A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades, #5)(83)
“Go the long way around the building,” said Carmen. “It’s not a clear route, but it’ll keep you out of the worst of the mess.”
Following her instructions, they turned left at the intersection and crossed the street to the base of the Whitby. The building’s ground floor was all restaurants and retail shops; there were looters here as well, jumping in and out of the broken windows and clogging the sidewalk. The cars parked along the curb had been flipped over and smashed.
As they ran along the length of the building, dodging rioters and the debris strewn across the sidewalk, a man dashed out of a restaurant with his arms full of liquor bottles. He collided with Levi, reeled backward, and dropped his haul all over the concrete.
“Watch it, asshole!” he yelled, winding up for a wild punch.
Levi blocked the punch, smashed the heel of his hand into the guy’s nose, and shoved him aside impatiently before continuing on. Rebel sprinted ahead of them, clearing the way with loud barks that convinced people to scamper out of their path. They rounded a couple of corners unmolested, then reached the building’s parking garage and ran up the entry ramp.
There was no security guard in sight, and Carmen had already lifted the gate. Leila and Martine were standing right inside, next to the bike, with their helmets off. Martine was cradling her shotgun, while Leila had both batons extended and at the ready.
The thick concrete walls provided a welcome deadening effect to the mayhem outside. Gathering in a rough circle, everyone checked in with Carmen.
“Keep your voices down,” she warned. “There’s a couple of guys hanging out by the elevator bank. It’s a good distance from your position, so you should be fine as long as you stay quiet.”
“Do you have access to all the cameras?” Levi asked.
“Yep. The only places I can’t see are inside the units themselves.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Three armed guards outside the door to Hatfield’s condo, three more by the elevator bank, and another two by the stairwell on the other end of the floor. Then you’ve got a few teams of two to three guards roaming around the other floors. They’re fairly scattered, so we should be able to proceed as planned.”
Martine adjusted her grip on the shotgun. “What about the residents? There have to be some who haven’t left. We don’t want them to get caught in the crossfire.”
“I told you, this is a smart building. All the door locks are electronic. I can literally lock everyone into their units for the duration. Hopefully, they’ll have enough sense to stay to the rear of the condos so they don’t get clipped by stray bullets going through walls.”
“Do that.” Levi looked around the circle. “We good to go?”
Everyone nodded. Rebel wagged her tail.
“The guys by the elevator are carrying radios,” Carmen said briskly, “so make sure you take them out before they can contact the others. The last thing you want is every guard in this building converging on your position while you’re exposed.”
“How?” Dominic asked. “From the layout of the garage you showed us, the approach to the elevator bank is wide open. Without some kind of distraction, they’ll see us coming way before we can disable them, but a distraction that’s too loud will alert the other guards anyway.”
Natasha smiled, her eyes glinting with malice. “I have an idea.”
“I just don’t know what we’re going to do,” Natasha said into her cell phone as she approached the elevator bank. Her jacket was draped over her left arm, leaving her in a tank top that bared her shoulders and collarbone. “It’s like a war zone out there. I barely made it home. And what if those looters try to get into the building?”
From Levi’s vantage point, crouched behind a line of parked cars with Leila, he watched the two Utopia guards hanging out by the elevators. They had their guns tucked into their waistbands beneath loose shirts-probably not noticeable to the average civilian-and one was drinking from an insulated mug. When they saw Natasha, they straightened up and gave her their full attention, though they didn’t seem too concerned.
She saw them as well and did a double take, stopping a few feet away. “Hang on a minute, Jen.” Lowering the phone, she heaved a sigh and addressed the guards. “Don’t tell me the elevators aren’t working, on top of everything else?”
The men exchanged a glance. “Uh . . . no, they’re working fine,” said one.
“Thank God.” She lifted the phone again and said, “Tell Dylan that Mommy will be up soon. We’ll figure something out.” Then she slid the phone into her pants pocket.
The men were now completely at ease: shoulders relaxed, expressions friendly. Levi nodded to Leila, and the two of them began creeping down the aisle behind the cars. They needed to get as close to the elevators as they could before they ran out of cover.
On the other side of the elevator bank, Dominic, Martine, and Rebel were doing the same, though all Levi could see of them were furtive movements in the shadows.
“Have you seen how crazy it is outside?” Natasha stepped between the guards, into the middle of the elevator bank, obliging them both to turn around and face her. “My husband’s out of town, and our babysitter’s been all alone with our son. There’s no way that poor girl will be able to get home now.”