11. Raven

11

RAVEN

"Where are you?" I snapped, waiting for Snatch at the location he chose this morning.

"Relax, I'll be there in a minute."

"I've been waiting for half an hour," I grumbled. "I could have stopped for lunch."

"I'll buy you lunch when this is over."

Sighing, I glanced down at my wrist to check the time, but frowned when I realized it wasn't on my wrist. That was weird. I thought back to the motel this morning, but couldn't remember putting it on. The last I remembered…

I'd taken it off at the motel in Ohio. I wracked my brain, trying to remember if I put it on that morning. I'd gotten up early, around five to get on the road. I grabbed my phone, but couldn't remember seeing my watch on the nightstand. I was so tired after my midnight phone call that I hadn't really been with it. I hadn't had any coffee yet, and I never functioned well until I had my morning cup.

I visualized the room, closing my eyes as I went over every inch of it in my mind. The curtains were closed. The door was locked and the chain lock was in place. My bag was on the floor where I left it.

The chair…

The chair at the table was facing the bed. If I had been more awake, I would have noticed it immediately. I would have straightened it, but I was too tired and wasn't focusing.

But what did it mean?

I didn't sit in the chair even once that night or in the morning. The only thing I moved was the lamp because it wasn't sitting perpendicular on the table. But I distinctly remembered taking off my watch and placing it on the nightstand. I did it every night. It was a ritual at this point. How could I forget to put it back on?

The name on the motel sign flashed in my mind and I immediately started searching online for the number. It rang several times before someone at the front desk answered.

"Starlight Motel. How can I help you?" The male's bored tone nearly made me snap.

"I was there two nights ago and left a watch behind."

"The motel is not responsible for lost items."

"I'm not holding you responsible. I was wondering if a maid turned it in."

"Nothing's been turned in."

"You haven't looked," I snapped.

"Yes, I did. I just looked."

"You're on the phone with me!"

"And I looked. It's not there."

"Maybe a maid pocketed it or?—"

"Our staff wouldn't have taken it."

I was fuming. This asshole wasn't even bothering to check. "Look, it was important to me. Can you please look in the room? Maybe check on the floor."

There was silence for a moment. "Sure, I'll get right on that." He paused. "It's not there."

I was fuming, but there was nothing I could do except drive back and look for myself. But that wouldn't happen until this job was over. I'd already committed to helping out.

"Thanks for your help." I hung up the phone and spun, nearly running into Snatch. "Jesus, walk a little louder."

"You're distracted. Is there something I need to know about?" he asked, watching me curiously.

Snatch had chin-length greasy hair and desperately needed a shower at all times, but he was one of the best when it came to security. I was able to handle a lot on my own, but for high-profile jobs, there was no one like him.

"Nothing that concerns you. Do you want to tell me why you wanted to meet on the roof?"

"I thought you'd be interested in that," he grinned. "This is the perfect place to scope out our target."

He pointed in the distance to a building on the edge of the river. I noticed it when I drove into the mid-sized town because it sat unusually close to the river.

"What is it?"

"It's the mansion of Sir Henry Allsebrook. He's a duke or earl. Something like that. Rich British upper class," he clarified. "And inside is a piece of Russian history."

"And what is that?"

"A Fabergé egg," he grinned. "Czar Nicholas II gifted many to his wife and his mother-in-law. There were fifty made in total for the Imperial family. However, after the death of the Romanovs, the palace was raided and the eggs were sent to the Kremlin. Eight of them went missing," he grinned. "They never arrived at the Kremlin."

"And you think one of those Fabergé eggs is in that mansion."

"Not one. Three. It's the collection of a lifetime. Individually, they're worth millions, but a collection of them is worth at least fifty million."

I tore my eyes from his and looked into the distance at the mansion. "How did you find out about this?"

"Whispers over the years," he shrugged. "It's something I've been following for a long time, but I didn't have any confirmation they were really there. And then two months ago, I met a woman at a party."

"What kind of party?"

"The kind you need a fancy invitation to get into," he winked with a shrug. "I was in the mood for a little hobnobbing."

"You mean you were looking for your next score."

