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“Jack,” Grace said. “What are you doing in here?”
“I got worried when you missed rendezvous time,” Jack said.
“We ran into a little maintenance trouble with the plane.”
“Uh-huh,” Jack said disbelievingly. “Maybe next time you guys could keep a clock by the bed while you’re getting reacquainted.”
“Screw you,” Gabe said as Grace laughed.
“Not unless Grace agrees to join in. Otherwise it would just be awkward.”
Gabe’s smile was razor sharp as he opened his mouth to respond to Jack, but a soft knock interrupted them.
“Bedroom,” Gabe whispered to Jack. “It’s our luggage.”
Jack went into the spare bedroom and closed the door just as Gabe let the bellboy in. Grace wandered around the room, ignoring the opulence surrounding her as if it were subpar and instead checking out the balconies and the best vantage point of the museum.
It was a modern building of angles and glass, and it sat at a diagonal a little over five hundred yards away. All sides could be seen except for the back. It would be up to Ethan to be the eyes on her blind side and watch Jack’s and Gabe’s backs until they were safely on the roof.
“What do you think?” Gabe asked when they were alone once again.
“I think it’s risky,” she said. “If things go to hell and I have to take a shot, we’ll have to get out fast and quiet. And with as many guards as there are, the chances of me having to bail one of you out increases. We’re practically trapped up here, and any investigator worth his salt will know this is where the shot was fired from.”
“Then Jack and I will have to make sure you don’t need to fire any shots. Just be our eyes.”
“Speaking of eyes,” Jack said, “Ethan has us all tapped into his screens at headquarters.”
Gabe tapped his watch and said, “We’re all on call signs from this point forward. Checking in, Dragon. Do you copy?”
“Loud and clear, Ghost. Grim Reaper and Renegade checked in earlier,” Ethan answered, referring to Logan and Jack. “I’m only waiting to hear from Kill Shot.”
“I assume that’s me?” Grace asked, rolling her eyes. “I guess I should be grateful it’s not Pussy Galore.”
Jack burst into laughter, and Gabe’s eyes crinkled at the corners as his shoulders shook. She flicked the switch on her watch and said, “Checking in, Dragon. How’s the security at the hotel?”
“Why is everyone laughing?” Ethan asked. “What’s going on?”
“Jack’s fly was unzipped,” Grace answered.
“I’m sorry, who am I speaking with?” Ethan said deadpan. “I don’t recall you having a sense of humor.”
The smile left Grace’s face, and she averted her gaze from Gabe’s as their laughter died. Something tightened in her chest, and she realized she was holding her breath. She could feel the person she’d once been hammering away at the woman she was now. There had been a time when she’d had a sense of humor—when she’d been the one on the team who always had a sarcastic word or a quick quip. The thing that made her feel the worst was she was just realizing how much she missed being a part of something like this over the past couple of years. Being part of a team—a family. But there was something inside of her that felt ashamed that she could so easily go back to that person when her life was only tatters of what it had once been.
“Security, Dragon,” Grace said. “Tell me what we’re dealing with.” Her voice was cold this time, and she could hear his sigh over the line.
“It wasn’t hard to tap into the main computers at the hotel,” he said. “They use a satellite system, so I slipped in undetected and can monitor and control as you need. I can override the elevators and phone systems as well. The hotel is covered unless you get ambushed inside your room. Gabe wouldn’t let me set up visual in your suite.”
“I can’t imagine why, you perv,” Jack said.
“I would stop looking the minute I saw she was taking her clothes off. I swear,” Ethan said soberly.
“Wow,” Grace said. “Someone tell me again why we’re working with a teenager.”
“I’m an adult. I’m eighteen.”
Jack groaned, and Gabe looked like he wanted to start drinking heavily. “Dragon,” he said. “You’re pushing it.”
“It’s not like you can replace me,” Ethan mumbled under his breath.
