Plans Well Broken – By Natalie Tay #2
I couldn’t exactly respond, but I cleared my throat a little as the young woman screamed in terror.
“Got your picture,” Sadie said. “Running it through facial rec now.”
“Are you okay?” Scott demanded. “I’m guessing you can’t talk, but at least let me know you’re okay.”
I rolled my eyes, then grunted a little at the other woman’s next squeal. Yes, I loved my boyfriend, and I could understand him being worried. But had he forgotten the bit about how I’d been successfully doing this job and keeping myself alive for a good five years without him?
“What do you want?” the girl whimpered as her captor tossed her to the floor. “This is a library. The most expensive thing here is the copy machine!”
“Oh, this ain’t about money, love,” the man said with a chuckle. “Come on, did ya think we was just doin’ this for craic?”
Even if his accent wasn’t as thick as his mask, I’d recognize his tells from a mile away. I started tapping on my earbud: two short, short-long-short, two short, three short, four short. Then two long, three long, long-short-short-short.
Sadie gasped mere seconds after I’d finished, and I thanked my lucky stars that she’d understood my message so quickly.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Sure about what?” Scott demanded.
“If I’m understanding right …” She trailed off, and I could practically see her stabbing another pencil into her shiny black bun as she hesitated. “We’re dealing with the Irish mob.”
Bingo.
The scene outside my hiding place was careening downhill faster than a runaway train, and I had to literally sit on my hands to stop myself from interfering.
Much as I wanted to just burst out and give this jerk a piece of my mind, I wouldn’t be helping the woman if I couldn’t also take down his mobster friends who were waiting just outside.
“Do you know who I am?” the man demanded, chuckling as she cowered in fear. “Or has your daddy forgotten to tell you what he’s up to in me homeland?”
“Oh my gosh,” Sadie gasped. “I know who the girl is.”
“That was fast,” Scott said. “Who is she?”
“Diana Bryant,” she answered. “Her dad is Ambassador Bryant—the one who just took down the O’Leary smuggling ring.”
“Shit,” Jake cursed. “Send me the files so I can fill Kappa in. She’s been strategizing with the SWAT captain, but this changes everything.”
“Changes everything” was right. Without Diana, this just looked like a really dumb get-rich-quick scheme. But now that we knew it was all a smokescreen, we could finally figure out what they wanted.
A loud thwack! filled the room, and Diana screamed as she clutched her cheek.
“What do you want?” she whimpered. “I swear, I don’t know anything!”
“I’ll get Jo to call the embassy,” Sadie said. “See if the ambassador has any ideas.”
“And I’m getting in there,” Scott added. “Even if we end up storming the castle, I can’t leave you in there alone.”
I wished I could protest as I sat motionless beneath the desk, my leg cramping angrily from the restrictive hiding place. But the Irish mob didn’t generally care much about collateral damage, so not aggravating our captors was currently my wisest move.
The man in the mask let out a hearty laugh, and Diana’s face went pale.
“Well, you may not know much,” he said. “But yer daddy does.
“You see, he’s gone and locked up me brother. And stolen millions of dollars of merchandise on top. So we’re goin’ to call him up and see if he’s willin’ to make a trade. I’ll let you go as soon as I get what I want.”
Diana’s breaths were loud and shaky as she trembled in the corner, trying to put on a brave face.
“H-he won’t give it to you,” she said. “My bodyguards know where I am. If I don’t check in in ten minutes, they’ll?—”
“Get here just in time to watch Liam kill a hostage?” He grinned, the crinkles around his eyes betraying a sickening smile.
“No!” she screamed, and I balled my hands into fists.
I was sick of sitting here waiting. It didn’t really matter what these idiots wanted or how well Kelsey managed to “negotiate” with them.
The US government wasn’t going to give them anything besides empty promises and maybe some cookies, and if they were already threatening the hostages, it was only a matter of time before they decided that dropping bodies would be a good source of leverage.
But Diana’s screams were pretty damn noisy, and no one had come to check on our head mobster yet. And if I played my cards right, I could probably keep them away for quite some time.
I pulled a knife from my shoe and launched the chair at our mobster, earning a string of expletives as it crashed into his shins. He had about a second to process as I sprang forth from my hiding place, but before he could react, I stabbed him right in the neck.
