Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 7) (15 page)

“We did. Now we need
to figure out how to get our friends out of the dungeon, and make it
so that Darcy can safely return,” Stella tells me.

“She’s gone?” I
ask.

“Yes. It isn’t safe
for her to be here right now, and she has to make sure her mother is
safe.”

“Oh yes, of course.
Her safety and her mother’s has to take priority.”

“She’s not going
alone to her mother, is she?” Noah asks.

“No. She’s not
going at all. They’ll be looking for her. We have others who will
take her mother to safety, and then Darcy can do what she needs to.”

“What she needs to?”
I ask, afraid to hope at what that means. “Is she getting me the
jewels?”

“No. Well, maybe.
There’s some oath she took and conditions that have to be met. She
couldn’t even tell us everything about it. I do know that she hopes
to be able to give them to you in time for your coronation.”

“I told her if she
couldn’t, it was alright. I don’t want her to place herself in
unnecessary danger.”

“From what I
gathered, she’s been in unnecessary danger for ten years because
she’s too honorable to break her word. It seems like things are
coming to a head, and maybe she’ll finally be free.”

“I’ll do whatever I
can to make that happen for her.”

“The first order of
business is to get us into the dungeon. It won’t be a problem to
get everyone out, but we have to be able to get in. Five minutes
should be enough time to free them from whatever Derrick has them
chained to.”

“He hasn’t been
feeding them much, so they’re probably going to be weak. Jake’s
mother has been putting pressure on us to release him, so he was
offered more food and a nicer cell, but he refused, saying he’d
stay with his friends.”

“Of course he did.
He’s not one to take any favors if his friends are suffering.”

“I can carry at least
one of the girls out,” Zack says.

“I’ll carry the
other one,” Noah says.

“Nate and Aiden will
be fine. They’ve been in the desert with low rations before from
what they’ve told me. They’ll come out of the cell swinging.”

“Do you need to be
down there with them, or can you help me distract the guards,
Stella?” Jen asks.

“Someone who knows
how to work the devices we use has to be there, and it’s too
complicated to just train someone on the fly.”

There’s another knock
at the door before anyone else can respond. I open it, and am once
again surprised. It’s Matt Corrigan standing before me, and I’m
not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I don’t let him in right
away. “Hello, Matt.”

“Let me in, Brayden.”

“Why?”

“I’m not going to
stand in the fucking hall discussing it. Move, or I’ll move you.”

I’m not stupid enough
to go up against him, so I step aside and let him in, closing the
door behind us. He looks around, and takes in everyone, finally
focusing on Stella.

“I’m here to help.”

“You’re going
against your grandmother?”

He shakes his head.
“No. I can’t do that. But Nate and Aiden are my best friends, and
I need to help them.”

“What about Darcy?
She’s one of your best friends, too. Before you got married, and
Nate got Jade, the four of you were inseparable. Or did you
conveniently forget that? Or forget your
wife
?”

“I didn’t forget.
My gram is family, though, and I owe her too much to stand against
her.”

“I understand the
need to choose family over everything, man, but I almost lost Stella
because of it. Are you willing to lose Reina?” Kace asks him.

“I don’t have a
choice.”

“Yeah, you do,”
Stella reminds him. “We all have choices. I’ve made some pretty
bad ones, and some awesome ones, too, but they were mine to make.
You’re choosing wrong.”

“Maybe I am, but like
you’ve insisted on pointing out, it’s my choice to make. Reina
will forgive me, or she won’t. I know my friends will—they’ll
understand. Now, what can I do to help?”

They have a staring
contest for at least a full minute before Stella finally nods. “I
need to work with Jenysis to distract the guards. While we’re doing
that, the rest of you will go to the dungeon. You know how to use
Ainsley’s gadgets, so you can get them out.”

“Who here knows how
to shoot a gun?”

Everyone in the room
raises their hands. I’m a little surprised that the band guys know,
but then again, if they’re around the women so much, they probably
have to be prepared. “We can get guns, if that was going to be your
next question,” I offer.

