Page 182 of Heresy

“Simple,” I answer him, “We go in. We grab Brinley. We get out.”

“Scott had a gun,” Ezra says. “So which one of us is taking the bullet?”

I see it as a small detail but also won’t forgive myself if one of them gets shot.

No matter how pissed off I am, Ezra is right. We need a plan.

“Taylor, can you pull up the layout of the house?”

His fingers tap in response. Less than a minute later, “It has three bedrooms, each one occupying a corner of the house. In the fourth corner is the garage. Sliding door leads to the living room, which is central to the bedrooms. It’s a small home. Not much square footage.”

Sounds easy enough.

As long as Scott doesn’t sleep with his finger on the trigger, we might have a chance of getting to him before he has a chance to shoot one of us.

“What about alarm systems? Can you access their Wi-Fi?”

Brinley said it’s a safe house, so I have to assume it’s fully set up. Jerry was the one who created the house, but he was never the brains behind the business with John. Not when it came to the computers and servers. I highly doubt Taylor can’t maneuver past anything Jerry might have used to protect the house.

More tapping. “I’m accessing it now. There are no networks to speak of.”

Weird…

“No central hubs, no cameras, no computers. Just two phones and a television, none of which are in use right now.”

He taps more. “Also, per local phone providers, there is no land line connected to this house. Therefore, the alarm can’t be run through that either.”

Twisting in my seat to look at him, I can’t hide the shock in my expression. “Nothing?”

He shakes his head, his brows tugging together because he’s as surprised as me. His fingers continue flying over the keys.

“Unless he’s using a bunch of analog equipment and it’s all in-house, there’s nothing set up that would alert him to our presence.”

It doesn’t make sense. But I trust Taylor, despite the way he was striking out earlier tonight.

Still…

“You sure?”

His mouth twists with annoyance. “I screwed up before. I’m not now. I’m absolutely certain of what I’m telling you.”

The twins and I share a look, all of us shrugging in silent agreement.

“Okay. Let’s go. We’ll check for signs of life first. If nobody’s awake, we find a way in. Ezra, Damon and I will enter the bedrooms and take care of whoever we find. Taylor, you keep watch for anything outside the house. Cops, nosy neighbors, stuff like that.”

I tug the handle of my door but don’t open it fully.

Turning back to them, I add, “And whoever finds Brinley, leave her alone. Then find and help whoever pulls the short straw and ends up with Scott.”

They nod in understanding.

It takes less than five minutes for us to walk the perimeter of the house and discover no activity inside. Assuming everybody is tucked in and fast asleep, I begin checking windows and doors. All of them are locked up tight, but then I run back to the sliding glass door.

Patting my hands around the frame and also checking to see there are no bar locks in place, I’m mostly thinking out loud. “There’s a way to pop these off the track, I just need to remember it.”

Damon steps up, pride in the line of his shoulders. “I know how. Move.”

I step back, and he lifts the door up by shoving up with his palms, it lifts so high the frame comes off the track.

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