Trixie smirked as she remembered their parts. Which, for Stryker, wasn’t very far off from his real life. As a movie director, he probably worked with location scouts all the time to find just the right spots when building a set at a studio wasn’t practical.
Even though the guys were watching in their cars, it was important to still keep up appearances. They’d decided it was possible guys were stationed inside, but that would be difficult, as there weren’t many hiding spots down those long hallways unless someone was inside one of the units. But that wasn’t very likely.
Their footfalls clacked loudly on the concrete floors. The sound of the wheels on the equipment some of the guys rolled echoed off the vast, tunnel-like space.
“Perfect! This is it,” Stryker finally announced. “Let’s see what we’re working with here.”
Trixie couldn’t help but laugh a little. This spot looked exactly like every other spot they’d passed, but oh well. The plan wouldn’t stand up to much scrutiny but it didn’t have to. Thiswas just about creating a distraction long enough for her to get the files and get out of there.
Trixie pointed to the right unit, even though she’d told John and the other guys the number earlier.
John got to work unlocking it. The others stood like sentries, looking up and down the hallway.
It seemed to take forever. Trixie held her breath the entire time. She expected to hear someone approaching at any moment. What ifthey’dhacked the security camera feed or what if those guards actually worked forthem? Were a ton of mafia guys about to come around the corner, guns drawn, ready to execute her, John, and the others?
But instead of hearing footfalls rushing toward them, she heard the door rolling up on the tracks as John opened her storage unit.
Everything was just as she’d left it.
Some extra furniture stacked neatly, barely taking up any room beyond one of the back corners. A hutch she’d inherited from her great-grandmother that she didn’t have room for in her place pressed against the wall.
And the small safe resting on top of it.
She hurried inside, put her hand on the reader, and waited.
It was nearly instantaneous. A chirp told her the prints were accepted. She felt a quick vibration as the door locks retracted. She was shaking as she put her hand on the black rubber-lined handle and pulled it down.
The door swung open with a slight squeak. Trixie reached in, grabbed the documents, and said, “Got ‘em!”
John looked satisfied. “Then let’s move.”
Less than a minute later, the safe was closed, the unit’s door was down and secured, and the gang was moving toward the exit.
“Crap. I need to drop by the office and sign some stuff for that guy,” Harrison said. “I don’t want to leave him hanging.”
“We’ll have the limo running and ready,” Ace said.
“If it looks like anything crazy is happening, just leave without me,” Harrison told them. “I’ll be all good.”
“What if they hurt you?” Trixie cried.
Harrison shrugged it off. “Not to sound arrogant, but I’m famous.” He blushed, realizing that it had still sounded conceited. “What I mean is they wouldn’t hurt someone high-profile. That would bring a lot of heat down on them.”
“He’s right,” Ace said. “Trust me, I’ve dealt with these types a lot during my police days.”
“We all did,” Isaiah noted. “Most criminals don’t want to draw attention to themselves and attract the cops. Not the smart ones, at least.”
Trixie figured they all knew more about this than she did, so she didn’t protest as Harrison split off from the group and she walked beside John, the others in front, through the winding maze of identical storage units.
Outside, the car that had been watching them was gone.
Trixie didn’t know if that was good or bad.
The question must have been evident in her eyes, because when she looked at Daddy, he smiled reassuringly. “They probably saw that was Harrison Trent and figured this place was about to be swarming with people. It’s not every day a limo rolls up and a movie star gets out.”
That made sense to Trixie as she slid into the back of the car while Daddy held the door for her.
That part was kind of fun, she noted silently. She felt like a movie star!
