“Agree.” It didn’t take a second for the bulge in the woman’s jacket to give away her purpose.
“Check out the slots. The other two are there. See how they walk the rows?”
It takes Lily a second. “Got it. You’ve got a good eye.”
“As do you.”
“I missed too many.” Her brows knit together, frustrated with her performance.
“You’ll always miss something. Expect the unexpected and you’ll do just fine.”
I’m surprised she found as many as she did. Although, I shouldn’t be. Lily comes to the Guardians with years of DEA experience under her belt. Jinx too.
“And if they catch Jinx and Wolfe before they …” She tugs on her earring and pushes off the wall. Spinning to face me, she loops her hands around my neck. Her fingers play with my hair. I place a hand over the small of her back and pull her in for a kiss. Beside us, Jinx and Wolfe haven’t stopped pawing each other.
“Jeez, how long is this going to take?”
“No way to know.” This is the one piece we don’t control. We’re blind when it comes to the movements of the Belvedere’s employees. “But it shouldn’t be too long. With as many employees that work the floor, someone’s either coming on shift, getting off work, or taking a break.”
“Just makes me nervous.” She lifts on tiptoe and kisses my cheek. “Security makes me nervous. The moment Wolfe and Jinx slip through that door, what’s to keep them from going after them?”
“They won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Human nature.”
“Meaning?”
“The house is interested in the gamblers. Their entire focus is on the gaming floor. Watching those at slots, making sure they’re not messing with the machines. They watch the players at the table, making sure no one is counting cards or cheating. Their entire focus is on the room, not what’s happening at the edges … or who slipped into employee-only areas. You don’t think this is the first time the house catches a couple looking for a bit of a thrill.”
At least that’s the entire premise. Mitzy says it’ll work. We’ll see about that.
“It’s a big risk.” Lily continues to scan the room, looking for security teams who show any interest in the two couples holding up the wall.
“They can’t afford to pull security off the floor. They’ll send someone else after Wolfe and Jinx.”
“I hope so.”
“Me too.”
It doesn’t take long before two cocktail waitresses come through the door. As they head to work, Lily discretely blocks the door from closing with her boot.
“You guys are on,” I whisper to Wolfe and Jinx, but there’s no need. Wolfe takes Jinx’s hand. He glances out into the crowd, looking like a guilty fucker, then he and Jinx slip through the doorway and disappear.
Meanwhile, Lily and I listen to their progress as Mitzy navigates them to a cleaning closet and talks them through uploading the code she needs to access Belvedere’s security systems.
As I suspected, none of the security on the floor go after the amorous couple, but they are aware of the breach. I catch several of them speaking into their communication gear. They’re fucking obvious about it too. Honestly, it’s comical.
A few minutes later, I hear the magic words.
Mission success. Wolfe’s gruff voice sounds in my ear.
The code was uploaded moments before Wolfe and Jinx got caught by a security patrol sent to find them. They’re escorted out by the guards where Lily and I wait.
Jinx hugs Lily. “I’m so going to kill you! We got caught.” Jinx grins at the two security guards. “Thanks for not busting us.”
“Just get a room next time.” One of the guards rolls his eyes. As I suspected, this isn’t the first couple he’s had to deal with.
The guards let Wolfe and Jinx off with a warning.
“Thank you, you’re the best.” Jinx gives each of the guards a quick peck on the cheek.
“Now, how about drinks?” Lily drags me away. “I hear this place has the most amazing rooftop bar with an awesome view.”
We head to a set of elevators and crowd on board with nearly a score of other people. The Belvedere definitely knows how to move large groups of people efficiently.
“Checkpoint Delta achieved,” Wolfe reports our progress to our team.
“Copy that. Head over to the southern corner. You’ll see a maintenance hatch which leads down to the HVAC floor.” Mitzy guides us once again.
Our intelligence says the women are being held in a room two floors beneath the rooftop bar. Our job is to free them, extract them via the rooftop bar, then walk them out the front of the Belvedere.
Walk out of the front entrance!
It’s a crazy mission.
Wolfe’s eyes practically bugged out of his head when Mitzy suggested it. I don’t know how she can pull it off, but that’s why we call it Mitzy Magic.
The bar is hopping. The music thumps. The dance floor pulses. It’s a warm night with enough breeze to keep things comfortable. Unlike the gaming floor, where cigarettes are discouraged, the smokers take it as a challenge to keep a smoke cloud over our heads. I hate the noxious fumes and blink against the sting in my eyes.
Over a hundred people party it up on the rooftop while the city lights stretch out toward the horizon. It’s a really cool bar with fluorescent lighting on the dance floor and around the edges of the rooftop railing. The lights pulse to the beat of the music as eager dancers bump and grind on the dance floor.
“T-minus ten. You guys ready?” Mitzy calls out to us.
Technically, Wolfe is the lead of this op, but all four of us answer.
We wait for Mitzy’s signal as things become more organized on the dance floor. People cluster together, then they begin to form lines. The rooftop bar turns into a massive line dance. More people arrive via the elevators as Mitzy counts us down.
Someone reaches out from the crowd, handing me a duffel bag. I sling it over my shoulder and nod to Wolfe. The contents are our ticket out of here.
The table we occupy sits next to an equipment access door with an electronic lock. On Mitzy’s mark, the door remotely unlocks, and the four of us move. I hold the door while Wolfe, Lily, and Jinx file in, then close it behind us. We wind our way through a maze of machinery until we reach another door leading to a stairwell.
“Take the stairwell down one flight.” Mitzy keeps us moving, calling out the locations of the guards. In the background, she scrambles the feeds of the surveillance cameras. She inserts a loop of an empty hall as we engage an enemy who never sees us coming.
Using silent, non-lethal darts, Jinx and I take out the men guarding our objective. Behind that unobtrusive door, our kidnap victims have no idea we’re here to rescue them.
Mitzy’s remote access unlocks the door. Wolfe and I look at each other, counting down silently from three to one. We kick down the door.
I sweep right. Wolfe sweeps left.
7
MARIA
I barge into the security suite at the Belvedere. Men look up from the camera feeds they monitor, but otherwise ignore me. Since I’ve made it a habit to visit all divisions within the Belvedere, my presence isn’t abnormal.