“There shouldn’t be. The office is in the west wing, so we’ll come through the kitchen, then the dining room, and there’ll be a hallway on the right. The office is the third door on the left. He usually locks it, but it’s a simple doorknob lock.”
“Piece of cake,” Houdini replies.
“You still want me hidden in the trees to the west?” Jester asks. Sitting in the darkened car like we are, with the closest streetlamp several houses away, his face is cast in shadow.
“Yeah,” I answer. “My parents will approach from the east. Obviously, Idon’t care about being here when they arrive, but I want you two gone by then.”
I don’t care if my father knows what I’ve done. In fact, I want him to know. That’s why I’m planning to wait for him in his office, so I can confront him face to face. I want him to know that his only son finally sees him for the monster that he is. And that his son is the one who’s sending him to prison.
Pain slashes through my jaw as my teeth grit together. My hands tighten on the steering wheel.
Thisrage. It’s like nothing I’ve felt before.
How could he?the wounded boy inside me asks for the hundredth—thousandth?—time.How could he do this? How could he hurt Sofia like this? How could he hurt me?
But he did. And if Sofia’s theory is correct, my father has hurt a lot more people than just us.
But I’m his son,the voice stubbornly insists.He knew how I felt about Sofia. Why wouldn’t he just want me to be happy?
I’m going to lose Sofia after this. I know I will. There’s no way she’ll stay with me, knowing what my father did to her. She’s still at my condo now, for her own safety, and she hasn’t talked aboutleaving, but I know it’s just a matter of time. Once it’s safe for her to leave, she’ll be gone. I’ll never see her again.
The weight on my chest grows even heavier, pressing down until it’s hard to breathe.
Concentrate on the op. Emotions have no place here.
Straightening, I lift my chin at Houdini and Jester. “Are you ready?”
They nod silently.
Then, on a downward gesture of my hand, we exit the car in unison.
The doors snick quietly shut.
Dressed all in black, we’re no more than shadows darting into the cover of trees. Trained to move silently, the three of us keep in formation, me in front, then Houdini, and at his six, Jester. Unlike our other ops, we don’t have weapons this time. Just our phones set to silent and Houdini’s set of lockpicks.
When we get to the rear of the house, Houdini and I stop, while Jester continues on to the west. I look at Houdini and murmur, “I’m going to hack into the security now. Should take me about a minute. Maybe less. Then we’ll be good to go in.”
Houdini nods. “Roger.”
Forty-seven seconds later, we’re ready to move.
On silent feet, we approach the house. Though this is probably the least dangerous op I’ve ever been on, adrenaline surges. But I channel my training, the years spent in Delta when a loss of focus could mean the difference between life and death.
As we enter the house, I have a flashback of sneaking into my old apartment on the Upper East Side, back when I was in high school. Back before my parents moved to the suburbs. Before things with Sofia were ruined. Before I realized the man I idolized was nothing close to what I thought he was.
I wasn’t doing anything bad when I snuck in, for the record. I’d been at Sofia’s, watching a movie, and we fell asleep on thecouch, not waking up until well past midnight. Her mom had been home, so all we did was hold hands and exchange brief kisses.
I was worried I’d get in trouble for coming home late. But as it turned out, my parents didn’t even notice.
Not for the first time, and probably not the last, I wonder,Did my mother know what he was doing?I hope not. But I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if she had.
As we make our way to the office, my pulse jumps again.
What will I find inside? Will it be enough to put an end to this? And when he gets home, what will he say? Will he deny it? Or admit everything?
Once we reach my father’s office, Houdini makes quick work of the lock. Then we’re in.
While Houdini crouches by the safe hidden in one of the cabinets, I take a seat in my father’s office chair and boot up his computer. Using the USB drive I brought with me, I quickly install password hacking software on the system, and in under a minute, I’m in.
