Perilous

Chapter Eleven

Perilous

Chapter Eleven

Zach POV

Later that evening, Cam and I were sitting in an inconspicuous black Mercedes- a common car to see in an area wealthy as this.

We were parked across from Prince's place, watching every inch of the estate through cameras and binoculars. After parking, we sent holograms of the married (drug dealer) couple that owned that particular mansion into the home, where the real couple was tied up in their bath, waiting to be picked up by CIA agents. All of the guards Cammie had killed without hesitation.

Speak of the devil, Cammie sipped her coffee next to me, watching the cameras on the screen of her laptop. "Shift change." She nudged me.

I picked up the binoculars and watched out of the window as the two guards near the front gate switched places with four other guards. "They increase security at night- smart."

"It also means they've got something to hide." Cam sunk her pearly white teeth into a croissant and bit aggressively.

"Yeah, well, they're clearly not too concerned about it. Look,"

I tapped her and she looked up to see all four guards fiddling with their cellphones, allowing the light to illuminate their faces.

Cammie snorted, taking another sip of her coffee as she turned back to the camera feed. "Dumbasses."

Another few minutes of silence went by. Then suddenly, Cammie's eyes went wide.

"Bookworm, you seeing what I'm seeing?" She said, touching her hand to her ear.

"Already back-hacking, Nightshade."

"Why? What is it?" I asked.

"Bookworm, don't!" Cam shouted.

The crackling sound of a punching keyboard stopped in my ear.

"...Why?"

Liz's shaky voice came through the static.

"They have a specific code. It's very hard to crack. I hacked it once, for fun. Got punished for it, but it was worth it because I know how to get into their system. You can't hack it from the hotel. They'll track your location instantly, no matter how many blockers you create. Forget about it now, I'll explain more when we return."

"Okay, but I expect an explanation."

Liz reluctantly agreed.

"What the hell, Nightshade?" I demanded, confused.

Cammie rolled her eyes and turned her laptop screen toward me. It showed the security footage of Prince's office. "You see that?"

I examined the tape, seeing nothing but the light glowing from the window and the shadow of a man at his laptop in the center. "What exactly should I be seeing?"

She growled in annoyance and rewinded the footage by exactly one minute. "You see that bird?"

"Uh, yeah." There was a little bird that flew across the window every ten seconds or so.

"That is a European Starling."

My eyebrows knitted together. "How could you possibly know that?"

Cam rolled her eyes again and forced me to fight butterflies deep within my stomach. It was a gift that I could make her roll her eyes like that. Still, I had to get a hold of whatever feelings I had for her and squash them under my boot. It was distracting. Plus, I would only get hurt in the end. Dwelling on my feelings would only lead to wishful thinking.