Born to Be Badger (Honey Badger Chronicles #5)(116)
Chapter 24
“I know you guys are ready to leave,” Charlie said to Keane. “But I’m going to ask you and Nat and the kid to stay here another two days.”
Keane faced her. “Why?”
“I have something to do with Max and the rest of them. I’d feel better if Nat and the kid were here, though. But I don’t want them here without you guys. Maybe you could also help keep an eye on Stevie? She’s still working, trying to figure out the origins of that poison, and it’ll take the Group a couple more days to reinforce her lab so she’ll be safe.”
“Yeah. I can do that. But you need to understand something: Paolo de Medici is mine.”
“That’s fine. Because this shit is just starting.”
He glanced off, then nodded. “Okay. We’ll stay.”
“Good.”
“But we’re in this together, MacKilligan.”
Charlie studied him a moment, before replying, “We’re in this together.”
She headed back to the house, but his voice stopped her. “Charlie?”
She faced him again.
“I’m really sorry about your mother.”
She took in a shaky, angry breath. “And I’m really sorry about your dad.”
They nodded at each other, and Charlie walked out, leaving Keane to continue staring off across the compound, while the Van Holtz wolves watched him for signs of murderous intent toward their pack.
*
Max walked up to the bear standing guard at the front gate. “Hi!” she said, smiling at him. She wore a cute, loose summery dress with white high-top Keds, and her hair in two ponytails. She’d just bought the dress and loved it. She liked how it moved around her thighs and knees.
The bear glared down at her and immediately told her to “leave” in Italian. Instead, Max went up on her toes and slammed the blade she’d tucked into the pocket of her dress into his neck, severing the artery.
Another bear came at her from her left. She yanked the blade out of the first bear, dropped to her haunches, and stabbed up and into the thigh of the second. The third, armed with a machine gun, pulled the weapon from his shoulder and aimed it. But Streep attacked him from behind, landing on his upper back. Screeching and stabbing at the man’s head, neck, and face, she slammed her knife into the bear over and over. The bear roared, reached back to grab hold of Streep, and threw her off. She hit a nearby tree trunk, her body slamming into it with mighty force. But she rolled off and got back to her feet. Then she charged at the bear again.
Lifting his machine gun, the bear now aimed it at Streep, but Tock grabbed the barrel and snatched the weapon up before placing the muzzle of her own .45 Glock against his temple and pulling the trigger.
Once he went down, she tossed the gun to Mads. Her teammate crouched into a combat position, raised the weapon and, with short, controlled bursts of gunfire, took out the other three bear guards with head shots.
Charlie walked past them all to the entry pad to open the gate. She punched in the code Mads’s aunt had obtained for them, and the big gates opened. They each grabbed a body or two and walked inside. Charlie followed, dragging a sack that leaked fluid all the way behind them.
*
The grand double doors that opened into the palatial Northern Italian home of the de Medicis were unlocked. Because who was going to try to sneak into this place knowing the de Medicis lived here? Well, who besides Tock and her teammates? But, of course, they were here for a reason.
The small group stepped onto Italian marble floors and looked at the gilded staircase leading upstairs; vases from Ancient Roman times that were nearly as tall as Tock and antique wooden tables that had been around since the Victorian era dotted the long hallway leading into the heart of the house. It was all a little ostentatious for Tock’s tastes but it wasn’t tacky. This was Old World money.
They waited for Charlie to come into the house, and then they followed her, avoiding the fluid being left on the floor as she dragged her sack. They reached a large dining room. Charlie walked in, looked around, and nodded. Max and Streep followed Charlie.
Tock and Mads headed upstairs; Nelle went down the hallway. They were in search of dens or offices. Tock found an office on the second floor. She went to the computer. It was all in Italian—a language she could read pretty well, though her pronunciation was terrible. Her Russian was much better.
She used a device Stevie had built for Max a couple of months ago when she was bored. It would find the password for the laptop while Tock and Mads went through all the file cabinets. They pulled out folders that would be helpful and placed them on the desk. By then, Stevie’s device got them in to the computer system.
Tock went through the files quickly, finding what she needed. Using a thumb drive, she downloaded the necessary information. While she worked on that, Mads dealt with the standing safe. It was a good safe, but they’d dealt with more secure ones, so it took Mads less than three minutes to get in. She easily found the papers they wanted and removed them.
Looking at her watch, Tock snarled at Mads. Time to go. They grabbed everything they needed and headed down the stairs, meeting Nelle and the others in the dining room. As they worked to finish up, Max abruptly stopped and looked toward the door. Then they all did, because now they heard it, too. Someone speaking in Italian.
Four females dressed in designer everything and the kind of gold jewelry Tock would steal when she needed a quick, but mighty injection of cash from her fence stopped at the open dining room doorway, still gawking at the fluid leaked across the floor from the entrance. One had taken off her big sunglasses, and when she glanced up to look into the dining room, Tock spotted the swollen, black-and-blue side of her face.