Page 142 of These White Lies
“I’m just as capable?—”
“No, you’re not.” Vincent snaps. "And we don’t have the time to baby your feelings right now, kid. You are most valuable to us as a driver and eyes in the sky.”
Sera presses her lips together but gives one furious nod. We move fast, gearing up in silence, all in black—vests, holsters, night vision, advanced comms.
I’m slipping a Glock into my thigh holster when I hear my sister’s soft voice. “You'd better come back, dickhead.”
I want to smile, to reassure her it will be fine, like I have her entire life. But I can’t, and she sees it in my eyes.
Because I’m not coming back without Elizabeth.
“Love you,” I say.
“Love you, too.”
Movingin two teams of two, we approach the wrought-iron gate. The driveway curves out of sight, beyond the gate, the house hidden from the street.
“How far?” Finn’s whisper crackles in my ear
“The house sits on five acres. Rear approach to the property is inadvisable. Windows on all sides. Front door is about a hundred yards from the gate,” Rhodes replies.
“Motion sensors?” I ask.
“Standard infrared at the gate, but nothing showing up beyond that. They’re counting on distance and privacy, not a fully-armed attack.” Rhodes explains.
I frown. “No other active perimeter defense?”
“Maybe she’s gotten arrogant along with her creepy friends,” Rhodes adds. “Probably thought no one would fight back. Carrow’s security was seriously lax, too.”
“There are four entry points: front door, garage side door, staff entrance on the west wall, and the kitchen breezeway door,” Sera adds in my ear. “Interior’s open concept. Multiple stairwells.”
“She’s not holding Elizabeth in an open floor plan,” Finn muses. “She’ll want a basement or a room they can close off. It’s better for the psychological fear portion of an interrogation.”
Rhodes grunts, “Agreed. Why get messy if you don’t have to? There was a wine cellar on the blueprints.”
I try not to think about what their words mean. Try not to think about the fact that the target… the client… is Elizabeth.
“All right. Standard split. Vincent and Rhodes breach the west wall, take the staff entrance, and sweep the rear entry. Finn and I will cover the east, and enter through the kitchen door. Link up at the central stairwell. Sera, are you into the cameras yet?”
“Just about…” I hear her muttering and swallow the urge to bark at her to work faster.
“Okay. I’m in. Huh? Not as many cameras as I thought there’d be.”
Splitting from Vincent and Rhodes, Finn and I stay along the public road before cutting into the tree line. Branches scrape my vest as we move low and fast along the wooded edge of the property, using the foliage for cover.
The wall surrounding the property isn’t tall—eight feet—but iron spikes top it.
I crouch, lace my fingers, and boost Finn up first. He swings a leg over and then extends his hand to me. I follow, boots hitting the brick path hard. A few lights glow inside, but there’s no movement in the windows.
“Basement first,” Rhodes murmurs through the comms. “No sign of life on the upper floors.”
“Copy.”
“Staff entrance alarm deactivated,” Sera says in my ear.
“Copy,” Vincent replies.
Finn and I reach the kitchen exterior door. A red blinking light stares back at us.
