Freeing Him: A Hart Brothers Novel, Book 2 (28 page)

“Just lay low, man. There’s too much activity. Langston is trying to pull you out. Don’t you get it?”

“Yeah, but there’s something else too, isn’t there?”

The rapid blinking of his eyes, complete avoidance of eye contact, tugging the earlobe, scratching the nose, then the final clue, how he shifts his body away from me and faces the wall, confirms my suspicions. What is he hiding? I employ another tactic, just to doubly satisfy my curiosity.

“So, how do you like your new team of bodyguards?”

As I expect, he turns toward me and lets out a breath, “Not at all. I want my life back.”

His relief at the change of topic is palpable. “Preaching to the choir, man.” But I’m not going to give up. “What the fuck are you hiding, Case?”

The eyes tell it all. Every. Single. Time. And his just busted him.

He drops his head into his hands. “I can’t tell you because I don’t even know myself. Please don’t ask me anything else.”

“Tell me if Gabriella is involved and if she’s in danger.”

“She’s not in danger, but if you don’t stay out of this, you
will
be.”

“Goddammit. This is fucked up, Case, and you know it.”

“Yes, I do. I love her too, you know.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

“Go home. And lay the fuck low. Trust me on this.”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to have a little chat with Gabriella tonight. I can’t just ‘lay the fuck low’ and you know it.”

After I walk out, I know damn well Case calls Gabriella before I even hit the front door.

That night when I arrive at the studio, I’m greeted by a note.

You said if I wasn’t going to show up or if I had to go somewhere to let you know, so I am. I can’t be here tonight. Don’t worry about me babe, I’m fine. I’ll be back before you know it. I love you with everything I have.

Yours,

G xoxo

And I have a very, very bad feeling about all of this.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Gabriella

Drex Wolfe finally calls and now I almost wish he hadn’t. I’m charged with figuring out a way to meet him. How the hell am I going to do that, undetected, with my team of mountains following me around?

Then, to my horror, Case calls and tells me about Kolson’s visit. Now I have that to worry about too. I ask Case if he has any blond wigs. He comes through and brings one to me at my office, along with a lunch I can’t eat.

“What are you going to do?”

“I have to find a way to slip past my bodyguards and meet Drex.”

“Think you can ride a scooter?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried. I’ve only driven cars.”

“No gears. You just turn the key, start it up, and go. The throttle is on the right handle bar and you turn it like this.” He demonstrates it with his hand. “They’re a breeze. But you can wear a helmet with a visor. And leather.”

“I’ll freeze. It’s December.”

“Yeah, but it’ll disguise you. Dress warm underneath the leather.”

When I think about it, with a blond wig, it may be perfect.

Case adds, “Use the back stairs to slip past your bodyguards, like you’ve been doing, and exit through the garage wearing your helmet.”

“Won’t I look weird?”

“Not if I have a scooter parked right outside, waiting for you.”

“What about security cameras?”

“Take the stairs to the third floor or something and get on an elevator. Then take it to the garage level. You have all the codes to get in and out. They won’t think anything of it if you’re not doing any breaking and entering. No one is reporting any burglaries.”

“Right.” It all makes perfect sense.

“What time do you have to meet him?” he asks.

“Seven.”

“I’ll have it waiting for you. I’ll send the package with the leathers and helmet to the penthouse in a box, like a gift.”

“Thanks, Case.”

He gives me a brief run-through on how to drive a scooter and he assures me I’ll be fine.

That afternoon, I get home early. Jitters have me fumbling everything and the butterflies in my stomach make me want to vomit. Lydia is there and wants to know if everything is all right. Of course it’s not, I want to scream. But I paste a phony smile on instead and tell her to take the rest of the afternoon off. She wants to hover but I can’t deal with that right now.

I’m meeting Drex on the other side of the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City, New Jersey, and I need to calm myself before I go. When Lydia finally leaves, I unpack the box that was waiting for me, just as Case promised. Everything fits and with the wig and helmet on, I’m unrecognizable. I’ll have to dress in the office to slip by my one bodyguard that stays in the penthouse near the elevator. The others remain in the lobby.

I know Langston’s men are out there and I pray I can maneuver that silly moped through traffic and make it to Drex and his men without being detected. Time crawls by but at six, I leave the apartment by way of the back entrance and take the stairs to the eighth floor. Then I hit the elevator and go to the garage level, all the while holding my breath. With the leathers and helmet on, the sweat trickles down my chest, dampening my clothing beneath the outer layers. I can feel my hair getting damp under the wig as well. I hope I don’t freeze my ass off when I’m on that damn scooter. It’s already dark out and the middle of December so it’s freezing outside. At least it’s a clear night and not snowing or sleeting.

I hit the garage and walk with confidence, like I’m on a mission, which I am. When I hit the metal door that separates me from the outside world, I see the security guard. Instead of exiting through the large door, I exit out the other one, the one that requires the numbers on a keypad. He watches me and I nod at him before I walk through. I’m out.

In front of me sits a black Vespa. Fancier and bigger than I’d imagined. There’s no time to worry about it. I climb aboard, turn the ignition, and drive away. There are men all around who look but don’t really pay attention. Maybe it’s because the hair hanging down to my waist is blond and they don’t think it’s possible for me to have blond hair. Dumb-asses.

I head straight for the Holland Tunnel. I go down to 59th Street and take it across town. Traffic is heavy, as always, but it’s much faster to navigate it on this contraption. I find that I enjoy weaving in and out of the lines of cars. It makes me forget what I’m about to do. Oddly enough, I even begin to notice that Manhattan is decorated for Christmas. And it hits me that I haven’t realized the holidays are around the corner. Although Drex hasn’t shared a thing about the plans for tonight, I know I’m taking a huge risk. The sweat from my earlier case of nerves is now drying, chilling me.

