25. Melissa

CHAPTER 25

MELISSA

STILL THE SAME DAY - THE HEIST!

T aking cover behind a large rubbish bin near the staff entrance, I could hear music and laughter from the party not far away. I waited as Marko disabled the security camera above us, then we crept out and rapped lightly on the door.

As planned, within seconds, Luca opened it, and we dived inside. Marko fiddled with his tablet again, hacking into the main security system to start a pre-recorded loop of the security feed he had recorded while we waited in the truck. This way, we could do what we had to without anyone in the guard room being the wiser. Or so we hoped.

Luca left us to return to his post as bodyguard to the MP before he was missed. Almost all the MP's staff and his twenty-strong security team were at the party, but a few guards remained in the security office at the gate. Even for an MP, his security seemed over the top. Paranoid much? Given his dual life—legitimate MP by day, criminal by night—I supposed he had plenty of enemies and reason for such protection.

We headed along the short hallway and down the stairs towards the basement. Everything was running to plan; fingers crossed it stayed that way. As soon as I had that thought, I hoped I hadn't jinxed us.

While we sneaked inside, Marcie was ensuring the MP was distracted at the party. I just hoped she could do that without him becoming suspicious of her actions. If he did, she could be in real trouble. Who knew what he might do? I shuddered at the thought and sent a silent prayer to my dad in heaven to watch over us all. I was nervous. Marko's hacking skills were phenomenal, so I had no concern there. But I was worried about my own role.

The part which worried me the most was still obtaining the information we came here for, but navigating the laser beams felt just as scary now, as my body was still so stiff from remaining stuck in the one position for so long. God, I wished we'd found a way around that bloody retinal scanner which operated that part of the security system.

My dad had once explained retinal scanners to me. Apparently, they detected unique patterns on a person's retinal blood vessels using low-energy infrared light, converting the data into a computer code. Capillaries absorbed more of the infrared light than surrounding tissues, and the difference in how much light was reflected was measured and assigned numbers, which are then turned into a computer code and the authorised code allowed access to unlock whatever the scanner is locking.

So, unfortunately, short of cutting the MP's eyes out, which was a definite no-no unless we wanted to kill him, there was only one other way through it, with me tackling laser beams like an assault course. Although I wasn't in danger of losing a toe or something, I could get a nasty burn, and any wrong move would trigger the alarm system and get us caught, which could prove fatal to us. My hands shook at the thought.

Considering where we were trying to break into, and the information that was hidden, there was no way the MP would simply alert the authorities and turn us over to them. He wouldn't want to risk that. Besides, once he unmasked us, he would realise immediately who Marko and I were, and likely have his men execute us then and there, before Miki could even think about launching one of his rescue plans.

My heart raced as we moved silently through the hall and downstairs to the basement and towards the MP's offices. The weight of the mission pressed heavily on my shoulders. The thought of what could go wrong looped endlessly in my mind, and I struggled to steady my breathing. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants, feeling the pressure of the situation tightening my chest. As I waited for Marko to do his thing, I slipped on the glove my Mr Sexy Nerd had created, with the MP's thumbprint that Luca had obtained for us, and concentrated on my breathing.

Once Marko finished what he was doing, he nodded, and I pressed my thumb to the scanner and entered the code Mathieson gave us. My hands shook. The code was incorrect! Damn, I messed up!

"It's okay, calm down, sweetheart," Marko whispered.

Taking a deep breath, I tried again, but my hands were still shaking. I hit the same number twice.

Shit! Shit! Shit! We only had three tries before the alarm would go off. I had just wasted two!

For fuck' sake! I needed to get myself under control, or I was definitely going to set off the alarm. All I had to do was key in a short code. It shouldn't be this hard.

I gulped. My overactive imagination was currently playing me the theme tune for Jaws in my head as if to emphasise the danger. Geez, I needed to get a grip. Fast!

You can do it! You got this! I chanted inside my head to drown out the shark attack music. My breathing was ragged as I felt my panic rise. Focus! I chided myself. If I fucked this up, we could end up dead.

"Look at me, Melissa," Marko said. My eyes flew to meet his.

"Honey, breathe, you've got this. I believe in you," he said, smiling.

Marko believed in me. And just like that, I felt better. Calmer! My breathing slowed and my heart stopped trying to beat its way out of my chest. Marko had faith in me, the way I had faith in him. Neither of us would let the other down.

My confidence restored, I turned back to that bloody keypad and re-entered the code. Relief filled me as the door clicked open.

We made our way into the MP's office. It looked like an ordinary office, but we knew of the secret panel within which hid the next doorway, behind which was my next hurdle before we got to the final secret room where all the information on the MP's illicit operations was stored.

