Brain(85)

I knew how hard it’d been for Brain to watch me leave, and I was sorry he couldn’t come, but I also knew we needed him on the cameras and in our ears. None of us had a cellphone, so there was no way for us to be tracked by anyone but Brain. I had a GPS chip implanted near my hip that would give away my location at specified, random times, but not constant, so Brain could find me if I was captured. However, if I was swept for electronics, it wouldn’t show up unless it happened to be during the three second burst it would give out four times a day.

Ranger drove Duke and I to the bank. Gonzo was a block away, and Bash was set up where we needed him. Brain had hacked into the bank’s security and had eyes on us.

I told him I loved him as I got out of the car. I hadn’t told him before, and maybe it was a shitty time for it, but I suddenly needed him to know how important he was to me.

His soft, “I love you too, Buttercup. Now do this and get your ass back into my arms,” reply made me smile. I knew the other guys had heard it, and I didn’t give a fuck.

Before we stepped up onto the curb, Duke stopped, looked at me a few seconds, and said, “I’m sorry I lost him, but I’m glad he has you. He deserves to be happy.”

“All right, everyone,” came Ranger’s voice in my earpiece. “Mind on the mission. Look around, be aware of your surroundings. Know the danger spots, keep an eye for where you’ll run if all hell breaks loose. Mushy stuff later.”

I nodded to Duke, and looked around casually as we stepped towards the door, both of us rolling a large empty suitcase behind us.

The bank manager was waiting for us, and he walked us into the vault, where money was stacked on a table. We’d asked for a specific number of twenty and one hundred dollar bills, carefully figured for the space we’d have in two large suitcases. I put a few thousand in my backpack, and then we proceeded to count the rest of the money as we put it into the suitcases.

I wanted to punch the bank manager on the way out, for ratting me out to the Russians, but I couldn’t let him know we knew without tipping them off. It was better if Ivankov thought he had the element of surprise.

We put the suitcases in the trunk, wedging them in because they barely fit. A little over three million dollars in mostly twenties takes up a lot of room, and getting it this way was a pain, but it would make laundering it so much easier, later.

For now, though, we needed to get back to the plane and off the island.

I was wearing a bullet proof vest under my clothes, and as we got into the passenger seat my feet went into the large Kevlar bag, and I slid to the floor as I lifted it up, so I was sitting backwards, my butt on the floor, my face on the seat, and was totally covered by the bag. I could lift my head a little and see the back of the seat in front of me, and could hear the guys talking, but I would be no help. They’d convinced me I was human and they were werewolves, and they could survive a firefight a whole lot better than me.

They also wore bullet proof vests, though. Just to be safe. It’s hard to kill them, but not impossible.

My first hint of trouble came a handful of seconds after we pulled out onto the main road. Someone rammed us, and I heard Ranger barking out orders. “Stay down, Harmony. Duke, keep your weapon down so no one sees it. Gonzo, need you to pull out so you’re between us and the Russians, and act as a buffer.”

Firearms possession could get someone a lengthy jail sentence down here, and firing one in the middle of a crowded street would be very bad. We hadn’t entered the country legally — we all knew the risks, both from the Russians and the Cayman authorities. And yet here they were, fighting on my behalf.

Not knowing where we were, and unable to see what was going on — it was maddening, but I sat quietly as the guys negotiated getting us and the bad guys outside of town.

I could tell we were close to the switch by their radio exchanges, and when Ranger finally pulled into the garage and the door closed behind us, I came up from the floorboard but stayed silent, listening to Brain and the others in my earpiece. Bash was wearing the same ball cap and shirt as Ranger, and he would come back into camera range in our place. We’d made the switch in a curve, so when the Russians got him back in their sights, they wouldn’t realize the change had occurred. Duke had ducked down a while back, so it wouldn’t look odd that he wasn’t in the backseat.

Bash had dyed his hair black last night, and he and Ranger both had about the same amount of scruff on their face. I hoped it’d work.

Ranger took the ball cap off, used a battery operated electric shaver to get rid of the scruff, and changed shirts. Bash and Duke had stolen an older SUV after Brain and I found someone who was out of town, so we knew they wouldn’t report it stolen anytime soon. Ranger got into the driver’s side and Duke and I stretched out in the back, with the two suitcases.