"And I happened to overhear this woman talking about these diamond-encrusted eggs that were supposedly famous."

That didn't make any sense. "If she knew these were priceless treasures, she wouldn't have been discussing them."

"Exactly what I thought! But I was curious. I wooed her and made sure I got an invite back to Chateau de Allsebrook for a little peek around the house."

"She just invited you back there," I said incredulously.

"Well, it took a lot of wooing. And I may have pretended to be a rich duke with castles in Scotland and Ireland."

"How did you pass for a duke?"

He adjusted his mustard-stained shirt, standing up taller. "I'll have you know I clean up very nicely. This isn't my first rodeo."

It wasn't, and despite appearances, I knew Snatch was something of a chameleon. "So, what's the play?"

"Well, there's no way we'll get an invite back there for just anything. This woman has gone back to her princes and ivory towers."

"Wait, you still haven't said who this woman is."

"She's the rich guy's niece! Yeah, she was here on vacation or something. See the States and what-not."

"So, we're going to break in."

"Nope."

"If we're not going to break in, how do you suppose we'll steal these priceless artifacts?"

"With an invitation to the annual Allsebrook Ball. Pretentious, I know, but we can make it work. I've already secured us two invitations."

"You want us to steal priceless artifacts during a ball? Do you realize how high security will be?"

"Actually, the eggs will be put away in a safe that's nearly impossible to break into. See, the eggs were stolen, and if they're ever found, they would be returned to Russia. That's our in."

"To break into an uncrackable safe," I reiterated. "That's your big plan."

He grinned widely at me. "And I have the best on my side."

I knew I was going to regret asking. "What am I up against?"

"Fingerprint scanner, retinal scanner, and um…a drop of blood for identification."

I huffed out a laugh. This guy had to be crazy. "And you expect us to be able to get all that in the middle of a ball? We can't exactly knock the guy unconscious and drag him to the safe with all those people around."

"Not to mention that if you miss even one step, the safe defaults to the original settings. You would need a technician to come in and reset the whole thing, setting our timeline back a few weeks at least."

"Snatch, there's no possible way for me to get his retinal scan. I can get the blood and the thumbprint. That's no problem. I can't rip out his eyeball."

"Yeah, but there are other ways around that."

"I would like to hear you name one."

"As you know, I have many skills in the tech field. I've received accolades for my ingenious work on the Berlin job and then in the?—"

"Get to the point."

"All we need is a code for the scanner to read. It's just like a fingerprint. Each retinal scan is unique, just like a line of code. Theoretically, if we were to get our hands on the code from the scanner, we could duplicate it with some handy computer work."

"I have no idea what you just said."

"That's okay. It's an idea I've been working on."

"So, you've never tested it."

"No, but I'm sure it'll work."

"That's not enough for me to go on," I retorted. "I'm not going to risk everything because you're sure you can figure it out."

He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "I already have the code."

I stared at him in shock, then snatched the paper from his hand. "How did you get it?"

He rolled his eyes like that was a stupid question. "When the lady let me into the house, I caused a distraction, then hooked into the security system. I was in and out in less than two minutes. Now, I have access to everything."

"I take it the safe isn't attached to the security system."

"Nope. But the retinal scan will be the same."

"What if he scanned the other eye?"

"Nobody does that. It's too hard to remember which eye you scanned for everything. No, he's right-handed, which means he scanned his right eye."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It totally does. Righties naturally use the right side of their body more. Same thing with thumbprint scanners. You use your dominant hand."

It sounded legit, but I still wasn't sure we could actually pull this off. "Before we move on this, I want to know the ins and outs of every aspect of the job."

"Then let's get to work."

"Did you get your dress?" Snatch asked as I walked into the hotel room.

I held up the bag and grinned. "As requested. It's perfectly respectable and boring, with one very high slit that will allow me to work."

He snapped his fingers, jogging over to where his tux was hanging in the garment bag. He unzipped it and pulled it out, holding it in front of him. "What do you think?"

"I think it looks like every other suit I've seen."

He frowned, staring down at it. "No, this is a classic. It's from Jim's Formal Wear."

