Chapter Fifteen Jagger
The hangover when I open my eyes is spectacular.
A skull full of broken glass and a tongue that tastes like something died on it. Jonah is still asleep beside me, face mashed into the pillow, making small sounds of distress every time he shifts. The absinthe was a mistake. Everything after the absinthe was a mistake.
But I remember what I said. What he said back.
I love you.
The words echo in my head, mixing uncomfortably with the pounding. I meant them. That's the terrifying part. I meant every syllable.
I drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom, where I drink directly from the faucet like an animal before risking a look in the mirror. The man staring back looks like hell. Bloodshot eyes, gray pallor, hair that's given up all pretense of cooperation.
This is what love looks like, apparently. Messy and hungover and completely undignified.
By the time I make it to the kitchen, Jinx is already there, looking offensively functional for someone who drank twice as much as everyone else. He's cooking eggs, humming something tuneless, moving with the ease of a man who's never experienced consequences.
"Morning, brother." He doesn't turn around. "Coffee's fresh. You look like death."
"I feel like death."
"That's the absinthe. It's traditional. God, you stink like death too."
"Your fault."
He slides a plate of eggs across the counter. I stare at them with deep suspicion.
"Eat," he says. "We have work to do."
The eggs are good. I hate that they're good. Jinx has no right to be competent at anything domestic. Especially when we drank enough to kill a horse.
Jace and Elliot emerge an hour later, both moving carefully, both avoiding sudden movements. Jonah is last, appearing in the kitchen doorway with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape.
"I'm dying," he announces. "This is my death. Witness me. TO VALHALLA."
"Dramatic," Jinx rolls his eyes.
"I'm a dramatic person. We covered this last night."
"You also sang. I remember that. It was cute."
"We're never speaking of that again."
"I'm speaking of it right now."
I hand Jonah coffee. He accepts it like I'm offering salvation, which in a sense I am. We stand together at the counter, shoulders touching, drinking in silence while the others move around us.
This is domestic, normal. This is everything I was designed not to have.
I'm having it anyway.
"Okay." Jinx claps his hands, making everyone wince. "Planning time. The hangover will help us think clearly."
"That's not how hangovers work," Elliot says.
"It's how my hangovers work. Sit down. Let's talk about Kreiss."
We gather in the living room, documents spread across the coffee table, tablets and laptops open to various files. The morning light is brutal through the windows, but none of us move to close the curtains. Pain is clarifying. Another thing the Foundry taught us.
"Werner Kreiss," I begin, pulling up his file. "Geneva-based. Handles money for the Custodians and about a dozen other organizations who can't afford paper trails. He's been doing this for way more than thirty years, which means he's careful, paranoid, and very well protected."
"He's also dirty," Jonah adds.
“Right, Elliot saw that pattern too.”
"Either way, he's vulnerable." I say with a sigh.
"Vulnerable how?"
I pull up a map. "He maintains a private residence outside Geneva. Not his primary home. A safe house where he keeps his most sensitive records. Physical documents, hard drives, things that can't exist on any network."
"His insurance policy," Jinx says. "Smart. If anyone comes for him, he's got leverage."
"Exactly. And if the records aren’t at the facility, this is where they will be."
Jace studies the map. "Security?"
"Substantial but not insurmountable. The property is isolated. Three buildings: main house, guest cottage, garage. Perimeter cameras, motion sensors, two guards on rotation. The records are in a basement vault accessed through the main house."
"That's a lot of exposure for a small team."
"Which is why we go in smart." I zoom in on the property layout. "The guard rotation has a gap every four hours when both teams overlap at the main gate. Ninety seconds. Enough time to breach the perimeter and reach the main house if we move fast."
"And once we're inside?"
"Jonah and I handle the vault. You and Jinx handle security. Elliot stays with the extraction vehicle."
"I'm not staying in the car," Elliot says immediately.
"You're our exit strategy. If something goes wrong, you're the only one who can get us out."
"If something goes wrong, you'll need backup inside. Not a getaway driver."
Jace puts a hand on his arm. "He's right. This isn't a combat op. We need clean extraction more than we need extra bodies. What if we fuck the Geneva facility and just get the records? That should be enough to tighten the noose and take out the Custodians that are dirty."
