Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Really?” He laughs lightly and squeezes me. “I’m proud of you.”
“I meant it too. He’s dead to me.”
“That’s my fucking girl.” He kisses me again, and we head into the car together. He puts his hand on mine as he drives. “I’m proud of you.”
“I’m proud of myself, honestly.” I laugh lightly, feeling giddy and free for the first time in my life. “I’ve never, ever talked to him like that before.”
“He doesn’t matter anymore. If you don’t want him in your life, he’s gone. You know that, right?”
I shift to study my husband. The solid lines of his face. The cold strength in his eyes.
“I know that now,” I say softly. “Because I have a home with you.”
“You’re damn right you do.”
Chapter 39
Alexan
Riley’s voice is low and calm in my ear. “Are you in position?”
I crouch down in the narrow alley. My boot’s in something wet. “I’m good.”
“We’re in the system.” Daron’s voice now. I halfway expected him to give me shit for bringing my wife on this job, but he didn’t say anything when she climbed into the van. “Give me a minute to drop the security.”
“Eric here. I’ve got eyes on Navarro.” There’s loud music in the background of wherever Eric’s chiming in from. “He’s, uh, heading into a strip club.”
“Two strip clubs in one week?” Daron laughs lightly. “Lucky boy.”
“Concentrate,” William says, sounding tired.
“I’m going to mute my line,” Eric says. “I’ll update if I lose eyes or if he moves.”
The noise ends. A short silence. Then Riley says, “Are you guys always this unprofessional?”
I grin to myself. I can almost see the annoyed look on Daron’s face right now as he tries to ignore my wife. “We’re working on it,” I tell her, shifting my weight so I can reach up to the top of the fence. I pull myself up and stare into the backyard of Navarro’s silent, dark house. “Tell me when it’s time.”
“Another minute,” Daron says.
“Going comms quiet,” Riley says. “Good luck, baby. Let me know if you need me to walk you through anything.”
“Will do.” Riley’s here in case I come across a lock I can’t handle. But also, because she’s safer in a van with my crew than she is sitting at home in my house. Even though my system’s good, I still worry when she’s not around.
I hang tight and keep myself calm. I should be jittery, but I’m strangely not worried. My specialty is cybercrime, and I don’t usually do many breaking and enterings, but we’re on top of this one. I’m as confident as I can be.
“Go now,” Daron says. “You’ve got ten minutes tops.”
I pull myself up over the very nice back fence and drop down into a well-manicured lawn. I skirt around a small pool and head to the door. I think of Riley’s training as I take out the lock picks and glance up at a camera in the corner of the house. There’s no red light. No indication that it’s working.
Fucker better be dead, or else we’re screwed.
I picture my wife, topless and smirking, as I get down to business. It takes me almost five minutes, but eventually, I turn the tension rod, and the lock makes a quiet snick noise as it comes undone.
“Good job,” Riley says in my ear. “Proud of you.”
“Enough of that,” Daron grumbles. “Half your time’s gone. Get moving.”
I slip into a back entryway. There’s a closet on the right and nice-looking shoes lined up in an expensive rack. I hurry down the hall, turn right, and take the steps to the second floor.
The office is at the front of the house. I slip inside, careful not to disturb anything, and stand quietly for a moment as I acclimate to the room.
“What do you see?” Riley whispers in my ear.
“Desk near the windows like we figured. Bookshelf with lots of pictures and shit.” I recognize Navarro standing among men and women, likely all cartel members. “There’s a filing cabinet.”
“Ignore that,” Riley says. “Find a safe. Hurry.”
I start rifling through the place. I can’t just leave the watch out in plain sight. If I do that, Navarro’s going to get suspicious. I need Mantis to find the watch right here, in his house, where he can’t deny that he ever had it.
“Got one.” I find a safe hidden behind some sawed-off books. It’s a clever disguise, except the books were clearly glued together, and not all that well either. “Fuck. I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“Describe it.”
“Digital. Basic keypad.” I give her the make and model numbers, grunting as I pull it out and lower it down onto the floor. Asshole Navarro didn’t bother to anchor it to the shelf. “Talk to me.”
“Try default numbers first. 0000, 1234, 0123.”
I enter those and nothing happens. “Next please.”
“Mallet time.”
I pull a big rubber mallet from my bag. “You sure this works?”