Horns honk, but I wave back at them and laugh. Perhaps I’m going a tad crazy. I reach the Henry Hudson Parkway and head downtown. I open this thing up and it picks up speed. My blond wig flies out behind me, but my head still sweats. This helmet is pretty warm. Up ahead I see the exit for the Holland Tunnel and I sigh in relief. I can’t believe I’ve pulled this off.

When I enter the tunnel, it gives me the creeps. It smells like exhaust and makes me claustrophobic. Traffic is bumper to bumper and all I see are long lines of red taillights from the cars ahead. I don’t have time for this so I again weave to try to get ahead. The other cars don’t like it—drivers curse and honk at me. Someone actually throws an empty bottle. Asshole. I keep going. I can see the end ahead. Thank God. A few more maneuvers and I’m out.

I make the curves to exit and follow the directions Drex gave me. There are two black SUVs waiting for me when I arrive. Drex rolls down the passenger window.

“Nice ride,” he comments.

“Yeah. It’ll do.”

“Leave it over there and get in.”

I park the Vespa behind a dumpster and remove the tags, like Case asked me to do. I then climb in the back seat and remove my helmet and wig.

“You’re not so bad as a blond,” Drex says.

“It’s hot.” I run my fingers through my sweaty hair to unknot it.

“Hi, Gabby.” I look over and see Gemini in the back next to me. “Meet your group. You’ve already met Huff.” He’s driving. “This is Riley.” He’s sitting by the window and I reach across Gemini to shake his hand. “The other half is in the other vehicle. Say hello to Mick, Jim, Juan, Brax, and Houston.” Drex has a phone on speaker as he makes the introductions.

“Hi, guys.”

“Hi, Gabby,” they say in unison.

“Good. Here’s the plan.” Drex begins.

He maps out what they’ve established. The SUV behind us trailers two ATVs that Brax, Houston, Mick, and Jim will ride in. They’ll disable any guards they find on the perimeter of the property. What they’ve noticed is that two guys patrol at night. They’ve set up a night duty that walks the back of the property, right behind the terrace. Two other guards are stationed on the roof. While the ground guards are being handled by Brax and Houston, Mick and Jim will scale up to the roof and take out the guys there.

“Won’t the roof guys notice that the guys on the ground are missing?” I ask.

“Yeah. But we’ll be up there so fast, they won’t have time to think much,” Drex answers.

“They won’t raise an alarm?”

“They won’t have time,” Gemini says.

I shrug, only because it’s hard for me to imagine all of this.

Riley says, “Don’t worry. This is a piece of cake for us. What you need to worry about is your role.”

“Right.”

“Take your coat off, Gabby.” Gemini digs through a duffel bag on her lap. I finally notice they’re all wearing black.

I struggle to remove the tight leather. Under it my sweater is still damp.

“Ugh, I’m so sweaty.”

“Nerves?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“Take it off.”

I look around and think about this. She wants me to strip in front of Riley.

“You have to shed your modesty right now. We have to get you dried off so we can wire you up. This adhesive will stick
after
you sweat, but not before. I don’t want it falling off when you’re in there.”

“Right.”

I pull my sweater off and the air hits my skin. It feels good. Then she passes me a towel. Riley looks straight ahead.

“This is a little awkward.”

Riley clears his throat. “If it’s any consolation, it’s awkward for me too. But not nearly as bad as when my boss’s wife strips in front of me.”

I laugh because Drex doesn’t appear to be the type who would appreciate Gemini being half naked in front of anyone. Gemini cracks up too.

“You two are not the least bit humorous.” Drex’s voice coming from the front seat has a touch of humor in it, though he’s trying to hide it.

“The bad thing is I’m nervous and I keep sweating.”

Gemini hands me some baby powder. I sprinkle it all over.

“Be careful. We don’t want to look like white powder puffs. We’re supposed to be camouflaged by our black.”

“And we don’t want them to smell us a fucking mile away, either,” Drex says dryly.

“Huff, turn on the AC.”

That finally does the trick. When I stop sweating, Gemini sticks tiny pads attached to wires on my chest. Then she hands me a black, long-sleeved tight-fitting T-shirt.

“This will help keep the wires in place.”

I pull it on and then finger-brush my hair again.

“You look like shit,” she says.

“Thanks. I feel like it too. I think I could puke right now.”

“Understandably. When we get closer, I’ll give you your Kevlar.”

“A vest?”

“Yeah. We’re not taking chances. He’s escalated.”

Drex turns in his seat to look at me. “Gabby, we want you to understand something. We’re not in the business of killing people and we don’t intend to kill anyone tonight. Are we clear on this?”

“Yes. But you have to know I’d like to see Langston Hart dead. There wouldn’t be an ounce of regret in me if he were to die tonight.”

“Understood. But if he does, it won’t be at our hands. We’re here to collect evidence and to get him to admit and incriminate himself. We’re confident we can do that. And one thing you need to understand about our operations: we don’t fail.”

“That’s exactly what I expect.”

Drex turns back around and says to everyone, “So let’s do a run-through. Brax, Houston, Mick, and Jim, we drop you off at the designated point. You run in on the ATVs. Once the outside guards are taken out, you enter through the roof access. There you’ll go to the security room and take care of the camera feeds. The guys in there will need a bit of trussing too, I imagine. Once you have the front door cleared for entry, you let the rest of us know.”

I interrupt him. “The drive into the house is at least …”

“A mile long. We know, Gabby. We’ve done our homework.” Gemini continues, “You’ll stay in the car here with me and the rest of the team will be in the other car.”