Billionaire Ransom (8 page)

His gaze wandered from her face to her breasts, a finger sneaking up to the tear in her blouse. “Then I guess we’re doing this.”

She kissed him, a thrill running down her spine. “First order of business: get inside the building.”

“We could just walk right in the front door and get in the elevator. I doubt your dear ol’ dad has wanted posters of you and me up everywhere in the building.”

Katie burst out laughing. “Good point. Then to get into the higher floors you have to use either the elevators or the stairs, and the doors to both require a key card. I’m pretty sure my key cards no longer work.”

“Or maybe your father is keeping this hush-hush, and hasn’t told anyone you’ve left.”

Katie frowned. “I doubt that. I bet he’s basking in the fact that his daughter disappointed him again and never measured up to his sacred son.”

“Is there any way to access the higher floors from the lower floors? Like maybe crawling through a ceiling or something?”

She lifted her eyebrows. “No. I mean, not that I know of. Do people actually do that? I’m not James Bond,” she giggled. “The system was just reworked last year, and the people who put in the HVAC systems had to open up the ceilings on each floor then close them again, so I’m guessing the duct work stops on each floor.”

Morgan sighed. “Sounds like.”

“Okay so climbing through the duct work like exterminators is out. We need a plan. I mean, I could try my key card on the off-chance it still works, but since we both know my father knows I’m the one who ratted him out, the odds of that being true are pretty slim, and we’d likely be caught before we even started.”

“That would be unfortunate.”

She pretended to glare at him. “You’re getting a little thrill out of this now?”

He chuckled. “Watching you plan a break-in? Imagining you in tight, black leather spy gear? Hell yeah.”

She tried not to grin, but she couldn’t help it. “You’re such a corrupting influence.”

“Me? I’m not the one who suggested we break into a highly-guarded corporate office to steal classified files from the owner.”

“That’s true. And when you put it that way it sounds really stupid. Damn it! I wish I knew for sure that he kept one in the house on a file or something. Fuck! Why didn’t I take the files while I was still working there? That would have made so much more sense than trying to sneak back into the damn place.”

“You didn’t know we’d need them.”

“No, I didn’t, but I should have considered the possibility. I mean, that’s really what I do; I consider possibilities and judge the best decision and make it. I should have decided to take that damn file.”

She ran her hands through her lustrous hair and sighed again. “So we could always do it your way. Just go in, guns blazing, and hope for the best.”

His head tilted to the side. “You think that might work?”

“Nope, but it might be fun… better than being shot in the bar parking lot.”

“And
I’m
a corrupting influence.” He took a long swallow of his beer. “You know there might be an easy solution we’re overlooking here.”

“Really? Do tell?”

Morgan grinned suddenly, a sly look coming to his blue eyes. “Deliveries.”

She shook her head, “No, all deliveries go to the front desk. Then upstairs via the mail room or inter-building people.”

“Wow, you can’t even get pizza?”

“Nope.”

He shook his head, “Damn! No wonder you quit.”

“I know, right?” She rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Morgan scowled. “I have to admit I’m at a loss, but I know somebody who might not be.”

“Who?”

“Penny.”

Katie blinked. “Clive’s wife?”

“Yes, she was a rather notorious hacker at one time.”

She gawked at him. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, not at all. She was a hell of a hacker, actually, and she would probably still be hacking, but Clive made her stop because he thought it was a sneaky thing to do.”

“Bullshit!”

He laughed. “Totally not kidding. Maybe she could get into your father’s system.”

“He would have had it all on paper, not computer files. It’s easier to shred paper, and then…wait. Maybe she could make us a key card!”

He frowned. “Is that possible?”

“It’s computerized. I don’t know, but we could ask. I mean, Clive stands to go to prison for this too, so I’m guessing she would be happy to help if she could.”

“I have to agree with you on that one.” He got up and went to the door and hollered to Clive.

Clive stepped into the office and Morgan closed the door behind him. “We’ve got a plan.” He briefly explained their idea to him.

Clive sucked on his teeth. “What about security cameras?”

Katie said, “They’re everywhere.”

