Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Vander slid into the small, darkened kitchen. He had excellent night vision, and scanned the space. He imagined employees in here during office hours, making coffee and heating their lunches.
Quietly, he opened doors and drawers. He needed weapons.
He checked the knives. Most were blunt, but he found one sharp one. With a grunt, he set it on the counter. Under the sink, he found a flammable air freshener spray, and in a drawer next to some used birthday cake candles, he found a lighter.
After shoving the makeshift weapons into his pockets, he slipped out and down the hall.
The first office he checked didn’t yield anything helpful.
In the second one, he rifled through the desk drawers and found a sturdy, solid metal pen and slid it into his pocket.
He also found a letter opener with a sharp point.
Who the hell still used letter openers? That went into his pocket as well.
Leaning under the desk, he yanked a cable out of the back of the sleek computer on the desk. He tested the cable’s strength and nodded. Coiling it, he slid that into his pocket.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He’d already turned off the sound.
There was a message from Hunt.
Negotiator made contact. Entrances to building rigged to blow.
Shit. Vander tapped out a message to Saxon to warn him.
Entrances rigged to blow. Use the roof.
Then, he headed out. As he neared the main room, he heard raised voices.
He fucking hoped Brynn was okay. Knowing his wife, she’d already be trying to find a way to stop these assholes.
He needed to know what they wanted, and then try to separate them so he could pick them off. He looked up. Above him was a large grate for the air conditioning system.
His phone vibrated and he quickly moved back down the hall and into another shadowed office. This one had a great view of the Bay, and he stared at the dark water blindly as he answered the call.
“Saxon,” he murmured.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Found some weapons and I’m working on a plan. You got my message.”
“Yeah. Hunt already has the streets cordoned off. SWAT confirmed the doors are rigged with enough C4 to leave a small crater in downtown if it blows.”
A muscle in Vander’s jaw tightened. “Plan?”
“We’re coming in from the roof. Maggie is already en route in the chopper to collect us. She’ll do a drop-and-go on the rooftop. Siv and Cam are here. Rhys is on the way. Boone is five minutes out.”
“Come in quietly.”
“Not our first rodeo. In fact, this reminds me of that Taipei mission.”
“I’d prefer to get out of here without base jumping off the building,” Vander said dryly. “Get here fast, Saxon. I want to get Brynn home.”
“On my way.”
“I’m going to get a little closer to our unwanted friends. See what we’re dealing with.”
“Watch your back.”
Slipping the phone away, Vander glanced up at the closest air vent. He climbed onto the desk, then quickly opened the grate.
It was going to be a tight fit.
Gripping the edge of the vent, he pulled himself up. Once in the tight space, he closed the vent behind him.
On his stomach, he slowly slid along the vent, mentally calculating which way to go to get closer to Brynn and the others. At a junction, he slid right, trying to stay as silent as possible.
Finally, he heard murmurs. He slid forward to the closest grate and looked down.
He had a bird’s eye view of several terrified guests sitting on the floor, huddled together.
One of the intruders came into view. He was cradling a rifle and wearing a wild boar mask, complete with two small tusks flanking his mouth.
As Vander watched, the asshole kicked one of the men on the floor. Boar chuckled.
Vander stared at the man. Enjoy yourself, because soon, you won’t be.
From this angle, he couldn’t see Brynn. He needed to see her.
He slid along the vent tunnel, moving to the next grate.
“Bear, are you in the system?” a deep voice clipped out.
The cold voice made Vander still.
“Working on it,” another man replied.
“Work faster.”
“Security is good, boss. I need some time.”
Vander shifted a little and saw the man step into view. He had a gray wolf mask on.
“Help him.” Wolf shoved a young man in a tux forward.
The guy wiped a shaking hand across his mouth.
“Do as they say, Ben.”
That was Carolyn’s voice.
Ben sat at the desk beside a man in a bear mask. “Passwords won’t get you into the transfer system. Not without proper authorization from the London office.”
“Suggestions?” Bear asked.
“You’ll need to hack in through the back door. I can show you some options.”
Bear waved at the computer. Ben pulled the keyboard closer.
“You have one hour to make the transfer happen or you’ll have blood on your hands,” Wolf warned. “A hundred million dollars.”
“I heard you the first time.” Carolyn sounded scared, but defiant.
Stay calm and give him what he wants. Jesus, a hundred million dollars was a hell of a lot of money. How did this guy think they’d get away with this?
Wolf set a folded scrap of paper on the desk. “That’s the bank account where the money needs to be transferred.”
With a shaking hand, Carolyn took the paper and unfolded it. “This is theft.”
