Page 72 of Lucky Boys
Skye gently placed his thumb on my bottom lip and tugged it out of my teeth. I hadn’t even realized I was biting it. “You got this, Brooks. I believe in you.”
I took a big, heaving breath and finally relaxed my shoulders. I could do this. I had no choice. I looked up at Skye. “You’re right. Idogot this. We’ll be fine.”
“That’s the spirit. Are you ready?”
No, but I had to be, so I nodded. He grinned at me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders and led me outside. “Come on. Rumor has it Martinez has a couple bikes here. Let’s take those to meet the cop. And let’s get out of here quickly before Luca can find us and start nagging us again.”
That got a real laugh out of me, and I was sort of relaxed by the time I put on a jacket, covering my uniform, and helmet. We met the officer in front of a little cottage twenty minutes later. An electrical van was parked outside.
A tall man in his early forties dressed similarly to us walked outside.
“Hello,” he greeted in a strong accent. “I’m Akseli Korhonen. I heard we’re breaking into a house today.” He was grinning, nothing like a police officer should be, considering we were breaking probably a zillion laws.
“Hi,” Skye responded, stretching out his hand. “I’m Skye, and this is Brooks. We really appreciate you helping us out today.”
He clapped his hands. “Well, when the ambassador calls for a favor, you can’t turn it down. Besides, Damian Larsen has been on our radar for a while, but we haven’t been able to get him.”
Skye cocked my head to the side. “Is anything we find admissible in court?” I hadn’t really thought about that, but he made a point. I mean, I didn’t know the Finnish law system inside and out, but I assumed that was the same.
Korhonen just shrugged. “Let me worry about that. Try not to kill anyone and everything else will be fine.”
I barked out a laugh. I liked this guy. “Can’t make any promises,” Skye replied with a raised eyebrow. “Ready to go?”
Korhonen rolled his eyes but headed toward the van. I bounced up to Skye, feeling a certain kind of way, grabbed his hand, and held on as we met the cop at the van.
Once we started driving, Korhonen went over the plan. “At 08:30, the electrical company received a phone call from the Larsen household about an outage.” One that had been cause by us, I might add. “He was informed that someone would need to come look at the issue. That’s us.”
“Do we actually have to fix this?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound as nervous as I was. I knew fuck all about electric wiring or whatever else, but Korhonen shook his head.
“No, one text message and his power will be back on. When we get there, I’ll do all the talking. You two stay by the van and look like you’re getting the equipment. Hopefully, he’ll walk away and let us in. If he waits or asks for ID’s, you give him the ones that were provided and stay silent. Do everything you can not to talk. Once we’re inside, two of us will go to examine the electrical problem, and the third will sneak away to plant the devices. If he’s not suspicious, we have fifteen minutes. If he is, then, well, we have less than that. Who’s staying with me?”
“I am,” Skye answered. “Brooks will plant the cameras.”
Korhonen nodded. “Very good. Check your body cams and communication devices. Make sure they are working now.”
I snorted, already doing just that. It wasn’t my first job, but the guy was doing us a huge favor so I kept my mouth shut.
“Mic check, D?” I asked when we were suited up.
“I hear you loud and clear. Skye?”
“I hear you.”
“Good. Luca, Mav?”
“All clear,” Luca responded.
“Brooks, adjust your button. It’s blocking the body cam,” Diego told us.
“Oh fuck.” I fiddled with it for a few seconds. “Better?”
“Yes. Okay, you’re both all clear.”
Just in time, too, because we pulled up to the iron gate that surrounded the house. It stood out since no one else’s home was fenced in, but the gate was unlocked and we were able to easily drive onto the property.
I had zoned out some but came back to the present when I felt Skye’s hand on my knee.
“You were bouncing it,” he told me quietly. Fuck, I hadn’t even realized it. I had to get a grip on my nerves. Everything spoke to Larsen being a professional. He would clock anything remotely suspicious.
