Page 75 of The Twilight Theft

“No matter what,” said Drew. “The chip is our job. If there’s a chance he’s after it, we need to get in there. Zaria says Emmett and Rav are going after a suspect.”

The cameras had too much coverage upstairs for Noah to vanish. He had to be hiding somewhere. And we could catch him. Fenix had to be the ones targeting the chip.

Stop thinking and move, Jayce.

Fortunately, Drew did the thinking for me. He jerked his head toward the shorter route back to the banquet room.

I nodded and we retraced our steps. I tried walking in double time, but the ridiculous shoes slipped on the polished floor.

Drew steadied me and we slowed. “Should have brought those Kevlar socks.”

“No kidding.”

“Lost another camera.” Brie groaned over the line. “This one covering the stairs to the banquet room.”

Drew conveyed the same information to me—likely from Craig.

I stripped off the shoes, balancing them and the clutch in one hand, with Drew’s fingers in the other. We dodged between couples, groups, auction pieces, and easels. The huge food skirts were little more than pylons.

We weren’t going to fail.

Fenix wouldn’t win this battle.

Chapter 29

Drew

IstayedclosebehindJayce, grabbing her shoes as her arm swung back. “Give me your clutch, too.”

She didn’t need to carry so much if we were about to dive into action. I had pockets and her little pink dress didn’t.

“We’re at the top of the—” Zaria’s voice in my earpiece cut out.

“Come again?” I said.

Silence on the other end.

“Zaria?”

Nothing.

“Craig? Wyatt? Anyone?”

Jayce glanced over her shoulder at me. “Comms down?”

“Apparently.” It wasn’t the first time I’d dealt with something like this. My training kicked in and the emotional locker opened up, absorbing as much stress and anxiety as possible. If only it could do the same for the woman in front of me, whose shoulders were growing tighter by the second. With my pockets full, I took out my phone and dialed Craig. And waited. “Craig’s not answering his phone, either.”

Given the cameras and comms were down, he would have been working to restore things or leaving his post to communicate in person. If the former, it made sense he wouldn’t have time to answer.

Still, backup comms should have been a priority.

“Is your team up there yet?” I asked Jayce.

She paused in her stride, allowing me to catch up. I was next to her again as we passed Scarlett and Malcolm on their way out of the banquet room. “They’re checking rooms. They’ll find Noah, then help Craig if he needs it.”

We slowed once we were in the smaller room, Jayce’s gaze growing cold. Calculating. I hadn’t seen that look since everything went to hell on the Harrington job. I’d told her we had to abort the mission and she’d refused. She got her way in the end and nearly got us arrested in the process.

“He’s smart. Plus, he worked with us for years, so if he knows we’re here, he knows our moves. He won’t come through the main door or the patio doors,” she said. “That means we watch the bathroom and staff doors.”

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