Page 24 of Prettiest Little Thief
“Jealous, Lucas?” She glanced back at me, brown eyes squinted in inspection and annoyance. Her cute nose scrunched up as her lips pursed.
“No.” I pulled my sleeve out of her grasp and adjusted my flannel.
She rolled her pretty eyes and stopped right beside the door.
“Aren’t you going to go in? I asked.
Monroe tapped her fingernail on an electronic keycard reader attached to the wall. “Now it’s just a waiting game.”
Chapter Fourteen
Monroe
With my back against the wall, I stood right next to the door, behind which I suspected we would find what we were looking for. Lucas had his arms crossed over his chest, and his booted foot tapped continuously against the floor.
“How long do you think this is going to take?” Lucas asked.
“I’m not sure. If someone comes out, I’m going to sneak in before the door closes.”
“And if you get caught?”
“I’ll manage.” I shrugged. “I can typically come up with something on the fly.” There was still worry behind my indifference. Lucas just didn’t deserve my honesty.
Just then, the doorknob turned and was pulled open. Lucas stepped into my space, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands against the wall, caging me. His body was pressed up against mine, and a gasp left me as the charged sensation of his body against mine pulsed between us. My blood pounded through my veins in rapid succession. His nose brushed against mine, and the person exiting the private door only spared us a glance and a slight frown before walking away.
Lucas stopped the door from closing with his shoe, his minty breath skimming across my lips, and the memory of earlier sent my heart into a maddening rhythm. I must have been standingstill for too long, because Lucas said, “Are you going to go in or not?”
“If you would back up and remove yourself from my personal bubble, I would.” I cleared my throat, trying not to make eye contact with him. After a few seconds, he took a step back, giving me just enough room to squeeze past him. No one else was in the hallway, so I slipped into the back room. It shut with a soft click behind me, and my attention caught on the rows and rows of metal shelves lined across the room. Every space on the racks was filled with artifacts.
As I moved through the aisles, I searched for any indication of where the key might be. A row of medieval torture devices caught my interest, and I wanted nothing more than to hang around and look at every single piece. To imagine who might have used them and why. But I didn’t have time to let my ADHD get the better of me, shook my head, and continued on. There were bones of all sizes, coins from the Roman Empire sat in several cases, a soldier’s uniform from WWI… The list of items was endless. But not one sign of the relic. Dammit.
I was just about to give up and sneak back out, when a sign taped to the very last row that saidAnastasia’s Relicscame into view. Jackpot.
I rushed toward the shelves, the bottoms of my Converses squeaking on the glossy floor as my search for the item continued. The area of relics pertaining to the mysterious mistress was on the smaller side, all lined perfectly in a case without a lock. Most were jewelry pieces: priceless stones set into golden bands, a tiara with intricate detail, a six-piece set of gold bangle bracelets. Still, I searched. A box on the top shelf caught my eye.Anastasia’s Keepsakewasscrolled on the side.
Not blessed in the height department, I jumped up, the tips of my fingers barely grazing the edge. I tried again, but my hands hardly touched the box. Too short. Placing my feet on the empty bottom shelf, I reached and grunted, catching the lip of the box. Just about to pull it down, the sound of the door opening reached my ears. I released the box, stepped down, and crouched to peer through the gaps in the shelves. Dark-colored dress pants with shiny black shoes were all I could make out. Luckily, the staff member was walking around the other side of the warehouse. As quietly as possible, I snuck in the direction of the door. With my ear trained on the sounds of the worker’s footsteps, I crept slowly back past the WWI uniform and bones that had caught my attention on the way through the maze of towering displays.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. Frozen in place, I breathed shallowly, trying not to make any noise that would get me caught. My heart thudded erratically in my chest. So much so that I was almost positive the rapid thumping echoed in the room. That couldn’t be possible, right? I swallowed thickly, and sweat started to bead on my skin with my rising anxiety.
The steps picked up once again, and I squeezed my eyes shut, exhaling before tiptoeing back in the direction of the exit, picking up my pace, just wanting to get the heck out of the backroom. The footsteps changed direction, and the sound of muttering sounded along with the clicking of the shoes. Shoot. He was coming back toward me.
I scrambled the last few feet to the door, throwing it open and nearly barreled into Lucas’s broad chest. My chest heaved, and Lucas arched a sandy colored brown at me. “You all right?” he mumbled. His words sounded sincere, but the expression he gave me showed a lack of interest for my well-being.
“We gotta go.” My breaths came rapidly, grabbing Lucas’s hand in mine and pulling him down the hall. Just as we turned the corner into the main entryway, the sound of the door opening, and the shuffling of feet reverberated.
Holy heck. That was close.
My worry didn’t subside until we drove out of the parking garage and were back on the highway. We’d rushed out of the museum with pounding footsteps following after us. Lucas all the while seemed unworried. Of course, he wouldn’t be since it wasn’t him who would have gotten caught for being in a secure area. An area where I was sure there were tons of cameras that recorded my face.
“Did you find it?” Lucas asked.
“Yes, and I almost had it, but then the employee came back in. You couldn’t have stalled him?”
“I did. For as long as I could.” Lucas glanced over at me.
“If you had been able to do it for thirty more seconds, I could have gotten you the damn key and our deal would be done.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned my head against the passenger window. “I could’ve gone home.”
“We will have to come back and try again.”
