Page 58 of Make Them Pay

The room waits. I’m the newest person here. The unknown. The sister who wasn’t supposed to be in any of this.

“What’s the bank’s security look like?” he asks.

“Pretty standard commercial stuff. Cameras, motion sensors, electronic locks on the important doors. Arrow can handle watching the cameras. But the wire transfer needs a digital confirmation between the Havenridge bank and the one in the Caymans. If I can intercept that confirmation, I can put a short delay on it without her noticing. She’ll just think the bank is slow. That happens all the time. It buys us a little extra window to get everyone in position.”

Dean looks at Render. Render looks at me.

“She can do it,” Render says, nodding his head.

“Then do it,” Dean says. “You run the delay from the command vehicle. Once the team is in place, you release it and we take her when she walks out.”

I nod. The assignment puts me right in the middle of the operation, not sitting on the sidelines. In the command vehicle with Poe and Ozzy, holding the digital piece of the trap together.

“Render,” Dean says last.

“Inside,” Render answers before Dean can assign him. “I go in. When she walks out after the authorization, I’m the one who meets her.”

Dean studies him for a second. Whatever he sees in Render’s face seems to answer the question he was about to ask. “Inside,” Dean confirms. “Non-lethal. We want her breathing.”

“She’ll be breathing.”

Gage leans over toward me and mutters, just loud enough for the table to hear, “You two are gonna be unbearable after this, aren’t you?”

Render doesn’t even look up from the tablet he’s checking. “Probably.”

I shoot Gage a look. “You’re one to talk. I’ve seen the way you hover around River.”

Arrow, still typing, says without turning around, “He loves that girl. I’ve never seen him so in love.”

Gage grins for the first time since we got here. “I really do.”

“We know. It’s a bit nauseating,” Arrow says, but there’s a faint smile in his voice.

“Oh, you’re one to talk. You’ve been chasing Juno since we were kids.”

Arrow smiles. “Yeah, sometimes love takes a while.”

The briefing ends. The room breaks into focused movement. Arrow is already deep in the laptop, fingers flying. Gage is standing with Diaz lining up vehicles. Knight has already headed for the car. Ozzy’s testing the radio gear with hands that still shake a little but less than before.

I climb into the back of the command vehicle with a laptop and the portable router and start setting up the delay on the wire transfer. The confirmation process between banks is pretty standard. All I need to do is insert a ten-minute hold that will look like ordinary processing lag to anyone inside the bank.

Ten minutes. That’s the window I’m building. Ten minutes to get nine people into position around a bank in Havenridge and wait for the woman who tore my brother’s face apart to walk out the front door and straight into the arms of the man I love.

Yes, I said it. I love him. With all my heart.

23

Render

The bank is a solid stone building on a quaint, tree-lined street in Havenridge. The kind of place designed to make rich people feel safe about their money.

Two stories. Brass-framed front doors. A parking garage underneath with a private elevator for clients who don’t want to be seen walking in the main entrance. The tellers probably know everyone’s name and preferred coffee order.

Arrow has the camera feeds up within thirty minutes of us getting here. He’s in the command vehicle four blocks away, focused hard on the laptop. The interior cameras show a marble lobby, three teller stations, and a hallway leading to the private offices where the bigger clients do their business.

“She’s not here yet,” Arrow says over the radio. “Four civilians in the lobby. Two tellers. One unarmed security guard at the front desk. Executive hallway’s empty.”

Knight’s somewhere on the perimeter. I can’t see him, but I know he’s there. Knight on a perimeter is like the weather—you don’t always notice it, but it’s covering everything.