The cameras blinked, then lied, right before time bent right in front of him. Three blocks away, parked in what looked like an abandoned service van, his laptop was open, and his other screens were lit up as his fingers steadily tapped at the keys. He was already inside the building’s security spine, rewriting time.
Moose moved with ease across the street from his post. The guard paced with his head down, gripping his phone in his hand. The bell tower was an old landmark in Ree Heights. It was one of those buildings so worn out the whole town moved around it, but nobody ever paid attention to it. Once an old artifact museum, they ended up moving to the state’s capital over ten years ago.
The Donahue syndicate now used it to house stolen art, bearer bonds, valuable ledgers, and hard drives with information people would kill, steal, or die for. Donahue and his team were becoming a thorn in the side of many Ree Heights citizens, so while tonight the sons of Audiemar were looking toget paid, it exceeded the money this time. This would cripple Donahue, and it was time for him to get knocked down a few pegs. This was about erasure.
The guard never saw Moose coming. He tased him, held him up in his arms, and backed up to the back entrance of the building that Kong now held open for him. Dragging him inside, he zip-tied his hands and feet before gagging him and shoving him into a nearby utility closet. Moose skimmed their surroundings, checking for the hidden passage Mozzi told them about. He pressed both hands along the walls until he felt a panel shift. Smiling, he turned to Kong with bright eyes.
“Six minutes,” Mozzi reminded them in their earpieces.
Moose shoved the door aside and stepped through with his big brother on his heels. The space was dark, reeking of dust and other aged material. Reaching the end of the hallway, the two stood outside a large vault door. Kong stepped past Moose and reached for the wheel to unlock it. With all security features disabled, he was able to turn it so the lock clicked loudly on the other side. The vault door was heavier than it looked. Kong forced it open without panic or wasted movement. Inside was proof of corruption that even Audiemar would have to respect.
Moose whistled low, “Shit.”
“Copy the drives. Take the ledgers. Leave the art,” Kong ordered.
“We got movement.” Mozzi’s voice tightened in the brothers’ ears. “Two more guards. They just hopped on the elevator to the ground level.”
Kong and Moose moved swiftly. Data transfers. Ledgers bagged, not for profit, but for evidence against some of the biggest movers in the city. By the time the two guards reached the vault, it was sealed shut while Kong and Moose slipped out the same door they’d walked through only moments before. Slinging a bag each over their shoulders, the two brotherssaluted one another and split in opposite directions down the back alley. This wasn’t just a lick. It was a chess move. One that was bound to cause a ripple effect.
Coast Bellamy dragged herself through the front door of her apartment in the small hours of the morning. Her clothes were soaked with the smell of French fries and sweat, while her ears still rang from all the orders yelled at her tonight atComfort Kitchen,where she waited tables a few times a week. The apartment was dark except for the thin bar of light leaking from her bedroom door down the hall. She assumed her roommate was in there looking for something, but she expected her to be asleep. Dropping her crossbody Michael Kors bag near the door, she sighed.
Padding in that direction, she pushed the door open, and her world instantly tilted. Tangled in the sheets with his arms possessively grabbing Arwen’s ass while she rode him, Coast’s boyfriend, Sipes, played with her big breasts. Pleasure and pain scrunched up his face as sweat dripped off his forehead, and his eyes finally drifted to the door.
“Shit! Coast! The fuck!” He scrambled to the edge of her bed, throwing Arwen aside.
Caught between the sheets and her roommate, he hit the floor clumsily. His dick was on full display with her pussy juices glistening off it. The only thing he wore was his black socks.The fucking audacity!Nigga didn’t even have on a condom! The nauseating churn in Coast’s belly left her clinging to the frame of her bedroom door with her hand pressed against her stomach. She blinked rapidly as chunks filled her throat, threatening to spew everywhere. Although this was her bedroom, it no longersmelled or felt like hers. That pissed her off! The annoying urge to throw up that she’d been fighting all day returned with a vengeance. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she laughed, more to herself than anything. Part of her couldn’t believe it, while another side of her should have seen it.
Arwen was always weird when Sipes was around. All extra friendly and making sure she had something low-cut, tight, and short to prance around in. Meanwhile, her bedroom door was revolving with all the men she rotated out. Coast never got down like that. Not to say she hadn’t had herself a tryst or two, but multiple sexual partners wasn’t something that appeased her. She was in a different city or country every six months to a year and didn’t have any interest in being in one place too long. She’d come to Ree Heights thinking she could catch her breath and try to build a life, and now she was wondering why the hell she even bothered.
“Baby…” Sipes scrambled to his feet, and Arwen pulled Coast’s favorite sheets around her sweaty, naked body while scooting to the opposite side of the bed. “This…”
“This what… Sipes? It ain’t what the fuck I think or see with my own two fucking eyes right now!” Coast reached for the nearest object she could swing on him, which just so happened to be a curling rod off her dresser beside the door. “You really came up in my shit and fucked my friend in my fucking bed!” She lunged for him. Even though he was much taller than her five-foot-seven frame, she wailed on him with both fists and the curling iron.
“Agh!” Sipes covered his head and cowered in a corner while Coast let him have it.
The last crack to his skull broke the handle of her favorite hair utensil, and Sipes finally stood. Tackling her to the bed, he pinned her against the sheets that smelled like his sex with Arwen and sent Coast’s anger into overdrive. She lifted her kneeand made it connect with his balls, sending him falling over and whimpering like a bitch. Winded and curled up in the fetal position, he groaned when she sat up.
Arwen tried to slink her skinny ass out the door, but Coast was on her.
“And where the fuck you think you going, bitch!” She caught her by her knotless braids and yanked her back so hard, she lost her footing.
When she turned, she tried to swing, and Coast was ready for her.
Bop!
She popped her right in her nose with her fist, sending her stumbling into the wall near the door. A slow trail of blood leaked from one of her nostrils, and Coast swung again, this time rocking her in her jaw. Arwen had to use the wall to hold herself up, and the sheet slipped off her body.
“Coast, the fuck is wrong with you? I think you broke my nose!” she screamed, shielding her face when she stepped to her and hit her with an uppercut.
Staggering back, Arwen’s arms flew above her head, and she hit the wall before sliding to the floor dizzily.
“You think I give a fuck about that!” Coast knelt and got in her face. “You grimy ass bitch! You really out here fucking on my nigga? Bitch, be glad all you got is a broken nose!” Coast raised her foot and kicked her in the face, leaving Arwen slumped on the ground.
“Yo, you fucking crazy, Coast. The fuck you do that to her for?” Sipes sat up on the edge of her bed and snatched his boxers and pants off her floor.
She eyed his pistol on the dresser and went for it, blood still boiling in her veins. Snatching the cold weapon in her hand, she checked to make sure the safety was off before aiming it at him. Sipes was still in pain, but he’d calmed down some as he bentover to slip into his boxers first. Shaking his head, he stood to pull them up and put his legs in one at a time with his jeans.
“The fuck you think you about to do with that, other than piss me the fuck off?” he asked, not moved by her antics.
