How to Shield an Assassin (Unholy Trifecta Book 1)

by AJ Sherwood

  Kyou sighed gustily. “No harm in trying. Alright, Malvagio, pull that thing and pocket it for a minute. Widow, you’ll need to be quick. When I say go, you’ll have to react immediately.”

  It wasn’t dignified, but Ari hopped up lightly and snagged the boggle from the back of the camera, much like a child hopping up to reach something on a higher shelf. It took him two tries to fully get it out—which left the question of what he’d do to get it back in—but he had it. Pocketing it, he opened the door and gave the guards a laconic wave. “Forgot something.”

  They grunted and let him pass without challenge.

  As Ari put his head into the van, pretending to search for the right tool, he listened to Kyou and Remi discuss what to do next. It was mostly Kyou teaching Remi what to do, double-checking she had it down, which…she did. Ari knew his daughter was smart. After six months with her, that had been obvious. But she only needed the one time of watching Kyou do something in order to have it down?

  His chest puffed with pride. His little tech genius. He’d give her the biggest hug when they were done.

  The buzz of a drone overhead came in closer, louder, and he ducked out to see the drone come in so close it nearly clipped the roof of the building. The two guards shouted and waved at it, then one of them got the bright idea to pull a gun and try shooting at it. Ivan was quick to jerk it upwards, throwing off the guard’s aim. He could hear the Russian thief cackling as he zig-zagged the drone away and the guards chased after it.

  Ari wasted no time in snagging both the portfolio and the tool and darting back into the building. He sprinted down the stairs, taking two at a time, and slapped his hand against the door, throwing it open as he reached the bottom level. His breath came a little sharp and quick as he worked, part adrenaline, part exertion.

  Where was it? His eyes frantically bounced from wall to wall until he found the painting he wanted, hanging innocuously next to the elevator doors. He went for it, pulling it as quickly as he dared off the wall, spinning it around so that he could pull the painting from the frame. It was critical they left the frame as it was, to not make the observer question whether the painting was legit or not.

  “Shit, shit, shit. Of course he has more than one fucking update to install. Malvagio, ETA?”

  “I’ve got the painting free of the frame. One more minute.”

  “You’ve got thirty seconds. I’ve stalled the reboot but—damn him, he just overrode the reboot. What the hell is this idiot doing, he risks corrupting his .exe file if he does that. Where did he get his certification, a cereal box?”

  Ari didn’t let Kyou’s chatter distract him, or the casual chitchat Carter engaged in with the guard upstairs, or anything else. He moved with smooth efficiency as he put the fake painting in, re-hung the frame, and made sure it was level. Then he slipped the real painting into the portfolio and rushed back into the stairwell.

  “System rebooted,” Kyou reported in aggravation. “Because he’s a fucking moron and he did a hard reboot. System is now scanning. Eidolon?”

  “I’m ok—chert. Zasranets just shot my drone.”

  Ari paused with his hand on the door. He was at the top of the stairs but wasn’t sure if he could exit. There was no camera in the stairwell, but that was the only part of the building not covered. “Can I go out or not?”

  “Not,” Remi answered firmly. “I don’t have the cameras back yet. You’re exposed, Malvagio.”

  “Okay, I can’t leave Smiley alone much longer. I’ll leave the portfolio in the stairwell, try to get the boggle back in and rejoin him. Eidolon, are the guards back at the door?”

  “Da. But it’s okay, I will save other drone for when you need back out.”

  “Okay, copy that.” Ari felt the tension ratchet up several notches. It wasn’t good, none of this was going to plan. The only thing going for them at the moment was that their cover wasn’t blown, and he’d gotten the painting switched out. They were on the last leg, but could they make it?

  He exited out of the stairwell and went back to the elevator, because he had to come back the way he’d left. Pushing the down button, he tried to think of a good way to get the painting from stairwell to vehicle. Nothing immediately leapt to mind. Maybe they could split again under some pretext? Have Carter finish the transfer?

  Ari had maybe another thirty seconds of privacy to speak freely. He rode the elevator down and tried not to fidget. “K, status?”

