Page 72 of Forgotten Promise

“Ahh,” Luca said. “They’re hoping to cover the sound.”

“Wouldn’t the building shake?” Kailani asked.

“Not if they are very good. This is a small, controlled explosion,” Luca said. “It would sound like pops rather than a boom.”

“How often do you get thunderstorms?” John asked.

“All the time. It rains most days, and it’s the wet season, so…so it would make sense that they were waiting for a big storm.”

“It’s a gamble.” John looked from the door to the hatch. “They were gambling on you not coming back before they could get all the gold and blow that door. They knew if they did it at a time when everyone heard, that they’d attract attention, and there’d be no chance of cleaning out whatever’s inside. Especially if it’s something heavy like more gold. That takes time to move.” John looked at Luca. “There’s no chance of this exploding?”

Luca started peeling C4 off the door. “No.”

“Wait, if that’s the case, if this is a robbery…it’s possible this had nothing to do with Trinity Masters.” Kailani sounded hopeful.

“I’d bet my badge this is a good old-fashioned heist.” John looked up. “I’m going to see if I can get to that hatch from above, check for any evidence.” He glanced at Kailani. “Tell your brother to round up the construction crew. I have some questions.”

* * *

Kailani led the way up the spiral staircase once more. She wanted to be with John while he questioned people and searched for their robber, but this was more important. She was a keyholder, and this robbery was just one more delay. Watching, listening, to John solve the crime had been a vivid illustration of what an amazing detective he was.

She nearly tripped when she failed to lift her foot enough and it caught on the lip of a step.

“Careful,” Preston said behind her.

She nodded, grasping the railing to steady herself before she continued on. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been this tired in her entire life. She’d done a cross-country jaunt—twice—in the past forty-eight hours, only managing a few hours of sleep in the Denver hotel and a few odd restless naps on Benjamin’s private jet. Her eyes were dry, her body weary, her brain sluggish at best.

She wanted to blame her exhaustion on just the lack of sleep, but she knew it was more than that. Kailani feared a twelve-hour nap wouldn’t even cure what ailed her.

Whenever she was overstressed at work, her brain shut down. It had always been that way, and she’d had to figure out ways to overcome it, or else she’d watch hour after hour of true crime documentaries instead. In order to compensate, she’d learned to break her tasks down into manageable chunks rather than looking at the whole picture.

There’d been no breaking the past two days down into anything resembling manageable. It had been barely controlled chaos. An insane sprint peppered with forced downtime.

If she’d only had to retrieve Preston and Selene, things most likely would have been fine. The weather delay would have upset her, but she could have dealt with it.

Instead, Benjamin and John had been with her, adding a completely different set of emotions to the mix, both of them looking to her for…God, she wasn’t sure what? Answers? A change of heart?

Two days ago, she was certain nothing on earth would change her mind about her feelings toward Benjamin, toward their trinity.

Now?

Now…

Now…

Fuck. Her brain was done. Cooked.

Kailani entered the first room, waiting as Selene and Preston stepped in behind her. They’d left the work lights, and the room seemed oddly smaller now that she could see everything more clearly than when it had been illuminated only by the battery-operated motion lights.

Preston’s expression was somber and serious, while Selene was back to the coldly intelligent woman who’d first come down the stairs of her home in New York.

Kailani rubbed her eyes wearily, trying to stifle a yawn. She’d prepared for this moment her whole life, and now that it was here, all she wanted to do was crawl beneath the cool duvet on her bed and sleep for a week.

Unfortunately, she was still hours away from that even being a possibility. Once they knew who the acting Grand Master was, there was work to be done, plus dealing with the outcome of John’s investigation…

Kailani’s heart began to pound, so hard it almost hurt. Because she was here now, moments away from discovering if she would be the acting Grand Master. Her chest tightened and she closed her eyes, fighting like the devil to find the courage to do what came next.

“Do we take turns trying our keys in the top spot?” Selene asked, clearly ready to begin.

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