staff, but the CEO and his secretary normally get there at eight or later.”
Roadkill chuckled. “How do you know all this?”
Hashtag preened. “It’s amazing what you can find out over a smoke break with one of the security guards. And speaking of which… they monitor the top floor with CCTV. I’m gonna hack into their system. I gotta say, it’s a pretty shit system for such a hi-tech building. Anyhow, what they’ll be seeing is a loop, showing Dellan doing tiger stuff in his cage.”
“And you think they won’t notice a military helicopter landing on the roof? What if we set off an alarm?”
“We won’t. I’ll make sure of that. And security is gonna be too busy to see us, because they’ll have their hands full dealing with the protesters.”
Horvan frowned. “Protesters?” He had to hand it to Hashtag. The guy had clearly been thinking this through.
Hashtag nodded. “That’s what’s going to take the time. I need to set myself up with fake accounts on Twitter and Facebook, describing myself as an animal rights activist. Then I leak the story of the tiger to as many animal rights groups as I can find. I email them, spreading a tale of the rich CEO who keeps a caged wild animal in his office. I share footage of the tiger. In short, I use social media to whip all the animal lovers out there into a frenzy.”
“Isn’t that a bit risky?” Rael frowned. “You use social media, and Anson’s tech people could pick up on it.”
Hashtag shook his head. “Once these groups take a bite, we go quiet. Email, messaging, private groups on Facebook, et cetera. I’m not putting the video of Dellan out in public. Like you said, that’s way too risky. No, I’ll do a little fishing first; then when I’ve got their interest—bam.” He gave Rael a reassuring smile. “That work for ya?”
Rael nodded. “I should’ve thought before I opened my mouth.”
Horvan squeezed his shoulder. “You ask all the questions you want, okay?”
Hashtag continued, “When I’ve gotten a big enough response—and let’s face it, with social media, that won’t take long these days—I set a date for the protest, which gets shared secretly to keep prying eyes away.” He folded his arms. “The day in question, the protesters turn up en masse, primed with printed signs. So while they’re on the first floor, chanting slogans, sitting on the ground, painting graffiti on the windows and the walls, we will be on the top floor, getting Dellan out.”
“Hey, isn’t this Lethal Weapon II?” Crank was nodding. “You know, where all the protesters are outside the South African embassy, and Riggs slips in under the door to go—”
“Crank.” Horvan glared at him. “Not the time, okay?” Crank immediately mimed zipping his lips.
“Sounds like we might need a few more guys on the ground,” Roadkill commented. “Have them in among the protesters, making sure they stay on track.” He smiled. “You know who’d be perfect for this? Jase. He’s a great little rabble-rouser.”
“Good thinking. Get onto him, ASAP. Let’s see if he’s available.” Horvan knew they’d need more men. He hoped the ones they wanted were in the country. Some did a lot of work overseas in Europe and Asia.
“Then what?” Rael asked. “Once we’ve got him out, I mean.”
“We fly a short distance to an arranged meeting point. It can’t be a long trip, because of Dellan. We have a guy waiting for us with a motor home. We take it, and he flies the chopper away. Whichever direction we take, he’ll fly the opposite way.”
“And what direction will we be taking?” Crank inquired.
“That’s as far as I got,” Hashtag admitted. “But it’ll need to be someplace remote, with accommodation big enough for all of us plus a tiger. Of course,” he added, “we’re hoping he won’t stay a tiger for long.”
It was the right thing to say. Horvan nodded. “Once we’re wherever we end up, I’ll be sending Roadkill to pick up Doc Tranter. Maybe he’ll be able to help.”
Hashtag gave him an inquiring glance. “What does the doc know about tigers?”
Roadkill laughed. “See what happens when you miss a briefing?” He leaned toward Hashtag and whispered, “Another shifter.”
“Holy Christ, they’re everywhere.” Hashtag shook his head. “This mission is certainly turning into an eye-opener.”
“I might have an idea where we can take him,” Rael said suddenly. All heads turned in his direction. “I live in Salmon, Idaho. It’s a little place with only around three thousand inhabitants. But I chose