’s good.Don’t lose faith yet.”Aidan shucked off his jacket, hanging it on the back of his door.“When’s your motion for continuance?”
“Ten o’clock with Judge O’Donnell.”The preliminary hearing for Scott and Mike was scheduled for Monday.Nic would prefer to try all the defendants at once instead of piecemeal, but that assumed he had all his defendants in custody.If they couldn’t make that happen by the end of the weekend, a continuance would give Aidan and Cam more time to work.“Hopefully we won’t need the delay.”
“Better safe than sorry.”Aidan gestured at the visitor chair as he circled behind his desk.“Have a seat.”
“I thought you had cops and car dealers to appease.”
“I do.”Aidan pulled out his laptop and opened it on his desk.“But there’s something else we need to discuss first.”
