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I looked at Brandon who nodded curtly; he agreed with this.
I nodded from behind the couch. For now, lay low and wait. Seemed everyone on our team was aware who was in the room now. We’d have to trust each other to get out of this.
Brandon closed his eyes. He did nothing. I wondered if he had passed out sitting up. I was peeling my eyes open every couple of seconds. I was fighting sleep, too.
He’d fought to slow them down when I asked, getting beaten in the process. I could have kissed him then for being one of the bravest guys I’d ever known.
Doyle stared at the two monitors. He tapped at the screen. “A pop-up keyboard? What is this shit? The man can’t afford a proper keyboard?”
“This new technology is a bitch,” Mr. Murdock said. “Just do your job.”
Doyle groaned, but focused on the screen. He stabbed at it with his fingers as he worked. “I need a cigarette.”
“Please hurry,” Alice said. “And no smoking.”
“It’s not like this is rocket science. That shit is easy to read. This is code. It’s going to take a minute.”
“Will it take a shorter or longer amount of time with a bullet in your leg?” Eddie asked.
“Longer,” Doyle said, although he was still reading the screen. “Because I’d be in pain, and I don’t like that.”
“What if we shot your friend?” Eddie asked, motioning to Blake. “Would that motivate you?”
“Shoot him,” Doyle said. “I don’t like his hair. It’s too shiny.”
Blake groaned softly.
Doyle continued to study the computer and occasionally made comments, usually complaining that the code was crap.
I glanced up at Raven, who was hanging up there. He was pretty exposed. With everyone lounging around, one of the guards might spot him.
Suddenly, there was a sound downstairs.
“Hello?” someone called. “Honey? Alice? You home?
Ethan. My eyes widened, I looked up at Raven.
He gave me a thumbs up.
There was a thunder of footsteps on the stairs. Mr. Murdock went to the panel, putting the computer back into the floor. Mack Truck and the other goon repositioned themselves, guns drawn but behind the wall in the middle, on the other side of the door. The dragged Brandon with them.
“Everyone else stay calm,” Alice said. “Hide your guns and try to smile. I’ll take care of him.”
The other guards that were exposed put their guns at their sides, sitting down on the sofas.
In came Ethan Murdock, followed closed by a dressed-up man behind him, and on Ethan’s other side so I couldn’t see who he was.
Ethan spotted his father, Alice, and then Eddie. He looked at everyone on the sofa. “Who’s here? Leftovers from the party?” He turned to his dad and beamed. “Dad! You made it. I thought you were in Brazil.”
“Change of plans,” Mr. Murdock said. “The wedding and all. I came up to check out the observatory. I wouldn’t have decorated it this way, but there’s no accounting for taste.”
Doyle on the couch still, picked up his head. “Are there leftovers from this party? I don’t suppose I could get a whiskey. You know, something expensive and obviously disgusting but gets you drunk faster.”
“Is this your relative?” Ethan asked. He turned to Alice. “Alice. Sweetie. Are you okay? Did they wake you? I thought I left you sleeping.”
I cringed, and made a face. I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea.
“Ethan,” Mr. Murdock said, standing. He held out his hands. “He’s got a good idea. I need a drink, too.”
Ethan shrugged, but his eyes were on his wife. “Do you want to join us? We could all go downstairs.”
Raven caught my attention by waving and then made a motion with his hand, pointing to the guy that had come in with Ethan.
I couldn’t see without leaning over more. I waited until I was sure no one was paying attention and then leaned further.
His hair was slicked back, and his face was freshly shaven, but once I saw his face, I realized it was Avery. He wore a dark suit coat and slacks like the others.
Alice and Eddie looked at him, but since he came in with Ethan, I supposed they couldn’t very well ask who he was when they had several of their own goons in the room. They seemed to dismiss him, maybe assuming he was a friend of Ethan’s, another party guest.
My head snapped up to Raven. Avery. What about him?
