1
Austin Hix tossed the last Kevlar vest to man number five on his team and shut the rear door of the rented SUV.
His body buzzed with carefully controlled adrenaline, swirling in his chest, tingling down his limbs. He’d been fighting for this day for over six months. This wasn’t how he’d envisioned the situation going down, with a clandestine meeting behind a closed Exxon station at three in the morning. But here they were, hatching out an unauthorized op in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Washington DC metro.
His years in army special forces had taught him to roll with the punches, but he’d truly been beaten into this corner. So he was about to make fucking sublime lemonade out of his rotten, moldy lemons.
He rounded the Sequoia and smoothed out the map across the hood. Snowflakes from the flurries that had started at midnight dotted the map, but Austin didn’t feel the seventeen-degree weather. His body was humming at a pitch that would keep him warm for hours. With his teammates gathered around for the briefing, Austin felt gifted and humbled in the most profound way. He would miss the hell out of these guys when this was all over.
He angled his headlamp to illuminate the map. “We’re here.” He tapped the paper. “Our target is here, half a klick northeast. We’ll take these stairs to enter and exit the neighborhood.”
“This is epic.” Lorenzo’s voice brought Austin’s gaze up, and he found his friend grinning as he scanned the area. “We’re smack between Dracula’s crib and the Exorcist’s stairway.”
Dracula’s crib referenced the spires of Georgetown University’s Healy Hall, black against the inky night sky to their left. On their right, the steep incline of seventy-five steps that led to the posh Georgetown neighborhood had been named for their role in The Exorcist, where the character Father Karras had plunged to his death.
A round of quiet laughter circled the group. Austin would have laughed too—at another time, in another place. During a different lifetime. In the here and now, there was way too much riding on the success of this mission to laugh. He’d get one shot at this. If he failed…
He caught his negative thoughts and wrenched them back into line.
Failure was truly not an option here.
Austin peeled away the map to expose a floorplan of the eight-thousand-square-foot home. Three of the guys whistled through their teeth.
Austin pointed out the key rooms, then directed attention to a balcony. “We’re going in and out here. We’ll toss an anchor over the railing, scale it, and breach the bedroom door.”
Lorenzo met Austin’s gaze. “Is there a reason we don’t just walk in the front door?”
“That brings me to the security system,” Austin said. “There are three layers. On the outside, we have dogs—two attack-trained Shepherds. CCTV—sixteen units. A third of those are equipped with thermal imaging. Another third equipped with night vision. And one guard—a former DC homicide detective.”
A murmur of both disbelief and excitement shimmered through the group. There was nothing this team loved more than a good challenge.
“Layer two is a state-of-the art security system with infrared motion detection,” Austin continued. “Every door, window, and vent is wired. Layer three is a biometric-based system where a fingerprint or retina scan is required to enter each section of the home. Users can only be logged into one section at any given time, and the house is separated into five zones.”
Lorenzo let out another whistle. “Dude, it’s like they saw us comin’.”
They had. Senator Paige Seaver had upped her security measures when Austin started playing hardball.
“The bioscan security system has an auxiliary power source,” Austin continued, “which is housed in the basement. So even after we cut the power and jam the Wi-Fi, we still can’t access the southwest corner of the second story from the front door.”
“Fuckin’ Fort Knox,” Lorenzo said. “Sure they don’t have kilos of heroin stashed in half of that mansion?”
No, they had something far more valuable.
Austin hoisted the box at his feet to the hood and doled out supplies along with responsibilities.
He tossed a bag of raw meat and ketamine to Cooper. “Coop, you take care of the dogs.”
A syringe filled with the appropriate dose of midazolam went to Jovan. “Jo, give the guard a nap.”
A small bag of tools to Lorenzo. “Ren, disable the second level of security, jam the Wi-Fi, and kill the landlines.”
The anchor and climbing rope went to Grayson. “Gray, secure the lifeline.”
He tossed night-vision binoculars to Tevez. “You’re our lookout. Watch the streets and neighbors.”
Austin paused and met the gaze of every man. Men he’d killed for. Men who’d killed for him. “This means a lot to me. I hope you all know I’ll be there for you if you ever need anything. Turning in my papers doesn’t change what we are to each other. I’m always just a phone call away.”
The men grew somber. Understanding rippled through the group.
“All right,” Lorenzo said, shifting on his feet, hands tucked into the neck of the vest, dark eyes sparking with adrenaline. “Let’s play chicken with the devil.”
“Hooah!” The quiet cheer barely rumbled the night, but it solidified their team for this delicate, one-time operation.