Cole stepped back into the apartment and found Letty and Jason Tate waiting. The moment he arrived, Jason and the others seemed to grow a spine; when those three had first come through the door, they'd been scared stiff. Even after Cole's text, they hadn't quite believed these were his people.
"You're Cole Shaw?" Letty studied the man in front of her, puzzled. Owen Shaw's kid brother wasn't supposed to look older than Owen.
Adolfson and Klaus shifted subtly, ready to move if this was a trick.
"Sorry—you'll need to get used to this face for now," Cole said, hands open. He hadn't expected Owen to send this exact trio. Letty, of all people—Dominic Toretto's girl, even if the memory was gone. His brother really did look out for him.
Letty stepped in and touched Cole's cheek. "Camouflage has come a long way. It's exact." Up close her fingers caught the difference; to the eye it was perfect, to the touch almost-perfect. From any distance, unbreakable.
"It's a party trick," Cole said. "Even if Owen sent you, I don't let family work for free. Five million dollars each. That's my good faith."
Five million a head was sky-high for most jobs—but compared to half a billion, it was pocket change.
Adolfson grinned. "Now that is respect. Say the word—what do you want us doing?"
Klaus smiled as well.
"Simple start," Cole said. "One of you guards this woman. The other takes a man wearing my face to a quiet location." He nodded to Kate, who was already at the keyboard. "Kate, pull records on The Plague and Dade's mum."
Kate nodded; two dossiers bloomed on-screen.
"That's it?"Adolfson frowned. Seemed too easy.
"First step," Cole said. "The main event is in three days. And we'll be dealing with The Expendables."
Belford would worry about hitting Dade's mother; Cole needed coverage in both directions. After that came the Rabbit's Foot—and that meant not just Expendables trouble but a CIA shadow in the mix.
"The Expendables? Barney Ross and his lot?" Klaus asked, surprised.
"Yeah. My vector runs opposite his. We'll collide," Cole said. "I just put down their sniper. No room left to talk."
"Gunnar?"Adolfson's lip curled when Cole pointed rooftop-ward. "What a waste." They'd crossed paths with Ross's crew before; Gunnar was his least favorite—too impulsive, too loud. Not a sniper's temperament.
"Then five mil won't be easy money,"Adolfson said. "But we took the cash, and you're the boss's brother. The bloke wearing your face? Mine. Letty—lady protection fits you." He scooped up Belford's file and headed out.
Letty grabbed the second folder and went. Klaus spread his hands. "And me?"
Cole shook his head. "You're on procurement. I need a full weapons package. I'll wire the funds."
Klaus nodded once. "Consider it done."
Orders given, Cole moved.
—
Ellingson Group — street level.
Cole waited on Klaus's text. Once The Plague was in hand, he'd move. On his phone, Dade's tracker pulsed a steady signal.
—
Belford's apartment.
Eugene "The Plague" Belford sat with Ellingson's executive secretary.
"What's next?" the secretary asked.
"With Dade in my pocket, I launch the Da Vinci payload to crater Ellingson's servers," Belford said, almost lazily. "Dade's our scapegoat. If our friends hadn't forced the one-billion dollar deadline, we'd never rush this." His mouth tightened. "Shame about my worm. At the old pace, no one would've noticed."
"We're just pieces on their board," the secretary said. "We can't afford to cross them."
"I know," Belford said, standing. "I'm venting, not defecting."
He slid a floppy into the drive. On the monitor, Dade Murphy's face appeared, voice flat and synthetic: "Unless Ellingson transfers ten million dollars into the following account within three days, five tankers under Ellingson's fleet will capsize."
"The virus arms at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Then we place one call to the CIA and hand them Dade," Belford said. "By the time anyone sorts it out, we'll be wheels up to Berlin."
He smiled—everything under control.
A bullet hissed through the glass and exploded the secretary's skull.
Belford spun, looking for cover; a second round drilled his right foot. "Ah!" He screamed, tried to crawl—
A figure was already in front of him. The world went black.
"Mission complete," Klaus texted. He hoisted The Plague and disappeared into the night.