I turned to Cavazos, trying not to sound any more dazed than I hopefully looked. “Is she serious?”

He lifted one dark brow. “Our darkrooms are currently equipped for both tear gas and carbon monoxide.”

“Daaamn.” Maybe I didn’t want to wander around in his house after all…. “So, how do the locks work? Fingerprint? Retinal scan? Voice recognition?”

“Voice recognition is an inferior technology,” Cavazos said. “We tried it for a while, but I got locked out of the house every time I got a cold. And most syndicate members aren’t willing to have their fingerprints on file anywhere.” For obvious reasons. “Retinal scanners are still prohibitively expensive for most people, even considering the benefits.” He shrugged. “We had three of them installed last month. However, I have it on good authority that Tower has yet to make the switch.”

I frowned. “How the hell do you know that?”

“I took a Reader with me when we went to price the units we just had installed, to make sure we were getting the best possible deal on the best possible equipment. At that time, Tower hadn’t placed an order from any of the top three manufacturers. And even if he’s placed an order since then, he hasn’t had time to get them delivered and installed.”

“So how do you unlock his darkrooms?” Anne asked, clearly fascinated.

Another shrug. “He’s probably still using key cards, like the system we just replaced. The digital code is changed every morning, and there’s a card coder right outside each darkroom. You just run a fresh card through the coder before you leave, and it’s good for that day.”

“What about an employee coming in for the first time that day?”

“He would have to use the intercom,” Michaela said. “There’s a button by the door, and when you press it, the lockdown light comes on so the security camera can see who’s there. Say your name into the speaker, and if you are approved, the guard will unlock the door, and you can grab a key card in the hall. If you’re not approved…” She shrugged. “Start holding your breath.”

The possibilities tumbled around in my head. “So…we need a key card. Preferably one less than a day old…”

Anne sighed and ran one hand through her hair. “We have to get into his house to get a key card. But if we could get into his house, we wouldn’t need the damn card in the first place. What’s that called? A paradox?”

“It is called good security,” Michaela said.

“Wait a minute…” My pulse jumped a little in reaction to my new idea—not a certainty, but certainly a possibility. “Why don’t we just have the key delivered, by someone who would definitely have one, if there’s actually a key to be had?”

“Kori?” Anne’s brows rose over the possibility, and I nodded slowly. “She’s not just going to hand her key over. Assuming she has one.”

“No, and if we take it from her, we can’t let her go back and report to Tower.”

“Who the hell is Kori?” Meika asked, and I could swear I saw the fingers of her right hand clench around air, as if she were wishing for the blade Ruben had confiscated.

“Another friend of…” At the last moment, I decided not to mention Elle. Surely that would have been the fastest way to bring Meika’s inner bitch roaring back to the surface. “Ours,” I finished lamely. “She’s one of Tower’s Travelers.”

Michaela’s expression darkened like a cloud had just rolled across the sky. “How many friends do you have on the west side of town?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t know I had any, until today. But the point is that I think I can get her here. I might need some help subduing her—” which I hated to do at all, considering she probably wanted to help us “—but after that, keeping her here should be as easy as tying her to a chair and leaving the lights on.” I met Cavazos’s gaze steadily, hoping he wouldn’t decide this was one of those times I was fun to mess with. “But you have to swear you won’t let anyone hurt her.”

“Why would I want her hurt?” he asked, not even trying to look innocent.

“Because she works for Tower? Because she took your daughter to him? Because she’s a beautiful woman who does really interesting things when she’s mad? Take your pick. Just swear you won’t let anyone hurt her.”

“What will I get in return?” he asked, his voice low and intimate enough to make his wife scowl.

“Your daughter,” I snapped.

Finally he nodded. “I swear I won’t let anyone hurt her if she plays nice.” Unfortunately, nice wasn’t a descriptor I’d ever heard used in reference to Kori. But that was the best I was going to get. “Fine.” I sighed, then gulped the last of the water from my bottle. “She’ll be traveling into the bathroom, so I’ll text her there.” Because otherwise, she could show up before we got into place. Or…she could make us wait in the dark for an hour. “I’ll need some help.”

Michaela shrugged and stood, but I shook my head. No way was I going to stand alone in the dark with her. Not after she’d nearly nicked my femoral artery the last time. She couldn’t have changed that much in the past hour.

I glanced at Anne and sighed again. She couldn’t do it. She may be able to shoot a stranger in immediate defense of her daughter’s life, but she couldn’t hit a friend when no one was in right-this-minute mortal peril. And, honestly, I kind of liked that about her. It was nice to finally have someone in my life who balked at the idea of killing someone.