Chapter Nine
Antonio
I woke before Tessa. I’d gone to sleep with her in my arms, her soft little body curled against me like she belonged there.
I was wired to never sleep more than a couple of hours at a time.
So, I lay there, staring at the ceiling, the smell of sex and sweat thick in the sheets, and I let myself just…
drift. For the first time in more years than I cared to dwell on.
The funny thing about this mess was that I’d spent my whole Goddamn life refusing to get attached to anything or anyone.
Even my old man. I’d always kept my distance, even when I put my life on the line for them.
I had all the power and none of the bullshit feelings.
Even once I found Darby and Carrie. Though Darby eventually got through some of my defenses, the woman was a force of nature and could take care of herself.
Carrie as well. Not to mention, both women had men of their own more than capable of protecting them.
But none of that bullshit applied with Tessa.
She didn’t just get under my skin, she got into my fucking bones.
Last night should have been a good time, stress relief.
Instead, it was like I’d found something inside myself I had no idea existed, and now I wasn’t sure I could ever lose.
I wasn’t even mad about it. That was the really twisted shit.
I gazed down at her now and knew I’d never find a woman more perfect for me. And she for Goddamned sure was the most beautiful, courageous, holy terror I’d ever met.
I left Tessa warm in our bed, still asleep. The sun had barely risen, staining the edge of the mountain with golden light. I needed my head clear before I took on the task ahead of me.
Even with the scarce amount of staff, the house was already alive when I arrived on the lower level.
Kass had two men at the back door while Finch checked in with the guards on the perimeter.
Hawk and Sully had arrived earlier, along with a few other men from Kiss of Death.
The only activity in the kitchen, however, took place at the coffee pot where the rich, dark liquid happily brewed on the counter.
I poured a mug of coffee and stalked through the corridor to the west wing.
Kass had set up a war room of sorts the night before.
We needed a place to keep all our information where we could find it at a glance.
This seemed to be the best way for everyone to have access.
Also, we could meet where we could see the information in front of us.
Seth had already arrived inside, standing with his back to the windows, arms crossed. Griffin and Hawk flanked him. Sully sat at the end of the table, his laptop open, tapping notes. Darby perched on a stool in the corner, booted feet propped on a side chair. She grinned when I entered.
Kass and Finch followed soon after. Knight’s image was up on the wall screen in a video call with us. If Knight was tired after pulling so many hours straight through, he didn’t show it.
I took the seat at the head. The mug burned in my hand, but the pain grounded me. “Let’s get to it.”
Seth nodded, cool as always. “Knight. Tell us what you have.”
Knight wasted no time. “Enclave éclipse runs two floors above the import business. Entry’s on the front, biometric lock plus key card.
Rourke’s badge gets you past the first two doors, but for the vault room you need a valid biometric, and there are no workarounds.
Denton uses his thumb or his iris, and he does not have a backup code. ”
I nodded. “Physical access?”
“Loading bay in the back. The security camera is above the roll-up door. Unmarked delivery vans twice a week according to the schedule. I’m still confirming that, but so far everything’s checked out.
No regular foot traffic. That’s where Denton keeps pay-to-play records.
All his client lists and buyer info. Everything. ”
Griffin leaned forward, arms folded. “What about alarms?”
“Every door has an electronic tripwire. Bad swipe or failed print triggers a silent call to a private response team who’s not the police. The team gets there in under ten minutes.”
“The buyer comes in person this time,” I said. “Not a proxy.”
Knight’s mouth thinned. “Confirmed. The guy’s pure ghost. The closer’s alias is Rainman. He’s ex-military so he fits the stereotype. Rourke called him a freak, and I’ve got nothing to contradict.”
Darby snorted. “What kind of freak? Creeper, or just more psycho than average?” And, yes. My daughter sat in the middle of the badasses and played with the big boys.
“Well, for starters, he doesn’t talk except to give his order.” Knight’s eyes flicked up. “He’s a buyer, not the collector.”
Kass spoke up. “How many inside once the event starts?”
“Ten staff. Three security. All armed. Denton’s men rotate, but they bring in two off-duty cops for every event. The rest are the girls. There will be five held in rotation, with two active for the party at all times. The rest are kept locked in the back.”
I drummed my fingers. “They know we’re coming.”
