Page 112 of The Twilight Theft

Emmett pressed his finger to his ear, turning on his earpiece. “Brie, Jayce and I are in place. Feed the audio from her phone through this channel.” He waited a beat, then pointed at me. “Good to go.”

I headed for the maintenance ladder, only a little slower than usual. I jogged past a few buildings to an opening to the street, darted across, and reversed my actions to navigate my way between the buildings on the other side.

The quiet was familiar, but disconcerting. When I’d started with Reynolds, we hadn’t used earpieces for every job. Six months in, Emmett and I had been stuck inside a museum for five hours because Brie found out about a guard change too late, and we hadn’t gotten her texts. After that, the rule about earpieces was instituted: Never take them out, never turn them off.

“You remember the time we had to hole up behind that statue in the little gallery in Antwerp, Emmett?” My phone, secured to my forearm, had a strong enough microphone to pick up everything I said—even whispers.

It was in stealth mode, though, so I didn’t receive a response. Brie was probably laughing and Emmett was probably telling me to focus.

Maybe lacking the earpiece was a good thing.

They could send haptic signals through my watch if they needed me, but the phone’s screen would remain black until I pressed a specific spot on it. Will’s genius design wouldn’t risk someone spotting me because the screen lit up.

I skirted the backs of the buildings, past the convenience store where I’d stolen the chocolate bar and past the jewelry store I’d originally considered.

What had changed for Drew between Thursday and tonight? What took him from wanting to get me out of his system to all the sappy stuff he was spouting at the hotel? Maybe it was just another angle—a way to get what he wanted without me taking off—or maybe it was genuine.

Did he really want me? Just me, all my quirks and weirdnesses?

And did it even matter? He lived too far away for it to work out. Although Declan had probably said that about Leigh, who was from Boston. Not to mention Malcolm and Ashley, who’d recently moved to Halifax after falling for Scarlett and Zac.

Still, this was Drew Donovan I was thinking about.

Down-ovan.

The ultra grumpy guy.

Who actually smiled.

Who called me his woman.

Warmth jostled around in my stomach. Drew’s smile was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. Let alone that body. And his—

Down, girl. You need to focus.

I climbed another ladder to a roof that overlooked the antiques shop’s rear door and long-pressed my phone to wake it from stealth mode. “I’m in position. Any activity on your side?”

“Nothing,” came Emmett’s reply through the phone. “How much time do you need?”

“We watch for thirty. If there’s any activity, I’ll need you to approach from the front as a distraction.”

“And if there’s none, you’ll go in?”

“Yup.”

When we were done, I’d call Drew. If he was finished with Craig, maybe he’d come back to my hotel. Or I could go to his place and raid his kitchen after he raided my—

A wave of heat shot out from my core, and I had to adjust my position.

Calm down.

Drew was going to be the end of me.

I tapped out a quick text on my phone, letting him know we had a tip about the bird and that I was going to recover it.

That would earn another of his smiles, for sure.

I got comfortable and settled in to observe. Night-vision goggles would have been helpful, but the antiques shop had a couple of windows in the back and a wall of them in the front. If anyone was inside, a light would flick on at some point.

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