9. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
You know what would look great on you? Cement.
“That’s the place,” Johnny said as he cruised down the cobblestone road. He indicated a two-story home that would probably sell on the market for about two or three million.
Berlin eyed it quietly, wishing she could pull up her cell phone and look at the specs online. “How many rooms? Exact square footage? And how are we getting in? Also, what type of security system do they have?” she added, though the little sign outside the wrought iron gate named a local company.
“Five rooms, six bathrooms, about sixty-five hundred square feet. These assholes have too much shit and we’re going to help relieve them of it. It’s just sitting in there for months at a time while they’re up in New York in their main residence.” This from Brody. “There’s an entrance for staff around back, and luckily we can get to it by using the neighbor’s yard. This is gonna be the easiest job you’ve ever pulled, promise.”
“We can’t park around here,” Chance murmured. “There’s almost no one parking off-street. Not to mention there’ll be cameras we can’t see. This isn’t a good idea.”
“Not without more recon,” Berlin agreed. She didn’t like this at all and it wasn’t worth it to work with these guys with no control. They could be opening themselves up to being arrested and then that could potentially put Redemption Harbor Security under scrutiny. They all had to stay off the radar of cops. Plus Camila had told her these guys were being watched by the Feds. She hadn’t seen anyone watching them when they’d left the bar or tailing them, but that didn’t mean anything.
“It’ll be fine, we’ve already done recon.” Brody’s tone was dismissive.
Berlin wasn’t going to trust anyone, especially not someone on the radar of the Feds. “Fine, but drop Chance and I off separately. A group of four people strolling around at midnight is too suspicious.”
“You’ll be with Johnny,” Brody said. “Chance is coming with me. Drop us here,” he ordered Johnny as they reached the corner a block away from the target house. As he did, he tossed Chance a ball cap.
“I’m starting to get the feeling you don’t trust us.” Chance’s voice was neutral enough, but Berlin heard the edge.
“I don’t trust anyone but my guys.” Brody didn’t turn around, simply got out of the SUV.
“It’s fine, babe,” she said, leaning into their fake relationship. “I’m good.” She had bear spray tucked into the back of her pants, her puffy jacket doing a good job of covering it. And she could defend herself enough to get away.
“Yeah, she’ll be safe with me.” Johnny’s voice was taunting.
What a dumbass. Before Chance could say anything, Berlin said sweetly, “If he messes with me, I’ll make sure he never walks straight again. You know I’ve done it before.”
“I do.” He kissed her briefly before he slid out, but she saw the hint of worry in his eyes before he slipped the hat on and shut the door.
“Hey asshole, give me a ball cap too,” she ordered, leaning into her role of badass bitch. Which was easy, because Johnny was a loser and she didn’t give a shit what he thought.
“I was just messing with him. I know you’re taken.” He made a left-hand turn, slowly circling around to the street behind the house they’d be hitting. There were a lot more vehicles parked along the street here so at least they’d be able to blend more. But there could still be cameras anywhere. And yeah, later she could hack into any of them, but if someone downloaded something and saved it, they could be screwed.
She snorted. “Otherwise I’d be fair game?”
“What… Hell no. I don’t force myself on women if that’s what you’re implying.” And he sounded affronted that she thought so. To be fair, she’d been watching this loser for weeks and all the women he hooked up with came to him willingly. And they didn’t seem to have any complaints either. She couldn’t see what anyone found attractive about him, but to each their own.
“Whatever. Ball cap. Now.”
He popped the center console and handed her one so she quickly braided her hair, then tucked it up under the hat. Then she pulled out the glasses she always carried around and slid them on. Next, she tugged her mittens on.
“You’re cute with glasses,” Johnny said as he parked, his gaze now on her in the rearview mirror.
She simply rolled her eyes and pulled her cap down. Then as an afterthought, she pulled some of her hair out to cover her ears in case anyone was watching. The technology the Feds used could match up ears in their databases. The glasses weren’t real, but they had a film on them that would screw up any facial recognition software. Glasses in general helped, but these were special.
