Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“This is why I don’t work with a fucking partner,” Justin playfully muttered. “You can’t sneak when you’ve got a goddamn hard-on.”
Gabriel pulled the truck into an open spot near the entrance of the building and put it into park. Iaso’s complex had two buildings and a separate parking garage. The eight-story glass building held most of the corporate offices for sales, marketing, and management, while the smaller three-story building was mostly laboratories. From the notes they could find from the builder, both Elba and Hamilton had offices in the corporate building. Elba was on the sixth floor, while Hamilton was up on eight.
“Ready?” Gabriel asked.
The laughter and teasing were gone from his expression, and Justin was looking into the cold, distant face of the man he’d met for the first time more than three weeks earlier.
He was still handsome and intriguing, but Justin was surprised by how much Gabriel had changed before his eyes in such a short time span. He needed the laughter and frustration and all the other emotions that Justin coaxed out of him. They both needed it.
But the first step to get back there was finishing this contract at long last.
“Let’s do it.”
They climbed out of the truck and grabbed some watering cans and a large bag that looked as if it contained some other plant care supplies. Weapons were stashed on their bodies, but Justin was also carrying his own laptop and a few other useful gadgets that might come in handy if he struggled to take down the security system. Worst-case scenario, he was pretty sure he could knock out the power and they’d finish with a smash and grab from the two offices.
Their key cards worked on the front door and they stepped into a posh lobby of polished marble, shining steel, and cold glass. The two-story opening likely shone during the day with sunlight glinting off all the surfaces. In the center of the room was a softly splashing fountain that would have only added to the lightness.
There was an overwhelming opulence to the place that reminded Justin more of some five-star hotels he’d stayed in on occasion when they’d fit the role he was playing. This lobby didn’t make him think of a pharmaceutical company, but then he’d not spent a lot of time digging around the healthcare industry other than making trouble in hospitals.
As they entered the building, they made a point of checking and watering the various ferns, palms, and flowers that decorated the space. They waved to the security guard at the side desk, receiving a small nod from the man before he returned his attention to his phone again. If they were lucky, all the guards roaming around the building would be as diligent, but Justin wasn’t counting on it.
When they reached the door leading deeper into the building, Gabriel unlocked it and motioned for Justin to precede him. “Are you ready?”
“Left. Three offices. Another left,” Justin replied, repeating the directions to the security room that Gabriel had been sure to drill into his brain for the past two days.
“Don’t be slow,” Gabriel said with a smirk. He then backed up, allowing the glass door to shut and separate them. Gabriel was to use the elevator to go straight to the eighth floor and Hamilton’s office. When he reached the office in approximately two minutes, Justin was to have the security room under his control and the security system down or the power supply shut down so they couldn’t be recorded. If it was the latter, Justin then had to take care of the remaining security guards on the first floor.
They stared at each other for a heartbeat, but it felt like longer. This was the most dangerous part of their entire undertaking. They had no earwigs or other forms of communication. They couldn’t risk phones or even walkie-talkies to warn each other for fear of whatever surveillance the company had set up would pick up on it. Each had to perform their assigned task to perfection and escape before time was up. If one were injured, the other would not know it until it was too late.
Please let him be safe.
Justin knew Gabriel had likely survived multiple scenarios that were far more dangerous, but he couldn’t stop the thought from passing through his brain. He nodded once and then continued down the corridor alone.
The first floor had several offices along the outer wall while the interior appeared to be an old-fashioned cubicle farm. It looked like it might be some sort of call center for possibly customer service. The cubes all looked relatively uniform with their waist-high walls and bland, light-gray desks. Occasionally he might see a splash of color from a calendar or a birthday card, but it was largely an ocean of monotony. He couldn’t understand how more people didn’t go absolutely postal after working a lifetime in this vast wasteland of boring.