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His hands went up in surrender. “This is my personal ride, boss. I have a minivan I use for work, swear.”

“You better fucking hope so because we’re parking here and hoofing it the rest of the way. This hoodie is all I got against the fucking cold and it’s making my trigger finger real, real itchy. This god damned car is completely to blame.” I snarled as I pulled off the road and parked behind the community entrance sign. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Todd scrambled from the passenger seat and raced to the trunk of his car, calling for me to pop it as he moved. I moved to the front and waited, tapping my foot impatiently for the few minutes it took him to make his way to me, holding what I assumed was his homemade EMP up with a grin. Pulling the hood of my sweatshirt up, I took off at a brisk pace in the direction of Hugo’s mansion. Todd was shockingly adept at following me without making any sound as we wove through the oversized neighborhood, avoiding the obvious cameras. Hugo Bristol’s home came into sight and I slowed my pace, allowing Todd to fall into step beside me.

“That one just over there,” I nodded toward the gaudy gate with the ridiculously ornate ‘B,’ “I need to get in there without any footage to show it ever happened. Think you can manage that?”

Todd’s eyes narrowed on the gate, flitting around to tops and sides, only pausing when he spotted a camera.

“Yeah, they don’t look nearly as top of the line as the stuff we use. I should be able to knock them out, just have to walk by and press the button. No way I can do it and stay out of range myself, but I’ll make sure I look like I’m out for a casual stroll.”

“Good, get it done, and then keep an eye out for any incoming.”

Todd nodded and started in the direction of the house. “Wish this was planned so I could have stolen a dog orsomething, make it more realistic,” he mumbled under his breath as he strolled away.

I pinch my lips against the urge to snap back over his comment. He wasn’t exactly wrong, but my gut was telling me that time was of the essence getting into the Bristol mansion now that Victoria knew I was onto her. My eyes tracked Todd, but even watching him as closely as I was, I didn’t catch the moment he enabled his device. If it weren’t for the fact that he turned back toward me, scanning the cameras to ensure the light signaling they were in operation was out, I’d have never known he’d done his job.

My feet tore across the concrete, and I practically flung myself at the gate, using that stupid fucking ‘B’ to help lift myself up and over it. Balancing briefly on the narrow poles at the top, I jumped down, letting my body move into a roll so I wouldn’t break a leg, righted myself, and raced to the main house.

I almost laughed out loud when I realized how fucking arrogant Hugo Bristol was. He thought his little cameras and precious gate were enough to keep him safe. So much so that the front door was unlocked, an invitation to let myself in if I’d ever seen one. Stifling the urge to laugh, I crept through the mansion, following the same path I’d memorized in our only meeting in Hugo’s office. The bastard hadn’t even bothered to lockthatdoor. If I were a superstitious man, I’d be worried about how easy it had been to access the place I wanted to be.

Easing the door open, I slipped inside and closed it behind me, turning on the flashlight on my phone as I took a look around. I quickly perused the bookshelves, looking for anything that stood out, but it was all boring first editions and legal guides. My fingers itched to move them, in case Hugo was more intelligent than his unlocked doors led me to believe, but there wasn’t enough time to get through all of them. I turned tothe tidy desk and decided to start there. If I didn’t find anything, I could always come back and search his books.

The top few drawers in the desk were a bust. They held a variety of legal pads, pens, and an assortment of other office supplies. Even the legal pads appeared mostly untouched; the top pad was the only one with impressions on the pages like the one before it had been written on and ripped away. I couldn’t help moving a few of Hugo’s bits and bobbles between drawers just to make the man feel as crazy as his vicious daughter made me feel.

Satisfied that my small intrusion would drive him up a wall, I shifted my attention to the largest drawer at the bottom of the desk. It was the only one with a lock, and I was shocked to find it was actually in use. Pulling open the drawer above it, I snagged a handful of paper clips and created a makeshift lockpick. Once I was satisfied with what I’d crafted, I pulled a credit card from the wallet in my back pocket and set to work with the two items.

“How the fuck does this man put away so many criminals with such shitty security?” I mused when the lock gave way and the drawer opened. “All these files, and nothing but some cameras and a gate to impede the unwashed masses. Fucking hell.”

I thumbed through the files, not paying much mind to which criminal he was prosecuting, though a few names were vaguely familiar. There wasn’t anything in any of them to help me prove to the guys that Victoria was out to cause us harm. I sat back on my heels, studying the desk as I tried to figure out where to start next with what little time I had left. I refused to accept my impromptu mission had been a fucking bust.

Something about the drawer drew my eye back to it, and I leaned forward to study it more closely. Maybe it was the shadows and lack of light, but the drawer definitely lookeddeeper on the outside than it did when looking at the files. I started pulling them out of the drawer, stacking them in a haphazard pile and nearly shouted when I shined the light inside the empty drawer. Barely noticeable against the back was a strange slotted hole that could only mean one thing. The drawer had a false bottom. I snagged the letter opener I’d seen earlier and used it to wrench the false bottom away.

“Fucking,jackpot!” I hissed as I spotted a thick file folder with Victoria’s name and birthdate written on it. The first thing I saw when I opened the folder was a DNA test declaring Hugo Bristol ‘not the father.’ “Holy shit.” I breathed.

The file was far too hefty for me to examine thoroughly under my current time crunch, but a quick look showed what appeared to be documents from a private investigator and a handful of other DNA tests. I shoved the folder under my hoodie to keep it out of the way as I returned his case files to the drawer. Ensuring everything was how I found it, aside from my intentional meddling, I pulled the folder out from under my hoodie and held it securely to my chest as I switched off my phone’s flashlight. No way was I going to lose what could be the fucking motherload now that I had it.

I practically floated with how pleased I was as I crept back to the front door. Except, it wasn’t unlocked anymore. I frowned, considering my options when I heard voices in a room just off the foyer, but coming closer.

“Window it is, I guess.” I huffed quietly, moving to the closest room with a door before someone found me.

I wasn’t sure what room in the mansion I was in since the curtains over the windows were drawn, blocking out the light. I didn’t want to risk drawing any attention with my flashlight, so I carefully approached them in the dark. Shadows moved against the curtains just as another set of voices outside the window spoke, followed by the flare of a cigarette.

“What the fuck.” I hissed to myself through gritted teeth.

Whatever luck I’d had getting into the mansion had apparently run out. I spent the next half hour or so creeping around, trying to find a way out as I dodged the help and the security team I’d clearly fucking missed on my way in. It seemed like every potential exit was blocked by one or another, and that was evenwithme debating how reasonable it would be to throw myself out of a fucking window just to get out of the fucking house. It was out of sheer desperation that I texted Todd.

Create a distraction. I need an out.

Chapter Seventeen

Craig

After Joey disconnected me from the conference call, I attempted to call Az to no avail. Leighton was the only one who answered, and he was more interested in giving an animated, overly exaggerated play-by-play of the argument between the other two. I hung up on him and climbed into bed with Victoria, sleeping until shortly after noon.

Groaning, I forced myself to get out of bed and hunt down something for my pain. The wounds left by Mel’s sycophant of an apprentice were healing, but they still hurt like a bitch. Especially when I first woke, stiff from sleep. Wandering through the house, I found myself in the kitchen. Dawn had a cabinet beside the fridge with a variety of medications and vitamins. If I was going to find a pain reliever, it would be there. I’d just opened it to sift through when Az strolled in, his lip split, one eye swollen halfway shut, and his knuckles bloody.

“What the fuck happened to you?” I asked as he jerked open the freezer and grabbed some ice.