The Omega Team

Chapter 5

What the hell am I doing?

Athena paced the living room of her small apartment, wondering why she had ever thought she could do this. She was a cop—a detective—and a damn good one. She'd even worked undercover a couple of times, so she had some decent stealth skills. She hadn't, however, breached the security of a high-profile suspect on any of her assignments. She wasn't all that good with electronics, although she'd spent the afternoon yesterday at the shabby little store owned by one of her confidential informants. It had only taken the threat of exposure to persuade him to tell her what she needed and show her how to use it.

Yesterday she had scoped out Tanglewood, showing her badge to the guard and telling him she was doing an informal security check ordered by the chief.

"To keep the residents happy and secure." She'd given the guard her best public smile, and he'd opened the gate for her with no problem.

A few months ago, she had been a visitor to one of the homes in the community when the owners' daughter had disappeared. The situation had turned out positively, but Athena had stored all the security information in her brain, something that now came in handy. It also meant her appearance didn't raise any red flags.

Tonight, she would make her move. She'd decided that early in the morning when sleep eluded her and her anger at the way Bostic was protected by her bosses continued to churn in her system. Yesterday, she'd managed to learn the senator would be at an event at the clubhouse tonight. Both his live-ins had the night off as well. It was a sign, she told herself. An indication she should move forward with her plan right now.

A glass of wine would have calmed her nerves nicely, but she didn't think alcohol was a good choice in this situation. She settled for a cup of tea which she sipped while she dressed in dark jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. She tugged on a ball cap and pulled her ponytail through the opening in the back. Black jogging shoes completed the outfit. The last thing she did was check her Browning 1911 was loaded and tuck it into her waistband at the small of her back.

At nine thirty, there was still a decent amount of traffic on the streets but she made it to Tanglewood in acceptable time. She parked her car on a side street, shoved her arms through the straps of her small backpack, and headed off for her target. After making sure no one was strolling the sidewalks in this mostly deserted section of the area, she used climbing gear to hoist herself over the wall and dropped down easily on the other side.

The faint sound of voices broke the silence of the black night here and there, and the vague notes of music drifted from someone's open window. But no one was outside catching the night air, thank god. In no time, she stood at the rear of Bostic's outrageously massive house, using her little device to jam the radio signals of the home security system. She bypassed the back door.

They often had chain locks as well as other protections, and it took too much time to deal with them. Besides, speed and stealth were of utmost importance here.

From the blueprints she'd studied at the county offices, she knew where the den was located, the most likely site for the safe. And stupidly for the senator but lucky for her, it had a sliding glass door leading out to a patio. Using a tiny version of a Slim Jim, she nudged the lock free and eased the door open, moving quietly inside.

She had barely moved a step forward before a muscular arm banded around her throat, pressing her against a very hard male body. A hand closed over her mouth, silencing her. Athena froze, equal parts angry and terrified. She had no idea who this was, but it couldn't be good.

"If I take my hand away from your mouth, will you promise not to scream?" The voice was a whisper in her ear.

She nodded, and he eased his fingers loose. She took advantage of the slight easing of his hold on her to try to jab him with her elbow. Bad move. The arm banding her throat tightened.

"Not nice," the voice said. "We'll have to talk about that later."

Fingers pressed on a point behind her ear as the arm tightened even more, and, in seconds, she fell into blackness.