Page 55 of Sinful Attraction

“Thank you.” I feel better about this... but I also hate the idea of Michael going in there alone. “I’ll make sure to scrub the security videos of your presence. We’ll time it for when there’s only one person on and they have to pee or something.”

“Sounds good.” He sighs and gets up, going over to the safe bolted under one of the great room counters. “I never actually thought I’d be in a position where I’d have to use a gun on a job, but here we are.”

“You’re practiced with it, right?”

He unlocks the safe and pulls out a black 9 mm handgun that would scare the piss out of me if it was pointed at my face. It will definitely do the job of intimidating Cleary. “Are you kidding? My dad dragged me to the range every weekend, starting as soon as it was legal. Yours?”

“I wish. I’m a girl, so I had to learn on my own. But I do know how to shoot straight.”

He nods and pulls out his shoulder holster, putting it on. “Well, hopefully, neither of us will have to apply those skills tonight.”

I nod, praying that as well. The prospect of losing Michael when I’ve just found him gnaws at me, and I try to push it aside as he drives.

The drive to Oakland is long and chilly. Fog hangs over the Bay, filling the air with a faint, foul smell of the sea. Jazz plays on the radio, and the heater hums constantly.

We’re not driving his usual car. This is a small panel truck, the kind that swarms around that area day and night. In the back are two rolls of duct tape, a pair of handcuffs, and a lot of dark,uncomfortable space for Cleary to knock around in. That should take some of the fight out of him.

If it doesn’t, I’m not sure what we’re going to do. But Michael says he’s got it covered. I just wish he’d tell me what his contingency plan actually is. I suspect, though he hasn’t said, that he’s worried.

“Will you be able to remote-hack the hotel from out here with that gear?” he asks as he drives.

“I’ve done more with less. This system’s been heavily modded, and as long as their Internet isn’t out, I should be good to go as soon as we’re in the parking lot.”

“Good.” He put his earpiece in. “You got your microphone on?”

I sigh and put in my earpiece. “It’s ready to go. Are you?”

He nods, patting the pistol under his leather jacket. “I’ll be back with our asshole within fifteen minutes.”

My stomach tightens as I turn to my laptop and start the fight to get in past the motel’s online security. It isn’t much to speak of: These smaller places in undesirable spots usually don’t pull in the cash for real Net security. This isn’t going to take me long.

It doesn’t. By the time Michael is almost at the lobby door, I’m already looking at him through the security cameras. “I’m in,” I tell him through the microphone.

“All right. I don’t want to hang out outside. Should we wait for a pee break or—”

“No. Act natural. Walk in like you belong there. Go straight for the elevator.” I pick up my phone to distract thedeskpersonwith a call.

She yawns in my ear when she picks up. “East Oakland Fairway Hotel, can I help you?”

“Yes, hi, when is checkout in the morning?”

I watch the camera as she turns her attention away from the lobby toward the call, and Michael becomes a background activity in the corner of her eye. She doesn’t call after him or even look his way. I smile with relief.

I keep her on the phone with a few small, inane questions she probably gets dozens of times a day until Michael is safely in the elevator and heading up. Then, I let her sign off so she can get back to work, none the wiser that an armed kidnapper has just slipped past her.

It takes almost no time for me to find the footage of Michael’s walking through in the system and replace it with a copy of another guest’s late-night arrival.

Things are going smoothly so far. But Michael hasn’t even made contact with our target yet, and the closer he gets to doing that, the more dangerous it becomes. I concentrate on getting him the right room number and then remote-unlocking the door for him.

“You’re ready to go,” I tell him as he reaches the right floor and heads for Brian Cleary’s room. “Good luck. Please...”

“I know, sweetheart. Thank you. This will be over soon.”

He opens the door to Cleary’s room and closes it behind him. I hear a muffled yell over his microphone and then Michael speaking in a stern voice I have never heard from him before.

“Shut up. Keep your hands where I can see them.”

“I... I... I... oh, God, what is this...” Brian stammers in a low, choked voice. “Are you here to kill me?”

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