Page 49 of Spook’s Honor

“No shit,” Maverick breathes, shocked. He’s already put it together. Clever fucker.

Rowena gives him one of her half smiles. “No shit.”

“Jesus,” I ran a hand over my face. “Okay. I get it. I’ll drop it for now.”

“Good,” she grins. It changes her entire face. “Because we’re here, and you and I need to get our heads back in the game.”

Laughter escapes those in the vehicle with us. “Schooled by the student, brother,” Maverick grins before turning serious. “Be careful. Both of you. See you back at the hangar.”

The limo stops and the door opens. Maverick gets out then helps Janis and Tru out of the car. Rowena and I’ll get out once the limo’s parked.

We step out of the limo, backpacks slung over our shoulders, and walk away from the hotel. Heading for the address Chief sent, we find the vehicle he arranged for us, the keys tucked inside the wheel well.

Starting it, we join the flow of traffic that leads us out of Jacksonville. The further out we get, the less houses we see, and those that we do, clearly belong to the wealthy.

We follow a narrow road winding through the darkness. In the distance, we catch glimpses of the ocean as we climb higher and higher, following the map to Mulally’s house.

It’s not exactly isolated. There are a few neighbouring homes, but not many, and none close enough to be a concern. I’m not sure who Chief had watching the place, but the guy had to be good not to be seen.

We find somewhere to park and hunker down to watch. It’s still early, and we won’t be making a move for a few hours. Darkness blankets the area, broken only by the warm glow of the streetlamps lining the road.

In the distance, we can hear the ocean crashing against the rocks. If it were any other night, for any other reason, I’d have enjoyed being here.

Maybe when all this shit is over, I’ll bring Honor and the boys here for a week at the beach.

The intel Chief sent was solid. In all the time we’ve been sitting here, we’ve only seen two guards making rounds.

We watch as the lights in the houses around Mulally’s go out one by one. The second it all goes dark, we move.

“Easy does it, Row. We’ve only seen two guards, but there may be more inside,” I remind her. She gives me a thumbs up and fits her earpiece in.

“Comms check,” she says softly.

“Reading you loud and clear,” I reply with a quick nod. “Let’s move.”

We melt into the shadows, circling the house with practiced silence that comes from experience and multiple operations. I draw my gun from its holster and cover Rowena, as she makes short work of cutting the alarm, before removing her lock picking tools from a pocket and getting to work picking the lock. She’s quick and not a second later, the lock yields with a soft click.

I gently push it open. We move in fast. Synchronised just like when we train.

I enter first, weapon raised, Rowena slides in low beside me. We cover each other treading softly against the hardwood floor.

The hallway stretches ahead in dim, amber light spilling from a light left on in the hallway. Expensive artwork hangs in perfect symmetry along the walls. It’s a cold house with nothing out of place.

Working together we clear the living room first. It’s a large open-plan room, with floor-to-ceiling windows, draped in heavy curtains. White leather furniture arranged around a glass table. In the distance, we hear the muted sound of a television.

I signal towards the sound. Rowena nods and we flow out the living room toward the kitchen, finding it empty. There’s a light showing under a door at the end of the room. On silent feet, we walk toward it. Standing ready, I grip the handle, and gently turn it, opening the door an inch, just enough for us to see in the room. Sweat trickles down my cheek under my balaclava making me itch. I hate wearing them, but they serve a purpose. Keeping our identities secret.

We can’t see them, but we hear them. Two men having a conversation and watching TV.

“Hey, you hear back from the boys who went to check on the boss’s niece?”

“Nah, but the boss is getting squirrelly man. I put him off today, but if I don’t hear anything tomorrow, we’ll have to tell him.”

Interesting. They don’t know their men are dead. Rowena and I share a look of disbelief.

“I’m sure it’s all good. I mean how hard can it be to pick her up? It’s not like she’s being protected by a real motorcycle club. From what we found out, it’s a bunch of rich pricks pretending to be a club. They’re probably weekend riders or some shit.”

I shake my head if only they knew.