“Thanks. Now how is
this going to go down? I mean, Stella can definitely bombshell
herself up, but Jensysis? I mean, no offense, but you come off as a
little, well, uptight.”

“I can be sexy,”
she says, her eyes flashing.

“You’re already
sexy, babe,” Wayne tells her.

“No one asked you,
you tosser.”

“Time out, you too.
Keep it in your pants for once, Wayne. And Jenysis, you need to learn
to take a compliment when it’s given.”

“He’s degrading
me.”

“Nah, he’s just
being Wayne. He doesn’t mean any harm,” Stella tells her.

“Back to business.
Stell and Jenysis will distract the guards, but who’s going to
distract the Queen, Steven, and Derrick?”

“Jessica and Alex,”
Stella informs him. “They’re going to ask to talk to them about
the island and all of the different customs.”

“They’re in on
this, too? Miles is going to freak.”

“Too bad. Choices,
Matt, choices.”

“I can’t help you
with Darcy. Just with this.”

“Understood. I don’t
agree with it, but I know that if Reina isn’t enough to change your
mind, nothing I saw will change it either. Now, let’s get this all
worked out.”

I sit back and let them
plan, interjecting with pieces of information when they need them.
It’s pretty amazing to watch them work. Between Matt and Stella,
every possible problem is uncovered and a plan is put in place. Once
everything is ironed out, we go our separate ways until tomorrow.
Noah is going to slip guns to everyone over the next 24 hours, and
Storyside now has a part to play as well. All I can do is hope that
this goes off without one of us getting killed.

Darcy

Being home, but not
being able to go home, is a strange situation, even for me. I’m
staying with Zack’s sister, Sierra, who recently moved to Las
Vegas. I didn’t want to involve her, but everyone thought it would
be best. No one would know to look for me with her, and she’s
excited that she gets to help.

“This is so cool. I
mean, it would be cooler if it was official Society help, but this is
great, too.”

“I appreciate it,
Sierra, I really do.”

“But you need me to
back off a little, right? I know I’m being kind of overwhelming.
It’s just that ever since I learned about all of you, I keep hoping
they’ll be an opening or something.”

“There may be ten
openings once this is all said and done.”

“I don’t believe
that. The mentors would be crazy to fire all of you.”

“Everyone is
replaceable. So maybe you’ll get your shot after all.”

“I wouldn’t want it
like that.”

“You’d make a good
agent. I’d be okay with you taking my spot.”

“Really?” she asks,
with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, not exactly
okay with it, but I’d rather it be someone I know wants it and
would do a good job, then some of the other women I’ve seen try and
go through training.”

“They didn’t really
want it?”

“No. They wanted the
glory, or the prestige. Our job is about way more than that, and
trust me, it’s rarely glamorous. Anyone who wasn’t in training
for the right reasons was quickly weeded out.”

“How did they even
get recruited?”

“That’s a hard
question to answer since I’ve never recruited anyone. I know that
some of us are people they helped—or in my case, pretended to help.
And then a few helped out on missions, or came from law enforcement
backgrounds. They’ve just always told us that they saw something in
us that made them know we were the right choice. For the women who
didn’t make it, whatever they had in them that caused them to be
chosen, wasn’t enough to override the things that made them fail.”

“Ainsley’s going to
teach me how to shoot a gun, and maybe fight, but I don’t know if
there’s anything special about me.”

“You’re letting me
hide out here, so I’d say you’re pretty damn special, Sierra.”

“It’s my pleasure.
Really. Now, I’ll let you have some alone time.”

“Thank you.”

I get up and go to my
room, thoughts swirling through my head. I still can’t believe
Mallory did this to me. That they all lied to me for seven years
while they pretended to care for me. All they wanted was the jewels,
just like everyone else. Except for Brayden. He wants them, but he
was willing to put his love for me first. That’s why I wish I could
just give them to him. He’s the only one who deserves them. It’s
not my call to make, though.

If I knew then what I
know now, I’m not sure I would’ve agreed to that oath. I was a
fifteen year old girl who had just watched her father die in front of
her. I wanted vengeance and revenge. Stealing the jewels seemed like
the answer, and the oath was just the icing on the proverbial cake.
It helped protect someone I loved, while allowing me to be an
“honorable” thief. So then again, I may have still done it.