  “I’m still trying to wrestle control of the system back. That update reset the—” Kyou broke off in a long string of swear words. “Of all the stupid things to do. He just unplugged the computer! Can I kill him? I want to kill him.”

  “Why did he do that?” Remi asked, equally puzzled and aghast.

  “I couldn’t hear what he was saying over the cameras, no audio. But he seemed to realize we’d hacked the cameras and got all excited about it. Of course he fucking just shuts everything down and unplugs it instead of TRACING A LIVE SIGNAL LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.”

  The rant would have been funny if Ari’s nerves weren’t singing with tension. He’d likely get a good laugh about this later. Assuming they survived until later. “So can Widow get the cameras back or not?”

  “Not until he turns the computers back on. And we’re of course blind, I can’t see a damn thing now. He probably won’t turn anything back on until he’s found that compromised camera.”

  Ari’d had a feeling that was the answer.

  The elevator doors opened and cut off any possibility of him replying. He went through, waggling the device in his hand as he did so. “Found it. But there’s something crazy going on up there. A drone is flying around and almost ramming into the buildings.”

  “Yeah, we’ve heard about it,” the guard said while tapping his walky-talky. “Looks like someone managed to shoot it down, though.”

  “Oh, they got it? Cool. I wonder who thought it was a good idea to fly a drone over here, though.”

  “Likely some kid,” Carter responded, playing along. “Okay, let’s hop up and do that measurement.”

  Ari played along, running the device along the ceiling, supposedly looking for an electric wire they could tap into and create a plug for the camera. Carter started talking about how they would need to run a new line, as it didn’t look like anything was in the right area, chattering like he actually knew something about wiring and electricity. Maybe he did. There were a lot of things Ari didn’t know about the man yet.

  While drawing the device along the ceiling, Ari was able to get close to one of the cameras and slip the boggle back in, at least. If that idiot at the main house ever turned the computers back on, at least Remi and Kyou would have a chance to get the cameras back.

  “Computers are back on, thank fuck. Widow?”

  “On it,” she said confidently. “Uncle K, I need—”

  “Way ahead of you, Widow. In three, two, one, go. Eidolon, in about thirty seconds, we need you to make with the distraction.”

  Ivan didn’t respond. Just cackled like the demented soul he was.

  Trying to keep this going, Ari dropped back down on his heels and went to ‘confer’ with Carter. “I don’t know, what do you think? These are concrete ceilings, that’s not going to be fun to drill through in order to run a new line. I know they wanted to consolidate cameras if they could, but…”

  “Yeah, not really cost effective. And it’s going to stir up a lot of dust, which—” Carter broke off and looked around in an exaggerated way. “Considering how pricey all of this art is? I don’t recommend. What do you think, Bob?”

  “I’m with you on this one. No matter how carefully you wrap stuff, dust gets places it’s not supposed to. But you’ll stir up dust by doing the new mounts too, won’t you?”

  “Yeah, it’s a problem.”

  “Guards are chasing my drone again,” Ivan reported happily. “Whoa, almost got me there. Come on, come on, durak. Make my day.”

  The walky-talky went live again, the voice a sna
rl of frustration. “That idiot with the drone is back with another one.”

  Bob the Guard groaned, his head flopping forward. “This has been such a day, let me tell you. Guys, I don’t know if you can finish. I might need to get out there and help. Can you come back later?”

  “Sure,” Carter said equably. “We’ll just grab our gear. Call us when the drone invasion is over.”

  “We’ll do that.”

  “Widow needs another two minutes with the cameras. She’s got all of the main level of the vault, for the interior. Working on the exterior. Whistle if you need more than the main level.”

  Ari didn’t think they would. He’d already gotten the painting up to the top level, after all. Their job was done in that sense.

  Hefting the tool box and step ladder, Carter said pointedly, “Okay, we’re good. Let’s load up. Sorry you’re having such trouble today, Bob. It normally like this?”

