Just one more. He wiped the sweat out of his eyes and adjusted the charge. Dammit, he blinked and realized he needed to pull out the fuse and reposition it. Finally, it was right. He blew out a long breath and checked his watch. Adjusting the timer to make sure it coordinated with the time he had supplied Eden, Asher then turned to handle the next bit of fun.
He looked around the inside of the parade float. It wasn’t the sturdiest thing he’d ever seen, but since the charges were set up at the weak spots, they didn’t need as much C-4 as they would other places. The float would be toast when the charges blew, but hopefully, people would just think it was a pyrotechnic display gone wrong.
A dragon. Asher shook his head. And he had thought the damn Eurovision Song Contest was the craziest mission.
“Let’s move,” Asher said as he pulled at Ezio’s sleeve. Ezio immediately understood and moved.
As soon as they crawled out from beneath the green monstrosity, Asher took a deep breath, then looked up at the tall gate of the bank. He grinned as he saw the food truck thirty meters away. There were Rafa and two of the university girls he’d recruited giving away free plantains and empanadas, keeping civilians away from the blast site. Cullen really was a devious bastard, and Rafa fit right in. Free food was brilliant.
Meanwhile, he and Ezio slid over to where Raiden and Nic were waiting in a covered truck that they had procured. “Two minutes,” Asher informed them. “Then I’m going in.”
Raiden nodded.
“Max and Kane? Have we heard from them?” Asher asked.
“Not yet. But you know they want to be thorough,” Raiden answered.
“Does Kane really think he can block any kind of communication between Maduro and his men?”
Raiden shrugged. Nic looked over at him and frowned. “He can do it, can’t he?”
“If he thinks he can, he probably can. Problem is that some of the people he normally relies on to help him are out of the game. He hasn’t been his happy-go-lucky self lately.”
Raiden had that right. First, there were the two he trusted from the US Intelligence community who had quit and retired, and then to find out that the lieutenant of Midnight Delta still had his computer expert under lock and key, was pissing Kane off.
Asher looked at his watch. One and thirty seconds. He took out his satellite phone, and at precisely one minute before the charges were to blow, he quickly texted Eden three times.
Leland was looking pissed. “Why haven’t you moved everyone to the basement? Why are you doing this and not Carlson? What in the hell is going on?” he demanded to know.
“I did this as a precaution only. Nobody else needed to be moved, because they’re all able-bodied.” Eden said as she watched the big man gently set Suzanne down in one of the few chairs in one of the four sectioned-off rooms that all faced the vault.
She felt the buzz, just one. “We have one minute. Because they’re blowing open the gate, we’re not supposed to feel anything, but Asher said, just in case, we should take cover. This is the best cover I could think of for the Señora.”
This time Leland didn’t ask any questions. He just grabbed the arms of the chair that Suzanne was sitting in and leaned his body over hers. When the muffled pop came, it was negligible.
Yay, score one for the good guys.
“So, Eden, now explain to me why you’re the point of contact. I’m eager to know.” She grinned at his thinly veiled sarcasm.
“Well, Leland,” she countered, using his given name for the first time. “Why don’t you ask Suzanne?”
“Yes, why don’t you?” the woman rasped up at him.
“I really don’t care which one of you explains it to me, as long as you do it fast,” he said switching to Spanish.
“Eden has confirmed with the Americans that the entire Nomad Security team is under a cloud of suspicion. Are they in bed with Maduro or not?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I haven’t said much to either Patel or Carlson ever since their boss absconded to Aruba.”
Suzanne pushed against the arms of the chair so she could sit up straighter and Leland helped her. She gave him a grateful, yet regal smile of thanks.
“Actually, it gets worse,” Suzanne said. Then she started to cough.
“Let me talk. You rest your throat.” Eden turned to Leland. “We now have reason to believe that Becker could possibly be working for Maduro as well. Right now, there is a computer expert with the SEALs who is trying to follow the money.”
“Why in the hell didn’t you tell me this? For God’s sake Suzanne, I have forensic accountants coming out my ass. I could have been working on this since the moment you had suspicions.”
The woman sat up straighter, her eyes blazing fire. “I own a bank. Like I don’t.” She shoved a finger at his chest as her voice came out in a choked whisper.
“Save your voice, Woman.”
As interesting as the byplay was, Eden’s breasts buzzed once, and that took her attention away from them.
“Gotta make a call. And I’ll tell you what, Leland, I’ll let you listen in.”
“Mighty nice of you.”
“Sarcasm doesn’t become you,” she said with a half-smile.
“Uh-huh, why don’t you tell me something I care about?”
Suzanne let out a wheeze of laughter. Both Eden and Leland admonished her to be careful at the same time.
“I’m
