Page 76 of The San Marco Heist

“Pulling into the neighbor’s driveway now,” said Rav. “Are you sure you don’t need me to come for you?”

“Malcolm’s got me.”

“I’m on my way.” Rav had never trusted my security to anyone else, no matter what he said.

“No. Stay in the car.” I looked up at Malcolm, who twisted his body as someone got too close to me. Why wasn’t he arguing with Rav? He’d been following the team’s lead more and more the longer we worked together, but this was almost like— “You lost your earpiece, didn’t you?”

Malcolm nodded, and my breath hitched.

“Where? When?”

“When the car hit me.”

I pulled closer to him. “Hit you? Put me down!”

“No.” His pace slowed as we funneled through the front doors. Over a hundred people stood in the driveway, more joining with every passing second. Irritated guests who didn’t know what was going on, frantic guests who must have been downstairs, and more than one person limping. Either the car had hit more people than just Malcolm and me, or the panic had resulted in twisted ankles and banged up elbows as people fled.

Over Malcolm’s shoulder, I glimpsed a soaking wet man and woman who must have wound up in the pool. Thomas Maguire was nowhere to be seen.

Will had certainly underestimated the level of chaos.

“Brie, Malcolm lost his earpiece. I need you to destroy it.” Our command center had remote access to every piece of our tech, including the ability to release a chemical agent that would eat every molecule of DNA and render it not just unusable, but untraceable.

“I’m busy with the security system. Will, you do it.”

Will huffed out a breath. “I just drove a Velatti Aereus into a pool. I can do anything.”

“I have one camera on the roof,” she added. “When the alarms started, the security guy ran the length of the roof and once he was clear, he went inside. Jayce and Declan are moving slower, likely keeping quiet, but the path looks clear.”

Flashing lights lit up the evening and sirens competed with the continuing alarms.

One of the security guards approached us—a burly man with a scar across his right cheek and a dark suit—and held up a hand. “Paramedics are almost here. Come with me and I’ll get you to the front of the queue.”

“Get out of there,” said Rav. “You can’t wait around while there’s a risk they discover the ring’s been stolen.”

The guard put his hand behind Malcolm’s back, steering him toward the driveway and the flashing lights. Not good. Really not good.

“Put me down?” I patted Malcolm’s chest and he frowned at me. “My head’s swimming and I need to stay still for a sec.”

“Then you definitely need to come with me.” The guard was too insistent. We were surrounded by people. Sure, I had a little blood on my dress and hands, but why the focus on us?

“Give the lady a minute.” Malcolm carried me toward the eastern end of the house, out of the way of the throng of guests waiting for rides, paramedics, or for the party to resume. “Can you walk? Those gashes look nasty.”

“You carrying me is gaining too much attention.” I scanned the crowd as he eased me to the ground, and sure enough, not only was the security guard still watching us, but several of the guests were.

“It’s too cold out here for you.” He shrugged off his tuxedo jacket and draped it around my shoulders. “Where’s your wrap?”

“I’m not a porcelain doll. I’m a woman on a mission and we need to get this ring out of here. Help me walk.”

He did as I asked, supporting me with one arm. Louder than necessary, he said, “Are you sure you should be walking?”

“It feels better already.” My dress was dark enough no one would see the blood unless they were next to me. And hopefully, moving around would prevent the guard from forcing me into the ambulance.

We made our way to the end of the house, turned around and walked back to throw off any suspicion, and headed for the end of the house again. The eastern end. The egress point. Rendezvous.

“Earpiece destroyed,” said Will.

“The historic records of the security cameras are also done,” said Brie. “I’m downloading tonight and once everybody’s free, I’ll delete these too.”

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