Clive nodded. “Great. So you need to look like anyone but you.”

Katie grinned. “You saying we get to wear disguises too?’

Clive looked at Morgan and rolled his eyes. “Does she look like she’s having fun?”

Morgan gazed at her. “Yeah, it does. Too much fun.” He grinned and slapped Katie playfully on the bottom.

“Just checking, boss. If she can play me in pool, she can play a character she needs to.” Clive chuckled. “So you need Penny to do what?”

“I need her to make us key cards that will help us access the higher floors via the elevator. My father’s office has a regular lock. Maybe we could pick it.”

“Now
that
I can do,” Morgan said.

She gave him a thumbs-up. “So can she do it? Penny, I mean? Do you think she can make us key cards?”

Clive nodded. “Since she’ll know it might keep me out of prison for murder, I’m willing to bet that she’ll do her best to do it.”

Morgan finished his beer. “Heading out of town for somewhere warm and sunny is starting to sound pretty good.”

Clive grabbed his phone out of his pocket. “Yeah, but they’d crucify us in our absence. We’d never be able to come back. Like hell I’m letting them win without fighting. Plus, half the guys are felons with no papers out. We could make them papers, but most wouldn’t go and you know it.”

“I know,” Morgan said grimly, “That’s the only reason I haven’t bought a suitcase yet.”

Clive clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Okay! Let’s get Penny and the guys in here and make a plan.”

Please work… Please work… Please work…

Everything hinged on the key cards working. If they didn’t, they were screwed.

Katie held her breath as they headed for the familiar elevators in the lobby of the building her father owned. Where she used to work. It felt like a lifetime ago, not a couple of weeks.

She was scared to death the cards wouldn’t work, that someone on the security staff would recognize her despite her being disguised as a man, or that her father would still be in his office. She knew the last was ridiculous because they had seen him leaving the building fifteen minutes before, but the thought still crossed her mind, and worried her.

The whole thing was insane, and she knew it.

They had to do it, though. Everything was riding on it—particularly their own lives.

Her muscles tensed as they entered the elevator and waited for the door to close. Her hands shook as she pulled the key card from her pocket and swiped it in the receptacle, and then pushed the button for the highest floor.

She held her breath again, expecting the lights to flash red as the computer realized the card was fake and denied them entry. If the card acted up, they’d be trapped in the elevators until the police came.

She huffed out, and then sucked in a gasp of air when the access lights turned green and the car began to ascend. She gave Morgan a shaky grin and he smiled back, but neither of them broke out in a happy dance, aware of the cameras watching their every move.

They headed out of the elevator and down the floor, keeping as close to the walls as possible in an effort to keep from being seen by the cameras. She knew where the blind spots were and they had discussed it at length, but she was horribly aware that, at some points, they could and would be clearly seen.

Katie knew every twist and turn of the hallway, yet she still felt ridiculously out of place. The clothing she wore felt awkward and strange. She stopped just outside an office door, and Morgan bumped into her.

“Here?” he whispered.

She shook her head and moved on. The door had been to her old office, and she didn’t recognize the name that now hung on it.

From what they could tell, most of the offices were empty and silent, the air around them hushed and still. When they reached Blake’s office, her hands shook again as Morgan used the lock-picking tools to open the door.

Precious seconds ticked by, measured by Katie’s thunderous heartbeat and the fear creeping along her nerve endings. Finally, the door gave an ominous click as it opened. Katie gasped loudly then held her breath when Morgan shot her a look.

The security cameras were outside the office, not within. She knew that the whole thing hinged on whether or not a guard had noticed two people near Blake’s door. They had to assume that one had, and hurry.

There was also the little thing about the alarm inside her father’s office that she hadn’t told Morgan about. She pushed past him and hurried in, quickly hitting the number her father always bragged about as the year he made his first billion. Even her father didn’t know she knew the alarm code. She had been in the office the day he had it set up, not that he had noticed.

She motioned to Morgan when the lights of the alarm showed green, indicating it had turned off.

