It can’t be more than five minutes when a single, flickering light appears in one of the windows on the upper floor of the casino.
Alessandro has dismantled the security.
Dante and I exit the car at the same time, striding with purpose around the side of the building where Alessandro has lowered the firescape for us to climb up.
Within seconds, we’re all crouched inside what seems to be some kind of admin office on the second floor.
Alessandro makes a couple of small gestures with his hands.
Guards are patrolling. Less than five, but heavily armed.
I nod. We’d anticipated as much.
It was tempting to just shove the cloning device into the first computer we could find, but it was clear the admin office was in near-constant use. Someone would surely find it here, making our mission obsolete.
No, with Alessandro’s schematics, we locate a computer within the office of what appears to be an in-house mechanic. I didn’t ask what Alessandro did to Mr. Jones to ensure he wouldn’t be coming into work for the next few days.
Getting to that office is the hard part.
I take the lead, crouching as I enter the hallway outside. Dante is at my back, and Alessandro is bringing up the rear. I have the route down to the basement partially memorized, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relying on Alessandro as a backup.
Slowly, we creep through the building, avoiding the main floor at all costs. It helps that we aren’t targeting the casino or the vaults themselves. security in those areas is nearly impenetrable.
The only reason we’d managed to get this far was because the admin and janitorial areas weren’t as well-secured.
We move through the building silently until we reach the staff staircase that will lead us directly down to the mechanic’s office.
But as soon as Alessandro closes the door to the stairwell, we hear the sound of footsteps.
We stiffen instantly, pressing ourselves back against the wall as we strain to hear who is approaching.
Alessandro gestures with his hands again.
Two guards. Walking up the stairs. ETA thirty seconds.
I glance over at Dante, who is already cracking his neck.
Okay, then.
The sound of the two men murmuring to each other finally reaches us as I crouch low behind the banister. Peering over it, I can make out the top of their heads as they stride up, none the wiser.
Both are brandishing excessively large firearms.
I grimace to myself. If either of those guns goes off, our cover is completely blown.
I turn to gesture to the others to incapacitate them quickly, only to find Alessandro missing.
Mouthing to a confused-looking Dante, I say, “Where the hell is?—”
“UGH!”
We both dart to the banister to see Alessandro has already kicked one of the men down the stairs.
I don’t have time to watch as the guard tumbles head-first into the wall; my feet are already moving toward the fight.
The second guard, no longer surprised, is already pulling out a handgun from his belt.
I manage to reach them just as he begins to aim it at Alessandro’s head. The heel of my boot collides with his wrist with a sickening crunch.