Once they were on the sidewalk, she leaned in close to him. “I’m cute all the time. And I bite,” she said in that same saccharine-sweet voice that made him flinch a little. So he wasn’t completely dumb, because he must’ve sensed she was serious.
But…he was still dumb because now she had the SUV keys hidden away in her pocket. There was no way these two weren’t trying to double-cross them. She could feel it in her bones. At least this one was distracted easily enough by a pretty face. He’d probably lose all concentration if she flashed him.
“This way,” he murmured, pulling on his own ball cap.
This neighborhood was quiet enough, with big houses and walls or fences separating them. The magnolia and oak trees were plentiful, meant to give shade in the day, and at night they provided the perfect cover. For a big guy, he moved fast, sticking to the shadows. She followed after him, glancing around for cameras, seeing two in the neighbor’s yard.
“Stop,” she whispered.
To give him credit, he did, looking behind him. “What?”
“Three o’clock, camera next to one of the corner lights.” She didn’t tell him about the other one.
He avoided looking in that direction as they passed it. She did as well, but as they passed the other one, he didn’t look down.
Since she was behind him, she pulled her jacket up over her face as they made their way through the neighbor’s backyard. Once they were at the neighboring fence, she could see a slim opening.
“Woman I know told me about this. Says the neighbor’s kids sometimes sneak over here and smoke,” he whispered as they slid through.
One of the women he was screwing apparently. “What about the cameras here?”
He pointed out where they were.
“This would have been a lot easier if your boss had let me have some technology. I could disable the cameras,” she muttered in annoyance, not acting. Because it was annoying.
“They’re already turned off.”
“What?” she asked as she fell in step with him, sticking to the shadows of the wall and oak trees.
“Yeah, my girl turned them off today after she finished cleaning.”
Berlin wasn’t going to count on some random stranger, but nodded. “Then why am I here? I’m good with tech. He should have let me do my thing,” she whispered, keeping her voice low as they reached the pool and patio area.
“He wants to see how you are with the safe. We don’t have a good safecracker anymore,” he added.
Hmmm, interesting. And according to the Miami cover ID she’d spent years building, she could crack safes. Which was actually true, but it wasn’t one of her favorite things to do.
Instead of heading for the patio, they moved toward a little brick pathway that led to what had to be a service entrance. The door opened as they reached it, Chance and Brody on the other side. She noticed that Chance wore gloves, breathed out a quiet sigh of relief at the sight. They couldn’t leave any trace behind.
“Any trouble?” Brody asked.
Johnny shook his head.
Brody nodded as he shut and locked the door behind them. They were in a very organized butler’s pantry that smelled faintly of lemon. Glass and ceramic cake stands lined a set of shelves, cookbooks on another, and… Oh sweet goddess, a handful of creepy ass dolls sat on another staring down at them. Gross . Shuddering, she turned away.
Apparently not bothered by the creepy dolls, Brody pulled out a crudely drawn sketch of the house. “The study is here and that’s where the safe is. The art that looks expensive is in this sitting room and this bedroom on the second floor.”
He pulled out a small bag from under his jacket and when he did, she saw the butt of his weapon. Not that she was surprised, but now she knew for sure he was armed. “This should be what you need to crack the safe. We’re going to start cutting the paintings out and rolling them up. Meet back here in ten minutes max. We’re not going to be here longer than that in case someone saw us and called it in.”
“How will we even know if someone did? Or what if we trip a silent alarm?” Berlin asked.
He tapped his ear once and that was when she saw the tiny earpiece. A little Bluetooth. “I’m on one of their frequencies. I’ll know if someone saw us.”
She nodded, pretending to be relieved. She could call Camila directly if needed, but calling 911 was out. Silently, she took the bag, nodded at Chance, then headed through the quiet house. The entire place had that faint lemon polish scent.