She hurried to the safe and skidded to a stop in front of it. It sat hidden behind a hand- painted landscape of the city. She stared at the wall safe and hesitated. The files would be in a place where nobody would find them. This was too obvious, the first place a thief would look, and her father would have it set to alert the guards on the floors below. She turned to Morgan and shook her head before walking quickly to a potted plant.

Morgan followed, his face showing his confusion. He pointed to the safe behind the picture.

“Booby-trap,” she whispered and then giggled out of nervousness. Really? Scary-ass situation and she had to giggle at the word ‘booby’?

She dropped down to a low squat position and moved the heavy pot over.

Morgan helped and let out a low chuckle when he saw the safe hidden low in the shallow alcove behind the potted plant, in the floor.

Katie carefully put on her black leather gloves, and took a moment to steady herself. She pointed to her watch and then the door so Morgan would keep an eye out for anyone coming.

Heart racing, she stared at the lock. There was really only time to try one combination, and she knew exactly what it had to be. Blake would have hidden his most precious items using the thing that was the most precious to him.

She keyed in Charlie’s birthday and held her breath.

The safe rose from the floor and opened silently.

She gave Morgan a thumbs-up. Ironically, now that they were so close to success it was terror that gripped her, not relief. Getting the document was one thing, but what if it wasn’t there? What if guards showed up? They still had to make it out of the building with the file.

Her body shook as she took off her jacket, opened the messenger bag and began stuffing every file within the safe into it. There wasn’t time to rifle through and find just what they needed so she took it all. Just before she was about to close the door, she stood and hurried over to a filing cabinet.

“What’re you doing?” Morgan hissed.

She didn’t reply as she opened the third drawer from the bottom and pulled out a handful of files from the tightly-packed stack. She hurried back to Morgan and stuffed them into the safe before closing and lowering it back into the floor. She gave Morgan a nod.

He rolled the plant back into its original position and stood. They retraced their steps quickly, and Katie reset the alarm to the office before closing the door and checking to see it was locked. Trying to walk calmly, or at least look calm, she followed Morgan back to the elevator. They had decided against using the stairs, also monitored by camera which would call undue attention to them. Her legs shook as they waited for the elevator, and she could feel perspiration cover her skin as they stepped on and rode down.
“Where’re the guards?
” she mouthed to Morgan as she pretended to rub her nose, hoping the cameras wouldn’t pick it up.

Morgan shrugged and shook his head.

They reached the lobby floor and both pressed against the side walls as the doors swished open with a slight pneumatic whine. Katie jumped at the sound and flinched, expecting bullets to come flying out at them.

Nothing.

When the door began to close again, Morgan stepped through, waiting for Katie to follow. It took everything not to burst into a run as they crossed the lobby silently. The guard on duty at the desk barely looked up as they passed through the metal- detectors. They had decided prior to going through with this that they’d leave any guns behind, and she kept expecting the guard to open fire on her, or more of her father’s burly sentinels to come racing out, guns blasting. Katie could barely breathe. Her heart beat so rapidly she was afraid she’d faint as they moved through the rotating doors out into the darkness of the night.

They walked quickly, crossing the street and heading for the bar. She didn’t dare speak until they had gone half a block. She began to skip a little. They’d freakin’ done it! Besides a little stress, it had been actually easy! “I think we just freakin’ did it!”

“Keep walking,” Morgan hissed in a low voice.

The messenger bag bumped against her hip. The one Morgan wore swung due to its being empty. She saw the bar’s light looming ahead and she reached for Morgan’s hand. “I can’t believe—”

“Katie, get in the car and go.” Morgan pushed her hand away. The words were quiet but laced with seriousness.

She hesitated. “What? I thought we were going to the bar.”

“Do it now.”

She looked up at him, but his eyes were riveted to the fronts of the buildings they were passing. Her gaze went to the reflective windows, and a squeak came from her mouth. There was a car behind them, driving slowly, not passing them.

She managed to swallow the bile that rose in her throat. “I-I think you should drive.”

“No. We’re splitting up. I’ll take the bike and divert them.”

“Maybe it’s just someone heading to the bar.”

“It’s a fucking black Cadillac,” Morgan said, his voice still low. “You need to go, Katie. If we go into the bar they’ll shoot the whole place up. Or blow it up. Whatever’s easier.”

