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Ryland knew his friend was quick to jump into the action, but this op was going to require some extra finesse since they were potentially going up against a lot of tangoes at once. Plus, he had the inside knowledge that Tanner wasn’t a big fan of heights.
“Saint might be onto something,” Pharaoh said, mulling the idea over.
“I’ll do it,” Ryland offered. “Heights don’t bother me.”
“I don’t mind them either.” Bruja drummed her fingers on the tabletop. “We don’t have a lot of options and time is ticking, fellas.”
“It’s a good idea,” Banshee said. “If you guys can get up to Bashar’s floor and get inside from the outside, I’ll make sure the alarm and cameras are disabled.”
“Piece of cake,” Saint said arrogantly. “Who’s ready to hang off the side of a building?”
“Rip and Saint, you two go in as window washers,” Pharaoh stated. “Bruja and I will have eyes on security. Mayhem, keep the getaway car running and ready to roll.”
“Roger that.”
???
Standing outside of Etihad Towers, that gnawing feeling in Ryland’s gut returned. He pushed it aside, ignoring it to focus on the semi-plan they had in place, assuring himself this was merely business as usual. Sure, plans were changed at the last minute, but the new plan was a good one.
At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.
Situated in Abu Dhabi’s exclusive district of Ras Al Akhdar, Etihad Towers was comprised of five total buildings: three for residential living, one hotel and one business center. They were surrounded by impeccably landscaped gardens and located near the beach and largest shopping mall in the city. They screamed decadence and excess, and they were a practical hive of activity.
After the team split up, Ryland and Saint followed Banshee’s instructions, weaving through tourists and locals, and confidently making their way around the building to a back door used by employees only. In that short amount of time, Saint managed to inhale almost an entire cigarette.Disgusting.
“Those things’ll kill you, you know. It’s called lung cancer.”
Saint chuckled and flicked the remainder of the still burning cigarette into a potted plant. “Seriously? You really think I have a better chance of dying that way than getting a bullet to the head?”
Ryland rolled his eyes and pushed through the large door. The window washers’ normal working day was over, but who would really stop and ask questions when they were hanging outside the building?
They each slipped into a pair of workman’s overalls, grabbed buckets and squeegees, and carried their backpacks over to the freight elevator which was used by workers and deliverymen. As expected, they were completely ignored. Just two more worker bees blending into the background. The building was 140 floors total and by the time they reached the roof, Ryland was mentally running through the schematics and technical specs of Bashar’s apartment seven floors below.
They walked over to the building’s edge and Ryland scratched his head. “Where’s the platform?”
“That’s not how they roll here.” Saint shoved a harness at Ryland.
Ryland’s mouth edged up in a daredevil grin. “Hell yeah.”
“I thought you might like this, you adrenaline junkie.”
“Sign...me…up.” Ryland stepped into the harness, secured it, then checked his ropes, knots and carabiners, giving Saint a thumbs-up once everything was in place.
“Rip and Saint are in position on the roof,” Saint reported.
“Roger,” Pharaoh answered. “Bruja and I have eyes on security.”
“Cameras are looping and I’m in their feed,” Banshee informed them.
“Rip and Saint, you guys are a go,” Pharaoh said.
Swinging his long legs over the ledge, Ryland turned, planted his boots on the building and leaned back. When he looked down, his stomach did a small flip.Talk about fucking high.He could see the curvature of the Earth.
And he loved it.
He supposed he was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. He’d done everything from skydiving to bungee jumping to swimming with sharks. Scaling an impossibly high structure was just one more notch on his extreme experiences bedpost. Not much scared or fazed him.
People like Yusuf Bashar, though…