Raven looked confused, shook his head and gave me a thumbs up.
I couldn’t focus on him for too long since I was afraid one of the others would catch me. I sank back and when I was hidden, I looked up again. Raven was giving Avery another thumbs up. Then he pointed to me, to Alice and then to me again. He gave me a thumbs down. He did it again.
I was getting frustrated. I didn’t know what he meant.
Avery wasn’t moving or talking. He stood beside Ethan, still, like an assistant or driver. He was waiting for something to happen.
I groaned inwardly. I was going to have to tackle someone. I was so tired. My head was spinning. Why couldn’t Blake do it?
Blake, however, had his sights on Eddie and then the guard.
As quiet as a spider, Raven made his way across the rafters to hover right over where Mack Truck was.
“Do you still want to see the sunrise?” Ethan asked his father, and then looked at Alice. “Should we make some coffee for our guests? The sun coming up over the ocean is beautiful. We should grab some breakfast downstairs and bring it up here.”
The guard next to Blake started to shift.
“Easy,” Blake whispered. “Everyone just hold back.”
The man next to him muttered something in German.
Mr. Murdock sliced his hand through the air. “Enough.” He grabbed his son’s shoulder and directed him to the stairs. “Why don’t you and I go downstairs and grab this coffee. We’ll come back up in a minute.”
“Sure,” Ethan said. He looked at Alice. “Alice? Want to come along?”
He was trying to get his dad and Alice downstairs. Either there was a trap set for them, or Ethan was trying to get Alice out before something big happened. I had a sinking feeling maybe he still believed his wife was innocent.
Alice held up her hand. “I’ll stay up here and keep our guests company.” She winked and smiled at him.
“It might take more than two of us to carry it all upstairs.”
Alice turned to the guard that was near Blake. The guard stood, keeping his gun behind his back. “He’ll help,” Alice said. “Won’t you, Cousin Jim?”
The corner of Ethan’s mouth dipped but he recovered it quickly.
But if Axel and Marc were downstairs… maybe the plan could be to get people downstairs one at a time, even if it were the guards or Alice. If we couldn’t get hostages out, we could at least reduce the number of bad guys in the room.
Alice did approach Ethan and gave him a kiss. Then she hugged Mr. Murdock. “It’s great to have a sweet father-in-law.”
Alice’s movements seemed stiff while Mr. Murdock grunted.
And then I caught Alice’s hand as she slipped something into his pocket. She patted at it once and then released him.
It had looked like a prescription bottle. The poison. She passed it to Mr. Murdock, either to hang on to, or Ethan was about to get a dose.
Once Ethan had started to head down the stairs with Mr. Murdock and the extra guard, Alice closed the door. She pushed a series of buttons on the panel and the desk started to rise again. She turned to Eddie. “He doesn’t suspect.”
“Not yet,” Eddie said. “But we should hurry.”
“His father will keep him contained,” Alice said. “But you’re right. If we get this done now, we can go downstairs.” She turned to Brandon and Doyle, but addressed everyone. “Keep calm, gentlemen. We’ll get out of this unscathed yet. Just deliver what you promised.”
Ethan hadn’t seemed bothered with Eddie being there. He might have been around before now
. As a friend of Alice’s no doubt. That meant they’d been working together for a while. And with Alice marrying Ethan, she had a chance to take her time with getting into the core
So why did the game change? Why suddenly kidnap everyone? My head felt hot and I was sucking in air slowly, fighting my need to simply ay on the floor and sleep. Plain and simple, Alice and Eddie had manipulated us. Hate burned in my heart at being duped. I was angry for Ethan, who seemed innocent, for falling into their little trap.
I looked up, seeking out Avery, but he was gone. Had he left with Ethan?
Eddie came over to Doyle. “Are you done yet?”
Doyle shrugged. “I got distracted. Hard to focus with everyone coming and going.”
“Look,” Eddie said. “Just get rid of the security packet. That’s all we need.”
