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Ella and I nodded. Again, it was what I’d expected. Detraux had made us, so surely he’d be attempting a great escape, right?
“I sent you all the floor plan,” Nadia said so we all pulled out our phones.
Sure enough, she’d texted an attachment of the floor plan of 1212. I studied and memorized it quickly. It wasn’t that complicated.
“I bet Detraux is regretting giving us directions right to him,” Ella said with a sly grin. I recognized what she was doing: calming us down before battle.
“That’s what he gets for trying to hit on a girl less than half his age,” Shai said, her eyes still on the floor plan.
“Hey,” I said, pretending to be offended by being called a girl. We were all women. Granted, I was the youngest of the women and technically we were all girls since we were Aurora’s Girls, but I was playing my part in letting our brains relax for a second before we ran into what could be an ambush.
The elevator doors slid open and we walked into the main lobby of One Plaza. The white marble floors gleamed and even the elevators around us shone as if the stainless steel had just been cleaned. Floor-to-ceiling windows let in extraordinary amounts of light and women and men in business suits walked with purpose all around us. It wasn’t exactly where I would have imagined a criminal ring to have their headquarters.
“You guys go down that hall and it comes up on your right,” Nadia directed before she and Shai headed toward the revolving doors at the front of the lobby to go around back to the alleyway entrance of 1212.
“Remember: just slow them down,” Shai said over her shoulder.
I nodded and turned to Ella.
“You ready for this?” I asked, glancing around the room to make sure Detraux wasn’t among those in the lobby.
But I was pretty sure I wouldn’t find him. If he had made Nadia and Shai in the parking garage, why hadn’t he run straight back to his car and gotten the heck out of there? Going anywhere on foot was a risk. But he had to get to 1212. He must have had something there that he had to retrieve; it was the only thing that made sense. So I knew he was still in that office, but wouldn’t be for long. As soon as he got what he needed, he’d be long gone.
Ella cracked her neck and smiled. “It feels like a good day to take down an evil kingpin.”
I took a determined breath. Yeah, it did.
EIGHTEEN
shai
Nadiaand I broke into a sprint the moment we got to the alleyway. Two cars waited outside a door and even without the floorplan we would have known that was our destination.
As we ran down, two men emerged, one from each car.
“I’ve got them. You get inside,” Nadia commanded.
I did as she asked, but slammed a fist into one man’s stomach as I passed. I saw him double over and grinned. At least Nadia would have a bit of a head start.
The second guy started toward me but Nadia got in his way, tripping him so he fell with a thud to the ground.
These guys had been all too easy to take down but I wasn’t surprised. A weasel like Detraux would keep his most able-bodied men by his side. These guys were the expendables. And Nadia was expending them.
I tugged on the door, grateful to feel it give way. I didn’t have time to pick a lock even if it would take me less than a minute.
In the split second before I took my first step in, I tried to remember what I should expect. This back entryway was off of a hall that connected four of the back offices. The space would be narrow.
I darted in and quickly took in my surroundings. The space was indeed narrow.
And full. My heart beat against my chest in anticipation of what was to come. I did a quick count . . . five men. Including Detraux.
“So we meet again,” he said as I let the door slam shut behind me.
“I was hoping we would,” I said sweetly, and it was true. Detraux being here meant my team was dealing with the weaker members of his crew. Thank goodness.
I grinned, noticing the astonished look on a few of the thugs’ faces. And then I did the one thing none of them had been expecting. I locked the door behind me.
Their eyes shifted from me to the lock and then back to their boss, almost in unison. I would have laughed but I didn’t want to do anything that could impede my view. Although the fight was in my favor—a narrow hall bode well for a single opponent, as it made it harder for multiples to gang up on me at once—I needed to be ready. And I wanted to keep an eye on that briefcase Detraux clutched like a lifeline.
