Page 3 of The Eagle's Vault

I tapped the tablet, making a few measurements to the precise location where I’d have to drill into her to release the spring holding the locking bars in place. “They’re still in—”

The library’s double doors swung open, and Jayce sauntered back in, a massive sandwich in her hand. Her casual gait never wavered, even when her eyes locked onto Edoardo. She said around a bite of food, “Nice house, Ed. Security’s got a blind spot, though.”

“Not possible.” Edoardo’s mouth tightened. “I maintain the thieves hacked into the security system.”

The safe I’d built sat behind a bookcase to the left of a large-screen television in the library. A similar bookcase to the right hid another. Edoardo had told us about the other safe when we arrived, but she wasn’t mine, so it was hands off. Maybe?

Either way, if the thieves had the technology to hack in, they wouldn’t have left two damaged and yet unopened safes behind. Maybe one, but not two failures.

“Nope,” Jayce said, popping the ‘P.’ “The camera overlooking the east wall’s pointed too far north.”

“That’s how we got back in,” I added, my gaze shifting between them. “Jayce found it.”

“I’ll have it fixed.” Edoardo’s words were curt, even though he’d invited us to evaluate his security. “Did you find anything else?”

“No, that was it. You should be good once that’s handled.” Jayce took another bite, showing little concern for the trail of crumbs she was leaving. “Otherwise, your precious home might get more unwanted visitors.”

“That’s the last thing I want.” Despite not being interested in the schematics, Edoardo lingered in front of the safe. “The designer for the second safe will be here in a few hours with his assistant. Hopefully, they’ll have as much success as you.”

“Are they locals?” I asked.

“No, no.” Edoardo waved a hand absently. “Specialists from the States. I’m not sure about them. The designer was here for the install, but he insisted on bringing someone with him I’ve never met.”

The break-in obviously rattled Edoardo. It was understandable that he wouldn’t want anyone new in his home, seeing the inner workings of his security system.

Edoardo’s shoulders heaved and he forced a smile in place. “He swears she’s the best, so I suppose that will have to be enough for me.”

“She?” The implication was thick in Jayce’s voice. She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Another ‘lovely lady?’”

“No setting me up, troublemaker.” I snagged a tape measure and grease pencil from my pack to prep for the drill. This was my world. This was what I lived for.

“Trust me, if I ever saw you ogle a woman half as intently as you ogle those schematics, I’d pull out all the stops.”

Edoardo laughed.

Jayce was a skilled gymnast, acrobat, and one of the best thieves I’d had the pleasure of working with. We’d tangled on a couple of recoveries years ago, before we caught her and flipped her. Now she was a productive member of society, recovering stolen objects for their true owners. Or like today, testing their security systems.

“I’ll take a safe over a woman any day.” A safe was a challenge. She was intrigue and the thrill of the unknown. My opponent, my partner, my muse. She’d always open for me. And if someone hurt her—I stopped next to Edoardo and began measuring—I could repair her.

Not like the women I foolishly dated. Not like Daphne, who never opened up, because if she did, I would have realized she wasn’t the woman she pretended to be. Some safes were stubborn, but they never lied and they never criticized you.

Edoardo’s tone dropped into mock-seriousness. “Those words are a sin spoken in this country.”

“You said the other safe held as well?”

Edoardo looked at the bookcase to the right of the huge television. “It’s a very different design than yours, but it did.”

I followed his gaze, considering the other safe. My fingers itched. Maybe I could peek at the damage and find some commonalities in the attack. Had they tried drilling it, too? Who was this American designer? “When was it built?”

Jayce shook her head. “Already plotting your next conquest, Declan?”

I returned her grin. “Just thinking about possibilities.”

Edoardo lifted his eyebrow, a question in his eyes. “What possibilities?”

I shrugged, concealing the whirring in my brain about the other designer’s work. I needed to unravel the puzzle. See what was so different from my design.

And maybe best it?

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