At one point, the venting shaft inclined so suddenly I had to pull out some grippers to help me crawl up. I hated applying those and the space wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was done with the minimal amount of movement. I tentatively moved forward, testing the first gripper to see if they still worked. When the suction cup caught and held, I pulled myself up.
Remembering the blueprints from memory, I counted the distance I’d gone so far from the pedometer I’d slipped on my wrist and saw I should be just above the security room.
This was the tricky part.
We all knew there were security guards. And we all knew they were there twenty-four/seven, so the chances of getting in and out without them knowing would be impossible. So it was my job to handle these guards. Tray would take care of the ones from his end, but it was still unnerving.
I had my taser, but we were hoping to do it a different way.
I pressed the code in my walkie and a second later, the power was shut off.
From below, I could hear the curses from each guard. That’s when I made my move and slipped through the vent. They didn’t know I was there, but the crackle of my taser was distinct.
“What the fuck?” one guy asked, but I circled around him and then tasered him.
The other two were already heading for the door.
I chased after them and caught one at the door before I was backhanded off the fourth.
Landing with a grunt on the floor, I twisted and aimed for his feet. I didn’t have time to get up and make another attempt. He was ready and in a defensive position, so I got him in the leg.
The fucker jumped, but he landed hard.
I quickly grabbed their walkies and taped the button down, neatly tying up their only other method for communication. I knew for damn sure that they hadn’t exchanged cell numbers so with the power out and the walkies down, they were alone and for the most part—vulnerable.
Well, I was still invisible, but everyone was now on alert. That’d been expected and put into the plan. Plus, we were hoping the power outage would extend all the way to the river’s opening. It’d help Tray and that’s what I’d really been thinking of when I passed my vote for this part of the plan.
Now we just needed to be on edge and see if Gentley would pass along his code. Hopefully not. We didn’t need any extra crew showing up.
Instead of crawling through the vents, I full-out sprinted to the side door and yanked it open. From there, I ran down every flight of stairs that I found until I found myself approaching the last one. If the blueprints were right, the stairs that I was on should connect to the storage unit underneath.
And in that second, I realized that my priorities had changed. Before, I would’ve been excited to see whatever was inside. I would’ve wanted to see other bracelets like the one Brian had stolen for me. I would’ve wanted to see the vast expanse of drugs, piled up and to the ceiling. But now, I just wanted Grayley, Tray and myself out, safely. That’s all I wanted.
I’d lost the edge.
And I didn’t even care.
I heard footsteps from the opposite side, so I hoisted myself up and held myself taut against some of the railings above. Two guards exited just below me and climbed the stairs upwards.
They weren’t panicked. They weren’t loud, but were calm and quiet.
Good.
If they knew they’d been invaded, they’d have been running and cursing.
This was good news.
I dropped back down and moved through the still open door. As I moved down the hallway, in complete darkness, I pressed a code on my walkie. I was asking Tray if he was alright, and he answered back a second later. And he’d added an expletive at the end. It brought a grin to my face.
Some things didn’t change, no matter how dangerous and hair-raising the circumstances.
The time had come, I knew it in my bones. The door to the main room now stood before me, but it wasn’t the one where we guessed Grayley may be in. We really didn’t know what we’d find inside, the blueprints hadn’t included the bottom layer. But if they had Grayley, he’d be kept in a small room, off to the end. That meant at the far end of the action. Tray had explained why the significant percentage showed that this is where Grayley would be, but I hadn’t cared. I just wanted to know where he’d be and I listened for that location. The rest was just…it was information that Tray speculated on because he had the ability to get inside their heads.
I just hoped he was right.
I moved forward. I pushed back the old, dying, thirst that had once been inside of me for the forbidden discovery and I moved to the last door.
It was bittersweet, but I didn’t have time to sit and think about it.