She had to force her body, almost paralyzed with fear now, to keep moving. There were other people on the street, walking and entering and exiting the restaurants and bars. The Cadillac wouldn’t try to take them out there and risk killing the wrong person. She moved close to Morgan and whispered, “Shouldn’t we stay in sight of other people?”

“You have to get out of here. Go! Now. Run for the car right. Now.” He pushed her forward and turned to head down a side street that led around to the bar.

It happened so fast. In the same moment she took off, the clunky shoes and clothes weighed her down momentarily. She turned her head long enough to see Morgan leap out into the street, right into the path of the car. It screeched to a halt. She picked up speed, praying and weeping silently as she reached the dark parking lot and her car. He had pretended to go down the alley, knowing she would be watching him.

She revved the car’s engine just as Morgan made it to his bike and kicked it thundering to life. He lifted the messenger bag and tucked it tight against him in a clear taunt. Katie hauled ass for the street beyond, spinning tires as she went.

Morgan headed in the opposite direction, and the car followed him. Through the review mirror, Katie watched and then headed for the exit to the highway. She turned the wheel sharply just before, causing several horns to honk angrily at her. She ignored the sound as she cut off a car coming from the other direction and headed back the way she’d come.

Morgan was in danger. Like hell she was going to let those bastards touch her man!

She stripped off the jacket and got the long strap of the messenger bag away from her body. She pressed her Bluetooth and called Clive.

“We made it out,” she said tersely as soon as he picked up. “They were waiting outside the building. Morgan took off on his bike and headed south, I’m in the car headed north—was heading north. I’m coming back. They goons followed Morgan.”

Clive swore under his breath. “We’re on it.” Then the line went dead.

Ahead of her, nearing the road that became a two-lane and headed away from the city center and into the suburbs beyond, she spotted the car and Morgan racing ahead. She stepped on the gas, thankful Morgan’s vintage car was a sports model. She followed them, her hands clenching the wheel.

She saw headlights in her mirror rapidly approaching. She shook all over as tension gave way to fear. The adrenaline from earlier was turning into shock. Could it be more of her father’s men?

The lights split in two and she nearly swerved off the road, letting up slightly on the gas as she did so. Clive roared up beside her, one hand held out as he jockeyed to get closer to her car. Penny was behind him, her red hair waving in the wind.

Katie opened her window and then grabbed the messenger bag on the passenger seat. She held it out her window.

Penny grabbed it like it was no big thing. The bag didn’t even drop.

Katie realized the rest of the crew rode hell-bent for leather after the car pursuing Morgan.

Clive banked sharply and headed back to the city center, or wherever he and Penny were going to hide the stolen information.

Katie let out a sigh of relief. The files were safe, no matter what else happened.

The crew moved ahead of her and narrowed in on the Cadillac. The car sped up just as the bikers surrounded it, but two bikers pulled easily in front to prevent it from getting away.

Katie watched in shock. It was like watching an action film in the theater.

From her headlights’ reflection, she caught sight of the whips bikers used to keep away cars that got too close to them flashing, and heard glass breaking. She maneuvered quickly, her eyes locked on Morgan, just ahead of the car and heading for a little dip in the road that turned into a long descent, hurtling downward at a terrifying grade.

She moved around the bikers, now riding in the lane designed for traffic going the opposite way. She pushed the gas pedal down, determined to reach Morgan or drive the damn Cadillac off the road if she had to.

Gunfire erupted from the windows of the car and she saw one of the Orphans go down, his bike spinning across the road. She dodged the bike and rider, but just barely, a low scream erupting from her mouth as she did so.

Some of the bikes stopped to help, but most kept going.

Gunfire kicked back up.

Katie ducked low as bullets hit the side of her car. She didn’t slow down, though; she couldn’t. She had to get ahead of them before they got to Morgan.

Her speedometer needle was buried at the one-hundred-mile-an-hour mark. The lines on the road blurred and she felt a fresh wave of fear. She had never driven so fast before, and she didn’t know if she could even control the car at this speed.

Gunfire rattled, and shook the night.