“Find some sort of access point,” the hacker said in my ear. I found the central computer tower under the desk. “Plug the drive I gave you into the system.”
“You’re in.” I inserted the drive, trying to avoid the pooling blood from the guard. Within a few seconds, the feeds in front of me flickered, then went dark. “Damn, that was fast.”
“Access confirmed,” Ciel said. “I don’t have full control yet, but I can at least see. Obi, careful around that corner. More targets ahead.”
“Wynn?” Obi asked.
“I’ve got it,” Wynn replied. A few more seconds of silence. “Targets eliminated.”
I whistled under my breath as I kneaded my shoulder. Painful shocks rippled from my deltoid down to my fingertips. Thank fuck Max had never actually hired them to trackusdown, or else Leona and I would definitely be dead.
“Do you see him?” Leona murmured. I pictured her sitting next to Ciel in his van, right where I left her, biting her lip, and frowning at his multiple screens.
“Looking,” Ciel replied. “Flip through the feeds and see what you can find.”
The sounds of both their keyboards clicked in the background of the comms.
“Wynn, have you cleared the main entrance?” Obi asked.
“Affirmative. Caspian, you’re clear,” the Shadow responded.
“Got it.” That was my cue. I left the body of the guard on the floor and snuck out of the gatehouse to make for the front door.
Using the lush foliage of the front yard, I masked my approach. My breaths came heavy and difficult. Fuck, I was getting out of shape. I needed to get back to the gym. My body was already struggling to keep up.
A guard stood right by the front door with an Uzi in his hands, and I sucked in a breath when I realized I recognized him. Giulio. One of Don Luciano’s men. He was well-liked among the made men, always cracking a joke, and lightening up the tense situations we often found ourselves in. I’d played plenty of poker games with him.
My jaw clenched. I’d have to kill him.
I stepped forward, but a branch cracked under my feet. His head whirled in my direction, and we locked eyes. He froze, his raised eyebrows indicating that he both saw and recognized me.
I lifted my guns, but he gulped, and then turned away.
I frowned. He definitely saw me. What was he doing?
Another heartbeat later and he slowly yet purposefully stepped away from the front door, back down the cobblestone path that led through the front yard.
Was he letting me in?
Going to sound the alarm?
He reached the end of the path and paused without turning around, hands still unmoving on that Uzi. Ever so slightly, he glanced in my direction and jerked his head. A signal.
Shit. I didn’t want to kill him.
“Ciel,” I whispered. “There’s a guard by the front entrance. Keep an eye on him.”
“Noted,” he replied.
“Is that Giulio?” Leona asked. She knew a lot of the guys stationed at the Vero estate. She would chat with them whenevershe had the chance, always asking them questions about their girlfriends or moms. They had loved her.
“Yes,” I answered. If he made any other move to call in intruders or run away, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. But for now, I’d keep going. “There are Vero men here. That gives us potentially double the on-site targets. Be prepared.”
The rest of the guys acknowledged through the comms.
I crept the remaining distance to the front door. The moment I pushed it open, an alarm screeched through the house.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I growled, ducking inside, and slamming the door shut behind me. I slipped inside the dining room connected to the main hallway before anyone came running. “Fuck me.”
