33. Emmett

Chapter 33

Emmett

Later Friday morning, after ensuring all of Jenn’s physical needs were met, I dropped her off in a shop on the Monte Carlo Promenade. She was in the expert hands of a professional shopper, who’d help choose her outfit for this evening.

Across the road, where I could still see the shop, I joined my team at a small outdoor seating area. A thick stone half-wall shielded our table from the port, and a large yellow umbrella concealed us from the view of anyone in the buildings above.

As I approached, Rav, Will, Jayce, and Drew looked up.

“Morning, all,” I said, taking my seat.

Will was pulling a small device from his backpack—a compact black metal box, only three inches long. He flicked a switch on its top, pressed a button, and a green light illuminated. “Interference is on.”

We’d debated whether to meet in the two-story open office we’d rented for training, one of our hotel rooms, or outside. Will’s jammer provided us with a cone of silence and invisibility, and he could have disrupted any video feeds or listening devices indoors or out.

The decision came down to Jenn. She wouldn’t question the group of us sitting around a table and chatting across the street from the shop. But if we’d gathered in one of our hotel rooms or at the office, I would have needed an excuse to leave her alone, and that wasn’t an option.

Next, Will pulled a watch box from his bag. “I’ve upgraded the receiver in the watch, which I believe caused the problem yesterday.”

I opened the box, inspecting the modified Omega for any sign it wasn’t the real thing. Naturally, there was none. “Any changes to the earpiece?”

Will shook his head. “The watch manages the extended signal. The earpiece just needs to connect to it.”

Two gelato cups sat in front of Jayce from a small snack shop nearby. “We stuck around for a few hours after locating the right tunnel. The guards rotated every half hour, always in pairs, and if one had to leave, another filled in temporarily.”

Rav said, “One of them responded instantly when Jenn walked through the door, yes?”

I nodded.

Will placed a tablet in the middle of the table. The way it dimmed when I moved my head suggested it had a protective layer, ensuring no one beyond our table could read it. A floor plan of the Casino Rocher appeared.

“Where’d you find this?” I asked.

Will grinned at the tablet, almost as if to himself. “Brie’s a genius.”

For over a decade, Will and my younger sister swore they were nothing more than friends. I’d noticed the sparkle in her eye when she spoke to him years ago, but this was the first time I’d seen the same from him.

You need to address that, Emmett.

“The guards.” Rav pointed to the spot where someone had marked an X on the floor plan, indicating the concealed entrance. “When the crowds are thin, their job appears boring. If something went awry, I suspect the second guard is a backup. Some sort of distraction or disturbance might get rid of both at the same time, or one after the other, without allowing them to secure the door quickly enough to stop Jayce from slipping in.”

“The hidden doorway is at the end of the corridor leading to the ladies’ restroom.” I zoomed in on that section of the map. “Any distraction that gets Jayce through the door can have her in the restroom before anyone notices.” I looked at our acquisitions specialist. “If you can change quickly enough?—”

“Not an issue,” Jayce said, covering her mouth as she swallowed a spoonful of her gelato. “I have another dress like the one I wore in Washington, but in all black. It’ll work for stealth and changes quickly into formal attire.”

Drew added, “The distraction will have to be something that doesn’t shut down the auction or cause chaos.”

With a smirk, Rav quipped, “So, no explosives?”

Jayce snorted. “No explosives.”

Will slid another small box to Jayce. “This is the replica of the scarab. It’ll fit in the pouch hidden in your dress, right at your hip bone.”

Drew said, “I must say, she tested the hidden pouch last night, and it worked perfectly. Engineering, goldwork, and tailoring skills? That’s an impressive resume.”

Will shrugged. “I can build anything out of anything else.”

Jayce held her spoon near her lips as she said, “Will’s like our own MacGyver.”

“My mom loved him.” Will gave a small laugh, staring at the tablet, likely remembering better times with his mother. He was in a lot of pain. This trip was hardly the vacation his sister insisted he take, but it would help him find some normalcy for a few days, at least.

“I could smuggle a phone in, too,” said Jayce, around another mouthful.

“Too risky,” I said. “If they catch any of us sneaking tech in, we’re out of the game. Drew and I need to keep as clean as possible so we can help you without worrying about ourselves.”

Jayce shrugged. “Fair.”

