Mission: Impossible to Deny (The Impossible Mission Romantic Suspense Series Book 7) - Jacki Delecki (great novels of all time txt) 📗

He took in a deep breath and slowly released it to center himself. The Jenkinses had spent the early morning running through the setup with him and Darcy. The men had been relentless, demanding constant repetition of every movement of the plan to commit the actions to muscle memory. Nothing was overlooked. And every variation was planned for possible complications. Their approach was perfected by ex-spec ops forces, so Reeves followed their lead. Learn from the experts. Develop your techniques from their experiences.

Finn had worked with Reeves on how not to inadvertently signal Wainwright with either body language or facial tells. Reeves had woken a few times during the night worrying that he might not be able to mask his horror and anger once he saw Wainwright.

 The timing was a little tricky since Lars and Finn would make sure they were separated from Wainwright. Darcy and Reeves had to run down the stairs and be outside soon after Wainwright and after downloading his computer.

Darcy squeezed his arm when he released another deep breath.

 “You’ve got this. Remember, don’t lead with your emotions.”

He would have laughed if the situation weren’t dead serious. He had led with his emotions, enabling him to capture the woman of his dreams. But it wasn’t the right technique to capture a sociopath. And Wainwright was a sociopath.

Reeves was ready to finish this and get on with his life with Darcy. To avenge his friends, knowing that he had destroyed Wainwright as the man had done to Tex and Charlie. Maybe it made Reeves a lesser man for not considering forgiveness. Maybe it would come with time. When his and Darcy’s house was filled with grandchildren.

They neared the bank of elevators in the sleek new building. The computer science unit generated all the income for the entire mathematical department. Many of the graduates donated to their alma mater after they made their millions with their tech companies. The building looked more like it belonged in the center of Silicon Valley and not on a university campus.

Reeves stepped back to allow her to enter the elevator. He had to remember to always stay on Darcy’s left to not impede her firing hand.

Darcy slowed and inspected the elevator. He wasn’t sure what she expected to find.

Darcy’s body tightened further if that were possible. Her spine was ramrod stiff, her eyes scanning every inch of the space. Her hesitant and vigilant entrance raised the little hairs on his neck. Knowing there were likely cameras in the elevator and not underestimating Wainwright’s ability to hack them, he pulled Darcy close as if in an affectionate nuzzle. “What’s wrong?”

“The panel in the ceiling isn’t completely closed. It could be purely accidental, but I don’t like it. We’ll take the stairs.”

Trusting Darcy’s instincts, he followed her out. “You do know that his office is on the twelfth floor.”

“Yep, so time to show off your cardio fitness.” Darcy moved fast toward the stairwell door.

“You want to race?”

“Smart-ass. Let’s go. We don’t want to throw off the time frame, so we’re going to have to book it.”

It was too late to change the timing. Nick would initiate the bomb threat twenty minutes after their arrival at Wainwright’s office. Enough time hopefully not to link the threat to their visit and not too long of a time for Reeves to lose it from being in Wainwright’s company.

Darcy wasn’t joking that they had to book it. He didn’t say anything about the risk of entering a stairwell. Darcy would have weighed the options and the risk.

Darcy led, which gave him plenty of time to watch her hips and ass work in the pants that somehow Danni and Sophie produced, along with shoes she could run in. She was extremely fit, but Reeves wasn’t getting the work out that she was with her short legs.

When they reached the seventh floor, she stopped, bent over, and took deep breaths before checking her watch. “Sixteen minutes. We’re cutting it short. We’ll have to pick up the pace.”

He didn’t comment.

“Okay, I have to pick up my pace. I can’t help that I’m height challenged.”

“There is nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect.”

She huffed before she raced up the stairs. Looking over her shoulder, she said, “And don’t be staring at my ass. Focus on the mission.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned.

Without warning, a loud explosion detonated. It was hard to pinpoint where the blast had taken place in the walled cement stairwell, but it was in the building and close. It had to be powerful since the metal handrails vibrated through the concrete.

Without a pause, Darcy took off up the stairs.

Reeves’s initial response was to go down to ground level, but he followed Darcy.

She shouted, her breathing unaffected by the grueling pace she set, “Wainwright knew we’re coming. We need to stop him before he hurts anyone else.”

Reeves’s brain was catching up to the last seconds and how the game had changed dramatically. “That was the elevator?”

He took the steps two at a time to keep up. Who knew she could move that fast, even wearing a splint? The woman was amazing.

“Yep.”

The realization of what Wainwright had planned for him and Darcy fueled Reeves. If she hadn’t been vigilant, the bastard would have killed Darcy, the light of his world, without any remorse. Reeves intended to strangle the last breath out of the fucker. It wasn’t enough that Wainwright killed his friends. Now he would have killed Darcy.

Darcy didn’t miss a beat. “Sureños must have a mole in the police department who alerted Wainwright to the bomb threat.”

Nick had to warn the Palo Alto police to their practice drill on campus so the entire county’s police and fire departments wouldn’t respond to a false alarm. The team had discussed the possibility of Wainwright being tipped off and decided not to alert the chief until an hour before the drill. Despite their careful planning, not even the spec ops had