No Fortunate Son (Pike Logan, #7)(74)

The lane opened into a courtyard and Brett recognized the building. He said, “This is it.”

Knuckles forgot about the man and focused on the fight, taking deep breaths and getting his adrenaline under control. He elbowed Brett and whispered, “This is cool shit, huh?”

Brett smiled. “Yeah, when we’re surrounded by all this firepower. It was some scary shit thirty minutes ago. You’re lucky you’re not black.”

They pulled in behind the single van. The doors slid open at the same time, and the GIGN spilled out, moving like water from a split dam.

They raced to the stairwell, sprinting up, very little noise other than the clank of equipment. At each floor, two men in the front of the column peeled off, locking down the entrance to the stairwell and preventing any surprises from the rear.

They reached the fourth floor and the teams split, two men locking down the hallway to their rear, and the rest sprinting to their designated targets. The two FBI agents were supposed to follow the first team to their room, leaving Knuckles and Brett for the second door, but there was a tangle in the hallway, and they ended up at the back of the same stack.

The electricity of the operation flowing through him, weapon held high, Knuckles saw the two GIGN breachers look at each other and nod. They raised their battering rams and struck the doors at the same time, shattering the locks. The men shot into the rooms like lava from an erupting volcano, shouting commands to gain dominance.

Knuckles heard no gunfire.

Last in, he entered to find the room empty, the GIGN dominating the entire structure. No furniture and no terrorists. On the floor was a Samsung Galaxy cell phone, blinking. On the walls were packages.

It coalesced in his brain in a nanosecond, and he shouted, “Avalanche!”

Nobody in the room other than Brett understood the Taskforce command for immediate evacuation. Bulling his way to the entrance, Knuckles grabbed one GIGN man and bodily flung him through the door. He took two steps toward it, seeing Brett dive outside, when the room erupted in fire.






51




After four solid hours of staring at the Bulgari store, I began to relax, wondering if we’d spooked them off the target because of our shenanigans in Brussels. Honestly, I felt a little relieved. Sort of wishing I were with Knuckles, getting some on a hit that had sanction instead of sitting here half praying nobody showed up. After Knuckles’s call I knew I was hanging way out over the ledge without any support.

Jennifer said, “How long do you want to stay?”

“Well, at least until they close. We know they’re after some special necklace, and they said it would be on display in the day, then locked up at night. The Pink Panthers aren’t sneaky safecrackers. They’re brazen daylight guys. The store closes, and we’re done for the day.”

“And after that?”

I thought about Kurt, and the fact that he’d ignored my call. I wasn’t sure what it meant. He wanted Kylie back more than life itself, but he’d hung me out to dry on a serious lead. And now wouldn’t talk to me. I didn’t know how to read those tea leaves.

I said, “I don’t know. We’ll get back to the hotel and reassess.”

She saw what I was thinking and said, “Kurt didn’t do that on purpose. Don’t wonder about his motives. There’s much more going on than our little hunt.”

“Yeah, inside I know that, but it’s still a little scary. Maybe something’s happened and he’s been forced to abandon us. I’m worried that we’re out here doing shit on our own now. No sanction whatsoever.”

She smiled and said, “Does that ever matter to you?”

“Well, yeah, it matters.”

“You mean like the sanction you got to bring in Nung?”

I hadn’t yet told Kurt about flying him over—or that he had to be paid—and she was gently reminding me that operations were fluid. I was doing what I did for the good of the mission, and so was Kurt. I said, “Point taken,” and returned to staring at the boring facade of the Bulgari store.

Located where two roads came together at an angle, it was situated on the point, with a door to the west and a door to the east. We’d found a café on the east side and had been watching for the better part of the day, drinking coffee.

The store was two stories tall and had some serious security, with a man just inside each door who actually unlocked them for patrons he deemed worthy to enter. Don’t look like you’re going to drop a quarter mil on jewelry? He’d just nod at you, indicating that you could head on down to another store to window-shop. The doors remained locked otherwise, with cameras everywhere, and two other roaming guards inside.

I looked at my watch and saw it was 4:58. I said, “Let’s call Nung. Head on back to the hotel. Figure out our next steps.”

Nung was currently driving our rental, parking at various locations until told to move but remaining close enough to engage when called.

“What are you thinking?”

“Honestly? I’m thinking about what I’m going to tell Nung. I can’t pay him for flying out here for nothing.”

She smiled and said, “Let me talk to him,” then, “Holy shit, Pike, take a look.”

I glanced at the store and saw a smoking-hot female being escorted by an older male. They stood outside the door, smiling, and were let in. Two minutes before closing.