Page 78 of Breaking the Rules
“Copy that,” Waverly whispered into her shoulder mic.
“Try not to fuck this up, guys,” Micah warned.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Waverly grumbled.
She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. This had to work. Right now, Petra was the only key they had. She brought up the interior of Petra’s house in her mind’s eye. She’d been there a handful of times, and Invictus had stored the blueprints from their security system installation.
From the kitchen, it would be a fast jog down the back hallway to get to the rear stairs. With the all clear from Micah, who was monitoring the system’s camera footage, they’d take the stairs to the second floor, fourth door on the left to Petra’s suite. Petra was not a morning person. In fact, she considered anything before 11 a.m. to be an inhuman torture so Waverly was confident they’d find her sleeping. They’d have a few minutes to talk her into leaving with them, packing whatever she needed, and then smuggling her back downstairs to the waiting van. If all went according to plan.
She felt the van slow and then come to a stop. She heard Tony roll down his window to greet the guard.
“Hey, Tony, how is it going?” the guard asked with a thick Russian accent.
“Can’t complain,” Tony replied. “I got a whole bushel of them Brussels sprouts Ms. Stepanov loves.”
The guard laughed. “Then I guess I won’t be seeing you again, my friend.”
“Maybe I’ll leave them in the back of the van then.”
“That would be wise. I see you have company today.”
Waverly’s heart tripped. Her fingers brushed the reassuring metal of the .38 she wore at her back.
“This is Gus. I’m training him,” Tony lied blithely.
There was a silence that stretched on for what felt like hours, and Waverly was sure they were going to have to shoot their way out.
“Don’t let Tony take the Brussels sprouts inside, Gus,” the guard warned. And then they were moving.
Waverly let out the breath she’d been holding.
“Coming up to the top of the drive. Looks like we’ve got a guard in the backyard doing a patrol,” Xavier said quietly from the front.
“I see him,” Micah announced in Waverly’s ear. “If you can park angled toward the back door, you can cut off his view.”
“Park angled toward the door,” Xavier relayed to Tony, and the van came to another stop.
“Show time,” Waverly muttered into her mic.
“Break a leg. But make sure it’s not one of yours,” Xavier said lightly. “Prepare to the cut the feed on my mark,” he told Micah.
Waverly heard the driver’s side door open and close as Tony got out.
“Cut the feed,” Xavier announced.
“Cutting,” Micah responded.
“Angel, we’re giving Tony twenty seconds to get the chef occupied, and then we’re moving,” Xavier said quietly.
“Ready when you are.”
She felt the familiar adrenaline of an operation build in her as she counted down from twenty. She was already crawling out of her hiding spot when Xavier gave the okay. He slid smoothly out of the van and opened the sliding door. He settled his hands on her waist and lifted her down.
She teased the line between his eyes with a finger. “Don’t worry. This is going to work.”
“It better because otherwise we’re going to get shot or arrested in pajamas,” he said looking down at the black sweatpants he wore.
“Trust me, it’s all part of the plan,” she said, hefting a box of raspberries at him. She took the crate labeled “Stepanov” from the floor behind the front seat. “Let’s roll.”
