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Stephanie instructed them to take the stairs. If Alaric cut the power, they’d be sitting ducks inside a lift.
“We’re on our way,” Freddie says.
I say nothing as we sneak down a back alley behind the houses leading to the club. The CCTV has been disabled in the area, so we haven’t bothered to use disguises, but it’s still safer to stick to the shadows.
“This is it,” I say when we reach a wall.
Bram laces his fingers together for me to step on to help me over the top. Unlike in the cemetery, I land gracefully on the other side like a cat, and Bram drops at my side seconds later.
“This way,” I say, leading him to what looks like a storm drain in an overgrown garden. I point at it. “We need to wedge it open.”
Bram grins and takes the crowbar from under his jacket. With little effort, he leverages the cover open with ease to reveal a dingy staircase. It reeks of stale water but doesn’t look flooded. Thank fuck. Bram shines a torch into the darkness and bites his lip hesitantly.
“Ladies first,” I say, pushing past and climbing down the slippery steps.
We don’t have time for him to triple-check everything for safety.
The stairs descend into a cramped tunnel that Bram has to duck to make his way through. The irony of spending many years trying to protect the club and ensure HQ was an impenetrable fortress isn’t lost on me.
“We’re almost there,” I say as the locked iron door comes into view ahead.
Hale gave us the entry code earlier, and I committed it to memory. Alaric changes it every few days for maximum security. I tap the number combination into the door’s keypad.
It does nothing.
I kick the door. “Fuck! What the?—”
Bram’s arm shoots past me to hit the ‘Enter’ button, and the door clicks open, denting my pride in the process.
“Yeah, I knew that,” I murmur, cursing myself for making a stupid mistake.
Bram grins and peers around the door before nodding to confirm that the coast is clear.
“Drop the gentleman act,” I say, stomping past him.
While most of my missions as an agent ran without a hitch, this still feels too easy. At this rate, we’ll be clinking glasses over Alaric’s corpse by midnight. This entrance will take us straight to the lowest level of HQ. To our right, the corridor leads to the dungeon where they held me and Bram.
“Wanna head back to our cell for old time’s sake?” I joke.
Bram smiles, then cups his ear to listen.
“We’re close to the meeting point now,” Callen says. “Thirty seconds away.”
“We’re almost there too,” Daisy replies. “One minute.”
The idea is for both groups to descend like a lynch mob, giving Alaric no time to react.
I draw my gun and grin. “Come on, we don’t want to miss the action.”
I break into a run. We’re behind the others but, if we hurry, we’ll make it on time.
“Shit!” Seb exclaims. “He knows.”
The sound of chaos breaking out pierces my eardrums.
There’s shouting, gunshots, heavy breathing, and then everything goes silent…
CHAPTER 31
