AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was thinking of Abby upstairs asleep, of all the times she was alone in the house while he was working. Very few people knew the house belonged to him. Max liked it that way. He didn’t want to worry about some criminal coming back for a second look when he wasn’taround.
Nico nodded. “I apologize, Max. I should have called to tell you we’d be bringing someone else. We’ve worked with Locke on many occasions. I wouldn’t have brought him if I didn’t trust himimplicitly.”
“He’s not Syndicate,” Maxstated.
If Locke had been Syndicate, Nico would have had him in pressed slacks and a tailored shirt, his hair cut andcombed.
“No,” Nico said. “He’s a freelancer of sorts. He has a… flair for theunconventional.”
“What does that mean?” Maxasked.
“I like to get into trouble,” Locke said simply. “The more, thebetter.”
Max eyed him. “We’re not looking fortrouble.”
“Sounds like trouble’s already found you,” Lockesaid.
“Listen, the Tangier’s going to prove challenging to breach,” Farrell said, a note of exasperation in his voice. “Especially the suite. Locke has a long and storied history of doing all kinds of fucked up things to get into places. If he can’t find a way in nobodycan.”
“I’m flattered,” Lockesaid.
“Don’t be,” Farrell said. “Your hair’s a disgrace, and if I could get away with ripping that Buddha off your neck and strangling you with it, Iwould.”
Locke grinned. “Sounds like someone needs a littlemeditation.”
“I’m going to meditate you from here to Sunday if you’re not careful,” Farrell saidcheerfully.
“Max, you’ll have the final call on the mission,” Nico said, bringing everybody back to the problem at hand. “But it can’t hurt to get some thoughts on getting into the hotel from someone who’s used to thinking out of thebox.”
Max nodded. “Allright.”
“Let’s look at the plans then,” Farrellsaid.
Max walked to the living room and grabbed the rolled-up building plans. He cleared off the kitchen island and reached into the silverware drawer for four knives to hold down the corners of theblueprints.
“We filled him in on some of the background,” Nico said as Max unrolled the massive sheets ofpaper.
“This is the top floor of the hotel.” Max pointed to a blocked-off area at one end of the blueprints, which were designed to be read by people who already knew what all the symbols and markings stood for. “And this is thesuite.”
“Elevators, hall,” Locke marked each spot with hisfinger.
Max nodded. “Yep.”
He’d looked at the plans during more than one sleepless night over the past few days and had figured out the basic layout. He was still working on the roof above the suite and the floor below, both of which could become important in the equation of getting in and out of thesuite.
He moved the plan aside and set another one on top. “There are plans for the roof, too. I thought that might be anoption.”
“An option forwhat?”
The question took him by surprise, not because it had been asked but because of who had askedit.
He turned to see Abby standing in the living room. She was wearing leggings and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Her hair was piled on top of her head, her eyesalert.
Max straightened. “We’re trying to figure out how to get into theTangier.”
“I thought you were going to put surveillance equipment in place to help with that,” she said, coming towardthem.
“We were,” Max said. “But we couldn’t find a way to pull it off intime.”
