CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Code and Ace stood by the van, the flat tire perplexing their geeky brains. Or so they portrayed it. They could see the big yacht beginning to move from its dock on the island toward the small private marina where they were parked.

As it got closer, a man stood on the deck, staring at them suspiciously.

"Team Charlie? Are you on the island?" asked Ace calmly into comms.

"If you'd give us five fucking minutes, we will be," said Miller. "You forgot to tell us how damn cold the water is."

"Oops," smirked Code.

He walked around to the back of the van, casually digging out the spare tire and jack. When the yacht docked, the man who had been standing on the deck came directly toward them.

"You look like you need help," he said calmly. Porter was second in command to Richard, although often felt removed from the operations. Richard was her favorite, and he was beside her twenty-four-seven.

"Just a flat," said Ace. "We'll be fine. Thank you." Porter looked at the van, staring at the gear inside.

"Can you fix complicated computer systems that run lights, security, computers, everything?"

"That's what we do," grinned Code.

"Come with me."

"Listen, we'd love to," said Code with a boyish grin, "but as you can see, we've got to fix this flat, then we have another call that we're already late for."

"Ten thousand if you come with me."

"Dollars?" said Ace with a stunned expression.

"Yes. Dollars," said Porter. "I'll take you out to the island and bring you back. It's that easy. You just handle all of the issues, and you're free to go."

"No tricks?" asked Ace suspiciously.

"No tricks. You will stay where we can see you, get things fixed, and then leave. It's that simple. I don't have a lot of time here. The woman who owns that mansion is not well and needs you to do this quickly."

"I see," nodded Code. "Poor lady. Yeah, we can do that, right, Ace?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Let's go," said Porter, pointing to the yacht.

The two men gathered several tools, none of which they would need. They needed to make this look as legit as possible. Filling a backpack for each of them, they then gathered a duffel bag with items in it.

"What's in that?" asked Porter as they boarded.

"Meters to check your voltage output, feed security, that type of thing. If we're there, we might as well make sure everything is perfect for you. I can't imagine that place is easy to get to in the winter," said Code.

"We don't leave in the winter." Porter frowned, staring at the darkened mansion.

"That must be pretty damn cold," said Ace.

"Just fix what needs to be fixed, and we'll bring you back," said Porter.

"And if we can't?" asked Code.

"You better know how to swim."

"Cool," nodded Code.

He stared at Ace, his expression blank and dark. Ace wasn't a guy you often feared, but when he was in the zone, he was a man that you didn't want to piss off. Something was brewing in him, something that was going to come out.

The St. Lawrence River stretched more than nineteen hundred miles, connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic. Her waters flowed in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence , through Ontario and Quebec in Canada, with a section of the river marking the border between Canada and the U.S.

With more than 1,864 river islands in the Thousand Islands area, it would be easy to get lost even in a river such as this. Right now, Code and Ace just wanted to be sure they could get off the damn thing if necessary and survive.

When the boat docked, they were led onto the massive dock space, and their bags were searched once again. There were hidden weapons beneath the bottoms of the backpacks and duffel bags, all wrapped in stealth netting.

"Hey, that stuff is expensive," said Code.

"We'll replace it if it's broken," said the new man. "I'm Richard. Come with me."

Ace looked at Code, his eye twitching to the left just a hint. Code nodded, seeing the woman in the window staring down at them. The massive property had guards everywhere. The two men said nothing, just mentally counting the number of bodyguards they could see.

Inside the mansion, they realized just how dark it was without power.

"Don't you have a generator?" asked Ace.

"We did. We have several, and they were all fried during the last blizzard last winter. We have a tech team. Sort of. They aren't very good, obviously. They were supposed to get new generators before the winter, but that hasn't happened yet."

"Obviously," said Ace.

"Look. Just fix whatever the fuck is wrong here," growled the man. Ace looked up at him, not intimidated, nodding.

"Where are your servers?" he asked calmly.

"There's a server room in the basement," he said, pointing to the door.

"Not telling you your business, but you'll need to move that out of the basement. It's too damp down there," said Code. "In old houses like these and being so close to the river, water is going to always be a problem, as well as possible rats or mice."

"Fine. We'll move it later," he said. Code just shrugged, heading downstairs.

"I'll handle the server issues. Show my partner where the security systems are located and the cell receptors."

"Cell receptors?" he frowned.

"Yeah, the things that allow you cell reception on the island," he said, lying through his teeth. "I mean, there are land cell towers, but out here, you should have mini cell towers of your own."

"Yeah, we don't have that. Can you install it?" asked Richard.

"Sure. It will just be temporary until you can get a permanent one, but it might help your reception."

"Great. Do it."

Two separate guards led Ace in one direction and Code in the other. As they followed the other men, they used this opportunity to plant devices. Since none of the cameras were working in the mansion, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

With Code in the basement, he immediately went to what he knew was the issue with the lights since it was of his own making. He tapped a few keys on his keyboard, pretending to connect it to their system, and then brought up the lights.

"And let there be light," he grinned. The guard smiled at him.

"Thank fuck. The boss was about to lose her shit. She doesn't like the darkness. Just get the cameras and security pieces working, and we'll be okay."

"Well, my buddy is working on the phones and computers, so he'll fix that, and you'll be all set." Code stared at the system, then back at the man. "Hey, your boss upstairs asked me to make a few improvements. While I get started, do you have a water or soda I could have?"

"Sure, man. You deserve a bottle of champagne just for getting the lights back on."

The guard disappeared, and Code quickly went to work on the system, ensuring that the lights would go out once again, hopefully stranding everyone out on the island except Yulia and her closest guards. Speaking into his comms, he messaged the others.

"Get busy. Clock is ticking."