Brain(80)

I was going to leave fifty thousand dollars in the account, because closing it completely didn’t give them incentive to make sure the cash arrived in two days. I filled out the request and handed it over — if this had been a public bank, I’d have needed to answer a bunch of questions, but I’d done my research when I found a private bank, so the request didn’t faze the manager in the least.

Duke and I didn’t have a cellphone on us, though we each had a two-way radio — currently turned off — for communication if things went sideways. However, we left the bank, got back on our scooters, drove a good ways outside of town where there were no cameras, and met the guys in the van.

Gonzo was dressed as Duke, Bash was dressed as me, and they donned our helmets and took our places on the scooters while Duke and I got into the back of the van.

The asshole duo would ride the bikes to a hotel parking garage, park them and start walking to the elevator. Brain would kill the cameras, and they’d put the scooters in a truck with a cab over the back, then go into the hotel, change clothes in an empty room (thanks to Brain forging a key card for them), hang out in the restaurant a while, and then take a few taxis back to the house, leaving the truck in the garage to move later.





Chapter Forty-One




Brain



Longest four hours of my life. It was as if my own heart was out riding around, in danger.

And I had to trust Duke, of all people, to keep her safe.

I’d meant to be waiting for her in the villa’s garage when they pulled in, but the bank manager received a phone call I needed to hear.

I switched it so it came across on the speakers as well as my headphones, so they could hear as they came in.



“Yeah, I called about the account you asked me to keep an eye on. A girl came in with the right ID, right passcodes. She’s drawing all but fifty grand out in cash. Will be back day after tomorrow to get it.”



I smelled Harmony’s terror when the Russian’s voice came over the speaker, but I didn’t mute it — she wouldn’t thank me for it, later.



I’ll need your video feeds showing her pulling into the parking lot, walking and talking inside the building, and then pulling out of the lot. Did you give her a time frame to come back?



The truck usually delivers by ten in the morning.



Thank you for the information. When we receive the video feeds, I’ll wire the money to you. Same account as last time?



Yes.



The call disconnected without either saying goodbye, and I left the audio feeds going to the speakers in case there was another call, and took my headphones off so I could walk to Harmony and hold her.

She shrank away from me, and I let her, but I bent down so we were eye level and said, “Hold me, Buttercup. He’ll never hurt you again, I promise.”

She threw her arms around me, held me tight, and as I stood, she wrapped her legs around me, too. I touched the sides of her hips, enough to comfort without trapping her, and walked back to the armless chair I’d been using as my command central chair.

“The rest of you can go, I’ll keep an eye on things in here, and let’s plan to meet in an hour and a half for a sitrep.”

Duke and Ranger left without another word, and Harmony sat in my lap with me holding her a good five minutes before finally lifting her head to say, “Thanks. What can I do to help in here?”

I pointed her to another laptop and answered, “Watch the network traffic coming and going to the bank. Odds are the manager will send a link so the Russians can see all the feeds and take the parts they want, in which case we should be able to easily see their IP address. If he emails it, we’ll have to monitor the email to see where they log in from to retrieve it.”

She needed to get her mind on something else, be productive, and I knew she was as good as me and wouldn’t miss anything.

Fifteen minutes into us working side-by-side, I told her, “My wolf needs me to hold you again. Are you going to be okay?”

She turned to me, threw her arms around me from the side, and I slid sideways and pulled her to me, holding her, but smelling for distress just in case.

Thankfully, she saw my arms as safety and comfort, and she let me hold her until I let go and kissed her cheek, then her forehead.

“Do you want me to keep his voice in my headphones, if we hear him again? Just tell you what’s said so you don’t have to hear him?”

She shook her head. “No, I know him, and it’s possible I can glean something from his tone of voice the rest of you would miss.” She held my gaze, let me see her strength. “Don’t shield me from anything, Brain. I’ve done this on my own long before you came along. It’s great to have help, but you have to know I’m not going to let anyone cushion me from reality.”