“The plan for tonight is simple. If I win the scarab at the auction, we’re done. If I can’t, the next move is to woo the buyer into giving it up. If that doesn’t work, we get Jayce into the storage room.” I zoomed out on the floor plan, shifting to the third main room. I tapped the hallway near the high-rollers’ room, where the secure storage was located. “Jayce swaps the scarabs, takes the genuine one, and leaves through the hidden doorway into the caves. If the buyer realizes they’ve been duped, the blame will fall on the Casino first. Martine—the manager—had a lengthy chat with Mum last night.”

Drew asked, “They know each other?”

“Yes. From way back, according to my mother.” I held Drew’s gaze for a moment longer, and he nodded. Scarlett and I had kept the MI6 story under wraps, except when we needed Drew’s assistance. When would we inform Brie, Rav, and the rest of the crew? We hadn’t decided yet. “She’s highly regarded in all the right circles, but there’s always an element of buyer beware in the black market. She and Massimo have some history, so she’ll pin the blame on him, claiming he gave her a fake.”

Much like the Constable painting his son hired Jenn to clean. Poetic justice.

The black market was a strange thing indeed. A Picasso could go for a song if used as leverage, or a small golden artifact might fetch many times its actual value if someone desired the rare piece enough.

“Why don’t we go right now?” Jayce scraped the bottom of her first cup of gelato. “It’s probably quiet, with fewer people in the way.”

“Quieter, but not empty.” Casino Rocher operated twenty-four hours a day. Mornings and early afternoons saw the fewest people, but the security was still high. “And too empty for you to sneak into the storage room.”

Jayce shrugged and switched to her second cup of gelato. “What if we staged a fight? Get a couple of drunk guys to start swinging near the ladies’ room?”

Drew shook his head. “They’re guarding the other side of the door. They wouldn’t handle disturbances inside unless it threatened their position.”

“Fair point.” Jayce reached out, idly moving the image around on the tablet. “How about a medical emergency? Someone collapses near the hidden door? Surely they’d come running if someone yelled for help?”

“Still won’t work,” I said. “You’d wind up with more people gathered around that entrance, and possibly paramedics to contend with.”

Suddenly, Will snapped his fingers. “What if we don’t create a distraction ourselves? What if we let someone else do it for us?”

“Go on,” I said.

“Have you ever heard of urban exploration?” Will leaned in. “People love finding hidden spots in cities. What if we leaked the location of the secret door on some adventure websites?”

That idea had potential. “A bunch of thrill-seekers descend on the guards at once from the cavern side of the door?”

Rav nodded thoughtfully. “It would overwhelm the guards. They’d try to keep people away, possibly call in backup, and the chaos allows Jayce to slip past.”

Will folded a small keyboard out from his phone and began typing. “I’ll talk to Brie. Her team will set up the website posts and make it look like there’s a lot of interest. Arrange for multiple confirmations at the right time.”

“Make it two waves of explorers,” I said. “One to mask Jayce’s ingress and one for egress.”

“I like it. Stealth, skill, and I bet it’ll be hilarious.” Jayce’s eyes gleamed as she offered Drew a spoonful of gelato. That was a change—she didn’t usually share food. “We’ve been rehearsing movement through the Casino, and I can make it to the storage room in three minutes and twenty seconds without looking more suspicious than I normally do. I’ll have Brie’s remote access thingamajig so she can futz with the security feed.”

“Good.” I was too well-known in the Casino to be sneaking around.

But Jayce? Not only was it her job, but she’d be bringing in the electronics. Everything fell on her shoulders. “You’re working on access to the room itself?”

I nodded at her. “Martine’s provided the passcode. That’ll be the easy part.”

Rav, speaking like the head of security he was, said, “Can we trust her?”

I’d asked the same question. Scarlett had said no—she never trusted the team’s safety to outsiders. But Mum had overruled her.

“If Mum says we can,” I said, “we can.”

Rav nodded, obviously not fully satisfied, but willing to accept the answer. “Drew should be inside the Casino, while you work the caverns with Jayce.”

I wasn’t about to be pulled from my own op. “No, we’ve already?—”

He held up a hand. “Noah and Enzo have only met Drew once, so a light disguise will ensure no one recognizes him.”

