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“As I’ll ever be.”
“Removing the skylight now.”
Gabe and Jack lifted the heavy skylight with little difficulty, making no sound as they placed it to the side. Gabe counted down the seconds on his watch and breathed out a sigh of relief when he heard Logan’s voice.
“Alarm is deactivated, but it’s still showing as active in the command center. None of the guards noticed the slight bump in the system.”
“Good work,” Gabe said. “Stand by while we move to phase two.”
The opening left from the skylight was protected with a crisscross of infrared beams, and Jack pulled four quarter-sized metal disks from his bag.
“You sure this is going to work, Dragon?” Jack asked.
“Why do you keep asking me that?” Ethan responded. “It’s starting to piss me off. Of course it works. I do not make inferior gadgets.”
Gabe took two of the disks and nodded at Jack. He placed one of the disks near the bulb the beam originated from and the other near the receiver on the opposite side. Jack mirrored his image.
“On three,” Gabe said. “One, two…”
They simultaneously moved the disks into place, cutting off the beam while giving the receiver the impression the infrared was still in place. The disks were magnetic and held in place without assistance.
“Make sure you don’t bump them going inside,” Ethan ordered.
“You’ve got six minutes until the guard makes his rounds,” Logan warned.
Gabe and Jack tied the black nylon ropes in the bags to the pipes that stuck up from the roof and attached them to the hooks at their belts. Gabe slowly lowered himself inside the museum and then tossed his rope back up to Jack once he’d reached the ground. Jack didn’t waste any time making his own descent and quickly joined him. He tossed his rope back up into the open space the skylight had left, and Gabe led them into the supply closet to wait out the guard making his rounds.
“Lazy bastard,” Logan commented in their ears. “He’s not even making a full loop of the top floor. They’ve got a poker game going in the control room. You’re all clear. Get in and get out.”
Gabe slid out of the closet and went directly to the west wing where Hitler’s paintings were displayed. He pulled his knife from his boot, and it took only seconds to slice the painting from the frame. He rolled it up and stuck it in the tube Jack handed him.
“Uh-oh,” Logan said through the earpiece. “That doesn’t look good.”
Jack and Gabe looked at each other, but didn’t answer Logan’s warning. They both pulled their pistols and split up, each finding a hiding spot behind large white columns.
“The control room guard just answered a phone call. It looks like Kimball tipped them off to our plans. The alert has gone out to all the guards. I can see both of you on my screen.”
“How many?” Gabe whispered.
“Three are coming up the back stairs. They’ll come out right behind you, Ghost. Eight are taking the main stairs, and three more are taking the stairs on Jack’s side. They’ll come out by the café.”
Gabe stayed down and moved quickly to the outside of the stairwell Logan had warned him of. The first bursts of gunfire happened on Jack’s side of the building, but Gabe knew his friend could take care of himself. The guards hoped to overwhelm him by coming through the door all at once, but their plan backfired on them.
Gabe grabbed the first guard around the neck and fired into the chest of the one right behind him. He kicked out with his leg, pushing the guard he’d shot in the chest so he fell into the guard behind him. The man he had in a headlock struggled until Gabe broke his neck and put one final bullet in the guard who was struggling to move his friend’s body off of him.
Those coming up the stairs decided to shoot first and ask questions later. Gabe dove behind the column he’d been hiding behind earlier just as shards of plaster and dust exploded above him. He pulled the knife from his boot and threw it at the first guard he saw, embedding it in his throat even as he was firing his gun.
Several men swarmed him at once, and a gun was difficult to use in close combat. He pulled a Taser from the belt of one of the guards and shot it into his neck even as his foot hit another in the chest and knocked him over the stair railing so he fell three stories below.
He saw Jack get in position on the opposite side of the stairway, and they both worked their way to the center of the staircase, taking out the rest of the guards until it was only the two of them standing at the top of the stairs.
“Update,” Gabe ordered.
He pulled his knife from the guard it had been buried in and wiped it on the man’s clothes. He and Jack started down the stairs to the lower gallery floors, moving cautiously.
“Two guards blocking each entrance,” Logan said. “Police have been dispatched. It’s time to disappear. I’m packing up here. I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point. Grim Reaper out.”
“What can I do?” Ethan asked. “I hate just sitting here.”