My phone rings; I see
that it’s Tegan, so I answer immediately. “Did you get her, Teeg?
Is she okay?”

“Yes and yes. There
were only five guys on her. We didn’t even have to kill anyone.”

“Faith must be so
disappointed.”

“I heard that,” I
hear in the background.

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

“Anyway, we just
dropped her at the secure location, and now we’re heading back to
Europe, but Ainsley said you need to get into your apartment.”

“Not my apartment,
exactly, but the building, yes.”

“Well, my guys are on
it. Cal says if you stop by at seven tonight, you can walk right in.”

“Really?” What the
heck is Cal going to do?

“Yep. He said you’ll
have ten to fifteen minutes. Ainsley said she can freeze the system
for you so no one from outside of the building will see you either.”

“I have the best
friends ever.”

“Right back at cha,
Darce.”

I spend the rest of the
afternoon gathering all of the supplies I’ll need. If I had access
to my office at the Foundation, or even my apartment, I could just
grab a bag. Since that’s not an option, I have to make trips to the
hardware store and REI. All of those years I was on my own, without a
group of billionaires to fund equipment for me, has paid off. I can
put together almost anything I need from basic stores. There is one
thing I can’t get ready made from a store, though. I call Tegan
back, and she tells me she has one in her apartment and will make
sure Caleb has it ready for me.

I head out around 6:30
in the car Sierra rented for me. I want to park a few blocks away to
make my getaway easier. My phone rings through the Bluetooth before I
get there. “Hey Ainsley, what’s up?”

“I can’t get you in
yet. I’ve just lost all Society privileges. I can get back in,
because I built the system, but it’ll take me a little time.”

“I’ll get her in,”
Scott says, all of a sudden on the call with us. Damn these tech
savvy people. And love them at the same time. “I got the
notification that your access was revoked, so I thought I’d jump
into this call.”

“Your mom will be
pissed if she finds out.”

“I’m not worried.
Just walk me through the plan.”

“Thanks, Scott.”

“Sure thing, Darce.”

I disconnect with them
so they can work it out, and make my roundabout way to the building.
I walk through the unlocked doors at exactly seven to find a smiling
Caleb and Ethan waiting for me. The guards at the desk are slumped
over, and the elevator is open.

“Hi guys. Do I even
want to know what happened?”

“Dad and I made them
some brownies,” Ethan tells me.

“With a few extra
ingredients in them,” Caleb adds with a wink. “You’ve probably
got fifteen minutes, but I’d plan for ten, just in case.”

“Thanks. I really
appreciate this,” I tell him as I take the bag I need from his
hands.

“Be safe.”

“I’ll try.”

I take the elevator to
the roof and then run to the middle where the giant tower is. Ainsley
and Scott built it to control the invisible field surrounding the
building that blocks everything from bugs to missiles. I placed the
jewels at the top before it was activated, but I had to ask for it to
be turned off tonight. The jewels are safe, but I’d be fried if I
tried to climb it while it’s powered up.

My ten minutes are
almost up when I make it to the top of the 50 foot tower. I may have
been able to make my own climbing rig, but it’s not really a good
substitute for top of the line gear, especially on a windy night. I
almost fell twice, and my hands are shaking as I pull up the panel
that I hid the jewels in two years ago. I reach in and grasp the
pouch, zipping it inside my motorcycle jacket, before I climb up to
stand on the panels.

I open the bag I got
from Caleb, take out the glider inside, and unfold it to its full
length. It’s another of Ainsley’s gadgets and should fly me to my
car with no problems. I hold up the detachable sensor so it can gauge
the wind factor and then strap on the wings. With a running start,
I’m off and soaring into the night sky.

I overshoot a little
and land right on the roof of the car; the momentum causes me to roll
off onto the ground. I have to laugh at myself as I get up. Thank God
it’s dark. Once I’ve freed myself from the glider, and climbed
into the car, I immediately start it up and get the hell out of
Dodge. Or in this case, Summerlin.