Worth Dying For (21 page)

She glanced up at the windows again and decided that was her best option. She was glad to see they had turned on a few of the lights inside the building. If Castrucci, or whoever, had turned all of them on, she would have had to scrap the whole mission. It would have been too risky for her. She also counted her blessings that one of the windows was located directly above the trash compactor. She needed to move and move fast. She had to get inside the building before the limo returned. Otherwise, it would be nearly impossible for her to do so without being seen.

She used the stack of crates to climb onto the compactor and peered through the window. She could see all three men. They were standing on the other side of the warehouse near a row of tables stacked with boxes. She tried to lift the window but it didn’t budge. A close look at window revealed an old slide-type lock. She pulled out her pocketknife and wedged it between the panels. Using both hands, she slid the knife sideways, pushing the locking lever to the side. She crammed the tip of the blade between the sill and the window and pushed down on the handle, raising the window just high enough to get her fingers under it. She closed the knife and dropped it into her pants pocket.

She clenched her teeth as she slowly raised the window, silently praying that it wouldn’t squeak.
So far, so good
, she thought as she continued to raise the window high enough for her to fit through it.

She took out the small microphone boom, and clipped it to the front of her jacket and then hoisted herself up on the ledge. As she crawled through the window, she heard the men talking. She adjusted the ear bud but was unable to hear their conversation clearly—she needed to get closer. With a deep breath, she slowly lowered herself down onto a four-by-four foot stack of skids. She sat there for several seconds, looking around to get her bearings.

The warehouse was larger than she had imagined. She noticed that the skids, like the one she was on, were stacked every two or so feet apart and that she could reach almost any place in the building by hopping from one stack to another.

Along the back wall, she saw three sets of double overhead doors and to the right were two more sets that opened into the side parking lot. She looked down and felt her stomach do a flip-flop—she was standing a good thirty feet off the floor. She hated heights.

She looked up and instantly regretted it when her head began to swim. She grabbed the windowsill to steady herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and then forced herself to look up again.

Approximately five-feet above her head was a metal, corrugated catwalk that stretched across the entire warehouse.
Just like the Castrucci house
, she thought as she noticed several offshoot passages leading off the walkway, which led to large platforms that were used as storage space for spare equipment and boxes. She noticed a ladder, surrounded by a protection cage, attached to the catwalk in the middle of the warehouse. It stretched all the way to the floor. It reminded her of the ladders on the outside of giant water towers. It made her hands sweat just looking at it.

She could hear bits and pieces of the conversation as the men continued to talk. She decided that now was the time to move. Not only did she need to hear what they were saying, she wanted to see what they were doing. She kept reminding herself not to look down as she stepped across the gap and onto the next stack. She repeated the process several times and with each step, her legs shook and she continued to remind herself not to look down.

One wrong move and she would end up a bloody pile on the concrete floor below—or worse, if she survived the fall, there was no doubt in her mind that Castrucci would finish the job. She wondered if Laura heard her messages as she stepped onto the next set of crates. She felt an instant rush of adrenaline as the stack began to rock violently. Dropping to a crouching position, she tried to steady herself in the middle of the stack.
I can’t cross the entire warehouse on these
, she thought, wiping the sweat off her face. She glanced up at the catwalk and made her decision.

She was vaguely aware of the men talking below as she slowly stood up.
I can’t believe I’m about to do this
, she thought as she wiped her hands on the front of her pants to get the sweat off. She looked up at the catwalk again and decided that it was her best option. She reached up, wrapping her fingers around the side rail, hoping that it was strong enough to support her full weight. She took a deep breath, clamped her jaws tight to keep from grunting, and then pulled herself up with as much strength as she could muster. She could feel her muscles scream under the full weight of her body.

She let out a silent sigh when she finally felt her knees touch the metal platform. She fell forward, lying on her stomach for several seconds in order to catch her breath.
I really need to start working out again
, she thought as she slowly pushed herself up on her knees. She glanced out across the warehouse. From her position, she could see the top of Castrucci’s head and she could clearly hear their conversation.

Sonny lit a cigarette.

“What was that?” Henry asked.

“What was what?” Sonny asked.

Henry held his hand up. “Shh … listen. I thought I heard something.”

Big Tony shook his head. “You’re hearing shit again. Why don’tcha try cleaning your ears out?”
 

Henry ignored him and walked toward the stack of skids.

“Get back over here, Henry. I don’t have time for this shit. I haven’t had dinner yet and want to get this done,” Big Tony yelled.

Henry reluctantly did as he was told.

Sonny picked up a small figurine from the table and handed it to Big Tony.

“Where are her eyes?” Henry asked, looking at a ceramic figure of a little girl in a dress.

“She’s getting’ new ones,” Sonny said.

Henry frowned. “Why?”

Big Tony set the figurine back down on the table.

“Why don’t you make yourself useful and go get the bag from Charlie’s office?” Sonny said, turning his attention back to the figurines on the table.

