Page 70 of Addicted in Blood
ChapterThirty-Four
“I’m tellingyou Jamal can handle the alley.”Harlow was as irritated as I’d ever seen him.If the payout for this job wasn’t more than the crew made in a year, he would have walked after the first five minutes of their meeting.
The dark lounge stank of body odor and burnt popcorn.It was better than vomit, but it made me question what had been sticking to the bottom of my shoes on the walk to the back table.
I arrived with Devon and the cadre, and Harlow had been waiting for us.Jacques stayed in the limo, and Trudy had preferred sticking with Jamal, who was parked across the street and a block down from the lounge.Roxie’s van was already in position near Gheata’s house.
The first disagreement was Sergi’s changing their original agreement to stay a minimum of two blocks away from the target location.Then he wanted to put a vamp in the alley with Jamal, and one across the street hidden in the dense-foliaged landscape.
Harlow wasn’t going for it.
“If I had to guess, I’d say the lot of you haven’t spent much time in an alley.Or if you did, did you actually look around, see who lived there, what they ate?When you’re starving, you’re not so picky.It doesn’t take the smart ones long to know that people with money throw out food that’s still edible.Sometimes they have to wipe the green mold aside, but hunger is hunger.Jamal knows what he’s doing.”
He glanced at each vamp before landing on Devon.“If Gheata is half as good as you keep telling me, then he’ll know there are vamps close by.That’s why he picked a nice human neighborhood to move into.I don’t care what you’re paying me.The risk to my crew is high.I have the last word, or we walk.”
When Sergi opened his mouth, Devon placed a hand on his arm and gave Harlow his full attention.“We agree to your plan.The perimeter vampires will stay two blocks away.Our task is to monitor Gheata, and should he leave early, find ways to delay him.”He gave Harlow a broad smile.“I do have one minor request of my own, and I won’t take no for an answer.”
Harlow lifted a brow, but he matched Devon’s grin.“Let’s hear it.”
“I go in the van with Cressa.”
“No.”I hadn’t planned to respond, but it popped out without a second thought, and my mouth couldn’t seem to stop.“You also agreed that Harlow and I were the leads on this mission.I’m the liaison with the vamps.”Simone and Sergi grimaced at my use of the word vamp, and though Devon said it didn’t bother him, I should show more respect.Next time.When Devon wasn’t aggravating me.
But he had his hands up.“You are in charge.I’m only there as an observer.But, based on the intel on Gheata, he can be unpredictable.You won’t be able to focus on the mission without someone watching your backs.And Jamal will be in the alley.I can be your protection.”
“It would be better if I performed that task,” Sergi said.
Devon shook his head.“You’re needed to orchestrate our teams.If Gheata leaves early, it will take an experienced maestro to keep all the musicians in sync.”
“All right.Enough,” Harlow growled.He was on edge, and I would need to talk him down before everyone was in place.“Cressa, Devon, and I will leave through the back door.The rest of you should leave in intervals, but do what you do.Just remember to stay two blocks away unless we call.”
Then he was up, striding toward the exit sign.I was still watching him as Devon lifted me up by my elbow, steering me in the same direction with long, even strides.Once outside, we looked both ways before spotting him to the left, half a block ahead of us.He knew we followed.He had the vamps in a bind.This had to be done tonight if we hoped to find something, or the Eliminators would be after Devon.
Three blocks later, Harlow slowed enough for us to catch up.He didn’t say anything, but at the next intersection, a gray Civic screeched to a stop, and Harlow opened the back door, waving his hand for us to get in.Devon pushed me in before diving in behind me.Harlow was already in the front passenger side as the car’s tires squealed, and the vehicle accelerated faster than I thought a Civic could go.
“Hey, Jamal.”I waved my hand in front of my nose.“It smells like you’re already dressed for the part.At least, I hope that’s what it is.”
He laughed.“It’s not easy getting ready for a job.I keep telling Harlow how much time’s required to get a disguise well-seasoned.”
“Well, I’d say you win an award for realism.”I pushed the button to lower the window and gave it three more attempts, swearing under my breath, until the window crept down.I sucked in the fresh air before my eyes watered.Devon must be struggling with the stink, but he didn’t show it.He seemed to be enjoying himself.
We weren’t far from Gheata’s place, and Jamal drove a two-block radius around the house, then again from one block away before pulling into a driveway next to a mom van.We got out quickly and quietly, following Jamal as he strolled down the street to where Roxie had parked her van.There were a mix of other vehicles parked along the sidewalk, so no one should second-guess it being there.
Harlow rapped twice, waited a beat, then knocked again.It wasn’t needed.Roxie had a camera monitoring the back door, but she let him play his games.The door opened, and Trudy jumped out.The downside of the van was that there wasn’t a lot of room inside with Roxie’s modifications.On the other hand, even the FBI would be impressed by her gadgets.
“Hey, Pandora.It’s been awhile.”Trudy winked.It had been a week since Christopher was killed, the same night we’d run a quick job.I’d considered it a test to see what our new hacker Roxie could do, but in all honesty, it had felt great to use my skills again.It was killing me not to be going in on this one, but neither Devon nor I could be traced back to this.
“I can’t believe you haven’t traded up.”I pointed my chin to Harlow.
“I think he puts something in my morning coffee,” Trudy snickered, and Harlow thumped my ass, ignoring the glare Devon gave him.
Roxie stuck her head out.“What is this?A party?We have a job.”When she noticed Devon, she smiled, and her eyes sparkled.“And who are you, handsome?”
Devon reached for her hand, and when Roxie complied, he kissed the top.“I’m Devon.I’ll be an observer this evening.”
She winked and waited a moment before drawing her hand back.“Then get your sweet ass in here.And everyone else, go away.Oh, except you, Pandora.You get in, too.”She disappeared for a second then opened the door wider, tossing two phones to Harlow and Trudy.“Those are wired to a specific encrypted account in the cloud.Take pictures of everything of interest.Take as many as you want; there’s unlimited storage.Once you’re out, destroy then toss.Understand?”
They both nodded and tucked the phones in their cargo vests.They pulled out earbuds, then, giving me half-ass salutes, turned and walked away hand-in-hand.I smiled.They looked like two mercenaries out for a midnight lover’s stroll.
