And throughout the three vehicles, pandemonium ensued.
Leon had taken control, forcing Tienne to give him a commlink as he’d told them, as though they all should have known, that there was water-rappelling equipment in the front van.All he needed was volunteers.
Besides himself, of course.
Before Stirling disabled the alarms and the crew had streamed silently through the great vaulted garage, searching for the various guards and household personnel, Liam, Felix, and Leon had begun their ascent to the roof of the house, recessed behind the waterfall.
It was then that Stirling told them Josh and Grace had apparently emerged from the car they’d all passed without a thought and were wandering through the house while the rest of them tried to be as silent as possible.
“It’s fine,” the young man said.“They’re finding their way to the main room.We’ll be able to herd them your way.”
Herd them your way.
Herd themout the fucking window.
Liam was a little fuzzy on why this was such a good plan, but since Danny couldn’t be argued with right now—he was currently getting the crap beat out of him in a whole other argument—Danny was the one calling the shots.
And Liam guessed he wanted the big finish.
Well, he did have one coming.
Still, as Liam and Felix were carefully negotiating the wet rock face—and he gave thanks for a plethora of Interpol training classes that made this possible—he couldn’t help gasping, “Why are we doing this again?”
Felix paused for a moment, and Liam had a glimpse behind the urbane businessman to the hard face of the criminal he might have been without a Danny Mitchell to temper him.
“Because if Kadjic lives, we want him to think Lightfingers is dead,” Felix said shortly.
“If?”Liam asked, panting and—gloved fingers gripping the slick surface like death—surveying the valley beyond the waterfall Kadjic had built behind.
In the moonlight it was lovely, rolling fields stretching out beyond the snow-tinted peaks, with the occasional farm or homestead cozied between gentle rises.
He wondered at Kadjic’s determination to carve this house into the cliffside.How much had he disrupted, destroyed, ruined, to have this monument to his own greed nobody would ever see?
“If,” Felix said grimly.“If.”
And then they were at the window, positioning themselves to be able to swing in from the sides.Above them Leon was poised with two electric winches, one from each comms van—those suggested by Hunter and seconded by Michael, because apparently Leon wasn’t the only king of preparation in the group.(At this point, Liam thought they could pull a genie and a magistrate from the engine compartment of the bloody comms vans and Leon wouldn’t bat an eyelash.)
Liam still didn’t have a comm link, so while he had a decent view of what was happening inside, he didn’t have audio.
He wasn’t sure he needed it, though.He could see the crew emerging a few at a time, could see the threats in the room neutralized, could see Kadjic frothing at the mouth.They hadn’t just dismantled his businesses, they’d dismantled hisperson.Men like Kadjic didn’t like being shown up, didn’t like feeling weak or outmaneuvered or outthought.
Or outclassed.
And the expressions, the body language, the constant threats to Danny—all of it indicated somebody decompensating in real time.
“Pay attention,” Felix hissed over the sound of the waterfall, and Liam stopped paying attention to what the others were doing (was it his imagination or did Josh look like pale death in black microfiber?) and started paying attention to what Danny was doing behind his back.The glass cutter wasn’t subtle, the strokes weren’t even, but every silentscritchwas meant to weaken the structure currently keeping Danny from pitching through the air and onto the jagged rocks at the base of the falls.
“Oh God,” he muttered.This was really happening.
His heartbeat slowed, and his stomach knotted as he realized, suddenly, exactly what he’d been tasked with.Protect my family.Josh would never forgive him if he bollixed this up.
So much faith in him, Liam thought almost desperately.So much hope that Liam could keep Josh’s family safe.
“Now!”Felix shouted, and as Kadjic lunged against Danny, the glass behind him crashed outward, and the two bodies hurtled through the air.
Felix and Liam shoved off their sides of the house frame, both of them aiming for Lightfingers, who had kicked against Kadjic with his feet and held his arms above his head as he fell.
Liam got him first, seizing Danny’s hand in midair, his ribs howling as he slowed Danny’s descent.Felix closed in, their flesh smacking solidly while he wrapped one arm around Danny, keeping his hand on the guidewire.
