"Fuck!" I pat around the ground, finding the cold metal.
"Two and a half minutes," Damon counts down.
I jam the screw in, twisting it with the driver. It’s crooked, stripping the threads, but I force it. Second screw. Third.
"Two minutes, maybe less…"
I skip the fourth screw. It doesn't matter. This was always going to be the way so I shove the screwdriver and the drive into my pocket and push the heavy painting back against the wall but it bounces back open. I close my eyes and pull hard on everything I am, everything I fought for and then let my muscles relax one by one until I feel ready and then I stand up and spin around to face the door.
"Blue. Get out."
I skirt around the glass desk and lean back against it and wait for what’s to come, I smile and say, “Pivot, Damon. Go live. Put my camera feed and audio everywhere for the world to see.”
My mom’s justice was right there, behind a metal plate, and I couldn't reach it so I’ll get it another way.
“Fuck, no! Get out of there, Demi. We’re done.”
"We’re not done," I say calmly, pushing myself up to face what’s about to come through those doors.
"Blue," Andre warns. "Don't be stupid. We regroup. We will find another way later."
"There is no later! The auction ends in two hours. If we don't get those files now, we won’t get another shot at it. This is the only window."
"We can't open the safe," Damon insists. "The script failed."
"There was always that chance. It was a good try but I hadn't originally figured we were going to bypass the biometrics. We need to use them."
"We don't have her eyes or her voice," Damon points out.
"We don't," I agree. "But she does."
Silence on the line.
"You planned this without telling us, didn’t you? You were always going to get Thorne into that office to open it, weren’t you?" Andre asks, his tone shifting from protective to furious.
I sigh again. "I’m sorry. I did have hope that the script might work but I will always have plan B and C to pivot to in any con. Your script option was never plan A. This one is. I want her to walk right into this office and open it for us," I tell them. "We tried the ghost approach. It didn't work. Now we try the sledgehammer."
"This could end up a hostage situation, Demi," Damon warns with a slightly panicked tone. "That escalates this from grand larceny to kidnapping or even worse. Graves is with her and he’s armed. You could get hurt here. Please, Demi… don’t do this."
"I don't care," I say. "I'll be fine. She stole my mom’s peace of mind in her last moments on this earth. I’m stealingeverythingfrom this cunt. I know you’ve been wanting me to trust you guys and I do. So now I'm asking for that same trust back. I need you to believe in me, believe I know what I’m doing. Are you in or out?"
"I’m in," Andre growls but I can hear the resistance in his voice.
"Damon?" I ask.
"I’m already disabling the panic alarm in the executive wing," he replies, the sound of furious typing filling the line. "If you’re going to grab her, you need the rest of security to stay away."
BING
There’s the elevator. I have seconds left before this kicks off and I’ve never felt calmer. "Here we go. Go live now.”
I take a deep breath, adjusting my wig, straightening the heart broach camera. Martha the runner is dead. It’s time for Blue to come out and play.
"Let’s go harpoon a whale," I whisper, and the door opens.
Chapter 15 – Marcus (February 14)
"Let’s go harpoon a whale."
