“I can’t speak to whatever this is,” he said. “But the feeds are all labeled. Give me a second.”
He started flipping manual overrides, shutting off jammers. The looping feeds blinked, flickered, then died.
Static washed across them for a breath.
Then the cameras came back.
For the first time, I saw them flicker to life all at once—hallways, elevator lobbies, empty offices, stairwells—from our angle in the doorway. Little squares of truth.
“Miami,” I said. “Are you getting this?”
Miami’s laugh came through the radio like a spark. “Oh, now we’re fucking talking,” he said. Keys clacked faintly behind his voice. “Ops guy’s dead on my screen. Cams are rebooting. I’ve got external, street side, boardwalk side, and… fuck, yeah. I’ve got your lobby. I’ve got your elevators. I’ve got your stairwells. Somebody hit the reset in there, whatever you did. Feeds aren’t being tampered with anymore. This is all live. I can see everything.”
“Good,” Blackjack said. “Start earning your disability check and help them in there.”
“Already on it,” Miami said. His tone shifted, sharpened. “Okay. Listen up. Street side first—two black SUVs parked a half a block down from the loading dock entrance. Four guys in suits smoking near the rear entrance. That van that disappeared from earlier? It’s back, closer this time. Right by the service gate. I’m counting at least nine heat signatures clustered around ground level over there. Pretty sure they’re a Vincino and cartel mix. I also see two Serpent cuts too.”
“And inside?” I asked.
There was a pause. I could picturehim leaning in toward the monitor, his face lit ghostly by the security feeds blue glow.
“First big lobby is clear," he said. "No movement. Just dust and whatever you’re breathing in up there. Second level mezzanine, also clear. But… stair cam on fifteen just picked something up.”
That made every nerve I had stand on end.
“Talk to me,” I said.
“Vladimir,” Miami said. “Tall, beard, stupid expensive looking overcoat. He’s got four guys with him—two suits, one Serpent, one cartel. And he’s got two women.”
My jaw tightened.
“Details,” I demanded.
“It’s Romans wife and daughter, zero doubts,” Miami said.
“Condition?” Valkyrie asked, voice clipped.
“No visible blood on them,” Miami said. “Hands bound in front with zip ties. No gags. They’re walking, not being dragged. Vlad’s got his hand on the wife’s arm. Serpents on the daughter’s shoulder. They’re heading into what looks to be a service corridor… hold on. An elevator. They’re bundling them into a service elevator.”
“Which one?” Blackjack asked.
“Service one on the north side,” Miami said at once. He was in his element now. You could hear it. “Not the main guest elevators. These are behind the walls. It runs from the basement to level fifteen with access toa back hallway just behind the main lobby on ground level.”
“So, they’re coming down,” I said.
“Yeah,” Miami said. “You’re on twelve. They’re three up. I see the doors closing… There. Elevator’s moving. Down. Fast. They’re bypassing stops. Headed straight for ground level probably.”
“Probably want an easy exit,” Spade said. “Probably headed for those black SUVs on the street side who will move up once they’re brought down.”
“Jersey,” Blackjack’s voice crackled in through a second channel. “We’re in position on the street side. We’re stacked up and can jump on those SUVs if they get close. We can stop them from getting in. Force them back inside the building.”
I looked at Spade and then Snake Eyes.
“If you can force them back inside, and we can get down in time, we could cut them off on the boardwalk side.” I thought more about this for a second. “Miami. Is there a service elevator on the south side too?”
I heard static, then Miami’s voice. “Yes. Down the hall from the security office.”
“Let’s act fast then. Jersey,” Blackjack said. “You and Valkyrie take off. Take the other service elevator down to the lobby and intercept that elevator if possible. If you can’t and they head to the back, we can cut them off. We’ll take this side. Miami,” Blackjack took a breath. “Keep on the cameras. Direct us to what you see. If you see them headed boardwalk side, let us know. We have to stop them before theyget into a vehicle. If they leave, the entire strategy of this war shifts. If there’s a chance we can get the wife and daughter clear before this turns into a circus, we need to do it.”