She was aware of Johnny trailing after her as she made her way down a long hallway to the study. She stopped at the entrance, frowned at him. “Are you following me?” she demanded, still pitching her voice low.
She could hear Chance and Brody heading up the stairs, their footfalls quiet enough, but still audible. There were little sensor lights along the hallway, lighting up along the baseboards every other step she took and she made a note to get these for her place.
Johnny shrugged. “Just following orders,” he murmured, but they both paused at a slight thud.
That didn’t sound as if it had come from upstairs. Great .
She held up a finger to her mouth and indicated that she’d be heading into one room even as he pulled out a pistol. She mouthed “No” as he headed for another closed door, but he of course ignored her.
Easing open the door of what turned out to be a bedroom, she glanced around, saw no one. But then she saw a flash of movement in the attached bathroom. She tiptoed over the hardwood floor, using the giant throw rug under the canopy bed to mute her movements, she peered around the half-open door, saw a girl in her twenties hiding in the shower. Berlin held up her finger to her mouth. Then she whispered, “Who are you?”
“I live next door,” she whispered back, her voice trembling as she stared wide-eyed at Berlin. She doubted her first estimate now. This kid was maybe nineteen and she looked terrified. “My parents have a key. I was just going to take a bottle of wine.”
“I’m here to take more than that and my crew will kill you if they see you,” she said, needing the girl to be scared and stay quiet. “Stay put and don’t call the cops. They’re monitoring for that. We’ll be out of here in ten, then you can go home.” Without waiting for a response, she pulled the bathroom door shut behind her. As she did, Johnny stepped into the dim room, his pistol still in hand.
“Anything?” he asked.
Heart racing, she shook her head as she made her way to the bedroom door. She really, really hoped that girl didn’t make any more noise. “Freaking bird at the window, if you can believe it. I think it was an owl, which is a bad omen,” she added, hoping he’d follow her. “We should have done more recon for this.”
Tucking his weapon away, he trailed after her. “We’re good, I promise. My girl wouldn’t lie to me.”
As they slipped into the study, she said, “Are you sure about that? What if she’s setting you up? You faithful to her?” He cleared his throat at that, which made her inwardly laugh. Berlin followed what the crude drawing had shown and moved to a big painting behind a massive, dark wood desk. “Come on, help me take this down.”
“We never said we’d be exclusive,” Johnny said as he took the right side and helped her ease it to the ground.
Berlin snorted as they propped the painting against the wall. Then she opened the bag Brody had given her. True to his word, it had all the tools she’d need. The safe itself was fairly old, and should be easy enough to open. Had probably been in the wall for the last couple decades.
“What about you and Chance? You two exclusive?” Johnny asked.
She shrugged as she picked up the small audio tool. She didn’t even need the rest of the tools for this. Not with a simple dial lock.
“See? It’s hard to settle down,” he muttered, talking more to himself as she slid one earpiece in, then set the other piece against the safe.
“Shh,” she finally said when she realized he was still talking. She had to feel the vibrations and needed relative silence to work.
Thankfully he was quiet as she got to work, and within thirty seconds she had it open. Not bad for being so rusty.
He let out an appreciative sound as it swung open, saw the stacks of cash. She hung back as he pulled it out, then moved onto the jewelry. One clearly expensive diamond and ruby necklace and two sets of huge diamond earrings. There was also some paperwork and a couple USB drives. When Johnny went to take that stuff, she made a clucking sound.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “What?”
“Leave the personal shit. I once knew a thief who took more than just cash and jewelry from a safe and now his body parts are weighted down in Biscayne Bay.”
Johnny snorted slightly, but paused when she didn’t smile back. “Seriously?”
“Yep. Someone rich lives here and it’s not their only home. This is one of their homes. It’s stupid to take anything that can link us to them. What if there’s some kind of tracker on the USB?”