  “Naw, it’s normally pretty quiet,” Bob answered as he pushed the button for the elevator. “Unless they’ve got some grand party going on.”

  They stepped into the elevator as if nothing was really wrong. Ari felt an itching in the base of his spine. It was always hard keeping calm when he could see the home stretch. But he wasn’t going to blow this by being antsy. How they would get the portfolio out under Bob’s watchful eye, that was the question. Even if Remi got the cameras under her thumb, that door was no joke. It had a ton of pressure on it when it locked. Ari didn’t have the keycard or gadget necessary to open it, and it wasn’t a biometric scan—Ivan’s trick of licking it wouldn’t work here.

  An elbow jostled his and Carter winked at him subtly.

  Oh? Did his sexy boyfriend have a plan? Ari hadn’t been led astray by him yet. He decided to trust him and see what trick Carter had up his sleeve.

  Bob hustled toward the front door, impatient to get outside and help hunt down the drone. He looked a little too excited about it, actually. It must be hard to have mind numbing workdays, day in, day out. The chance to shoot at something might be too much for him.

  As they passed through the door, Ari saw Carter smoothly jam something into the lock, although he barely got a glance at it as he walked out. Was that paper? Something about that stirred at the back of his mind but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. It wasn’t something he’d done, but something he’d heard about. Something…Ivan’d told him, maybe?

  He had no chance to really chase the elusive thought down as they put gear into the van and ostensibly got ready to leave. Bob, satisfied they were out, was already jogging towards the front of the mansion to help hunt down the drone.

  Ari hovered near his open door and demanded of Carter, “Was that paper?”

  The grin on Carter’s face was downright wicked. “A newspaper folded eight times can support a ton of weight.”

  It clicked in his head and Ari snorted a laugh. “You got that from Eidolon, didn’t you?”

  “Of course,” Ivan preened. “All the best ideas come from me.” He let out a panicked yelp and then something pinged metal. “They’re getting close. I don’t know how much longer I can keep their attention.”

  “Widow, cameras?”

  “Got outside,” she reported, smug as a cat with cream. “You’re a go.”

  She was even picking up the lingo. Ari grinned as he darted back inside, through the door and into the stairwell. It took him mere seconds to retrieve the portfolio and he spun on his heels, sprinting for the door again. He snagged the newspaper as he went through the door, erasing as much of his tracks as he could. The boggle on the camera would be a dead giveaway someone had bypassed security, but there was no helping that.

  Carter had the side door open for him, and Ari carefully slid the portfolio inside before slamming the door shut and hopping into the passenger seat. He barely had his own door closed before Carter backed the vehicle out.

  “Target acquired,” Carter reported, still professional and calm. “On our way out.”

  “Uh-oh.” Kyou groaned.

  Ivan echoed it. “Uh-oh.”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ari demanded in a sort of morose resignation, “Now what?”

  “Car accident right in front of the gate. I think someone got distracted watching the show and rear-ended the car in front of them. You can’t get out.”

  Because of course that would happen just as they were about to leave.

  Kyou pitched in, “We’ve got a cop car and an ambulance converging on the accident. Stay cool, guys. They’re not here for you.” That would have been vastly reassuring if Kyou hadn’t added, “I think. Pretty sure.”

  Ari groaned again. With friends like him, who needed enemies?

  Pulling to a stop in front of the closed gate, Carter shot him a smile that didn’t completely disguise his nerves. “All we have to do is sit tight.”

  Considering they had a multi-million-dollar painting sitting right behind them? That was a pretty tall fucking order. Ari had done tougher, more nerve-wracking things in his lifetime than sitting in a car with stolen art while gun-happy guards ran around them.

  Give him a second, he might even think of an example.

  26

  Carter

  Carter tried to sit still, acting as if he had all the time in the world. The one fidget he allowed was the rap of his fingers against the steering wheel, a gentle rhythmic tap. His eyes roved over the situation and tried to estimate how much time it would take to get them past this obstacle.

