“O’Neill’s on the way,” Wolf said as he took his previous chair at the table. “As usual, he was a step ahead of us. He had somebody sitting outside the Nantz Building. Nantz skipped town immediately after your meeting.”
“Well imagine that,” Aiden drawled. “Those back-to-back meetings he mentioned must not have been all that important.”
“To be fair,” Embray countered. “He never said those meetings were in his office. They could have been elsewhere.”
Aiden spun his chair back and forth with one black boot. “Did O’Neill say where he skipped off to?”
“He’s looking into it.” Wolf frowned. “We can’t take Nantz from any of his offices or his houses. It’s too public and too dangerous.”
Aiden nodded in agreement. “Once we know where he’s gone to ground, we’ll know what our options are.”
“His company pilot filed a flight plan for Luton Airport in London,” O’Neill announced as he walked into the command center and took a seat next to Wolf. “He’s got a suite of offices at Berkeley Square. When he’s in town, he stays at the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair.”
“Both of which are too public for what we have in mind,” Aiden growled, going back to scowling. “Any leads on favorite restaurants? We could move in and grab him on his way in or out.”
“The dude’s loaded with security,” O’Neill cautioned. “I’m told he’s hired an additional round-the-clock crew.”
“He must be expecting us to come after him.” Aiden smirked. Guess he’d gotten to the bastard after all.
“A shootout in front of a trendy restaurant will attract too much attention,” Wolf said.
Aiden’s smirk turned into a scowl, which he directed at his brother. “No shit, Sherlock.”
“There may be a way to remove him from his Berkeley office suite without interference,” Embray said. All eyes turned toward him. An uncomfortable expression tightened his face. From the looks of it, whatever he was about to suggest, didn’t come easily to him. “I have a colleague with an office in the Berkeley complex. I can get us into the building.”
“I doubt he’ll invite us into his office again,” Aiden said.
Embray nodded in agreement. “Not us. But he’ll see my colleague and we’ll tag along. Once in, we inject him with something. Knock him out. We tell his people he collapsed, and we’ve already called for an ambulance.” He nodded toward Wolf. “Have your people show up in an ambulance, hook him up to some IVs, load him on a stretcher, and cart him out. No one will think twice.”
Aiden was surprised that Embray suggested drugging Nantz. Wasn’t that the same scenario that had happened to him three years ago? The coup had been all over the news back then. It wasn’t every day one of the richest men in the world was drugged and sentenced to a coma, while a cabal of assholes stole his company.
“We’d have to steal an ambulance,” Capland said as he entered the room. He’d obviously heard enough of the conversation to weigh in.
“Or create one,” Wolf added.
Silence fell as everyone assessed the idea.
“After we grab him, we’d have to dump the ambulance and transfer him to a new ride. Can’t risk taking the ambulance all the way to the airport and the Citation,” Aiden offered.
Everyone nodded. After a moment of frowning and thinking, O’Neill continued. “We’ll have to call 911 for real. Ask for an ambulance. Too much blow back on Embray if we don’t.” He paused, before continuing. “To ensure our ambulance arrives before London’s emergency services, we’ll need to block the roads.”
Cap lifted his head. “According to Nantz’s medical file, he’s five feet nine inches and one hundreds and sixty pounds. Whoever accompanies Embray into that office will have to incapacitate him until the drug takes hold—without bruises, preferably, or signs of a struggle.”
Aiden watched the computer specialist’s face, or more specifically his glasses. He waited for them to slide down his nose and gritted his teeth when they did exactly that. Didn’t that constant sliding down and pushing up annoy the dude? It must happen like a thousand times a day. It irritated Aiden just watching it. Why the hell didn’t Capland invest in contacts?
“At least one of Nantz’s security detail will insist on riding in the ambulance. Whoever plays the role of paramedic will have to incapacitate them,” Wolf said. Everyone in the room nodded at that. “The rest of his security detail will follow in their own vehicle,” Wolf continued. “We will need a team to intercept them.”
With the addition ofwill,the strategy went from being a theoretical to an upcoming operation.
Day 41
Shadow Mountain Base, Alaska
O’Neill watched Embray, followed by Aiden and Capland, walk out of the war room. Just him and Wolf now. Time to fess up. Wolf needed this information before he assigned roles for the upcoming op.
“You wished to speak with me?” Wolf asked, his eyebrows raised over curious dark eyes.
“What makes you think that?” Okay, he was stalling. Sue him.
