Chapter 1
I’m in trouble
Declan
Instead of taking the stairs, I sit on the railing and slide down while my brother tells me what’s unfolding on our father’s estate via the com unit in my ear. I rush to exit the watchtower before security surrounds me.
“Two waiting for you at the door,” Connor says.
An explosion cracks the wall in front of me. The security team’s orders are to find the escaping sniper. Any assassin worth his salt would vacate his nest right after the job was done. Catching a shooter is rarely easy, but with the drones, it’s much easier than without them.
The surveillance team sent only two people, letting the drones do the rest of the recon. This tells me my father has relied on technology far more than I’d expect him to be comfortable with, given his skepticism toward almost everything that has to do with tech. I doubt this emergency response was his idea.
It must be his cousin Ivan’s. The guy started out in IT, and our intelligence on him says he spent two years in Dry Desert Valley as an intern developing defense systems.
My brother curses.
I don’t like it when he curses.
“Two more. Four total. They have thermal readers. Disabling them now. Hold.”
I roll my eyes. Of course I’ll hold. I have no choice.
“Did you roll your eyes?”
I suppress a snicker.
“Two more. Six total. Five seconds out.”
Six. Damn it. I shrug off my drag bag and slide it into the corner, then withdraw a knife and wait for the door to open.
“Good luck, brother,” Connor says.
A pair of men in tactical gear, guns drawn, burst into the guard tower. My only advantage is that I can see them while they can’t see me, but that disappears quickly when they enter the first level of the tower. A man checks behind the door where I’m hiding.
I jump and slice.
One down, still twitching. Second one, I handle faster. When he falls, he doesn’t twitch. I expect the others to come in, but they close the door instead, trapping me inside. Instinctively, I grab the handle. Locked. Since I’ve been found, you’d think I could speak into the com and ask my brother what’s going on, but that’s not how this works. I want the enemies to think I work alone.
But I never do. My brother and my uncles always have my back. I need an update. When my brother doesn’t speak into my com unit, I tap it.
“I’m trying!” he shouts into my ear.
I don’t like it when he yells. It tells me he’s freaking out, which stresses me out. But I remain calm and wait for him.
On the other side, I hear men speak in a language I don’t understand. Makes sense since some of these are hired mercenaries and not men loyal to my father. The loyal ones areprobably running now, since the cops will swarm the place as soon as they drive up the mountain and set up a perimeter for the forensic team that will scoop up my father’s brains.
Drilling sounds come from the other side of the door.
I tap my com unit again.
“You need another way out,” Con says. “I’m searching for it.”
We already mapped the guard tower. Unless I jump from the top, seven stories above, this door is the only way out.
Outside, the hammering stops, and the men’s voices seem to be growing more distant. Uh-oh.
“Uh-oh,” Con echoes my concern. “You’re trapped, and they’re planting dynamite all around the base of the tower. They plan to bury you under rubble. Genius. Why didn’t I think of that?”
