Page 49 of Remote Access

“We can grab the hard drive if you want to start taking it apart.”

“Will do.” Helix disappeared into the room, already pulling something from his satchel.

Like Lane, he’d learned to come prepared.

He turned to check on Quincy just as the door to the basement opened and Quincy sprang into action, wrapping his arm around the neck of the person who came through. The girl gasped, then swore, her hands grabbing his arm.

“Shelli, dammit.” Helix rushed back into the room and over to her. “What the hell are you doing down here?”

“You have to leave,” she hissed, brushing tangled black hair off her face. “He’s here. He’s fucking early. Frank and Beans are already downstairs to greet him.”

“Frank and Beans?” Quincy asked as he removed his arm.

“That’s what I call the idiots he has working for him. Seriously, they’re not too bright. But they will shoot your asses if they catch you here.” She cursed and shut the door. “I’ve never been able to get down in here. How the fuck did you get past the system?”

Lane merely lifted an eyebrow and Quincy snickered.

“Doesn’t matter. You have to get out of here. Surely there’s an exit built into this mausoleum down here.” She dashed into one of the rooms, panic in every jerky movement.

Lane did the same, searching for a door, anything that would lead outside. What kind of basement didn’t have an emergency exit? But they didn’t find one. He did find a small room they could hide in, so he silently waved them that direction. They all filed in with Quincy taking up a space beside the door, his gun drawn.

Helix had drawn his as well, so Lane pulled his out, making sure to keep his finger nowhere near the trigger for now because he hadn’t completely picked up on that whole safe action trigger speech Quincy had given him in the woods.

Shelli went pale as footsteps sounded on the stairs.

“Put it in the corner.”

Lane briefly shut his eyes at the sound of that hated man’s low voice. He shivered, thinking about all the phone calls, all the orders over the years. Remembering that first day when he’d walked up to Lane and changed his life forever.

The hatred that swelled in his chest made him clutch the gun closer, itching to finally end the man once and for all.

But could he live with murder? Even someone like Hayrick Letsen?

Chapter Seventeen

“Ididn’t see Shelli upstairs and her car is here. Where is she?”

“She could be in her room.” The man who answered was breathing heavy as if he carried something. “I’ll go check once we move this table—”

When he broke off and silence filled the other room, Quincy knew they’d been caught. It could have been anything—something moved out of place or hell, shifted a smidgeon of an inch, knowing Letsen. Everything in his house was always placed just so, like he kept order around him at all times. With the size of the operation he controlled, it made sense.

And it had probably just fucked them.

“You may as well come out. I know you’re here.”

Shelli closed her eyes, her shoulders slumping. She gave Quincy and the others a small shrug, then boldly walked into the other room.

“How the hell did you get past the security?” Hayrick barked.

“Someone left the door open,” she snapped. “Either Frank or Beans fucked up, not me.”

“You don’t think you fucked up by coming down here?”

“Why the secrecy? I catalogue everything in these rooms, run everything. Was I curious? Yes. But I don’t see anything down here I didn’t already know about. I’ve been living in this house for eight years, Hayrick.”

The silence made Quincy’s gut clench. There was no way in hell he was letting that slip of a girl pay the price for what he was doing. He looked at Lane and found him staring back, the fear in his expression turning his blood cold. Then the man pointed to his right with a wobbly smile and he followed to find the…Metropolisposter. It was in a case, just leaning against the wall. Lane shrugged, then shook his head, his smile completely disappearing, and he knew Lane was thinking of Shelli out there, trying to deflect what they had done.

“Please stay here,” Quincy mouthed and the alarm that widened his eyes let him know Lane knew what he had to do.

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