Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(82)

long as they needed to crack the cash cages behind the tellers’ counter in

the lobby, along with Big Bertha, the basement vault where the real payday

was. The thieves could easily make off with hundreds of millions in cash,

jewels, and more. At one fell swoop, Deirdre could pay back her investors,

shore up her charity foundation, and have plenty left over for her champagne

bubble baths. Once again, I had to admire the cleverness of her plan.

“How do you want to play this?” Bria asked when we were three blocks away

from the bank.

“Drive by the bank at a normal speed. Not too slow. We want it to seem like

we’re just another car, cruising through downtown on our way to somewhere

else.”

Bria nodded and made the turn.

The block that housed First Trust was as deserted as all the rest, and I didn

’t spot so much as a bum digging through trash cans on a side street. What I

did see was an armored truck sitting outside the bank entrance. A couple of

guys were grabbing boxes from the back of the truck and passing them over to

several giants, who were all wearing the gray uniforms of the bank’s security

guards.

Including Rodrigo Santos.

The giant had his gray cap pulled down low on his forehead and his arms

crossed over his chest as he supervised the jewelry exchange, but I still

recognized him. My heart sank. If Santos was out here on the sidewalk, acting

as the head guard, then that meant he already had control of the bank. I

wondered how many guards—legitimate guards—might be inside. Probably a

skeleton crew, since it was a Saturday.

Bria cruised past the armored truck. Santos stared at our car, and I leaned my

elbow up in the window, hiding my face from him. The light at the end of the

block winked to red, and Bria made the appropriate stop. She looked in the

rearview mirror, while I did the same in the passenger’s-side one.

The armored-truck guards finished handing over the boxes of jewelry, then

closed the back doors on their truck, got inside, and pulled away from the

curb. Santos watched the truck drive off, then went into the bank with the

rest of his crew, leaving one man outside to stand guard. Santos might have

control of the bank, but he wasn’t taking any chances, and storming in

through the front was out. That would only end up getting Finn and every other

innocent person inside killed.

“Now where to?” Bria muttered as the light turned green.

“Go around the block. There’s a garage on the back side of the bank. Drive

in there, and park on the top level.”

Bria did as I asked. Three minutes later, we were in the garage, which was as

deserted as the rest of downtown.

She killed the engine, then looked at me. “Now what?”

“What was the protocol for transferring the jewelry? How was it supposed to

work? How many guards were supposed to be at the bank? Lay it all out for me.

”

Bria drew in a breath. “An armored truck with three guards was supposed to

drive the jewelry from the museum to the bank and unload it out front, just

like we saw. The bank was supposed to have at least half a dozen guards

waiting inside to take the jewelry from the lobby down to the basement vault.

”

She bit her lip. “Finn was supposed to be at the bank too, running point on

everything. He wanted to be sure that nothing went wrong with Deirdre’s

exhibit. Or if it did, that at least the jewelry would be secure in the vault.

”

Another reason Deirdre had needed him, so he could let her into the bank this

morning.

“So he’s in there,” I said. “Along with at least six other innocent

people.”

If Deirdre hasn’t killed them all yet.

I didn’t have to say the words. The worry pinching Bria’s face told me that

she was thinking the same thing. Deirdre wouldn’t leave any witnesses behind.

She would execute every single person in the bank, including Finn.

“Yeah. So how are we going to get everyone out?” She pulled her phone out of

her jacket pocket. “I could call in a SWAT team. They could be here in twenty

minutes.”

“And Finn and everyone else inside would be dead a minute after that.” I

shook my head. “You can’t call it in; you can’t call for any backup at all.

Deirdre’s probably paid someone in the police department to tip her off at

the first hint of trouble. When that happens, either she’ll kill everyone

outright or use them as hostages to make her escape. Either way, they’ll

still end up dead. We have to do this ourselves. Are you up for that?”

“You’d better damn well believe it. I want to kick that woman’s ass for

what she’s put Finn through.” A faint smile curved her lips. “And for

making me call her Mama Dee.”

“You got it, sister.”

I held out my fist, and Bria bumped me back before her expression turned

serious again. “I’ve got a few supplies in the trunk but not enough for us