He blinked, but nodded and shut the safe once all the cash and jewelry was out. They dumped everything into a folded-up bag Johnny had been storing under his jacket, then met the others in the butler’s pantry.
As soon as they stepped inside, Brody and Chance picked up their two rolled-up paintings. “Got everything?” Brody said to Johnny, who simply nodded.
They all left through the backyard this time, quickly making their way to the parked SUV. She resisted the urge to look back at the window of the bathroom the girl had been hiding in.
“Oh shit, the keys.” Johnny patted his pants and then jacket pocket worriedly as they stopped at the back of the SUV.
Berlin snickered and tossed them to him. “That’s what you get for surprising us like that.” Also, she’d been planning to use it if they’d tried to double-cross them in the house. She was pretty sure that they were still going to, but at least they’d gotten out of the crime scene. Hopefully that kid had left and called the cops. Or just left and gotten to safety. Berlin wondered if she’d even say anything considering she’d been over there ready to steal wine.
Brody gave her a dark look, but she simply smirked and slid into the back seat with Chance. He looked like he wanted to say something, but simply moved in close to her as the other two got in the front seat.
Johnny was clearly driving to a predetermined destination because Brody didn’t give him any instructions. But as they headed in the opposite direction of the bikers’ clubhouse, she knew these guys were double-crossing them. Probably going to keep everything for themselves. During her spying on the gang, she’d found out that Brody had a couple extra bank accounts his gang didn’t know about, and property in Destin, Florida no one knew about either. A nice condo right on the beach. If he lied to his own crew, he’d have no problem screwing them over.
“Where are we?” Chance asked as Johnny pulled into the parking lot of a run-down marina.
And that was when Berlin saw the weapon. Chance did too and he moved savagely fast.
He’d already unstrapped her, had shoved her to the side as he struck out at Brody, hitting him fast and hard in the throat. Then he grabbed him by the head, yanked him back against the seat as Johnny shouted in alarm, jerked the SUV to a halt in the middle of the gravelly parking lot.
Chance struck out with his elbow as Johnny leaned in, tried to help, hitting the guy right in the temple. The move was so hard, so vicious that she swore she felt it.
Johnny slumped over on the steering wheel, the horn blasting as he fell into it.
She moved quickly, jumped out and ran around to the driver’s side. She dragged him out of the SUV, letting him fall on his face even as Brody still struggled against Chance.
But the fight was already over, Brody just didn’t realize it. Seconds later, he was unconscious and slumped over, his face covered in blood.
“What’s the plan?” she asked as Chance dragged him to the middle seat and restrained his wrists behind his back.
“I say we take Johnny over there, pump him for information. I think I can break him before I break Brody.”
“I’ve got some dirt on Johnny that’ll likely make him talk.”
Chance’s eyebrows lifted, but he nodded. Then he glanced around the nearly deserted parking lot. “They’ve got to have a boat here,” he murmured more to himself than her as he started to restrain Johnny, who still hadn’t moved.
Remembering something from her research on the gang, she nodded and pulled out her cell phone. “Yeah, he’s got a boat he normally keeps docked in Destin. Morning Wood. Thirty-foot sailboat,” she added, so he’d know the type to look for.
“Okay, you stay here with him,” Chance said as he hoisted Johnny into the back, then began pulling out the rolled-up paintings. “I’m going to dump Brody and the art.”
“Then I’ll call it in.” This would be a good bust for Camila, and even if she didn’t get to claim it as her own, she’d get a favor out of this somehow. That was a win as far as Berlin was concerned.
It didn’t take long for Chance to dump Brody, the art, jewelry, and cash into the cabin of the boat and for Berlin to double-check the security cameras at the marina—all fakes. Probably why Brody and Johnny had decided to take them here.
By the time they’d pulled onto a back road in the middle of nowhere, Johnny started groaning. But he was thoroughly tied up and gagged.
Pretty soon he was going to have to make a decision. Berlin just hoped he made the right one.