Page 28 of The San Marco Heist

“No, I have more—”

Rav put a hand under my arm, forcing me up. “I’m responsible for security, and you being this tired is not a risk I’m willing to take. It’s Sunday morning now, and it will still be Sunday when we arrive in London. Step one is to go to the architect on Monday. That means you can sleep for the four hours until we land. We can finish planning as much as possible once we’re on the ground.”

Malcolm was right—I didn’t like being challenged. But Rav was doing the job I’d given him, and if I argued, Malcolm would know he was right. That wasnothappening.

“You two should do the same.” I straightened, collected my tablet, and patted Rav’s shoulder before I left. I slid the doorway closed behind me, so they wouldn’t know I was going to stay up and review files anyway.

I sat on the bed, the Egyptian cotton sheets and freshly fluffed pillow calling to me even more than Brie’s couch had last night. After the Maguire party on Friday, I’d napped for a half hour on the flight home. A few more hours Saturday before the girls showed up. Nothing since then. I laid down and propped the tablet up on my chest.

For all my time lecturing Malcolm about working alone,Iwas alone. I didn’t have anyone to call. Three best friends who didn’t know what I genuinely did, my brother had been taken, and my sister was probably on the verge of breaking down, with work being the only thing keeping her solid. My mother would tell me to toughen up.

Nothing in my world mattered as much as this team’s safety. If they saw how scared I was that we were going to fail, it would shake their confidence. All the weight was on my shoulders, like always.

Maybe I could close my eyes for a couple of minutes. Set an alarm so it wouldn’t be over thirty. Then I’d touch base with Brie and find out if there was any news.

I let out another yawn.

London in four hours. We had hotel rooms booked under fake names, and Will had arranged for vehicles. Everything we needed for arrival was ready.

Yeah. Thirty minutes should be fine.

Chapter 12

Malcolm

Thebigmanremainednext to me as the door to Scarlett’s private cabin closed.

I hooked a thumb over my shoulder to the mid-cabin. “I think I’ll lie down on the couch and catch some shuteye.”

Rav’s glower landed on me, pinning me in my seat. “We didn’t finish our conversation earlier. I think this is as good a time as any, don’t you?”

“No, you were pretty clear back in the office. Cooperate or die, wasn’t that it?”

“I didn’t tell you to cooperate. I told you not to betray the team. I’m going to go one step further and say don’t screw with her.” He slid into the seat Scarlett had vacated and folded his arms on the table. They were like fucking tree trunks.

Ink peeked out from under the cuff of his short sleeve T-shirt, but not enough to make out what it was, except to know it wasn’t an armband tattoo. Maybe that would give me a clue what kind of special forces he’d been.

The look in her eyes when I gripped her hand had been unexpected. The ice queen possessed emotions after all. “I wasn’t trying to do anything like that. I’m trying to help.”

“You use this word a lot:Help. I’m not sure you know what it means.” He unfolded one arm long enough to point to the cabin where Scarlett was resting and tucked the arm back in. “She’s the best at what she does. If she says architect first, then that’s the best play. You may have good ideas—I understand you have investigative experience—but this is what she does. She’s trained her whole life for this.”

Trained? Or was she groomed? Maybe that was the difference between her and me. I’d been groomed for a military career but rejected it. She’d embraced the role she’d been assigned. “What’s the story there? Emmett mentioned once that he worked with his sister, but I wasn’t expecting two sisters in different roles. He never mentioned his mother being part of it either. If Scarlett’s the boss, what does that make Evelyn?”

“Other than the owner?” The corner of his mouth twitched. “The mascot even?”

“And what about you? Former SEAL? Ranger? Delta Force?”

“As the saying goes, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.” His smirk ratcheted up higher. Hopefully, it wasn’t because the prospect of injuring me excited him. “I worked with some of those organizations. That’s all I’m going to say.”

“Why’d you leave?”

He tapped a button on the console under the window and a lid opened, revealing bottles of water. He pulled one out and offered one to me, which I declined. “Have you come up with any theories on how the clowns connected you and Emmett? Or how they knew where to find you?”

“To be completely honest—”

“Which I would hope you are about everything?”

“Of course.” I should’ve taken the water. My throat was getting dry. “Was there any indication that another team may have gone in during the Maguire party?”

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