Page 30 of The Fortunate Ones
Skye continued to torment him as he made his way through the house and to the bedroom where the safe was supposed to be, but I didn’t think he ever turned it up as high as that first time.
“Wait till I can blow you next, Skye,” Brooks grumbled, climbing the stairs slightly awkwardly. “I’m gonna edge the fuck outta of you.”
“Sounds like a good time, sunshine.”
“TMI,” I complained, even if it really wasn’t.
“It’s okay, D. I’ll let you watch,” Brooks added as he slid into the bedroom door.
“I never said I wanted to.” I kinda did.
Brooks made a knowing sound in the back of his throat but didn’t get to tease me further. “I found the safe.” He faltered. “Ahhh, fuck youuuu, Skye.”
“What?” Skye asked innocently.
Brooks cursed him again and fell to his knees on the carpet. After a moment, Skye relented, and Brooks sucked in a deep breath before focusing on the matter at hand.
“Please let the code be different. Please let it be different,” he muttered to himself as he punched in the one that had been provided for us, the estranged couple’s anniversary. It opened easily.
“Oh my god,” Brooks whined, annoyed.
“Take the easy paycheck, baby,” Maverick told him, amused. “We don’t get them that often.”
“True,” I added. “And can we not jinx ourselves? Please and thank you. Get the shit and get out.”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course it’s all right here too. If anyone bothered to investigate her claim, they would’ve found these immediately. I almost feel bad. Maybe I should give her a discount,” Brooks complained.
I shook my head. It wasn’t our fault the court system couldn’t give two fucks.
The rest of the job went as expected. Brooks got the heirlooms, placing them in his bag. Skye continued to tease him mercilessly as he left the house and climbed on his bike, only stopping then so Brooks didn’t end up in an accident. Drop-off went as smoothly as everything else, and within minutes of handing the goods over, the other half of payment was deposited into our account. Like Brooks had said, easy peasy.
It was why I should have expected that everything would go to shit. I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d had an assignment go that well. Hell, had it ever happened?
Brooks was nearly home when Maverick’s phone rang.
“It’s Luc,” Mav told us after dragging his cell out of his pocket.
There was a warning in my gut before Mav even answered the call. Something was wrong. Immediately, I clicked my screens off the job Brooks had just completed and onto the cameras set up at the bungalow. I’d also had them set up a security system where Ramirez was staying. How he’d managed not to be found by any of the numerous people that were after them was beyond me. The guy hadn’t even installed a Ring doorbell. Fucking nothing.
I frowned as I clicked through the feeds. I had alerts set up if anything was breached and they remained silent. It could’ve easily been Luca checking to see how Brooks’s thing had gone, but the dread overwhelming me told me that wasn’t the case.
“Hey, Luca, what’s up?” Maverick asked.
“Ramirez is fucking dead.”
The air was sucked out of the room as Luca’s words hit us.
I rapidly clicked through the cameras on the properties. Wes and Luca’s bungalow sat silent and dark. Their car had been moved from the driveway, so it looked empty. Untouched.
A quick check through Ramirez’s place showed the same. The guy had refused to allow cameras in the bedrooms, but there was no sign of a struggle or distress. It looked completely empty.
Maverick stood up, ready for action even though we were hours away. He squinted at the security footage.
“Where are you?”
“Not there anymore. Ramirez said he was going to step out in the yard, get some air. We fucking checked it before he did and it was clear. When he didn’t come back, we searched and found him with his throat slit, left to die in the goddamn gardenias. Right under our fucking noses.”
My fingers shook as I willed them to do their fucking job and type. How? How was it possible someone had been able to get through all our defenses? Throughmydefenses.