Rheyna moved in a little closer so she could see both Castrucci and Sonny. She was hoping they would say a little more about the figurines on the table. She was a little smarter than Henry, and she had a sneaky suspicion that they were being used to smuggle the gems. She thought about the conversation she overhead a few days ago. Although she only heard bits and pieces, she remembered Sonny talking about a shipment of diamonds. When she told Laura about it during their nightly chat, Laura informed her that one of the dead informants had claimed Castrucci was trying to get into the gem market, mainly diamonds. In a crazy sort of way, it was all starting to make sense.

Sonny waited for Henry to leave and slid out a chair. “We may have a small problem but I’ve already taken steps to fix it.”

Big Tony turned to look at him. “What kinda problem?”

“Our
friend’s
a little worried about the feds. They brought in some sort of computer hack and he’s created a software program to try and link the deaths.”

Big Tony frowned. “What deaths?”

“Scala’s, for one and our friend says they’re diggin’ back several years.”

Big Tony clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth. “So what, they can’t tie us to Scala or any of the others. Otherwise, they’d have done something by now.”

“We’re not the ones our friend is worried about. The computer program is looking for leaks.”

“You say you took care of it?”

Sonny nodded.

“Then that’s all I need to know.”

Rheyna felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck. Sonny and Castrucci had just confirmed their suspicions. There was no longer any doubt—they had a leak in the bureau and not just a small one. Whomever it was had to be high up the food chain to have obtained the information about Ron and his newly created program.

For the first time since arriving in California, she felt an overwhelming amount of fear. Her mind began to race with the implications and what this all meant. If this person knew about Ron and his program, they had to know about Pandora’s Box and if they knew about Pandora’s Box, they had to know about her. If Castrucci knew, she didn’t understand what he was waiting for. Why had he not come after her? Her mind was racing. Shit, shit, shit, she kept repeating in her head. We have a major problem, or better yet, I have a major problem. Her mind continued to process the implications. Sonny said he fixed the problem, and depending on how he decided to do that, Ron’s life could be in danger. She had to get in touch with Laura as soon as possible. She had heard enough and needed to get out of there.

She slowly inched her way back toward the way she had come and stopped in mid-step—Henry was standing directly beneath her.

“Jesus, Henry, what took you so damn long?” She heard Big Tony yell.

“Jeesh, can’t a man take a shit without getting the fourth degree?” Henry yelled back.
 

Rheyna watched Henry walk over and hand Big Tony a large green bag. Castrucci snatched the bag from his hand, unzipped it, and removed a small, red pouch. He untied the drawstring and dumped the contents out in his hand. The diamonds shimmered like glass.

He put them back in the pouch and tossed it to Henry. “Make sure you get these to Roberto first thing in the morning, along with my apologies for the botched shipment in L.A.”

“You got it,” Henry said, cramming the pouch into the front pocket of his jeans.

She felt something run over the top of her foot and looked back to see a small tabby cat running along the catwalk.

“What the hell was that?” Henry asked. “Did you hear that?” he asked again, when the two men didn’t answer.

Rheyna quickly made her way onto one of the offshoots and ducked down behind some boxes.

“Up there,” Henry said.

Rheyna knew they were all looking up at the catwalk.

“I saw something.”

“Henry, what the hell are you doing now?” Sonny asked.

Rheyna felt her heart skip a beat. She heard someone climbing up the ladder—she was in big trouble. She saw the top of Henry’s head pop up over the edge. He dropped his gun down on the metal catwalk floor with a loud clank and then pulled himself up.

She tried to push herself further behind the boxes, to no avail. She prayed that he would walk straight down the catwalk and not come her way. She pulled the 9mm out of the holster and flipped off the safety. If he chose to come down the side she was on, she would be totally exposed and would have no choice other than to shoot him before he shot her. Suddenly, Henry took off running. With each hard step, Rheyna could feel the catwalk vibrate. He fired his gun in rapid succession, sending bullets ricocheting off the metal support beams.

“What the fuck are you trying to do? Kill us all?” Sonny yelled as he and Big Tony ran for cover down below.

Out of nowhere, the tabby cat bolted from behind a bunch of crates and ran back down the catwalk.

“Damn cat!” Henry yelled, firing at the retreating animal. The bullets tore through the crates, sending pieces of wood raining down on the men below.

Big Tony was furious. “Damn it to hell, Henry! Get down here now, or I’ll shoot you myself!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Rheyna waited for Henry to descend the ladder before venturing out from behind the boxes. She put her gun back inside the holster. When she first entered the building, she noticed motion sensors mounted along the inside windows, and she needed to get out before the men did.

She had to make it to the window before they reset the alarm system. As she turned the corner to get back on the main catwalk, she cut it too short. Before she could do anything about it, she felt the microphone boom clipped on her sweat jacket rip away. The tiny boom seemed to fall in slow motion. She watched it hit the concrete and cringed as the tiny pieces of plastic shattered. She wanted to scream as the sound amplified through her ear bud like a freight train.