Page 64 of Russian Rescue

Like a switch went off, Piper slipped back into the role she played and moved casually through the crowd until she reached the stairs. She snatched a second glass of champagne off a tray as she passed by a server. After a quick look at me leaning against the bar, she walked up the stairs alone. When she got to the top, I watched closely as she started down the hall opposite from the guards.

“Stop,” they commanded, but she just kept walking, swaying her hips while she stumbled a bit and giggled, the champagne sloshing over the sides of the two glasses.

“Stop!” they commanded louder, but she ignored them. “That area is private!”

Both guards rushed forward after her while she started down the forbidden hallway. The moment they passed the top of the stairs, I broke away from the bar and hurried up them.

“You! Stop!” they shouted at her again.

“What? Oh? Me?” she asked as she spun to face them. When she did, she pretended to lose her balance and tumbled over onto the red carpeting. “Oh!”

They both rushed past the target bathroom, leaving it completely unwatched. I heard Piper giggling as she apologized profusely, and right before I entered the bathroom, I glanced over my shoulder to see her struggling to get up, her long legs now appearing from underneath her red dress as she kicked them in the air. Both guards stumbled over themselves while they tried to help her up.

Well played, Piper.

“You’re clear to go in,” Knox said into my earpiece. “Bathroom is still empty. Everyone is at the auction.”

I pushed open the door and stepped into the luxurious restroom. Gold and marble covered every available surface. I locked the door to give me privacy until it was time to disappear. Pure extravagance.

“You see the duct entrance?” Knox asked.

I looked up at the white grate above my head, right where the mansion building plans indicated it would be. “Yep. Got eyes on it.”

“Then up you go. Better you than me. I’m too fucking big for ducts. Like squeezing toothpaste out a tube when I try.”

I chuckled, remembering the time I’d had to guide Knox through a similar vent system. I had a lean frame that would make the job easier than it was for his big, beefy body, but I still didn’t look forward to slithering inside the tight space.

Do it for your family, I reminded myself.

With a deep breath, I pulled the garbage can under the duct and used the magnetic tool I’d hidden in my shoe to undo the screws. Carefully, I slid the grate inside the duct, leaving it in the shaft so no one would notice it missing in the twenty minutes it’d be open.

“Piper is still keeping everyone occupied,” Knox said. “You’re still clear.”

I hurried over and unlocked the door, then moved back under the vent. “Okay. I’m going in.”

Swallowing down the last of my reservations about climbing into a tube in a Ukrainian terrorist’s mansion, I pushed myself up and in. When I slid over the grate I’d laid down, I made my way down the tight chute.

“You doing okay, Pretty Boy?” Knox asked.

“Yep,” I grunted as I pushed my body forward. “Just peachy.”

“I’ll guide you through. Take the first left.”

Following Knox’s orders, bit by bit, I wound through the duct system until I reached the point I needed to exit. If we’d planned it right, I’d be right by the stairs leading to the third floor, having bypassed all the security downstairs.

“You’re clear to exit,” Knox said. “Just make sure not to drop that vent cover and make a racket when you unscrew it.”

“Roger that,” I said as I slid my magnetic screwdriver into place. It bent at an angle that let me undo the screw from the inside. I felt them loosen and quickly reached out to grab the vent cover before it clamored to the ground.

“Still clear,” Knox said.

I slipped out and then lowered myself to the ground. After looking around the bedroom I’d landed in and finding it clear, I moved to the doorway. Carefully, I twisted the knob then poked my head out. The stairs were just across the empty hall. I moved quickly and quietly until I reached them, then hurried to the third floor.

“Still good?” I asked before I stepped out into the hallway.

“Keep moving. You’re good. Three guards on the floor, but they are on the opposite end in their patrol.”

I turned left when I hit the third floor and started counting the doors until I got to the one we’d decided was most likely the computer room based on the comings and goings from our surveillance.