in black—ski masks pulled down over their heads—and the outside guards had taken their watch indoors because of the storm, so all that stood between Gabe and the painting was three stories of glass.
Gabe looked down at the black gloves that covered him from the tips of his fingers to his elbows. “Are you sure these are going to work?” he asked Ethan.
“Pretty sure,” Ethan responded. “As long as you’re touching glass. I haven’t figured out how to make them stable against other materials yet.”
“You’re pretty sure?” Jack asked incredulously. “Why are you never completely sure?”
“Well, you’re only going up three stories. I’ve found the gloves have a tendency to lose strength around five stories, so you should be okay.”
“You should have let him blow up,” Jack said to Gabe.
Gabe ignored them and placed his hand against the window. He immediately felt the pull of the glove against the glass, as if he were dealing with magnets instead of rubber and glass. He mirrored the image with his left hand to make sure both gloves were working properly, and then he began to climb.
His shoulders and arms strained under a rigorous display of pure strength, but he barely noticed the burn as he made his way up the side of the building. Jack kept pace on the window next to him, and neither of them spoke as they made the climb. Not until they saw what waited ahead of them.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jack said.
The glass stopped at the top of the third floor, but there was a five-foot lip that extended over the roof of the museum that was solid stone. No glass in sight. And Gabe couldn’t tell how far the ledge extended up because of their limited visibility.
Gabe detached one of his hands from the safety of the glass and reached up to touch the stone, hoping there was at least a little traction, but the glove slipped off the stone as soon as he tried to grasp it, and his body dropped and knocked against the window lightly so he was dangling precariously by one arm.
“Everything okay?” Logan asked.
“Dandy,” Gabe said, pulling himself back up into position, his heart racing at the close call. He tugged at the glove on his right hand with his teeth until it was free and let it drop three stories.
“Shit,” Jack muttered, following his lead.
Gabe held himself up with his remaining glove and used his feet against the glass to gain momentum. He pushed up and released his hold on the window just as his fingers clamped around the protruding stone. The rough edges bit into his fingertips and he held on with a prayer as he discarded the other glove and let it drop to the ground. He brought his left hand up to strengthen his hold on the ledge of the building. His muscles bunched and strained, and sweat snaked down his spine as he slowly pulled himself up.
Once he edged over the stone protrusion, he rolled onto the roof and lay there a few seconds on his back.
“I’d like you to work on making the gloves useable in all conditions, Dragon,” Gabe said as calmly as he could manage.
“Sure thing, boss. Sorry about that.”
Jack rolled onto the roof next to him and muttered the most inventive string of curses Gabe had ever heard before, but they both quickly regrouped. Gabe looked at Jack and nodded, and they made their way across the roof to the skylights that were positioned over the third floor cafe.
“Ghost and Renegade are in position,” Gabe said calmly. “Going into phase one.”
Jack took the electric screwdriver from his pack and removed all the screws that held the skylight in place.
“Once you remove the window, Grim Reaper will only have thirty seconds to reactivate the alarm systems using the override codes,” Ethan said. “Dammit, I should be the one doing this. What the hell does Grim Reaper know about computers?”
“Ease down, Dragon. It’ll be fine,” Gabe said. He pulled a small black square from his backpack and tossed it to the ground, catching the tent that popped out quickly before it could blow away. He secured it to the roof and covered the skylights so the wind and sand wouldn’t accidentally set off the alarms. No one would be able to see the tent until after the storm cleared, and by then it would be too late. They’d already be gone.
“You ready, Grim Reaper?” Gabe asked.
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Removing the skylight now.”
Gabe and Jack lifted the heavy skylight with little difficulty, making no sound as they placed it to the side. Gabe counted down the seconds on his watch and breathed out a sigh of relief when he heard Logan’s voice.
“Alarm is deactivated, but it’s still showing as active in the command center. None of the guards noticed the slight bump in the system.”
“Good work,” Gabe said. “Stand by while we move to phase two.”
The opening left from the skylight was protected with a crisscross of infrared beams, and Jack pulled four quarter-sized metal disks from his bag.
“You sure this is going to work, Dragon?” Jack asked.
“Why do you keep asking me that?” Ethan responded. “It’s starting to piss me off. Of course it works. I do not make inferior gadgets.”
Gabe took two of the disks and nodded at Jack. He placed one of the disks near the bulb the beam originated from and the other near the receiver on the opposite side. Jack mirrored his image.
“On three,” Gabe said. “One, two…”
They simultaneously moved the disks into place, cutting off the beam while giving the receiver the impression the infrared was still in place. The disks were magnetic and held in place without assistance.
“Make sure you don’t bump them going inside,” Ethan ordered.
“You’ve got six minutes until the guard makes his rounds,” Logan warned.
Gabe and Jack tied the black nylon ropes in the bags to the pipes that stuck up from the roof and attached them to the hooks at their belts. Gabe slowly lowered himself inside the museum and then tossed his rope back up to Jack once he’d reached the ground. Jack didn’t waste any time making his own descent and quickly joined him. He tossed his rope back up into the open space the skylight had left, and Gabe led them into the supply closet to wait out the guard making his rounds.
“Lazy bastard,” Logan commented in their ears. “He’s not even making a full loop of the top floor. They’ve got a poker game going in the control room. You’re all clear. Get in and get out.”
Gabe slid out of the closet and went directly to the west wing where Hitler’s paintings were displayed. He pulled his knife from his boot, and it took only seconds to slice the painting from the frame. He rolled it up and stuck it in the tube Jack handed him.
“Uh-oh,” Logan said through the earpiece. “That doesn’t look good.”
Jack and Gabe looked at each other, but didn’t answer Logan’s warning. They both pulled their pistols and split up, each finding a hiding spot behind large white columns.
“The control room guard just answered a phone call. It looks like Kimball tipped them off to our plans. The alert has gone out to all the guards. I can see both of you on my screen.”
“How many?” Gabe whispered.
“Three are coming up the back stairs. They’ll come out right behind you, Ghost. Eight are taking the main stairs, and three more are taking the stairs on Jack’s side. They’ll come out by the cafe.”
Gabe stayed down and moved quickly to the outside of the stairwell Logan had warned him of. The first bursts of gunfire happened on Jack’s side of the building, but Gabe knew his friend could take care of himself. The guards hoped to overwhelm him by coming through the door all at once, but their plan backfired on them.
Gabe grabbed the first guard around the neck and fired into the chest of the one right behind him. He kicked out with his leg, pushing the guard he’d shot in the chest so he fell into the guard behind him. The man he had in a headlock struggled until Gabe broke his neck and put one final bullet in the guard that was struggling to move his friend’s body off of him.
Those coming up the stairs decided to shoot first and ask questions later. Gabe dove behind the column he’d been hiding behind earlier just as shards of plaster and dust exploded above him. He pulled the knife from his boot and threw it at the first guard he saw, embedding it in his throat even as he was firing his gun.
Several men swarmed him at once, and a gun was difficult to use in close combat. He pulled a Taser from the
