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16
WILL MONROE
Will felt like he was going to be sick.
He’d never been so nervous or scared in all of his life. And he’d been briefly kidnapped by gun-toting insurgents once. Not that he was ready to tell Charlie that story just yet. They were still finding their way through this fragile second chance, and he didn’t think his lover’s overprotective heart could take that information.
Of course, his heart wasn’t doing much better when it came to watching Charlie, Edison, and West sneaking into Benicio Perez’s heavily fortified compound.
That was what it was. Not a manor or an estate. Definitely not a home. It was a giant compound behind nine-foot-high stone walls, guards armed with submachine guns, and numerous security cameras blanketing every square inch of the place.
To make matters worse, Charlie and his friends had pulled this plan together over just two short days.
Two. Days.
They were practically invading a small country. This should have taken a few weeks to plan and coordinate.
“Relax, Doc Will,” Kairo said in a low, soothing voice. “We’ve done this plenty of times before. This isn’t a big deal.”
Will looked down at where Kairo sat behind a console filled with top-of-the-line surveillance equipment he’d been building and programming almost nonstop for two days. He wasn’t entirely sure Kairo had slept at all, but his eyes were wide and bright with excitement as if they were preparing to open gifts on Christmas morning.
“What’s wrong with Will?” Charlie’s hard voice filled his ear suddenly and the ball of tension in the pit of his stomach shrank a couple of millimeters.
“Nothing is wrong with Will,” he snapped. Charlie knew he was in the van just a few blocks away from the compound with Kairo, and yet he was acting as if he couldn’t hear him as clearly as Kairo.
“He’s just lookin’ a little green around the gills,” Kairo teased.
“Everything is going to be fine, baby. We’ve done this more times than we can count,” Charlie reassured him. “You just stick to your promise, and this will be over in less than twenty minutes.”
“Don’t worry about me. You be careful,” Will murmured. He slid into the empty seat next to Kairo and focused on slowing his racing heart. The only way Charlie had agreed to even let him sit in the van with Kairo was if he swore that he would obey Kairo’s every order no matter what happened to the van or the infiltration team. It had hurt to give his word, but in the end, he had no choice.
He couldn’t possibly allow them to go into the compound without him nearby. Not only was this his problem in the first place, but if something happened and one of them was injured, they would need him close to administer medical care. Hell no, he was not staying back at the house.
With his hands clenched into fists in his lap, he watched the various screens in front of him. Kairo had tapped into the security system for the Perez compound and was viewing everything from their video cameras, as well as small cameras worn by each of the three men on the ground.
Smiling warmly at him, Kairo reached out and pointed to one particular square on the screen directly in front of Will and mouthed the word, Charlie. That was the feed from Charlie’s camera, showing Will exactly what his lover was seeing as he moved. Will returned the smile as best as he could and locked his eyes on Charlie’s camera.
Charlie knew what he was doing.
Charlie was going to be fine.
At least, that was what he repeated to himself over and over again in his head.
After some lengthy discussion the night before, they’d decided to go over the western wall at just after three in the morning. At that point, the evening guards would likely be halfway through their shift and would be getting tired. From what they’d seen on the interior cameras, Benicio had gone to bed more than an hour ago and should be asleep as well.
With Kairo in control of the security systems and cameras, Charlie, West, and Ed had scaled the wall and dropped silently into the shadows on the other side. The compound itself was over five acres in the middle of the damn city, and all of it was ringed by a wall. The main entrance was guarded by a fancy iron gate and a small guard shack, while there was a second back entrance with another guard shack and a more basic gate for deliveries to the house.
The grounds of the compound resembled a small forest with lots of trees to offer cover and even a small, man-made brook that ran in front of the enormous three-story mansion. Will hated to admit it, but the place was gorgeous. He’d fully expected it to be a gaudy, over-the-top monstrosity. While it was entirely over the top, it didn’t strike him as gaudy.
