Page 59 of Hawk
His building appeared to have an underground parking garage, but I was going through the front door. I had a hoodie covering my head as I approached the double glass doors and, within a few seconds, I had the door unlocked and was inside. Over the years, I’d learned skills that made me invisible when I needed to be, so I deployed everything I had to get upstairs.
There was an elevator, but that would’ve had me trapped, so I found the stairs leading up and silently began to climb. When I got to the fourth floor, I saw a sign stating the main office was there, so with extreme caution, I entered the floor. There were two doors and, on instinct, I turned to the right. The lockpick kit I had came in handy as I let myself into the locked room. A beep from the side of the door alerted me to the alarm. I had no idea what the code could be, but if I didn’t do something, I would lose the element of surprise.
Something about what the man, Skid, said on the phone gave me an idea, so I walked to the panel and punched in four digits.
“I’ll be damned,” I whispered as the beeping stopped and the alarm disarmed.
Devlin actually used my birthday as one of the codes. Either that or I should expect guards to descend into the room quickly. Looking around, I found nothing of value. There was a wall of monitors, all sitting quiet, and the opposite wall was filled with computer servers. I assumed that’s why it was freezing inside.
I decided I would wait him out. At least until I got bored and announced myself to the madman.
There was a large conference table in the middle of the room, and I took the seat at the end with my back to the monitors. The door to the room was in front of me as I kicked my feet up onto the table and placed my gun in my lap.
For the next hour, I stared at the door, waiting for him to enter. It must have been around four in the morning when I heard the elevator doors open outside the room, and I knew this was it. The door opened a moment later and a handsome man with brown hair walked into the room and went to turn the alarm off.
When he saw it was disengaged, he turned around to find me with my hand on the gun and a smirk on my face. Tilting my head to the side, I waited for him to speak.
“You must be Stella,” the man remarked and walked to the other end of the table. “I’m James, Devlin’s brother.”
“That’s funny. I don’t remember you at the family dinner table growing up, so how could you be Devlin’s brother?” I inquired with more than a little bit if attitude.
“I’m assuming you’re here for Devlin,” he stated, and I gave him a simple nod. “Would you like for me to go get him?”
“Why don’t you have a seat, and we can wait for him together,” I replied, and James cautiously sat down.
“Would you like to speak with him?” I shrugged, and James asked, “Can I get my phone from my pocket?”
I lifted the gun and trained it on his chest, ready and willing to pull the trigger and drop him. He called himself my brother’s brother, so he was obviously important to Devlin. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I was in deep water and would do what I had to do to ensure Hailey’s safety.
James stood and showed me two fingers with a closed fist as he slowly reached into his black pants and pulled his phone out. Placing it on the table in front of him, he began to dial.
“Put it on speaker,” I instructed, and again, he nodded.
He didn’t seem scared or even worried about me, which told me one of two things—either he was a killer or a thrill junkie.
The phone rang twice before a groggy voice filled the room. “James, what’s going on?”
I hardly recognized the voice as James replied, “There’s something here you need to handle.”
“Can’t it wait? Elise had a rough night, and DJ refuses to sleep alone.”
James lifted his eyes to me as he spoke, “It’s important. It won’t take long.”
“Shit. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be down.”
The phone disconnected and he retook his seat. Crossing his arms over his chest, James appraised me before he spoke. “You’re so much like him, it’s scary.”
“I’m nothing like him,” I spat, and James chuckled.
“I knew you’d say that. You’re both obviously stubborn and think better with a gun in your hands. My only question is, how did you get in here without the system alerting me?”
I offered him a smile as I returned, “You need better security.”
That made him throw his head back in laughter, and I found myself chuckling. Callahan Cyber Security was one of the best companies in the business, and for me to have been able to walk through their security was hilarious. Just as the laughter began to die down, I heard the elevator ding again and sat up straight, taking my feet off the table.
James looked at me and then casually turned to face the door.
When the door opened, I nearly fell out of my chair. He looked so much like our father, it was scary. From the dark black hair with small amounts of silver at the temples, to his deep blue eyes, the eyes we all shared, to the way he seemed annoyed from being disturbed, he was our father incarnate.
