Page 35 of The Eagle's Vault

“I… I’ll read it out,” Leigh stammered. “It’s a letter from Edoardo. He… he says he’s sorry. He says there’s another box. We need to find… a notebook? And he’s watching on a closed-circuit stream to be sure we do it.”

A notebook. Another fucking box. The icy tendrils of betrayal slithered inside me. My movements became rough, unrefined, a stark contrast to the smooth precision I usually operated with.

“No.” Scarlett cut through the tension, her tone unyielding. “We’re recovery agents, not thieves. We’re not stealing someone else’s things just because he asks us to.”

“No, notjustbecause he asked,” I growled, frustration bubbling inside of me. I slammed my fist against a metal box, the clang resounding through the otherwise silent vault. “There were photos with the letter.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Scarlett said.

“They’re of you.” I inserted the company key into the new box and confirmed it worked. Now I just needed a client. “Brie, turn off Leigh’s earpiece for a minute and, Scar, make sure Isaac is offline.”

“What’s going on?” asked Leigh from behind me.

Scarlett had been one of my best friends most of my life. She’d seen the real me years before even I could. “Done.”

I bowed my head toward the wall, putting a hand to signal for Leigh to stay away. “It’s two photos from the Albrecht house. Just after the car incident, when you grabbed the ring.”

A long, slow breath seeped through my earpiece. That was as close as Scarlett got to rage on a job—other than on the very job I had photo evidence of in my pocket. “The answer’s still no. We aren’t thieves and we won’t be blackmailed.”

I clenched my hands around the filing box. “I’m not throwing you to the wolves.”

Brie piped up. “I destroyed all the video footage. How are there photos?”

“They look like they were taken from the other side of the pool. One of the guests is involved.”

“I’ll figure something out. I always do.” Scarlett sacrificed so much in her life for the rest of us. Not this time.

“I’m the one inside, so it’s my call.”

“Dec, no.”

“You’re not taking the fall, Scar.”

“Declan Ramsay—”

“Don’t make me take out my comms. I’ve made my decision. Now turn Leigh’s earpiece back on.” The safe deposit boxes stared back at me, silently judging, waiting. Waiting for my next move, waiting for me to crack under the pressure. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I had to keep it together for Scarlett. “Leigh, put Edoardo’s box back in place and bring me your backup for the client key.”

My phone buzzed on my arm. Edoardo’s name glared up at me from the illuminated screen.

I yanked it out of its spot on my forearm and swiped the answer button, my words sharp, hot. “What the fuck, Edoardo?”

“I… I didn’t want it to be this way, Declan.” The bleak edge to Edoardo’s voice grated on my nerves. “You’re on camera, a closed-circuit stream.”

“Yeah, I read that. Who gave you the photos?”

“I can hand copies of the photos to the authorities at any time.” His Italian accent grew thicker with each shaky word.

“Where did you get them?”

“But I just need one thing from one box, Declan.” Desperation dripped from each syllable. None of that mattered. “Per favore.”

He’d betrayed us. And now, we were in a vault, playing a game we didn’t sign up for. What would cause him to do that? To turn against a twenty-year friendship with a woman like Evelyn Reynolds?

My mind whirled, connecting the dots.

Of course.

“You lied about Martina visiting Florence after the break-in at your house, didn’t you?”

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