Wolf gave a harsh laugh. “This is taking from the spoiled rich. Why should they have billions, when we have nothing? Why should we toil from nine to five in thankless jobs, while they sun themselves on their yachts? My pack deserves more. I want a fucking Ferrari, I want to lie on a tropical beach—”
“I want women,” Bear said from the desk. “And top-shelf tequila.”
“We manage one of the largest philanthropic funds here,” Carolyn said. “A lot of the money you want to steal is earmarked for charities and foundations—”
“Save me the bleeding-heart story. We all know your clients come to you to get richer. They’re destroying our planet with their energy and water-hungry data centers, paying workers less and less, replacing loyal employees with fucking AI.
I’m planning to right some of those wrongs.
I’m like fucking Robin Hood. I’ll be a hero to the masses. ”
Vander’s lips flattened. As far as some data centers went, he actually agreed with the guy.
Norcross Security was investing in AI security, but he’d spent a small fortune trying to do it in a meaningful way that wasn’t going to impact the environment.
His own data center was buried underground to reduce the cooling requirements.
Still, stealing a hundred million dollars and holding a bunch of people hostage wasn’t going to make him a hero.
Wolf thumped a fist on the desk. “Bear, get us into that system. Ms. Stewart, if I don’t see that money, I’ll start killing hostages, starting with your husband.”
Vander tasted acid. He had to get Brynn out of there.
He made himself focus and take count of the bad guys. He slid through the vents, trying to see them all. Seven, eight. He took stock of their masks and weapons. They didn’t move like they had military training, so that was a plus.
He slid farther through the vent, eyeing the guests. Some looked shocked, others scared, a few angry.
Then he spotted Brynn.
She was standing with a young blonde woman, keeping her calm. Fuck, she was beautiful. She was alert, watching the thieves. He moved to the vent right above her.
He checked for more bad guys. There. Guy in a fox mask. That made nine. He wasn’t too close.
Vander tapped lightly on the vent.
Brynn instantly looked up. He knew she couldn’t see him, but she knew he was there.
She shifted her hands out of sight of the intruders and fanned out her fingers.
Ten.
She moved her hand into a gun shape. Then flashed her hands again. Ten.
Ten intruders. All armed.
That was his detective. Damn, he wished he could kiss her.
“Why is this taking so long?” The agitated voice of one guy, Boar, made Vander still.
Fox stepped forward. “Just chill, Br—”
“No names,” Boar clipped out.
Fox ran a hand over his head. “Right. Shit. Sorry.”
“Just let us go,” a woman cried out.
Vander shifted and saw her. An older woman wearing an elegant, bronze gown.
“I agree.” A man in a suit wrapped his arm around the woman. “We’re all innocent.”
Another intruder, Rabbit, strode into view. “You aren’t innocent. If you invest here or work here, you’re all complicit. You break the backs of the little people to get richer.”
“That’s crazy,” the older man muttered. “We’re business owners—”
“I’m not crazy!” Rabbit leaped forward and slammed a fist into the man’s stomach.
The man doubled over and the woman screamed. Rabbit let loose, slamming punches into the man. He fell, and Rabbit added kicks.
“Stop it!”
That voice made Vander’s blood run cold. Don’t do it, baby. Stay clear.
But of course, Detective Brynn Norcross wouldn’t stand by while someone got the shit beaten out of them.
She stepped into view, looking impossibly beautiful in her red dress. Pregnancy made her glow, but it hadn’t made her look more delicate. She kept her sharp gaze on Rabbit.
The masked man’s head jerked up. “Don’t fucking tell me what to do.”
She held out a calming hand. “He’s had enough. He’s just scared.”
Rabbit took a step toward her. “You think because you’re pregnant it’ll stop me hurting you?”
Every muscle in Vander’s body tensed. His hand curled into a fist.
If that guy touched her…
“I think you have more important things to do,” she said.
Rabbit made a sucking sound, then gave the man on the floor one more kick.
Brynn threw out a hand. “Stop it.”
Vander shifted and his elbow hit the side of the duct with a low thunk.
Rabbit’s head lifted.
Fuck.
Brynn suddenly grabbed her stomach with one arm and pressed her other hand to her head. “Oh, I feel dizzy…” She wobbled.
Rabbit’s focus zeroed back in on her. “Get out of my way.” He stomped away, his shoulder hitting Brynn’s arm as he passed. Vander saw her drop her arms and shoot a dark glare at Rabbit’s back, before she went to help the beaten man.
She was fine. She’d distracted Rabbit. Vander pressed his forehead to the metal. He didn’t want to leave her again.
“Thank you,” the beaten man’s wife said to Brynn.