Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(87)

heart. I wouldn’t think like that. I couldn’t let myself think like that.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to do what needed to be done now.

Killing Santos, Deirdre, and every other person who stood between us and Finn.

Bria pressed her lips together in a tight line, as disgusted by the slaughter

as I was. She nodded at me, and together we crept over to the bathroom door,

which I cracked open. The bathroom was on the far right side of the bank, down

a hallway that opened into the lobby. Faint sounds drifted over to me, but I

didn’t see anyone, and I slipped out of the bathroom and crept down the

hallway, with Bria right behind me.

The sounds grew louder the closer we got to the end of the hallway. Men

shouting back and forth. The steady whine of a power saw. The hissing of a

welding torch.

I reached the end of the hallway, dropped into a crouch, and peered around the

corner, Bria hunkered down right beside me. Six men, all dressed in guard

uniforms, stood in the bank lobby. One of the men was stationed at the fire

stairs, same as before, while the other five were behind the tellers’

counter.

A second man was using a power saw to cut through the silverstone bars that

covered one of the cash cages, while a third guy was doing the same with a

welding torch on another cage. The third and final cage was already open, and

three men were moving in and out of it, hauling out shrink-wrapped bricks of

cash and stuffing them into black duffel bags sitting on the tellers’

counter.

The cash was a great score all on its own, easily millions of dollars. But

none of the men was Santos, which meant that he was downstairs in the basement

vault, just as I’d suspected.

I memorized the guards’ positions and the distances between them, adjusting

my plan. Then I nodded at Bria, and we slipped down the hallway and back into

the bathroom.

I raised my cell phone. “Time to call in our distraction.”

I hit a number on the speed dial, and Owen picked up on the first ring.

“Update?” he asked in a tense voice.

“Bria and I are in the first-floor bathroom, watching some guys cut their way

into the cash cages. No Santos, no Deirdre, and no Finn in the lobby, which

means they must be down in the basement vault. Here’s what I need you guys to

do.”

Owen put me on speaker so he and Silvio could both listen to me. They agreed

to my plan, although Silvio insisted that we all synchronize our watches so

that we would be in perfect time. I rolled my eyes, but he had a point, and I

set my watch to match his. So did Bria.

Once that was done, I put my phone away, grabbed the walkie-talkie I’d taken

from the roof guard, and turned it on. But the thieves were all busy, and

nothing but static sounded, so I clicked off the walkie and left it on the

sink.

Bria and I slipped out of the bathroom and back into the hallway. The thieves

were still in the same positions as before, with one man by the stairs and the

other five working on the cash cages.

I checked my watch. “In five, four, three, two, one . . .”

An emphatic knock sounded, hard enough to rattle the glass in the front doors.

“Hey! You in there! I need to make a deposit! Immediately!”

Silvio’s voice boomed through the lobby, and the vampire himself was cupping

a hand around his eyes and peering in through the glass. A briefcase dangled

from his other hand.

The giant guard who was stationed outside the bank stepped up beside him.

“Sir, I already told you that you need to leave—now. The bank isn’t open.”

“Not open? Not open? I can see exactly how open you are! Look at all those

guys inside!” Silvio pointed in through the glass, then whipped around to the

outside guard. “Surely one of them can take my deposit. I demand to be let in

right this very second. Do you know who I am? I am a very important person who

works for an even more important person.”

His voice got louder and higher with every word, drawing the attention of all

the robbers inside the bank. Even the guys with the power saw and the welding

torch cranked down their tools to lower settings, raised their masks, and

stared at him.

“My boss knows your boss. So I suggest that you let me inside, buddy. Right

now.” Silvio stabbed his finger into the other man’s chest. “Or the only

thing you’ll be guarding is a school crosswalk. And that’s if you’re lucky.

”

I glanced at Bria, who was grinning as widely as I was. Who knew that Silvio

could do self-important pain-in-the-ass so well? I’d have to tease him about

it later.

“Well?” Silvio sniped again, his voice booming even louder than before. “Do

I need to call my boss and have her call your boss?”

That was the last thing the thieves wanted, especially when it would be far

easier to lure Silvio into the bank and kill him. So the outside guard

unlocked the front doors, while the one stationed by the fire stairs hurried