After sliding the panel aside, I entered the one code Mathieson had given me in his letter. Thankfully, this one was still the same, and the door clicked open. Yes!

Marko took a position in a corner, staying out of my way but keeping a close watch. While he set up his systems to crack the final security code, I activated the haze machine we'd brought. It wouldn't reveal the beams as solid lines like in the movies, but it would make their positions visible. The rest was up to me.

I took a moment to survey the room. Relief coursed through me. The pattern of the beams wasn't as complex as I had feared; they resembled the one I had tackled before. That boosted my confidence. Taking a few seconds, I rolled my neck to loosen up and stretched out my arms and legs, finally shaking off the prior stiffness.

When I was ready, I carefully stepped over the first beam. It was mid-thigh height, so I cleared it with ease.

The next beam was much lower, with several others criss-crossing above. The only way past them was to crawl underneath.

Slowly, I lowered myself into the side splits, then bent forward until my chest hit the floor. Stretching my arms under the beam, I used them for leverage, dragging my body forward until I cleared it.

Relaxation set in as I began to enjoy the challenge. I always enjoyed gymnastics, and navigating these beams was a thrilling test of skill. How fun would it be to play with this sort of course without the element of danger? Maybe I could convince Marko to help me set up something similar at home?

Home! Yes, Marko and the Rominov residence had quickly become a place of happiness and peace for me. I loved the house and the people in it and I especially loved the sexy nerd who I knew would be watching my every move right now with lust in his eyes and likely an uncomfortable presence making itself known in his pants.

My heart warmed at the thought of my Russian Bratva man. As soon as everything with the MP was over and he was safely out of the way, I was going to Mr Sexy Merd how I felt. I wanted to stay with him after all of this was over and see where the future took us.

"First, you need to get through the rest of this mission ," I reminded myself, snapping my focus back to what I was doing.

Pulling myself into a sitting position, I transitioned to a normal split and carefully brought my legs together. Standing up in the tight space was tricky, but I managed it. Thank goodness I was so flexible.

The next challenge involved horizontal beams spaced less than a foot apart. Turning sideways, I held my breath, bent forward, and flattened my back. Balancing on my right leg, I bent my left knee and slowly extended it to pass through the second and third beams.

Shuffling my right foot closer, I held the position, then slowly lowered my left leg. When my toes touched the ground, rising onto the toes of my right foot, I sucked in my stomach, said a quick prayer, and carefully manoeuvred my hips through the gap. The process felt agonisingly slow, but within a few seconds, I was clear. Pulling my right leg through, I stood up and let out a relieved breath!

The movement left me standing side-on in the perfect position to pass through the next set of beams, which were vertically positioned. I was over halfway to the end, so I took the time to allow myself a few more deep breaths to keep calm.

Even though they were slightly closer together, I sidestepped through them quickly, glad that the all-in-one I had on flattened my boobs and lifted my bum.

Three more sets of beams lay ahead. The first was another horizontal set, identical to the previous one, so I tackled it in the same way. Next came a set similar to the first, and I slipped into side splits, repeating my initial moves. Having tackled these before boosted my confidence, allowing me to navigate them more swiftly this time.

Finally, I came to the last but trickiest set of beams and my nerves kicked in again. This was going to be tough.

My hands shook, and my stomach churned. Sucking in a breath, I held it before slowly releasing it again. I needed to gain control; even a millimetre off could spell disaster.

Closing my eyes, I heard my dad's voice giving me one of his pep talks.

"Come on, Melissa. This is child's play. Focus and discipline are all you need."

Feeling more positive, I breathed deeply, forcing myself to relax as I took a few seconds to think through my next moves.

Eyes narrowed; I studied the beams. Several horizontal beams ran along the bottom, reaching hip height, but they were too close to pass through. Above them, criss-crossed beams formed a web; the only way through was to shimmy between them at their widest point.

Visualising the best path, I took another deep breath to steady my nerves and moved forward an inch. There was no time for second-guessing. Bending at the waist, I placed my hands flat on the ground. With my weight on them, I carefully lifted my legs, straightening into a handstand, and shuffled closer to the beams.

Slowly and deliberately, I lowered my legs behind me, threading them between the criss-crossed beams until my feet touched the ground. In a back bend, I shuffled the tiniest bit forward, keeping my back high to avoid touching the beams. Transferring all my weight to my feet, I tightened my core and slowly, inch by inch I lifted my torso up and shimmied my body through the lasers in a limbo style movement. When my head cleared them, I stood and turned towards Marko. I felt like jumping for joy, but I restrained myself and settled for a grin and a wink.