The security team was most likely on the first floor and not on the same floor with the family’s personal quarters. I shimmied over the vertical ducting to the other side of horizontal ducting, and heard a slight scraping noise. I stopped to listen. I heard it again. It sounded like something was in the vent with me, and it wasn’t a rat or mouse with their tip-tapping claws. It was a dragging, scraping noise. A snake? I shook my head at the idea. What was I thinking? Just because I hated snakes didn’t mean they could climb into ductwork. No. This was something much worse. It had to be someone following me. Summer had been right. Someone always followed me. Yet in this case, I realized, they were out in front of me, and I was following them—the sliding, scraping sound was coming toward me from the direction I wanted to go.
Had the security team somehow discovered me? I had to believe the guard had no idea I was so close to him or he wouldn’t be coming toward me, making noise like he was. Trying to move at the same time he was and hoping I was moving twice the distance he was, I made it to the vertical opening. Up or down?
He was most likely on his stomach, so I’d do better to climb up a little bit and then surprise him. But if he was trained at all, he might flip just before reaching the opening and be face up, giving him a quick glance at me at the same time I saw him. I’d take my chances and go up. A quick kick to the head would knock the guard out so that I could disable him and escape.
The guard came quickly, and my foot was poised to take him out. As the head slid out, I shoved my foot down, but had to hold it back at the last second. Summer’s face looked up at me, gasping, her hands flying to cover her face. My foot tapped her forehead, and her hands hit into my shoe.
“Summer?” I whispered, my nose scrunched up in confusion.
“If you had kicked me, I would have been forced to hurt you.”
I shook my head, my arms ready to move my body up or let me down. “How did you get here? I thought you were in Medical with a broken arm.”
“Partial dislocation, whatever that means. And the same way you did. I really appreciate being led in here. Ducting is my favorite.” I couldn’t miss the sarcasm in her voice.
“Mine, too.” I wanted to laugh, but Summer’s face did not invite humor. She was mad. “What are you doing here? Did Siron send you?”
“You’ve got to be kidding, right? I was forbidden from even thinking about y’all. But I wasn’t about to let you get all the glory on this one. Not after everything I’ve been through. I thought you’d be going after the drive, but no, it turns out you are going after the other agents.”
“I figured it wouldn’t take me long, and then I could snag the drive from Kamal right after. No big deal.”
“And if he passes the drives on?”
“Then we’ll have Marco’s coordinates while he carries them around. And if he takes them somewhere, we’ll have those coordinates too. The drive situation is under control. However, as you will soon find out, Jeremy and the others are in deep trouble, and they need us right now.”
“Are they that way, then?” She pointed to the horizontal ducting that led to the other agents.
“Yes, but there’s no way to save them from there. Cameras everywhere.”
“So that’s what those guys are watching. I couldn’t see the screens, I just knew they were the guards on duty.”
“The guards are in a room at the end of this ducting?”
“Not at the end, but somewhere in the middle.”
“How many guards?”
“Two.”
I let myself down, putting one foot on the opening to the horizontal ducting opposite Summer. I let out a harsh breath of air and shook out one arm at a time. “Do you think they have a view of the street?”
“Most likely. The room was pretty big. I didn’t notice a window, but I wasn’t looking for one.”
“Let’s get out of here. We need a distraction.” I started shimmying up the ducting. I heard Summer sigh before she also headed up.
Once on the roof, we looked over the edge of the front of the building, watching the crowds enjoying the festival. It would be great if they could act as a distraction. There had to be a way to use them without truly putting them in danger.
On the sides of the building, we could see garbage bins.
“How about encouraging the festival goers to use this building’s bathroom? With the gallons of wine they’ve drunk they must need a toilet,” she suggested.
“Perhaps several different distractions. Maybe a fire in the alley and several invitations to a private art showing in this fine house and a few invites to use the nice, clean bathrooms?” I raised one eyebrow and chuckled. “I’ll get a bit spruced up,” I said, waving over my black blank slate, “and go looking for some interesting characters to invite into the house. Then I’ll pretend to be a bit tipsy with a full bladder and join a group that I can lead here to use the bathroom.”
“And you want me to pick the lock?”
“No need. The front door is open. I watched two meatheads leave earlier, and they didn’t lock up. They use the cameras to control entry. I need you to set the fire in the bin, but make sure you get an audience. Better yet, talk some drunk guy into setting it. That will divert the guards’ attentions.”
She gave me an exasperated look, and I remembered that she didn’t typically lead missions, but followed everyone around. “Use your womanly wiles, you know, the
