Page 190 of The Vigilante's Lover

“You’ll be with me,” I tell her. “I’ll take you there.”

“Should I know what it is?” Her voice is laced with panic.

Sam turns around in his seat. “A doughnut shop in Portland, Oregon. Voodoo.” He lifts his case, which bears a sticker that says “I got VD in Portland.”

Colette shakes her head. “I’d complain, but I love my Dirty Snowballs.”

“Dirty Snowballs,” Sam says reverently.

“Can we go kick some ass now?” Mia asks.

I squeeze her hand. “Sam and Colette, you go in the entrance designated for Marie Augusta.” Sam looks at me. “She’s in a wheelchair, so that one has slightly reprogrammed security. Might be easier to circumvent.”

“Where are you headed, boss?” Sam asks.

“I have a hunch that when Mia goes in, something’s going to happen that will muddy the security network. Plus, I’m supposedly dead. I’m waltzing right in the front door with her.”

Sam nods. “I’ll tap into the computer first shot I get. No telling when that will be. What’s the endgame?”

“The War Room,” I say. “Let’s shake up the committee. Stop this thing.”

“Or die trying,” Sam says.

“Nobody’s dying today,” I remind him.

Colette parks the car in a dark corner of the garage. She pats the steering wheel affectionately. “I’ll be back for you,” she tells it.

I open my door. “We’ll separate here,” I tell them.

Colette heads out of the car and opens her trunk. “Let’s take all I’ve got.” She passes a slender case of vials to Jax.

“Where’s that bag?” I ask Mia.

She heads to the backseat of the car to fetch it.

When she returns, Colette dumps several vials in. “They’re unbreakable, so don’t worry,” she tells Mia. She packs a second set in Sam’s tech bag.

“So I have one antidote for each dart, plus three of the new darts that don’t need them,” Mia says.

“That’s right,” Colette says. She kisses both of Mia’s cheeks. “Stay strong and be smart.”

Mia nods, and I can see her eyes tearing up a little.

Sam shakes my hand. “Good luck.”

Mia hides her dart gun in her jacket. I don’t know if security will let her take it in. I don’t know how security is going to react to her at all.

Colette and Sam head out the opposite side of the garage. Mia and I walk down the entrance ramp and out into the sunny afternoon. It’s late in the day. By the time we get done with this job, it will be night. I try not to think ahead. I’ve never gone into a situation with less of a plan than I have now.

We take our time walking the block back to the entrance of the office building. It’s not terribly tall, four floors, and nondescript gray brick and steel. Mia’s grip on my hand tightens as we approach the glassentrance. “What if they shoot us immediately?”

“Nothing will happen, not out here,” I assure her. But I keep an eye on the scanner above us. It’s already reading our heat signatures with an invisible beam.

I open the door.

Whatever’s going to happen to us will occur inside.

18: Mia