His eyes went wide as my knife lodged in his trachea, completely cutting off his ability to speak, much less cry for help. Diana screamed again as he collapsed to the floor, blood running down my hands as the life left his body. Then I lowered my knife and raised a finger to my lips.
“Don’t say anything,” I whispered. “I’m here to help, but we don’t want to risk tipping off the others.”
Scott and Sadie were already berating me from the other end of my earbud, demanding to know what I was thinking and if I had completely lost my mind. But I tuned them out as I focused on Diana’s tear-stained face.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I said gently. “I’m gonna get you out of here. Okay?”
Her eyes darted in every direction around the little office, but there wasn’t a magical genie or a prince waiting to save her. Just me—a small, unassuming woman who’d just killed her captor.
She gave me a timid nod. “Okay.”
“Raptor,” I said suddenly, cutting the others off mid-tirade. “What’s your entry plan? I figure if we get Diana out, that gives us the upper hand. If we’re lucky, I’ll be able to take out the next guy that comes to check on her, then I can stage a distraction while you get the hostages out.”
“No way,” he said immediately. “That’s way too risky. I’m not?—”
“Fine. Whoever has the better plan can be the distraction,” I countered. “But first, we need to get Diana to safety. How are you getting in?”
Scott let out a frustrated sigh, and Diana just stared back at me like she’d put her fate in the hands of a crazy person.
“I’m in the service tunnels,” he said finally. “I brought you a vest and a bigger gun, but I’m right below the library as we speak. Just take the vents to the basement, then Jackal can come get her out.”
A little click sounded, and Jake came back online. “Sorry, I’ve been filling in Kappa,” he said. “Do you need me?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I need you to meet us in three minutes. Raptor will give you directions; I’ve got a hostage to free.”
I wiped my knife on the man’s clothes, then took it to the screws of the nearest vent.
“Come on,” I said. “I hope you’re not claustrophobic.”
It took a couple minutes to coax Diana into the air vents, but a few thumps and screams later, I figured we’d protected our cover enough to make the others think she was still being “questioned.” We hurried to the basement, moving as quickly and quietly as possible to reach the designated meeting point.
The second we emerged from the ducts, Scott pulled me into his arms. I let myself enjoy the hug for just a second, then I patted him on the back and extracted myself from his grip.
“Save hostages now, hug later,” I muttered.
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Just glad you’re okay.”
“I know,” I nodded. “But we’re kind of on a time crunch. I don’t want to leave that room quiet for too long.”
He dragged a hand through his hair, the gentle worry of his brow instantly tearing me between wanting to stay and let him keep me safe, and wishing he’d get over the protective caveman instincts and just trust me to go kick some bad-guy ass.
“Jackal?” I said, absently adjusting my earbud. “You coming?”
“I’m here,” he answered, and within a few seconds he stepped around the corner.
Diana had been standing behind me in silence, probably just trying to make sense of what was going on. She’d been through a lot in the past thirty minutes, and if the tremors in her hands were any indication, she wasn’t exactly handling it well.
Scratch that. The fact that she was still putting one foot in front of the other and not screaming her head off meant that she was taking it pretty damn well.
But no way could we expect any level of functionality until she’d had a few hours of calm and half a dozen donuts.
Or cookies, or whatever her go-to vice was.
“Diana,” I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “This is my friend Jake. He works with the police. He’s going to take you somewhere safe, okay?”
She just nodded, but she didn’t protest when he looped his arm through hers.
“I’ve got her,” he promised. “Kelsey’s keeping the front up so they don’t suspect anything on our end. As soon as we’re out, I’ll check in with Jo—see if she’s gotten anything useful from the ambassador yet.”
“Ambassador?” Diana’s head shot up. “Do you mean my dad?”
Jake shot us a smile and steered her towards the tunnel, calmly assuring her that her father was fine and that he was helping the police and she’d be able to see him soon. Then I spun around and ran straight back to the vent.
“Hold up,” Scott said, grabbing me by the wrist. “I know I can’t stop you from going back in there, but at least put the damn vest on, okay?”
“Fine,” I smiled. “I’ll wear the damn vest.”
The office was still empty when Scott and I emerged at the other end of the vents, but I had to assume that the extended silence was starting to get suspicious. I threw a trash can against the wall and screamed a little for good measure, and Scott cursed as he peeked through the window.
“Shit,” he muttered. “I was really hoping you were exaggerating about their firepower.”
I snorted. “It’s the Irish mob. How could I possibly exaggerate their firepower?”