  The accident had happened directly in front of the gate, because of course it would. It didn’t look bad, all things considered. The back end of the black sedan was crushed upwards, the trunk crumpled like a sardine can. The truck that had done the damage had its front fender hanging off on one end, but otherwise looked undamaged. The truck, at least, looked like it could drive off without an issue. The car? Depended if that back axle had taken damage or if the frame was bent. If they had to wait on a tow truck to haul it off, they’d be here a lot longer.

  Needless to say, he was rather eager to exit.

  He felt jittery, uneasy about sitting, but Carter firmly squashed the impulse to do something stupid. Impatience killed people faster than anything else, except perhaps overconfidence. Ari, he was pleased to note, was also firmly sitting still. Of course, an assassin of his caliber would know better than to let nerves get the better of him.

  The tension in the van was lethal, thick enough to slice and serve on bread. Neither of them looked at each other. No one said anything over comms, either, as if they were all mutually holding their breath.

  One of the gate guards said something to his companion before opening the gate and stepping through. He went to Carter’s side, and Carter lowered the window, pasting a welcoming look on his face. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” the guard returned, exasperation heavy in his tone and expression. “Can you believe this? First that crazy drone, then an accident because the driver was too busy looking at us to pay attention.”

  Carter’s tone was sour. “And we’re stuck here waiting because of it.”

  “Look, I know Bob rushed you out. I can walk you back and you can finish up, if you want.”

  Mentally cursing him for the offer, Carter opened his mouth to refuse when Ari beat him to it.

  “We were done, actually, but I think I left a tool behind. It’s on the second floor. You mind if I go fetch it real quick?”

  What the hell was he playing at? Second floor, they didn’t leave anything—in a flash, it hit. The boggle on the back of the camera. Of course. Ari hadn’t been able to grab it, not in the time they’d had. It had been too tight for comfort getting the painting out without anyone noticing. True, if they could get that boggle back, they’d erase all signs they were ever there. Kyou fully planned to purge their pictures and ‘employee’ records from the system as soon as they were clear of the grounds.

  “Sure, man, that’s fine.”

  Ari thumped him on the shoulder, catching his eye firmly. “I
’ll be back in a sec.”

  “Okay,” Carter agreed around a dry mouth. He really didn’t like them separating but it would look odd for them both to go back to fetch a tool. That wasn’t a two-man job.

  The guard and Ari went off, both of them bemoaning loudly the idiot with the drone. It was still buzzing away, although at the back of the grounds now. Carter rolled the window back up and watched them like a hawk in the rearview mirror. “K, you got eyes on him?”

  “Not really. He’s not in range of the vault outside cameras yet. Breathe, Smiley, he’ll be fine. It was quick thinking on his part to go back in for the boggle.”

  He knew that. Intellectually. But his heart beat in his chest like a scared rabbit looking for a break. The added tension of not being able to make a clean getaway was likely why he was more nervous than usual. Carter couldn’t say he liked this situation all that much.

  “Got him,” Remi announced, and she sounded relieved. “He’s still talking with the guard.”

  A gunshot rang out and Carter tracked it instinctively, twisting in his seat as he tried to see through the van’s tinted windows.

  “Drone, njet,” Ivan mourned. “My poor babies.”

  Second drone down, eh. Carter couldn’t say he was surprised.

  The thief bounced back in the next second. “On my way back. Smiley, Malvagio, you want me to stick close just in case?”

  “No, you can’t. They’re looking for the drone operator. You’re too close, they’ll spot you in a few minutes. Get out. Smiley, I’ve got word through dispatch that they’ve got a tow truck almost there. Just sit tight another ten minutes.”

  Ten minutes sounded like ten years just then. Carter swallowed hard. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Malvagio’s back out,” Remi updated him. “Guard still talking to him.”

  Carter’s eyes flew back to the rearview mirror and it was true, Ari was back out and walking toward him. He said something to the guard, waved, and the man peeled off to go toward the back of the lot. Ari walked along toward him, casually, as if he had all the time in the world.

  “Got the boggle,” Ari informed them all smugly. “He didn’t even follow me in, it was easy. Breathe, caro.”