We were all wearing ear comms. Bridge's was more subtle. Smaller in his ear. On short notice, we hadn't been able to get all the best equipment. We only had what the gang had brought with them. So I'd chosen the ear comm that was more visible, hence the covering of my ear with my hair.
Alex and Amelia remained on the other side of the ballroom to maintain the illusion that we weren’t acquainted, but they were on standby in case anything went wrong.
And Telly, well, she got to stay in the van. "What is happening? It looks like everyone is just standing around."
Bridge smiled down at me even as he answered. "Telly, focus on Lucas and Bryna while they get what we need. Alex and Amelia, you’re their backup if they need assistance. Roone, your job, obviously, is to keep eyes on Middleton."
Roone grinned widely at his date. "Copy."
The girl wasn't paying attention, so that was good. Roone was staying close to her, but was extremely respectful as he was married to Jessa Winston, Lucas's younger sister.
Lucas’s voice was playful. "Roone, buddy, is that you? I know you're missing me, because normally, you and I get to do business together, but I'm glad Bryna gets to have some fun."
Their constant banter was helping to keep the mood a little lighter, but I was still worried. Bryna's voice was stern. "Jesus Christ, Lucas, pay attention."
"I am paying attention. I just want to make sure that my brother-in-law, fine and upstanding gentleman that he is, is behaving himself."
Roone groaned. "I’m a prince, dumbass."
Lucas laughed. "Your eyes are always on the prize.”
Roone tried to steer him back to business. “How about the safe?"
Bryna's voice came in next, loud and clear. "There's an office up here."
Lucas said, "Let's see who finds something first."
Bridge rubbed circles on my back. "Does everything have to be a competition with him?"
Bryna choked out a laugh. "Oh, yeah."
"You guys, I can still hear you," Lucas grumbled on the line.
Middleton approached the girl that Roone was with, and he eyed Roone up and down.
"Don't I know you?" We could hear everything happening through Roone's comm.
"I don't think so."
"I do know you from somewhere," Francis insisted.
Roone shrugged and stuck out his hand. "Jared Parks. I'm Aleya's date for the evening."
Middleton's gaze swept over the girl glued to Roone's side. "Aleya, you work in marketing, right?"
Aleya nodded. "Yes, sir."
Roone tucked an arm around her. "Well, good to meet you."
Middleton stared at him longer. "Are you sure I don't know you?"
Roone shook his head. "Pretty sure. I'm a software engineer. I've never been to anything this fancy, and I doubt you hang out at the pubs that I frequent."
Middleton lifted a brow. "Which pubs?"
Roone was quick. "The Ruin Club mostly. Just on the edge of Shortridge. It's my favorite place. It’s sort of a dive, but I mean, what pub isn't, right?"
Middleton sneered, and I could feel the chill from where I stood. He left them alone without even a goodbye.
On the line, Bryna's voice was clear. "Bingo."
"Did you find something, baby?" Lucas's voice was alert.
"Yeah, there are videos, I think. He's got them labeled with women's names."
Telly's voice came on then. "Excellent. Bryna, you know the device I gave you? The one that copies things? Stick them in there. Copy as much as you can and then get the hell out. Do you hear me?"
Lucas's voice was stern. "Bryna, stay there. I'm coming to you."
"I can handle it."
I did not want to be a witness to those two arguing.
I was so focused on listening that I completely missed Bridge’s warning. So I was alarmed when Middleton's voice came from my direct left. "I trust you're having some fun, Miss Varma."
I turned to face him. The smile was there, and his stance slightly aimed for appearing completely benign. Bridge tightened his hold as I said, "Yes, thank you."
"I hope you realize I meant what I said. You have been a true asset to this team. What would we ever have done without you?"
"Oh, I'm sure you would have found a way to succeed."
"Ah yes, but I particularly enjoy working closely with you. And as long as your new husband allows that, I can't wait for us to continue having a good working relationship.”
What the fuck? Did he think I would ever work for him after what he did to me?
I opened my mouth to say something, but then Bridge squeezed me hard. "As long as Emma wants to stay, I won't stop her. I mean, I would like her all to myself, of course. But she's a star. And I'm going to let her shine brightly."
Middleton's gazed dipped to where Bridge held me around the waist, and he scowled sadly. "Well, you certainly don't let her go far from your sight, do you?"
Bridge shook his head. "No. There's no reason for that."
Middleton opened his mouth to say something, a rebuttal, a comeback, I don't know. Something to scare me. But then the lights went black and a siren blared. And in that moment I knew.
We were caught.
Forty
Bridge
Emma wrapped her hand around my forearm, squeezing lightly. "Bridge." I squeezed back. "What's going on?"
"I think we're done here. As quickly as possible, start making your way toward the exit." I could only surmise that Lucas and Bryna had tripped something.
Amid all the madness, people were screaming, clamoring around, asking what was going on. The din rose higher and higher in correlation to everyone’s panic. No one knew what was happening, but we had a pretty good idea. And we knew to get the hell out of there. We just needed to make it out of the ballroom, down the hall, into one of the back offices, out the window, and we were home free. Easy.
Suddenly, there was a high piercing sound in our comms, and we all yanked them out. At that point, I grabbed Emma's hand and started hustling her toward the door. We were in essentially a windowless reception room, so we had to make it out to go down the hall, and then we would finally be out of the villa. But just as my last assessment told me that we were maybe twenty feet from the exit, something stopped us, or rather pulled Emma in the other direction.
"Where are you going?"
Emma twisted and wriggled. "What the hell?"
I could barely see, but the voice alone was enough to tell me who it was. "Middleton, mate, what's happening?"
"Well, it looks like security perimeters have been triggered. So everyone's going to have to stay put."
I laughed. "You're kidding, right? What security perimeters, and why do we have to stay here?"
"Well, I wouldn't want my employees getting hurt, you see. Something has tripped the security system somewhere, so I'm going to ask everyone to stay right where they are until my team assesses the safety of the compound."
Emma struggled again. "Let me go."