Page 54 of Daddy's Oath
That was confirmed when Stryker’s voice came back and said, “Walking up the stairs now.”
“I’m on it,” Jack replied immediately.
For this part of the plan, Ace did have eyes. He’d recalled his last drone and sent out a second one in its place, the fresh battery charged and ready to give him another thirty minutes of sight.
The scene before him was in vivid, bright color on the monitors as Jack, walking casually on the street wearing a cap and sunglasses, grinned and said, “Hey! That’s him! The guy in all those movies. Eh… Harrison… Trent! Yeah! Harrison Trent!” He had his cell out and aimed at Harrison as the movie star stopped walking the opposite direction on the sidewalk and grinned. “Nice to see you.”
With that, the tourists on Hollywood Boulevard swarmed Harrison and Jack.
And the U.S. Marshals’ vehicle that was parked right by them at the curb. The occupants would be pinned in for quite some time with all those people around.
Which was the plan.
Giving Stryker ample time to do his thing up in Lana’s apartment.
Thanks to the cameras Ace had placed around the apartment, he could watch Stryker as he entered.
“Maintenance,” Stryker called out.
Of course, no one answered.
Ace held his breath. This was the part that could go south in a hurry. They figured the Marshals weren’t in the building itself. But that was just an educated guess. No units showed up as available. In Hollywood, apartments went almost as soon as they were listed. Odds were small that the Marshals would have been able to secure one to set up shop.
Plus, with them parked outside, there was no need to be inside. They didn’t have the manpower to station guys both places.
But eventually, the crowd around Harrison would disperse. The marshals would realize someone was inside Lana’s unit and would rush in. Hopefully, by that time, Stryker would be gone.
“I just need five minutes at the most,” Stryker whispered, seeming to know Ace was nervous.
He wasn’t the only one. Beside him, Ryan said, “Try to get it done quicker. I don’t want you getting arrested.”
“Copy. Let me know if they start heading this way.”
Ace shifted his eyes to the other monitor where the image of a crowd around the SUV—everyone wanting autographs and selfies with Harrison—filled the screen. “We’re good right now. If anything, the crowd is getting bigger.”
“Hell yeah,” Isaiah chimed in. “Everyone comes to Hollywood hoping to see a movie star. But it doesn’t actually happen often. This is making all those folks’ trips worth it.”
“Harrison is being a good sport about it,” Ace noted.
“He always is,” Stryker whispered. “Even when we aren’t causing a distraction to cover up doing something we shouldn’t be.”
“You make it sound as if you do this sort of thing often,” Ace said.
Stryker didn’t reply.
Ace laughed. “We don’t want to know.”
He watched as Stryker found one of the cameras the Guard suspected was left by the gang, pulled out a tiny device and a laptop from the toolbox he’d carried in, and got to work.
The plan was for Stryker to fake a call on his cell. Ace watched as he pulled his phone from his pocket, poked the screen as if answering a call, then said, “Hello, boss.” He was silent. “Yeah. I can get to it once I leave the place over on Whitley. I just needto run a diagnostics test to check the PSI. This place still isn’t cooling down right.”
Ace grinned, knowing that Stryker was covering his tracks as to why a repairman would have a laptop. It might not slow the Marshals down long, but it would probably work on the gang members who were spying on the place.
“That sly son of a gun,” Ace said.
“He’s good,” Ryan commented. “Makes you think he and his buddies havedefinitelydone stuff like this before.”
Ace could only imagine how much trouble Stryker and Harrison gave their Mommies. He was glad he wasn’t in charge of them, that was for sure!
