Page 116 of Three
I hear Hunter’s annoyed growl and a snort in my ear, Ren’s perhaps.
“Why, yes. I think it’s my lucky day.” I leer at him while dropping my bag on the floor. There’s a jammer inside that overrides the signal on his walkie talkie, so he can’t communicate with the other two guards inside the building. One of which, Hunter must have neutralized already.
“How did Hunter not resist all that?” Ash sneers at me.
“Little fucker,” I mutter.
“What?” Jeff asks, confused.
“Just an annoying fly in my ear.” I slide my finger on the shiny counter as I lower my voice. “I’ve forgotten my entry pass. Left it in my coat.” His gaze falls on the muscles outlined by my tight shirt, and he ogles the fuck out of me. “Do you think I can enter even without one?”
“Well, I’m gonna need your name and…phone number, baby.”
I giggle, when what I really want to do is roll my eyes at him.
“Swipe left, Velma. Yikes!” Ren’s mocking is followed by an angry rumble…Hunter’s. The hair on my nape stands straight up hearing his delicious possessive growl.
I gesture the guard to come closer over the counter and grab his necktie when a noise from behind him almost makes him turn around. “Have you ever seen a Pigmy monkey?” I whisper darkly as I see Hunter coming.
Jeff shakes his head while staring at my lips.
“You remind me of one.” I smile at him just as Hunter hops onto the back of the counter with one gravity-defying leap and pulls Jeff back with a large hand around his neck. The guard tries to unclasp Grizzly’s fingers from his throat but yields quickly, succumbing to the darkness.
“You won’t be able to sit for a week, Red,” Hunter snarls at me.
“Why do you think I did it?” I wink at him. “Don’t kill him. He’s a cheater, but not evil.”
“Is that part of your code?” he asks, and I nod. Hunter is quickly becoming a member of the family side business, asking questions left and right. I’m so damn happy I can share that part of my life with him. He lets Jeff collapse on the floor without a care—but still breathing. I take out a syringe from the bag and inject his arm with it.
“What’s that?” Dare asks me.
“A drug that creates confusion. When he wakes up, he won’t remember clearly what happened.” Sari modified a similar one used by the CIA—curtesy of Linda—and made it more effective and with fewer side effects.
“Cool,” Ren utters.
“Are you a secret agent? Like fucking Double O Seven?” Sounds like an accusation in Ash’s rude tone.
“No. But I know one.” I smirk at him. “Let’s go!” I grab my bag and let Serena direct us to the basement through the stairs. We stop in front of a door.
“It’s a keyless mechanical door. Serena, check today’s footage of the cameras on this floor. Maybe one of them got a peek at?—”
“I’ll be faster.” Hollywood turns to Ash. “Give me your black eye shadow.”
“Fuck no. That’s expensive,” his brother refuses. But after a short staring battle, in which it seems they are communicating telepathically, Ash huffs and yanks a small box from his pants and passes it to Ren. He shakes it hard, ignoring Ash’s grunts, and then opens it while moving close to the keypad near the handle on the door. He blows the black powder on it and fingerprints appear on only three numbers.
“Simple and effective, Hollywood,” I praise him.
Ren snorts at the nickname, but I can see the smile as he taps the number and unlocks the door after only two attempts.
For his part, Hunter doesn’t look happy about it at all. Probably has to do with the fact that he wants the boys to stay out of trouble.
As soon as we enter the lab, different kinds of animal noises welcome us, as well as the stench. Someone turns on the switch, and the sight of six cages way too small for the animals inside makes my body vibrate with anger. I count four malnourished ferrets, two pigs with black burns on their pink skins, a very angry and loud Capuchin monkey, a one-eyed chameleon, a herd of hairless guinea pigs, and three scared-shitless rabbits.
“How are we going to get them all out?” The wicked trio brought only three crates from the shelter, not big enough for all of the animals. And the cages look to be nailed to the tables. I look around and see a metal cart with two baskets. “That.”
“Dare, work your magic on the monkey. We’ll take care of the others.” Ash moves the cart near the pigs’ cage.
“I have tranquilizers if you need,” I tell Dare as he starts slowly approaching the agitated Capuchin.