Elliot's jaw tightens, but he doesn't argue further. I make a note to talk to him later. He's not wrong about wanting to help, but his value is in his skills, not his fighting ability.
I think about that for a minute. I want to save the kids, but it is more of a risk than doing it this way. “Sure. That makes sense.”
Elliot throws his hands up. “How on earth do you three ever accomplish anything? First it’s this, then it’s that, then it’s Elliot make us food, Elliot make us coffee, now it’s Elliot stay in the car.”
Holding down a chuckle, I put my hand on his shoulder.
“You are important to our family, Elliot. We are trained, you are not. Us changing plans is just how we get to the absolute best statistical chance of success. Nothing personal. We need you, but we need you in a position that doesn’t compromise the rest of the team. ”
That seems to calm him because he nods and shuffles off to the kitchen, grumbling, “I’ll just get started on more coffee then, your highness.”
"Timeline?" Jinx asks after Jace is done laughing at Elliots sass.
"Tonight."
Everyone goes still.
"That's fast," Jace says carefully.
"We don't have time to be slow. The Ministry is looking for me.
For Jonah. Every day we wait is a day they get closer.
" I meet my brother's eyes. "And according to Jinx, Holloway Senior is still tearing the organization apart looking for answers about Edmund.
The chaos is useful, but it won't last. We need to move while we still can. "
"What about Kreiss himself?" Jonah asks. "Will he be there?"
"Unknown. His schedule is irregular. He travels frequently, maintains multiple residences." I pause. "But even if he's there, we're not engaging him. We get in, get the records, get out. Clean. No casualties unless absolutely necessary. We can’t afford more heat."
"And if it becomes necessary?"
"Then we do what we have to do."
The room is quiet. I can feel the weight of what I'm asking settling over everyone. This isn't planning anymore. This is commitment. Once we move on Kreiss, there's no going back. We become enemies of The Silent in a way we can't undo.
"Questions?" I ask.
Jinx raises his hand like a schoolboy. "What if the vault is biometrically locked? Kreiss isn't going to leave his most sensitive records behind a combination."
"It is biometrically locked. Fingerprint and retinal scan."
"So we need Kreiss."
"No." I pull up another file. "We need his housekeeper."
"His housekeeper?"
"Esmerelda Vasquez. She's worked for Kreiss for fifteen years. She has access to every room in the house, including the vault. He trusts her completely."
"How do you know that?"
"Because apparently he has some kind of hold over her daughter, ensuring compliance. She's been waiting for someone to make a move against her employer. We're that someone."
Jonah leans forward. "You have an inside source?"
"I will contact her discreetly, have her disable the locks at midnight. We have a thirty-minute window before the system resets."
"That's a lot of trust to put in someone we've never met."
"It's the only option we have." I look around the room. "I know it's not ideal. I know there are a hundred ways this could go wrong. But those records are our best shot at exposing Project Omega. At protecting the children in those facilities. At ending this."
Jonah is quiet for a moment, then nods. "Walk us through the interior. Once we're past the perimeter, what are we dealing with?"
I pull up the floor plans. "Main house is three floors. Ground floor is common areas: kitchen, living room, study. Staff quarters are in the east wing. Kreiss's private rooms are upstairs, west wing. The vault is in the basement, accessed through a concealed door in the study."
"Concealed how?"
"Behind a bookshelf. Classic, but effective.
" I trace the path on the screen. "We enter through the side door here, cross through the kitchen, and reach the study in approximately forty-five seconds.
The bookshelf mechanism is triggered by removing a specific volume. Vasquez will ensure it's unlocked."
"What volume?" Jinx asks.
"The Prince. Machiavelli. Kreiss apparently has a sense of humor."
"Or a lack of subtlety." Jonah says with a huff.
Jace leans forward. "What about the vault itself? Once we're through the bookshelf, what are we looking at?"
"Steel door, eight inches thick. Biometric locks, as discussed. Beyond that, a room approximately ten by twelve feet. Filing cabinets along the walls, a central table, and a floor safe that requires a separate combination."
"Do we have the combination?"
"Vasquez does. I’m sure she will be all too happy to give it to us if we promise to get her and her daughter out."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then we take what we can from the cabinets and abort."
Elliot has been quiet through most of this, but now he speaks up. "How do we get the documents out? We can't exactly carry filing cabinets through a hostile perimeter."