"And now," the tall man said, "get your asses into the truck. Adam Degrass has enough money to get us out of here, and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to give us all of it to see his little piece of ass again. Move, because if they catch up, I'm killing all of you before I get caught."
Together, they were shoved toward a white SUV. A big one. It looked fancy, like some high-end piece of shit. Rhaven went to the far side, with Dez right in front of her. They were forced into the back two rows. Two of the men climbed into the hatch, the tall guy took the passenger seat, and somehow they all packed in together.
And Kate was right beside her. The pair shared a glance, and then Kate reached down to grab Rhaven's hand. "We're going to be ok, right?"
"We're going to be something," Rhaven promised.
But Kate shifted her hand until it was her wrist Rhaven was holding. The one with the watch. The fucking smartwatch she used to make sure she didn't miss an alarm! Rhaven froze, but beside her, Kate just smiled. That meant she knew. It was wifi and LTE-enabled. It had a location tracker. None of these guys had thought about it - but they would.
So Rhaven subtly began to undo the buckle. She and Kate were pressed so close together that the men with guns couldn't see, and the row Dez, Riley, and Zara were in would hide the movement from the man in the passenger seat. If she kept her shoulders still enough, the guys behind them shouldn't be able to tell.
Bit by bit, Rhaven got Kate's watch to release, then she pressed it into her friend's hand. Kate did something - unfortunately Rhaven couldn't look - and then passed it back. Thinking as quickly as she could, Rhaven tried to figure out where to hide this. Getting it into a pocket would be noticeable. Both the putting it in and the lump it would leave in either of their cute clothes.
The best bet would be to leave it in the truck. Maybe in the gap between the seats? But what if it fell through to the back? No, the split on the bottom. Rhaven was basically sitting right on it, and the SUV would end up close to wherever they were.
Slowly, carefully, feeling like any second the men around them would notice, Rhaven pushed the watch into the crease of the leather. Right now, that one little piece of technology was their only hope. She had to keep it safe.
Chapter 54
SWAT pushed through the crowd. A man on each side broke off to move the onlookers back, but the unit didn't slow. They made a tactical push onto the Deviant booth at the back, pausing just at the curtains. Then, the men at the side began telling the crowd to exit the building through the sides. Hotel employees hurried up to point out the emergency doors, and the feel of the entire room changed to panic.
It was audible, and anyone inside the curtained booth would have to notice. Jason hurried toward them, hoping he'd be in time to stop this, but it seemed the unit realized their stealth was blown too. That was when one of the officers decided he was out of patience. A man shoved forward and pulled, yanking a section of curtain off of the railing at the top. The dark cloth fluttered to the ground, and for a split second, the entire booth looked empty.
But it wasn't. Everyone inside was laying on their stomachs with their hands on the ground above them. Customers, developers, and even reporters. It didn't matter. They had clearly surrendered, leaving nothing at all for the SWAT team to attack - and still the unit was yelling out who they were and for everyone to lie down, stay still, and not move.
"Sir!" Alex yelled, her voice cutting through the chaos. Jason looked back to see her holding her badge over her head. "I need the commander of this unit right now!"
"Detain them," one of the officers said before peeling off. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Deputy Assistant Director Alexandra Watt," she told him. "This is my show, officer. The call is also a hoax."
"Still have to secure the scene," the man said, but a bit of his bluster was already fading. "We have a report of hostages being held behind the black-curtained booth. Deviant Games. Gunman