“Oh my God, look at that,” Crank said in an awed tone. “Look at the size of him.”
Horvan ignored him, his attention focused on Rael, his pulse racing. “What’s not good?”
“Him pacing like that? It’s a form of neurosis. It means he’s under a lot of stress. Animals in zoos or confined environments go cage-crazy after a while. It’s usually a sign they need to be released back into the wild.” Rael touched the screen, caressing the tiger, his eyes filled with anguish. He turned to Horvan. “We have to move fast.”
Horvan couldn’t agree more. “Okay, Hashtag. What’s your plan?”
Hashtag swallowed a mouthful of beer before speaking. “The good news is, we won’t need to do a week of surveillance. I found out all I need today, which is a good thing seeing as tomorrow is Saturday. The bad news? We’re still gonna need a week to set things up.”
“But have you worked out how we’re going to get him out?” Horvan demanded.
“Sure. We’re gonna take him out through the roof,” Hashtag replied with obvious confidence.
Crank blinked. “What are we gonna do—cut a hole in it with a can opener?”
Hashtag raised his eyes heavenward before continuing. “I’ve seen the layout of the building. There’s a staircase that goes from the top floor to the roof. They’ve got a helicopter pad up there. The CEO uses it. So… we’ll go out that way. Crank, we’ll need a military chopper, something big enough for all of us and the tiger.”
“Wait a minute.” Horvan focused on Hashtag. “Define ‘us.’” His heartbeat sped up.
“You, me, Roadkill, and Rael, plus any other guys we get in on this. Crank will be flying it, of course.” Hashtag regarded him mildly. “Is there a problem?”
Horvan nodded. “Rael’s not going with us.” There was no way he was about to endanger his mate.
“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?” Rael yelled, his face reddening.
“We need him!” Roadkill shouted.
Crank shook his head. “You can’t tell him what to do, mate or no mate.”
“Hold it!” They all fell silent at Hashtag’s holler. He stared pointedly at Horvan. “Rael has to go. As far as we know, he’s the only one of us who can communicate with Dellan.” He peered at Rael. “That’s right, isn’t it? You already have a rapport with him?” Rael nodded, and Hashtag turned back to Horvan. “No offense, H, but you and Dellan don’t have that yet. Obviously you will, once you guys get together, but for now? We need to go in there and have Dellan cooperate with us. He has to know what’s going on. From the look of things, he’s already stressed. Imagine what his reaction will be if all these strange guys turn up and try to take him from his cage.” He paused, his gaze locked on Horvan’s. “We need him, H.”
Horvan looked from Hashtag’s earnest expression to Rael’s tortured one, his heart quaking. Finally he nodded. “You’re right, of course.” He knew in his heart that Rael would be protected, but it didn’t stop him from worrying.
Hashtag expelled a breath. “Thank God for that. Now, you wanna hear how we’re going to get him out without anyone noticing?”
“I do,” Crank chimed in. Everyone sat down again, only this time Rael sat at Horvan’s feet, his gaze still trained on the laptop’s screen.
“This is going to be carried out early in the day. The building opens at six for the cleaning staff, but the CEO and his secretary normally get there at eight or later.”
Roadkill chuckled. “How do you know all this?”
Hashtag preened. “It’s amazing what you can find out over a smoke break with one of the security guards. And speaking of which… they monitor the top floor with CCTV. I’m gonna hack into their system. I gotta say, it’s a pretty shit system for such a hi-tech building. Anyhow, what they’ll be seeing is a loop, showing Dellan doing tiger stuff in his cage.”
“And you think they won’t notice a military helicopter landing on the roof? What if we set off an alarm?”
“We won’t. I’ll make sure of that. And security is gonna be too busy to see us, because they’ll have their hands full dealing with the protesters.”
Horvan frowned. “Protesters?” He had to hand it to Hashtag. The guy had clearly been thinking this through.
Hashtag nodded. “That’s what’s going to take the time. I need to set myself up with fake accounts on Twitter and Facebook, describing myself as an animal rights activist. Then I leak the story of the tiger to as many animal rights groups as I can find. I email them, spreading a tale of the rich CEO who keeps a caged wild animal in his office. I share footage of the tiger. In short, I use social media to whip all the animal lovers out there into a frenzy.”
“Isn’t that a bit risky?” Rael frowned. “You use social media, and Anson’s tech people could pick up on it.”
Hashtag shook his head. “Once these groups take a bite, we go quiet. Email, messaging, private groups on Facebook, et cetera. I’m not putting the video of Dellan out in public. Like you said, that’s way too risky. No, I’ll do a little fishing first; then when I’ve got their interest—bam.” He gave Rael a reassuring smile. “That work for ya?”
Rael nodded. “I should’ve thought before I opened my mouth.”
Horvan squeezed his shoulder. “You ask all the questions you want, okay?”
Hashtag continued, “When I’ve gotten a big enough response—and let’s face it, with social media, that won’t take long these days—I set a date for the protest, which gets shared secretly to keep prying eyes away.” He folded his arms. “The day in question, the protesters turn up en masse, primed with printed signs. So while they’re on the first floor, chanting slogans, sitting on the ground, painting graffiti on the windows and the walls, we will be on the top floor, getting Dellan out.”
“Hey, isn’t this Lethal Weapon II?” Crank was nodding. “You know, where all the protesters are outside the South African embassy, and Riggs slips in under the door to go—”
“Crank.” Horvan glared at him. “Not the time, okay?” Crank immediately mimed zipping his lips.
“Sounds like we might need a few more guys on the ground,” Roadkill commented. “Have them in among the protesters, making sure they stay on track.” He smiled. “You know who’d be perfect for this? Jase. He’s a great little rabble-rouser.”
“Good thinking. Get onto him, ASAP. Let’s see if he’s available.” Horvan knew they’d need more men. He hoped the ones they wanted were in the country. Some did a lot of work overseas in Europe and Asia.
“Then what?” Rael asked. “Once we’ve got him out, I mean.”
“We fly a short distance to an arranged meeting point. It can’t be a long trip, because of Dellan. We have a guy waiting for us with a motor home. We take it, and he flies the chopper away. Whichever direction we take, he’ll fly the opposite way.”
“And what direction will we be taking?” Crank inquired.
“That’s as far as I got,” Hashtag admitted. “But it’ll need to be someplace remote, with accommodation big enough for all of us plus a tiger. Of course,” he added, “we’re hoping he won’t stay a tiger for long.”