Page 9 of A Touch of Treachery
I tightened my grip on the watch and yanked it back, along with the attached chain.The sharp motion jerked Arnold off-balance and sent him staggering in my direction.I drew my arm back, then stepped forward and slammed my fist into his face.
Crack!
Arnold’s nose broke, and he slumped to the floor.
I stood there, breathing hard, but none of the thieves stirred.I bent down, unwrapped the silver chain from around Arnold’s wrist, and slid the watch back into the front flap on my coveralls.Then I moved from one thief to another, searching them, but they only had burner phones in their pockets.
I pressed Woody’s thumb onto his phone, unlocking it, since he had seemed to be the leader.The thieves might have been blocking Section comms, but his device had a signal, so I quickly keyed in a number and sent a text.
Code name BRIEFCASE.Mission compromised.Three thieves subdued on Vault level.More hostiles might be in the building.D.
A few seconds later, the phone chimed with a message.Understood.Strike team will move in.G.
Gwas Gia Chan, my immediate supervisor and the head of the Section cleaners in the D.C.station.
Charlotte and I hadn’t wanted to scare off the thieves by having a bunch of undercover Section agents camped out in the lobby, so we’d entered the Vault building by ourselves.Gia was stationed nearby, monitoring the lobby’s security feed in case we needed backup, although the thieves had most likely disrupted the cameras, just like they had done with Charlotte’s and my comms.
I scanned Woody’s texts, but the phone only contained generic messages likeIn positionandWaiting.But the surprising thing was that Woody was reporting to someone else, which meant he wasn’t the leader after all.
Frustrated, I shoved the burner phone into my pocket, then grabbed Woody’s ankles and dragged him into the storage locker with Arnold and Bonnie.I shut the door behind me, and the keypad light flicked to red.That should hold the unconscious thieves until more Section agents arrived.
In my pocket, Woody’s phone buzzed with a new text.Primary objective almost complete.Grab what you can and meet me at the rendezvous point.
Once again, the vague message didn’t tell me who had sent it or where they were.Whoever was in charge was smart, and so far, they had been one step ahead of Charlotte and me.
Now, let’s get what we came for, while Bryce takes care of the primary objective,Woody’s voice whispered through my mind.I hadn’t paid much attention to his words at the time, but now they were all I could think about.
Bryce ...Bryce ...Bryce ...
The name echoed in my mind like a hated song I couldn’t ignore, no matter how hard I tried.I knew a Bryce, although I hadn’t seen or heard from him in years.He couldn’t be the leader of this crew ...could he?
My gut twisted with a sinking sense of certainty.Knocking out enemy comms, sending cryptic messages, playing a shell game with mission personnel and objectives.Those moves were all straight out of Bryce’s playbook.
I sprinted away from the locker and raced back toward the emergency stairs.I didn’t know what Bryce was doing here, but I had to find Charlotte and warn her that the mission had gone sideways—and that we were dealing with an unexpected and extremely dangerous enemy.
CHAPTER FOUR
CHARLOTTE
Irisshriekedandflungthe smoking briefcase away.It landed on the floor and skidded in my direction.Smoke continued to spew out of the booby-trapped case, but the green clouds were harmless, so I bent down and slammed the lid shut.Then I scooped up the briefcase and swung it at Iris’s gun.
Smack!
The briefcase banged into the gun, knocking it out of her hand.It too clattered to the floor.Iris lunged toward the weapon, but I drew the briefcase back, then swung it forward again, this time aiming for her right arm.
Crack!
Iris’s arm broke with a loud, sickening sound.She shrieked again and staggered back, her arm now hanging limply by her side.Not only was the briefcase booby-trapped, but it was also lined with lead, which made it an excellent battering ram.A handy little toy from the Section 47 armory.
Iris lunged to her left, trying to spin past me, but I swept my leg out, tripping her, and she tumbled down onto her knees.The other agent cursed, then lunged forward.Her left hand closed around the gun, and she spun around on her knees and raised the weapon.
I wrapped both hands around the briefcase, stepped up, and slammed it into her face.Iris’s head snapped back, and she crumpled to the floor without another sound.I loomed over her, breathing hard and still clutching the case.
“Update,” a male voice demanded, startling me.“Everyone, check in.”
I whirled around, thinking someone had entered this level, but the corridor was empty.
“Status update.”The male voice sounded again, more demanding and annoyed than before.
