Donovans 03 - Pearl Cove

mind.”
    Kyle looked at his oldest brother, really looked at him, for the first time since Archer had dragged him out of bed and outlined his dangerous plan. Archer was controlled, deadly, balanced on a razor edge of adrenaline. Kyle had never seen his brother like this, even the night they pulled a commando raid on a modern pirate’s private island.
    “All right,” Kyle said quietly. “We’re with you, Archer. But I don’t like it worth a damn.”
    Lianne let out a silent breath of relief. Though the brothers loved each other, both were hardheaded and stubborn. So was Jake, for that matter, but he had a longer fuse than Kyle.
    “If you don’t like it,” Archer said, “stay home the way I asked you to.”
    “No.” Kyle’s expression was as hard as his brother’s.
    “Tell us again about that alley door,” Jake said. “Is the lock electronic?”
    “Yes.”
    Kyle’s smile was like an unsheathed blade. “No worries. If it’s electronic, it’s mine.”
    “Leave it alone unless I tell you otherwise,” Archer said.
    “You sure? I was looking forward to a spot of breaking and entering.”
    “Good thing you’re on the side of the angels,” his brother muttered. “You have the soul of a B and E man.”
    “Speaks the man who can make mechanical locks fall open faster than a sex worker’s thighs,” Kyle retorted.
    Lianne snickered.
    “There aren’t many mechanical locks left,” Archer said. “The world is safe from me.”
    “Mechanicals, huh?” Jake said. “I always knew you were a retrograde SOB.” He pulled the sketch of the Dragon Moon closer. “What about fire escapes, side doors, balconies, that sort of thing?”
    “Fire escape in the alley, about here,” Archer said, pointing with the same pencil he had used to make the sketch. “Interior balcony here, along the wall of the ground floor, and here, along the north side.”
    Jake frowned. “That sucks. No way you can sit up front with your back to the wall and still cover that rear balcony. This folding screen will block your view when you’re sitting down. You need someone just inside, close to the front door.”
    “I’ll have Kyle outside at the curb. Close enough.”
    Jake’s jaw muscle flexed as he bit down hard on a sarcastic comment. There was no exterior glass in the Dragon Moon for Kyle to look through and warn Archer if someone was moving in on him from the balcony. The café was built like what it was: a gang headquarters. “How long has the triad used that building?”
    “Ten years,” Archer said. “Maybe fifteen.”
    “Then they’ve stripped the interior and rebuilt with all kinds of hidden passages and escape hatches.”
    “That kind of thing is usually limited to the back rooms.”
    “Usually isn’t good enough when you go in alone.” Jake looked at Kyle. “How does your gut feel about this?”
    Frowning, Kyle rubbed the back of his neck where the skin tingled as if his body was trying to lift a nonexistent ruff. Though nobody talked about it much, they respected Kyle’s hunches. He certainly had learned to—they had saved his life in Kaliningrad. “Damned unhappy, but not dead panicked.”
    “That’s what Honor said when I got up this morning,” Jake muttered. “A pity you two couldn’t have gotten something useful from your mother’s Druid ancestors. Reliable precognition would have my vote.”
    Archer disagreed. Knowing what would happen wasn’t any use when nothing could be done about the outcome. He was going in alone, period. He looked at his watch. “You’ve got twenty minutes to get there and take up your positions.”
    Without a word Jake slid from the breakfast nook and picked up the hip length Gore-Tex jacket he had laid carefully on the kitchen counter. Beneath it was a short-barreled pump shotgun.
    “What’s that?” Lianne asked, spotting the odd shape.
    “A cane. The alleys are slippery.”
    “Jake’s covering the back entrance,” Kyle explained. What he didn’t say was that Jake was going to cover it from the inside, as soon as Kyle got him in past the locks.
    Lianne closed her eyes and wished it was two hours from now. Kyle kissed her gently, then less gently, before he grabbed his own jacket and followed Jake to the front of the condo.
    The elevator opened. They stepped inside. The doors closed behind them. Jake tapped his throat, turning off the mike. Then he tapped Kyle’s.
    “Fuck the alley door,” Jake said. “He’ll never make it that far. I’m going in