“Denton’s tripled security since the last run. New cameras, new guards. He’s not running. He’s daring us to make the first move.” Knight’s voice was flat, but there was an edge to it. “He wants to make a show of it.”
Seth grunted. “He wants the city to see us fail.”
“Or he wants to fuck us up so bad we don’t get up again.” Darby’s voice was dry.
Hawk gave a tight nod. “If it was me, I’d rig the outer rooms and funnel you into a kill box.”
Finch rolled his shoulders. “We can deal with that. Layout?”
Knight’s face tightened. “That’s the problem. We have the ground floor and the second floor. After the loading bay, we lose the thread. The interior cameras don’t have a wireless access point. Everything’s hardwired. All the digital footprints stop at the threshold.”
Sully flicked through a set of images on his screen. “You’re saying, we’re in blind?”
Knight shook his head. “Not completely. We know the outer offices. The main lounge, the bar, the manager’s office. After that, there’s a corridor that runs behind the bar. All the doors are badge-only access. Then, nothing. The vault is somewhere at the heart, but nobody’s gotten footage of it.”
I tried not to let my frustration show. “There’s got to be blueprints on file somewhere. It’s in a zoned area.”
“Denton gutted the place before opening. All renovations were managed by a shell company. The city holds plans for the old layout, but it’s useless. No permits, no paper trail, nothing. He paid cash for the work, and the contractors are either dead or not stateside.”
I looked at Kass. “Options?”
“Have to treat every door like it’s the last. Assume overlap fields for the cameras, motion sensors, voiceless alarms. Assume every corridor is a choke point.”
Griffin added, “And the clock’s working against us. Rainman lands twelve hours before the event. If we don’t move before then, we get nothing.”
Knight cut in. “You could go in early, but you risk burning the play. If you wait, you go up against Denton, Rainman, and Iron’s muscle. None of which is ideal.”
Seth was silent but watching me. Waiting on my instructions. We’d gone into worse, but not blind. That’s the part I hated. I looked up at Knight’s image on the monitor. “What have you found out about where the trail above Iron leads?”
Knight’s tone went flat. “Still dead. I built a shadow trace off the payment, but there’s nothing. It should jump to a holding corp or a high-net-worth account, but the money just… vanishes.”
Sully frowned. “That’s not possible. Someone always takes a cut.”
“Not this time. Either it’s laundering on a level I’ve never seen, or the endpoint is something we’re not thinking of.”
“Or he’s got a handler with black budget access,” Kass muttered.
Knight’s jaw ticked. “I need more time. Give me a little more time and I’ll have a name. But if you want to hit éclipse, you need a way to see the inside.”
Darby pulled a boot off the table and straightened. “No way to send in a scout? Fake a delivery or something, maybe?”
Knight shrugged. “Every new face is flagged. Only staff get access. They frisk everyone, even the regulars. If you’re not on the interior list, you’re not getting inside.”
Finch looked at me. “We could go heavy, but we’d lose the element of surprise. And Kass is right. One wrong step and we get boxed in.”
I knew Finch and Kass were right. Denton had built that place to have every security advantage. He had everything covered.
Knight’s eyes narrowed. “We need someone who’s seen that fuckin’ place from the inside.”
I refused to take the clue Knight handed me. If he’d done it on purpose than I’d failed miserably because no fucking way was I asking Tessa about this. Why? Because I couldn’t stand the thought of her having to relive even one Goddamned second of her time in that hell hole if I could prevent it.
I pushed back from the table. “Keep working the money trail. If Denton’s got a secret, I want it. See if you can get me the guest lists for every party. Focus on the ones where the buyer came in person.”
“On it,” Knight nodded at me from the monitor.
I stood and braced my hands on the edge of the table, letting the frustration dig into my palms. “Every good plan needs a spine. Right now, we don’t have it. Not until we solve the inside.”
Knight nodded, the flicker of a smile at the edge of his mouth. “I’ll keep working on that, too.”
The meeting broke, and I left the room, not wanting to stop and talk with my father.
Seth could likely see right through me. He knew my interest in Tessa would cloud my judgment -- which was accurate -- and would demand to know everything.
I didn’t care if Seth knew I planned on making Tessa my wife.
Seth might be a bastard, but he wanted his family happy.
Me included. I just didn’t want to share her with anyone yet.