“Now, his wife doesn’t like it when he flashes his guards around. She says that it unsettles people and makes the children nervous, so he generally hides them in plain sight: waiters, doormen, etc. When you walk through that gate, assume everyone you meet is going to want to kill you,” she says.
I smirk. “Sounds delightful.”
“Tucker said you’d also be looking for data from his computer or files? That’s going to be down in the basement. He has an area down there where things are locked down tight so someone can’t easily get into it. I’m not sure you’re even going to be able to get what you need out of there, but I wish you luck.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Cassel says.
Rosie nods. “I’m not in the know, you understand; to Barlow I’m not even a face he knows. He’s not my priority, but I keep my foot in the door just in case. What I’ve gathered is that they’re going to have at least a hundred people present between staff and guests. Raul’s people are very well trained, and I can guarantee you that they know the face of every single person who is walking around there, so do not think you’re going to blend in. I’ll share what I know about the location and the rest is in your hands. This isn’t going to be easy. I’m not quite sure how you’ll get that bounty off your head. If you kill him, someone will just take his place. He has another son who is lined up.”
“We’ll be careful. Thank you,” I say.
“Of course,” she replies before she starts going over the layout. She explains where each guard will be stationed around the exterior of the building at a set distance apart from each other so that no one can sneak up to the wall. Once she’s shown us the layout, she points out who she believes are the weakest guards. While she could let us waltz right in at her post while she turns a blind eye, we don’t want to blow her cover, so the plan is to go in through one of the weaker guards.
The issue is that there’s a check-in every twenty-five minutes between the guards, so we can’t simply replace him. We either have twenty-five minutes to get in and finish this, or we have twenty-five minutes to convince a man to pretend that everything is still a-okay and report when his turn comes.
“So when this call comes through at the twenty-five-minute mark, everyone is set to say something specific? Or just answer?” Jackson asks Rosie.
“Something specific so that no one can replace them and get away with it. It’s different for everyone and I won’t ever hear the others. They also cycle through their code words, so even listening and waiting won’t do you any good. You’re on your own with that.”
“How is it sent to you?” Cassel asks.
“Verbally.”
“Of course it is,” he whispers.
“I wish you all the best of luck,” she says. “You’re going to need it with this one.”
“It creeps me out when Leland thinks too much,” Tavish announces.
“It creeps me out when you breathe,” I mutter as I examine everyone. We all have gloves and masks on with the hope of our faces staying off any cameras. “Okay, is everyone good? Just to run through things again, Henry and Ellis, you two are on cameras. We have our earpieces in, so if you seeanything, you’ll let the rest of us know. Jackson and Everly, you will try to get information out of the guard and figure out his code word within twenty-five minutes. Micah, Cassel, Tavish, and I will enter. I don’t want too many of us to go in and chance getting caught.Jeremy will stay with the vehicle and will come get us if shit goes south. Does that sound good to everyone?”
“So basically, we’re running this as if we have twenty-five minutes, correct?” Cassel asks.
“That is correct. Cassel, you think that’s enough time to break into his computer and do whatever it is you need?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“Ellis will inform us when we have twenty, ten, and five minutes left. And Rosie is going to inform us when our twenty-five minutes start.”
“Got it.”
“Please be careful,” Ellis tells Tavish.
“I will be. I promise. And please be careful with Cassel’s laptop. If something happened to it, it’d be much worse than if you had a bad guy after you,” Tavish teases.
Cassel glowers at him but can’t seem to refute it.
Setting off on foot, our group heads over to the location where our next victim lies. He’s discreetly set up in a neighboring house, a place no one would expect to find him. He must be a good shot if he’s stationed this far away and is responsible for such a broad area. But Rosie informed us that as long as you’re not in front of him, your risk of getting hurt by him is extremely low. Basically, he’s good with a rifle, not with anything else.
Cassel swiftly picks the lock to the front door and swings it open. I slip in and start moving deeper into the house, knowing that the shooter’s best vantage point would be from the window upstairs. Cassel moves in after me while everyone else waits behind.
And once we find the shooter’s location, we quietly wait for Rosie’s signal.
I’m leaning against one wall and Cassel is leaning against the other, our gunman none the wiser. I glance over at Cassel whomakes a funny face at me. I raise an eyebrow and flip him off. His eyes narrow and he flips me off in return. I use my own special sign language to convey that I’m going to fuck him up the next chance I get.
He uses his own hand motions to tell me that he thinks Jeremy is better than Jackson. And boy, does that make me want to fuck him up even more.
But before I can do anything, I hear Ellis in my ear.