"And that would be?" I asked, my eyebrow raised in question.

"You know…Jim. Down the street."

"How much did you pay?"

"A thousand."

I snorted in amusement. Walking over to the tux, I looked at the label. It was one I'd never heard of. "Looks like you got ripped off."

"Well…it doesn't matter. In a few days, I'll have enough money to buy any tux I want."

"Buying clothes is not how I'm going to spend my millions."

I walked over to my bedroom and hung up the dress, letting it out of the bag to hang without wrinkling. It really was gorgeous but understated. I didn't want to stand out with anything too flashy that would be remembered when Mr. Allsebrook realized he'd been robbed.

"Do you have an appointment at the salon?" Snatch said from my doorway.

"In two hours. Why?" I asked, turning to face him.

"I'm going to do a final sweep of the area. I want to check our exit."

"From the rooftop?" I asked, wondering why he would need to check it again when we were up on the hotel roof for two hours yesterday scouting the area.

"Like you said, there are a lot of people coming to this thing. If anything goes wrong, we won't be able to walk out the front door with the eggs. They'll lock that place down."

"Our plans are pretty solid. Aside from any complications with the safe, I think we're good."

"Alright, I'm heading out. I'll meet you back here tonight. Don't forget the necklace."

I glanced at the dresser where a black box sat. Inside was a sparkling diamond necklace that must have cost a few hundred thousand dollars. It wasn't at all my style, but my simple ruby necklace wouldn't cut it for tonight. I needed to fit into the crowd.

After I laid out everything for tonight, I shaved and showered, then headed to the salon. I needed my hair out of my face for tonight, so the ladies were tucking my hair up in some fancy style that I knew I would hate come morning. My head already ached from the number of pins they slid through my hair. I distracted myself as best I could with a magazine, but reading about famous people didn't interest me unless they had something I wanted.

Sighing, I tossed the magazine aside, ready to close my eyes and feign a nap when movement outside the salon caught my eye. Across the road on a park bench sat a man who looked just like the man who was following me. Dark hair and a black leather jacket…there was no way it could be anyone else. Shivers raced down my spine at the sight of him, but how could that be? I didn't know the man. Other than sitting across from him at the diner, I knew nothing about him.

And how could he possibly know where I was? I lost him the day I caused the accident. No one had followed me, and I kept my eyes open for days after I lost him. There wasn't a single car on the road that had followed me. A bus passed and when it cleared the window, the man was gone.

"Did you see that?" I asked without thinking.

"See what?" The woman doing my hair practically dropped everything to look in the same direction.

"Out the window. Did you see a man in a leather jacket on the bench?"

"Honey, I wish I saw a man like that out there. Everyone in this town wears a fancy suit or golf attire. Lord knows we could use a little spice in this town."

That was so strange. He was right there. I couldn't have imagined him. But how could he just vanish like that? It wasn't possible. My mind had to be playing tricks on me. Maybe I was making the whole thing up in my head to alleviate the boredom of the day.

Still, when my hair was done and I was ready to head home, I did a quick sweep of the area. Any traces of him would surely be gone by now. But when I walked over to the bench and sat down, I noticed a chain on the ground at my feet. Bending over, I picked up the chain and examined the medal on the end, dangling and twisting in front of my face.

"A Saint Christopher medal," I murmured. The worn silver barely reflected any light, but it was beautiful in its tarnished state. I wasn't sure if it belonged to him. In fact, I wasn't even sure I saw him, but this necklace could belong to him, and until I was sure he was really gone, I wasn't letting it go. I slipped it into my purse for safekeeping and closed my eyes, running through what I saw again.

He was sitting across from me. Did he ever look up? I scanned the bench in my mind, focusing on the small details. His eyes shifted to the left. A thick strand of hair fell over his forehead. His eyes slowly blinked as he turned to me just as the bus passed.

He was here. I knew it.

I stood and glanced around, searching for him in every person that passed, but he was long gone. Either that or he was watching me from afar. Shaking my head, I hailed a taxi back to the hotel. I couldn't think about this now. I had a job to do. When it was all over, I would search for my mystery man.