It’s not a question, but I answer anyway. “NSA. CIA.”
“Right. So that leaves me two choices. One. I callthem and tell them we have an op running, and risk them hitting me with a ‘stand down.’ You’re out, and this is over. Two. Idon’tmake that call, and you run the chance of crashing into something we don’t know is there. It’s up to you, Declan.”
“Uh-huh.” I click my tongue, standing in that dismal house, looking at the cheap IKEA furniture. But there’s nothing to consider. “I’m not ready to quit.” It’s not even an option; if I do, the whole crew will be pulled on the Palm Springs job alone, and Raven will never forgive me.
“No, and neither am I,” Mercer says. “I knew you’d be willing to take the risk.” She pauses. “Whoever has an interest won’t see Renner coming. We have a chance to be heroes here. Get into that vault, find out what he wants, and make damn sure he doesn’t get it. Whatever happens,youhave to walk out of the vault with whatever package Renner has his eye on. Then I can make that call, and deliver it to them wrapped in a pink bow.”
Shit.“Understood.”
“Good luck, Declan.”
“Thanks… and Mercer?”
“Yeah?”
“No more Saturday calls. I’ve got your number if I need you.”
She gives me a dry laugh. “It’s not like you made them anyway, is it? Do me a favor and don’t get killed, Declan.”
“I didn’t know you cared.”
“I don’t. I just hate paperwork, and this one justgotverymessy.”
The line goes dead.
I carefully wipe the call record from my phone, andslide it back into my pocket.
Messy doesn’t even begin to describe it.
If she only knew.
Twenty-Seven
Declan
Sunday morning, we meet most of the crew at Whiteman Airport, only a short ride from Raven’s apartment. The other two women aren’t there, but Raven doesn’t find this strange.
Renner’s hired a seven-seater helicopter, and we fly out to Mojave.
“Going to start from five-thousand,”Cole tells us over the headsets, the rotor noise a steady background beat.“Focus for the first few jumps is a clean exit with good body position. If that goes well, tomorrow we’ll practice immediate opens.”
“We got a landing site?”Dario asks.
“Cammy and Tasha aren’t jumping, so they’ll set up a target ring.”
“Oh, that’s where they are.”Dario nods.
“They brought sun umbrellas, sandwiches, and a cooler of drinks,”Renner adds. He’s leaning back in his seat, eyes closed, looking perfectly chilled.“Because I take care of you.”
“How many days are we getting up here?” I ask.
“Four,”Renner replies.“It’s twenty-five grand a day for this thing.”He taps the side of the helicopter without looking.“That’s the budget we have left.”
“We’ll be aggressively reducing the height through the week,”Cole tells us.“We’re jumping the next three days, have a rest on Wednesday, one more on Thursday. Friday we head up to San Fran. That gives us Saturday and Sunday for learning our routes.”
Except Raven and I have already made a start on that.
“Four days jumping, huh?”Raven says.