Part of me wanted to shut Rav down. But Drew and Jayce did work well together. Maybe it was a good plan. I said, “Then Jayce can hand off the device to loop the security feed. Drew can plant it in the right spot and keep moving. The less time anyone spends near that room, the better.”

“Getting me through the secret door is a far bigger risk than Jayce,” said Drew. “I’ll have to come in through the main entrance, which means no phone.”

Will said, “I don’t have another watch, and your comms will be awful inside the cavern.”

“Drew takes the watch,” said Rav. “And Emmett stays in the caverns.”

Not a chance. “I’m not arguing with you, Rav. This is my job, and I’m going in.”

Drew waved a hand. “I worked solo for years. Don’t worry about me.”

That came close to breaking our cardinal rule—never turn off the comms during a heist. But I turned to Will. “If Drew had his earpiece, he could still communicate with me and anyone who gets close enough in the cavern, right?”

Will nodded. “It should work. Plus, we can still use the earpiece to track him if something goes south.”

“Done.” I pointed at Drew. “You go in near-blind, and I go in with the watch.”

Rav frowned. “That’s not the right call, and you know it. You don’t have anything to prove.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” But you do, Em. My fingers twitched. They wanted to touch the chip. Don’t let him see it, Emmett. “Martine’s agreed to work with us, but that includes an auction invite for me, not Drew. We’re not jeopardizing the mission.”

Rav folded his arms as though challenging me. “And Jenn?”

“What about her?” I asked, a little too fast. He doesn’t know what happened last night or this morning, so calm down. “She’s my plus-one tonight. I’ll keep her with me, which means she’ll be safe.”

“She’d be safer in the boat with me.” Rav’s job was to monitor the water door in case Jayce needed to use it as an emergency exit. There was a security presence at that door, but between the two of them, they’d be able to get her out. “Jenn’s a liability tonight.”

“He’s right.” Drew, as sour as Rav at times, nodded. “You’re not at your best when she’s around.”

What?

“Don’t give me shit about it getting personal, Drew. What did you do when she”—I jabbed a finger in Jayce’s direction—“was in danger?”

Jayce nudged too-serious Drew with a shoulder. “He jumped in front of a bullet for me.”

Drew opened his mouth to rebut.

I turned the finger on him before he could defend his hypocrisy. “Exactly. Sounds like too personal worked out pretty well for you.”

“We’re not stupid, Emmett,” growled Rav, his huge arms flexing. “You’re going to get her hurt.”

“Noah’s the one who gave us this tip. He wants us to take the scarab to screw over Massimo. He won’t hurt her if that ruins his plan.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Did he know about me and Jenn? Had Jayce said something about me flirting yesterday? Had Rav’s earpiece reception been better than he’d let on?

“Anyway.” Jayce’s singsong voice was a blatant attempt to break the tension. When that didn’t work, she stood, plucking at Drew’s shirt. “We should head back to the office and run through the virtual maps again. I’d like to do it with the actual scarab and consider Drew on the inside.”

Rav didn’t take her bait and stayed focused on me. “You’re playing house with a woman who’s already taken.”

“She broke up with Simon before she left home.” Shit . I definitely said that too fast.

Rav stood as he unfolded his arms and leaned on the table. Fists balled. Menace in his eyes. “I swear, if anything?—”

“Noah’s not after her.” I also stood despite how stupid it was to square off with Rav. “If he were, he would have tracked where she was every second. She wouldn’t have seen him until it was too late. He’s not stupid, either, Rav. Think about it.”

He glowered at me, his extra three inches feeling like a foot. He could have thrown me over the short wall without stopping to think. It was what he’d trained for. He excelled at strategy and tactics. A surveillance expert and marksman who possessed a level of grit I’d never encountered before.

And he was so loyal to his friends he’d die for any of us.

That included Jenn.

“You remember the first time you broke her heart?”

It was one kiss. Hardly her whole heart. And who’d told him? Jenn and Rav have been friends that long, too, remember?

“I should have kicked your ass back then instead of letting Scarlett stop me.” The intensity in Rav’s eyes didn’t break until he finally pivoted to Jayce. “Let’s go.”

Drew collected Jayce’s garbage, and they headed for the garbage bin.

Rav turned back to me, burning a hole through me with his gaze. “And for the record? You know the Casino best, so you should be joining us at the office. If this job fails…” Rav’s finger aimed at my chest. “It’s on you.”