“You’re back in our building?” I ask anxiously after a few moments when I hear what I think is the elevator doors.
“Y-yes,” Oliver pants, and a rush of relief floods through me.
Misha lets out a long breath. “Man, I’m never going to look at fish the same way again.”
“Yeah, that was fun.” Oliver chuckles, though I can still hear a hint of tension. “But how about next time, we do something simpler for our Sunday night bonding activities, like hacking into a government satellite or?—”
“Cracking the NSA’s encryption protocols?” Misha cuts him off, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
A loud laugh escapes me, the tension in my shoulders truly easing as I realize they’re in the clear. “Just get to Amelia’s apartment,” I instruct, already planning our next moves. “I’ll finish up here and come help acclimatize them in a minute. She’s going to be thrilled when she finds out what you’ve done for her.”
“Copy. Over and out,” Misha says with mock seriousness, making Oliver chuckle.
“It’s actually justover, but never mind,” Oliver says with an amused sigh.
I re-enable Elysium’s surveillance system, making sure everything clicks back to its normal state with no flickering lights or alarms. The hallway in the corporate building is silent. The only change is that the tank is now missing a few of its occupants. The tetras are on their way to a better life, and we’ve pulled off a successful mission without a hitch.
Or at least without getting caught.
My heart rate finally returns to normal as the last of the adrenaline ebbs away, and I set my earpiece by the computer.
I smile, imagining Amelia’s face when she sees her surprise. That will be more than worth having made ourselves accomplices to the original fish thief.
TWENTY-EIGHT
It’s late Monday morning,we’re taking a break from work to gather on the couch in my living room, and watch what’s about to happen. Misha wraps his arm around me, and I lean into him as Grey finishes connecting his laptop to the television.
The air hums with anticipation, a mix of nervous energy and excitement crackling like electricity as we wait for the moment to unfold. “Ready?” Oliver asks from the window, his voice filled with amusement but excitement, too, as he watches the street in front of Elysium. “Animal Welfare just pulled up.” He turns and makes his way back to the couch, sitting down next to Misha.
Grey’s fingers fly across the keyboard, and a moment later, the live feed from Elysium’s security system blinks onto the television screen. The grainy footage shows the usual hum of activity, employees milling around, oblivious to what’s about to happen. A wry grin tugs at Grey’s lips as he takes a seat beside me and relaxes into the cushions, stroking the back of my hand. “Showtime.”
The Animal Welfare team enters the building, their vests catching the light as they walk down Elysium’s corridors. Each one carries a transparent tank with oxygen pumps, ready for the neon tetras.
It’s almost surreal, watching it play out like this from the safety of my apartment. My plan to free them—to free myself—had seemed so wild at first.
And now we’re here.
Employees in the hallway pause, glancing at the team as they walk by. Some look curious, others bewildered, but no one steps in to stop them. As the team reaches the first aquarium, they begin assembling the portable equipment. One person sets up a siphoning hose to drain the tank, while another carefully nets the neon tetras, slipping them into the smaller containers.
Well, I’d have gotten more if I could’ve turned up with a fucking container too.
One of the board members strides down the hallway then, his phone already pressed to his ear. His footsteps falter when he sees the team working on the aquariums, his eyes darting from the tanks to the officers in disbelief.
The camera feed catches his agitated posture as he speaks into the phone again, gesturing wildly at the aquariums as if someone on the other end might have an explanation for the vanishing fish.
“Oh, look at him.” Misha chuckles beside me, his breath warm against my cheek. “Completely clueless.”
I watch with satisfaction, my heart lifting for the first time in days. It’s ridiculous and absurd, but it’s perfect.
The guys really went and did that.
Broke in and stole no less than eighty-four fish.
My 180-gallon aquarium now looks like a shimmering treasure chest filled with little neon diamonds darting through the water.
They didn’t have to do it. I never expected them to consider the fish as part of our exit plan. But the fact that they risked so much for me, even though they also arranged for the other fish to be taken away to a better place, warms my heart.
They understood what those fish meant to me and why and then made themselves accomplices in my little act of rebellion.
