Page 71 of The San Marco Heist

“—and one that’s called Lounge Jewelry Display Case.”

My head rolled forward onto Malcolm’s shoulder. “You can disarm it, right?”

“I’ve already cut all signals to the outside world from the security system, unless I’m the one sending them. So yes, I can stop it from alerting the police. But what I can’t stop—”

“Is a local alarm in the room?” Jayce finished for her.

Brie sighed. “Yeah.”

Declan said, “We’re packed up here. Want us to leave? Or hide out in the stairwell and grab the ring after everyone leaves?”

That was too risky. If they stayed in the safe room, security might show up if alarms started going. Hell, they were already risking it by being in there too long. Hide in the stairwell and it was a guarantee someone would find them before the party wound down. “Maybe the pantry?”

Malcolm inched back, so I raised my head to look at him. “The evening is being run by caterers. It’s likely they’re staging some of their food in the second kitchen, which is attached to the pantry. They can’t go down those stairs—too big a risk.”

I nodded. “Where’s Thomas Maguire?”

Will said, “Still on the other side of the pool, in a heated discussion with some guy.”

Dammit. This evening was so far off the rails… How was I going to get control again?

Malcolm’s gaze flicked to the side. “Not good. Really not good.”

“I need ideas, not more problems, Malcolm.”

“Meaning… you don’t want me to tell you Thomas Maguire, who thinks you’re married to Emmett, is speaking with Bruce White, the architect who believes you and I are married?”

“I’m coming to get you out,” said Rav. “You can’t stay there. We’ll reformulate a plan tonight. Go back in—”

“No.” My voice remained calm, the way I’d been trained. But inside, my stomach was roiling. Would the kidnappers give us more time? Where would the ring be tomorrow? Still in the lounge? In the safe room? In the safe room behind the biometric lock Declan and Will couldn’t get through? At least Will had learned something about it and we knew the layout of the house. But what if they moved it to the walk-in safe in the bedroom? Or hell, what if Camilla Albrecht had a safe deposit box where she kept all of her jewelry and just took it out for displays for parties?

We didn’t accept jobs where there were so many variables.

I placed my hands on Malcolm’s chest, his big arm circling my waist. If I’d hired some shmuck off the street, he probably would have bolted already. For how much Malcolm complained about all the voices over our comms and how he frowned every time someone suggested an idea counter to his, he was still here. Holding out until the end with me.

I stared up into his big blue eyes. Tonight, they were deep blue, like The Heart of Eternity diamond. He’d been throwing me off my game all week, but in that moment, I found calm in those eyes. An inner calm to match my outer one. “Alright, here’s what we need. All the people in this room looking at something other than the display. At least one other alarm going off somewhere in the house when we trigger the one from the display case. Breaking it will be too obvious and too many witnesses. Give me ideas, people.”

Malcolm nodded and kissed my forehead. It was too intimate, but it increased my calm. It was exactly what I needed. “I have an idea that may tick all of those boxes. It’s a little crazy though.”

“Crazy?” All the chatter faded to the background and my world was Malcolm. “Do you see what we’re dealing with? Crazy’s probably our best bet.”

Chapter 28

Malcolm

Scarlettwasaprofessional.To the outside world, she was nothing more than a woman holding onto her man. She’d smiled, she’d chatted, she’d mingled with the women by the display shelves. The men who’d come into the lounge from the car gallery had nodded their heads or to their glasses at us, no idea what was going on.

But she was in my arms. I could feel the way her heart rate had sped up, felt the shudder in her breaths, and saw the changes in her pupils as the information unfolded.

Yes, she was a professional.

But she was panicking.

“Well, I’m going to need your help here.” I inclined my head toward the car gallery with a smile.

Scarlett shook her head. “I told you already. It’s too quiet in there.”

“Do you trust me?” Three hours ago, I was pretty sure she would’ve said no. But things changed when she saw the bruises. “Can you imagine, Velatti has a monitoring system that allows them to see the status of every one of their cars around the world?”

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