“He probably wanted to keep her somewhere controlled by his family,” I said. “But there wouldn’t be a whole lot of places that Brooks doesn’t know about.”
She tapped away at her keyboard until two camera feeds came up on screen. One was from a traffic camera across the street, with the other covering an alleyway from a neighbouring building.
“OK, these are all I’ve got,” she said as Lavinia pulled the surveillance van to a stop across the street from the warehouse. “I know it’s not much to go on, but all the other cameras in the area would take too long to hack.”
“We can make it work.” I leaned in to watch the cameras, keeping an eye out for any movement.
“There.” West spotted something first, pointing to the bottom corner of the traffic camera feed.
A man walked by with purpose in his step and a gun in his hand. The blurry footage showed him wandering through the empty lot, then banging on a metal side door with no handle on the outside. It opened, and he went in.
“His backup is coming,” I muttered. “We have to go in now. He’ll probably have more guys like that showing up soon.”
“And we can’t enter the same way he did. No doorknob,” Conrad said. “Anyone see a better door?”
Lavinia turned off the van, leaving the keys in the ignition, and climbed into the back again. She got us each an earpiece as we scoured the footage—and then the online map images—for the best door to use.
I wished we had pictures of what the inside looked like. As it was, whatever door we chose, we’d be going in blind.
With Talia’s life hanging in the balance, it was a risk, but one we needed to take.
Benjamin would realize eventually that we were tracking her. As soon as he stripped that jewellery, he would take her to a new location. One much further away and more difficult to find, I bet.
“We’ll have the best chance if we go in through two different locations, across the warehouse from each other.” I pointed to a door near the one we’d watched the man go into, then to one off the alleyway where the other camera observed. “Conrad, West, you two go in here. I’ll go in this other door.”
“Shouldn’t you stick together? What if you get caught up in something and they’re too far away?” Emilia asked.
I shook my head. “Better chance of getting Talia out if we split up.”
She was what mattered most. I exchanged a glance with West, and he reached out to bump his fist against mine. If we’d had more time, he would have argued to be the one who went alone.
He knew I wouldn’t budge easily, though, and time was something we were short on.
Conrad fist bumped me next. “You better be careful, man.”
“I’m always careful,” I said.
Lavinia placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a nod. “I’ve contacted our fathers, but their guys will take some time to get here. Do your best to stay alive until then, yeah?”
The cool metal of the gun felt familiar in my hand. My footsteps were light as I rushed around the warehouse, hoping Emilia was right about it having no exterior cameras.
This area of town was quiet, even at this time of day. Only a few people walked by on the sidewalks, and none of them noticed me on the other side of the chain link fence. I kept my gun in my left hand, facing the building, so no one would have a reason to call the police.
“In position.” West’s quiet confirmation came through my earpiece.
My destination was up ahead. A recessed door that I’d probably have to jimmy open or smash through.
I glanced around, making sure I was alone, and darted to the door. “In position.”
“Jurah’s guys are five minutes out,” Lavinia said. “You guys make your move on three.”
Gun in one hand, I held the crowbar from the van in my other. If I was lucky, my alpha strength would let me slam the door open, but if I wasn’t, I would need the leverage.
“One.”
I heard a shout from within the warehouse and my hair stood on end. They were close to me, at least some of them.
“Two.”
