Page 110 of Elite Metal: Warriors

“Calm down, dorogaya. You won’t do anyone any good if you lose your temper and make a stupid mistake.”

“He’s not getting them.” Children. Babies.

“If you interfere, you would blow your cover.” Damn, he was right. “What’s more, you could lose your chance at Nurelnikov.”

“Just shut up, Gregor.”

He smiled, but it was a sad offering. “Remember the big picture here. If you remain patient, you will have all you hope for. You will find Nurelnikov…and you will destroy Ming Kow.”

“And Donovan?”

He stood and patted her on the shoulder. “Dorogaya, Donovan is for another day.” With that he kissed her on the forehead and murmured, “Get some sleep,” and he left.

Chapter Five

The view was exquisite from Ming Kow’s half-moon stone courtyard overlooking the bay. Motorboats, sailboats and sampans bobbed in the falling twilight. Cooper took a second to catch his breath and enjoy the view. It had been a hell of a climb up the hill through the foliage with all his gear on his back, but he was excited he’d finally made it. That his plan was ready to unfold.

He’d spent a week studying Ming Kow’s guards and he’d learned their schedules. They were creatures of habit—most security people were—and they were also lazy. Cooper had noticed that when Ming Kow was not in residence, they tended to short their shifts and spend time in their quarters playing cards, rather than making their rounds.

He’d broken into the offices of the architect who had designed the house and stolen a copy of the plans, studied them and figured the best way in and out. While the guards were focusing on the gates and the perimeter, he’d be sneaking in through an access panel that serviced the pool. From there, he would make his way through the staff corridors to the far side of the house, where he would emerge just outside Ming Kow’s office, where the vault was hidden behind a bookcase.

That was the easy part.

The hard part would be deactivating the multiple alarms and opening the safe without anyone discovering him.

“Okay. I’m ready,” he said into the mic on his cheek. Sterling was running interference for him, albeit from the state-of-the-art satellite room in Texas. Effortlessly, his buddy guided Cooper through the staff quarters and—

“Hold up, Cesium,” he said all of a sudden. “I have two heat signatures around the corner.”

Coop eased back into a niche, with his weapon ready, should they turn in his direction. They didn’t and when Sterling gave him the all clear, he breathed out a gust of relief.

He was getting too old for this shit.

But seriously? What else was he good for?

“All right. You should be clear all the way to the office,” Sterling said into his ear, and Coop didn’t waste a second. He scuttled down the hall and around the corner, stopping at the double doors.

He knew better than to just open them. Instead, he pulled out his infrared scanner and did a pass for electronic signatures and, when he found, not one but three, quickly disabled them.

No doubt Ming Kow had the best security systems on the planet—he could certainly afford them—but no security system was foolproof, if one had the right equipment. Coop bit back a smile. Titanium made sure they all had the right equipment.

Once in the office, he sprayed for the laser trips and nimbly avoided them, crisscrossing his way to the bookshelf. Now, here was a puzzle. The original plans had not included how to open it. It took Coop a while to figure it out. He tried all the usual methods and finally discovered that it wasn’t a mechanical lever, but an electronic one. It took him a while longer to figure out the correct sequence on his encoder. It was tremendously satisfying when, with a click, the wall swung open.

And there. There she was. Ming Kow’s infamous vault.

Coop knew the brand because that had been included in the plans as the vault had been built into the house, but he’d have to figure out the combination himself. He hoped the info Nat had given him was correct—that the server was inside—because this particular safe was a pain in the ass. Slowly and painstakingly, he turned the dial, listening for anomalies.

“Where you at?” Sterling blasted into his ear.

“I’m at the vault. Shut up.” Honestly. Sometimes Sterling had the worst timing. The crackle in his ear was a concern. The last thing he wanted to do was lose his eye in the sky because Ming Kow had installed an electromagnetic block in his vault.

“Cesium. You’re gonna need to move it. The guards are coming back.”

“Shut up.” As if this wasn’t difficult enough without a bird chirping in his ear. But ah! There. That wondrous click and the vault door opened. The secondary door was even easier, as he quickly scanned, downloaded and punched in the password. The thumbprint on the third and final door was a breeze, because Coop had lifted Ming Kow’s print during one of his nocturnal visits to the man’s office.

It was nearly a letdown when the final door opened, revealing the object of his desire. The infamous hard drive. There should have been a fanfare at least.

But there was no time to lament such a thing. Coop pulled the chain from around his neck, which held his thumb drive. It looked like a simple medallion, but it was so much more. With a flick of his thumb he opened the device, inserted it into a USB port and began his download. He would have transferred the files directly to Sterling, but the signal in the vault was, indeed, blocked. All communications—including those with Sterling—were scrambled.