Page 76 of The Twilight Theft

“Or the floor or ceiling?”

“Still less likely, but possible.” She guided me along the wall to the back of the room, opposite the patio doors. Our monitoring position was between the two doors we were watching, next to the gold and blue painting from earlier. “Rav says he’s brought in Marc, who did the pre-event sweeps upstairs and down.”

And where was Wyatt? No word he’d rejoined Rav. He wasn’t in the banquet room. Although there were so many people, he could have been hidden.

Jayce stood absolutely still, with her back to the wall. Only her eyes moved. She’d complained earlier about not enough movement, but this was a different type of standing still. She was a snake coiled in the grass, waiting to strike.

If we’d been truly undercover, I would have caged her in against the wall and told her she was being far too obvious. Anyone who knew what they were looking for would have picked her out even faster than they could have picked out the security guards at the doors.

I tried my phone again, this time calling Wyatt.

He didn’t answer, but he immediately texted me,Suspicious guy on the fourth floor. Tracking him.

I tipped the phone toward Jayce, and she conveyed the information to her team. I texted back,What did the suspicious man look like?

She said, “The camera covering the stairwell entrance on this floor is down, so Brie’s blind. How did the guy get past the guard stationed there?”

“Likely left his post. That seems to be going around.” My phone screen remained stuck on my last message to Wyatt. “And Wyatt isn’t answering my question.”

“I don’t like this,” muttered Jayce.

“Need a snack?”

She frowned but didn’t look at me. From the way the corner of her mouth twitched, though, the tease had alleviated a little of her stress.

“How about your shoes?”

“Standing here barefoot makes me look suspicious, doesn’t it?”

“As do the heels poking out of my jacket pockets.” I handed them to her. “If we assume the suspicious character is Noah, and he’s on the 4th floor, we shouldn’t see much action down here anytime soon.”

“He was Scarlett’s second in command.” Jayce slipped on a shoe. “He knows how to plan a heist. If Wyatt saw him go up to the fourth floor, that’s because he wanted Wyatt to see him. He’s planning something.”

I surveyed the crowd in front of me. Half of them were public figures or the significant others of public figures. I knew a quarter by reputation, from past jobs with Bishop and Associates, or from Vanessa’s gossip. The other quarter contained faces I only knew from our preparations for the event. “Would Noah be working alone?”

“Not likely.”

Which of my three groups would his team be in? “Send me a photo of him and his known associates?”

My phone lit up almost immediately with texts from an unknown number and several photos. Four men in total: Noah, a man labeledEnzowith a jagged scar across his cheek, and two unnamed men.

“There’s a couple more in an Italian jail.”

I forwarded the photos to my team with a warning to keep their eyes open.

My phone buzzed with a call from Wyatt. I answered, holding the phone so Jayce could hear. “Did you find him?”

“I’ve got him cornered on the fourth floor.” Wyatt spoke quickly between labored breaths. “Northwest corner office. I need backup.”

Jayce and I looked at each other. Our teams were split between the restaurant’s two floors. We were spread too thin.

“This is his plan,” said Jayce.

It was a good plan. Draw everyone out of the banquet room and make off with the chip.

“Wyatt,” I said, “I’m sending one of the security guards.”

“Tell him to fucking hurry!”

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