Page 2 of Seduction in Blood
Trudy grunted. "They have gyms for that."
"Gyms don't have shiny baubles."
She laughed. "I can't argue with that."
We rounded a bend and took the main staircase down to the second floor. I'd been surprised when Harlow had approved my risky entrance, which had added time to the job, but with the amount of security required to get in the place, I'd go crazy waiting on Stan to bypass the alarms. I'd also been the one who found the job. The mansion was owned by some puffed-up politician who was currently out of state. I'd seen a newspaper article from a year earlier about his purchase of the Alistair diamond. The job required three months of surveillance and influencing one of the staff to confirm the diamond was on site. From there, a hack into the security company told us the type of safes on the premise and their locations.
Luckily, there was only one safe in the second-floor master suite closet. No surprise. Most safes were either in the bedroom or the study. The wealthy just weren't that creative. The actual surprise, however, was that it wasn't digital. Not that it made a difference. I had the tech knowledge to break through any digital safe. But the old-fashioned ones, especially those with sophisticated locking mechanisms, made my nipples tingle. Those were the type of safes that started my illustrious and highly illegal career. The thought almost brought tears to my eyes. I was inwardly laughing by the time we reached the bedroom.
Harlow and Stan were in front of the closet, near a floor lamp they'd turned on. Stan tapped at his computer, working on bypassing the last of the sensors. When he nodded, Harlow entered the impressive walk-in closet and pulled open the false door, revealing the floor safe.
"All right, Pandora, come open the box and let's see what horrors await." Harlow stepped back, bowing low as I ignored his reference to my street name, my focus on the safe.
The security company files were correct. It was a vintage Schwab safe, one of the best in its time, but a newer combination had been installed. Safes weren't easy to crack if you tried to figure out the combination. It was doable if you had the time to manipulate the lock. Time most burglars didn't have, not if they weren't taking the safe with them. Drilling was the next option and the one I used most frequently if I couldn't find the code another way. Fortunately, our inside person—a disgruntled house cleaner—found the last two digits of the combination. Doing my research, I'd discovered it was two numbers in the wife's birth date. I had memorized the birth dates of all the family members, including grandchildren.
If this were my heist and I was alone, I would have enjoyed practicing my skills in graphing the combination. But my expertise lay with the ability to combine my burglary skills with knowing my target. I researched their lifestyle, their habits, and how lazy they were. It was surprising how many people never changed the try-out combinations that came with the safe. After that, the most common combinations were typically birthdays or anniversaries. That's why I kept my jobs to residential thefts rather than jewelry stores or banks.
After dropping my backpack, I rolled my neck, flexed my fingers, and relaxed my muscles before crouching to get a look at the lock. I leaned close and dialed the first combination, immediately knowing it wasn't going to work.
The second and the third combinations didn't work either, so I reset the lock and considered my options. I could pull out my drill, but Harlow was pacing. The soft shuffle of his boots on the thick carpet began to irritate me. I gave Trudy a glance over my shoulder and nodded toward Harlow.
"Come on, Harlow. Let's check on Jamal." Trudy grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him out.
"Put a foot on it, luv. Time's a tickin'," Harlow mumbled as he was dragged away.
I turned my attention back to the safe, blew out a breath, and tried again. On the sixth combination, I heard the satisfying click and the release of the door. The correct combination had been the daughter's birth month, the son's day of birth, followed by the wife's birth year. It was fortunate they had a small family. I had to give the guy credit—but if I had the Alistair diamond in my safe, I wouldn't have used any number associated with family. Not that I had much of one to begin with.
"Bloody time." Harlow must have been hovering by the door. I'd barely opened the safe.
I stepped back, letting Harlow have his moment to pull out the treasures. I might have been the one to discover the gig, but Harlow had fronted the job and pulled in his team. The money I would see from my share would make a significant dent in what I owed—and the timing couldn't be better. My name had gone on the bounty list two days ago.
Harlow stuck his head in the safe and pulled out three stacks of money that I'd guess to be around a hundred grand, two bearer bonds that would take some time to move but would provide a decent payday, and five jewelry boxes.
Harlow opened each one before tossing them to me. I shook my head at the first three. They were lovely jewels, two necklaces and a bracelet, but they would take time to fence. The fourth held the prize—the Alistair diamond. I took it out of the box and held it up to the light of my headlamp. The team gathered around to take a moment to bask in the glory of our find.
"How much did you say that was worth?" Trudy asked.
"A cool million, Princess. And our little Pandora here already has a buyer. Isn't that right, luv?"
I stuffed the diamond back in the box and tossed it to Harlow. "Just remember that when we split up the take." I ended my obvious threat with a wide smile. "We'll have the money before the week's out."
"Boss, we have a problem," Stan called from the bedroom.
"Is it the patrol?" Harlow asked as he grabbed half the stash while I snagged the rest.
Stan glanced up from his monitor, the glow from the screen making his pale face appear green. "They weren't there a second ago."
Trudy ran to the bedroom window. "I don't see anything."
I crammed the stash in my bag and pulled my backpack on.
"Where are they, Stan?" Trudy's voice, though still calm, held an edge.
He was shaking his head. "They're all around us."
Harlow slammed the monitor shut. "Get your gear. Now."
"There's no need to hurry."
