Page 44 of Master Vidar & Vali

Lincoln and I had rushed back to the office and pulled in everyone we could to try and take down the arses after Zara. Learning that they’d come here with an order to take Zara or not bother coming back meant the men were motivated by more than one man’s obsession with virginity.

Turned out Mihal had annoyed enough people in the family that they were using this as a way to get rid of him. No one expected him to succeed, and that made him even more determined to prove them wrong. The reason we hadn’t been able to find them was that he’d been cut off from all resources so wasn’t following the usual patterns we expected.

He was staying at the home of one of his friends from University in Bryn Mawr, an affluent suburb of Philadelphia. We pulled into the neighborhood, a block away from the house which was serving as their temporary hideout. It was a prosperous neighborhood with lots of private security. It made things difficult both for us and them. Why had he picked here to hide out? Where did they think she was?

I’d wanted to go in guns blazing and take the assholes down, but unfortunately, with the location and the fact that only a few of the men had actual warrants out for their arrest, Gabriel had talked me into making this a recon mission. We would sneak in and plant enough bugs to capture every word they said and, if possible, gather every bit of intel we could.

We’d texted Zara and let her know we would be back late because going in after dark was the best option we had. Rose helped us coordinate the team with those who were best with breaking and entering. The waiting was going to kill me.

“I’m in their system. It’s an older model with laughable security. There are a few cameras covering the property. Let me check them over, then I’ll be able to bypass them. I don’t think they have anyone actively watching the feeds.” Linc was typing furiously in the back of the van.

We hadn’t had time to talk since he lashed out in the car. I knew, like me, Linc had leftover issues. His words had cut through me, but I knew he didn’t really mean them. We were both scared that things with Zara would go to shit. Hopefully, tonight’s work would get us one step closer to removing thethreat and having time and space to breathe. Then we could figure out what came next.

A flashback of Zara’s battered face and ribs took the forefront in my mind. It was hard to accept we couldn’t just take the assholes out, but Linc and I ending up in jail for murder wouldn’t help on the relationship front.

“I’m not seeing any movement. I’m scanning back through the footage. I think they might be out.”

That was surprising but maybe the first stroke of luck we’d had. If the men were out clubbing or something, we would have a clear field to do whatever we needed. We could move in now instead of waiting. An idea formed in my mind.

“Linc, you said their security is a joke does that mean you can control the gate?”

He looked at me with suspicion. “Yes.”

“Good. Once you knock out their recording capability, I’ll take Jackson and Reynolds right in the front door. If they come home early, you stall them by not letting the gate open and giving us a heads up and we’ll head out the back.”

A smirk pulled at Linc’s lips. “Risky but doable.”

Jackson laughed. “You got a set on you, Kinnaird. I like it.”

“They left a few hours ago, hopefully that means we’ve still got time. I’ve got complete control of everything electronic and hooked up to their routers. There is a small possibility there is still someone inside, but I haven’t seen any movement since they left.”

I checked my gun and slid it into the hidden holster at my back before pulling a dark hoodie on. The two men going in with me did the same and we exited the van doing our best to look like a few guys just out for a casual walk. The gate to the house was already swinging open by the time we reached it.

Even the front door beeped as we approached, and I heard the lock disengage. Careful not to leave fingerprints, I opened the door.

“This is why I don’t have electronic locks.” Reynolds shook his head as he followed me inside.

The entrance hall was what you would expect from someone who had money, but as soon as we reached the living room, it was obvious the place was being used as some sort of headquarters. Pictures of Zara were pinned to expensive paintings and files of information covered almost every flat surface. On the coffee table was a closed laptop.

“Fuck.” Jackson whistled as he looked around, already dismantling the smoke detector to plant a camera.

“Impressive if obviously amateur.” Reynolds was unscrewing an air duct to plant his own camera.

“Linc, I’ve got a laptop here. If I turn it on, think you can get in?” Rage was tearing at my self-control. I had to remain professional, but it was hard when evidence that they had been tearing into Zara’s life was spread around the room.

“Of course. Put the USB I gave you into one of the ports. It will give me remote access if the security is shit like the rest of this place and, if by some weird fluke it’s encrypted, it will clone the hard drive and I’ll crack it later.”

I opened the lid and powered the thing on, slipping the USB into the side port. I rolled my eyes when I saw there wasn’t even a password screen. Leaving Linc to do his thing I moved down the hall to plant devices in the bedrooms and offices.

Other than realizing these guys were slobs there wasn’t anything of interest in the rest of the house. It was almost too easy to get a device in every room.

“You guys almost done?” I asked over the comm. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long to get enough evidence to take these guys out of the picture.

“Yeah, I finished the lower level and Jackson is finishing up the last upper bedroom.”

“Shit! Get back to the van now!” Linc’s voice was almost panicked.

“Are they back?”

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