38. Emmett

Chapter 38

Emmett

Staring at the auctioneer was nothing more than cover. My peripheral vision—and my brain—was trained on Noah. He took a seat behind Dante and Massimo. When he leaned forward to speak with them, Dante craned his head back, then spun to glower at me. But I kept my gaze on the action everyone else was there for.

Over my earpiece, Jayce made random quips at people as she passed them, demonstrating to us she’d gotten in. Brie and Scarlett kept everyone up-to-date about Jayce and Drew’s locations and the video feed from the drones inside the tunnels. The guards had the first wave of urban explorers nearly under control. Everything was going to plan.

“Brie,” I whispered, “can you have one of your team members research this golden disc? I want to know what it is.”

“We’re on it,” Brie said.

Jayce said something to Drew over the comms—a sarcastic comment about him colliding with her. In reality, she’d snuck the device that would allow Brie to hack the security feed into his pocket.

Jenn approached, threading her arm around mine. “You okay? You were talking to Noah for an awful long time.”

“Fine.”

Jenn sighed. “Fine? I’m still in shock.”

The auctioneer introduced the golden disc.

Massimo took the first bid.

“I mean… every time I turn around here, something else crazy happens.” She held my arm tighter. “Can you believe they brought the fake painting to the auction?”

“The fake’s here?” I asked, momentarily distracted from the auction.

Jenn nodded and put her head on my shoulder. “At least one good thing’s happened. You and I?—”

“Massimo’s bidding on a golden disc.” I inclined my head toward the front before she could mention anything going on between us. I couldn’t let the team hear that. “Considering how much gold he already has in the gallery and no doubt in his home, it’s a curious purchase.”

Jenn opened her auction catalog. “This one’s from China, originally part of a fengguan from the ninth century. His gallery doesn’t have much from East Asia.”

As Jenn spoke, Brie filled in more details on her end. “It came from the inventory of a Chinese noblewoman. In that period, the dragon represented the emperor. And can you guess what represented the empress?”

“The phoenix?” I guessed.

“Yes, how’d you know that?” Jenn asked, flipping pages in her auction catalog, as though searching for information. “The fengguan is also known as a phoenix crown.”

Shit. Drew had called it. I was more distracted than I’d realized. I shouldn’t have responded to Brie while Jenn was talking to me.

“You’re right about his interest in antiquities,” I said, trying to recover. “Jean-Philippe mentioned something about Massimo’s fascination with phoenixes, specifically. I was wondering if this might be related, but a nest or feathers would seem more appropriate.”

That was a reasonable cover.

I watched the auction intently, my mind racing with possibilities. Massimo and three others were locked in a bidding war, the price skyrocketing past three million.

The reward money for returning the scarab might be enough to snag this mysterious disc. You should bid on it.

No, Emmett, that’s a bad idea.

Jenn closed her auction catalog and tucked it under her arm with her clutch. “I’m not sure about other periods, but the phoenix was often depicted with a halo in medieval European iconography. Maybe in Chinese mythology, the crown?—”

“That’s it!” I blurted, my eyes darting between her and the auction. “The Fenix Group, as far as we’re aware, has collected a talon, a feather, and a beak. All made of solid gold, ancient pieces from various cultures around the world.”

“You think they’re collecting parts of a larger statue or something?”

“That’s got to be it!” I said, with a couple of voices over my earpiece echoing the comment.

Jenn’s brow furrowed. “And you think this confirms Massimo and Dante are part of the organization? Not just working with them?”

The auctioneer’s gavel fell with a resounding crack. “Sold to Monsieur De Rosa for five million, two hundred thousand euros!”

Massimo and Dante stood, embracing despite an obvious tension between them. Massimo gestured toward the entrance, exchanging words with Noah, who nodded in response.

The senior De Rosa said his goodbyes and left through a side door.

For my team’s benefit, I whispered, “I think Massimo’s headed for the water door.”

Jenn looked up, but didn’t question me.

Rav’s voice sounded in my ear. “There’s a tender heading toward the door. It came from a yacht waiting a kilometer or so away. Will, can you dispatch one of your drones to make a positive ID on the yacht?”

Noah strode purposefully toward the casino door, while Dante settled back into his seat, looking decidedly pissed.

“Noah’s leaving the event room. Probably going to retrieve the disc for Massimo?” Normally, I had a lot of leeway when coordinating a heist. So long as the people around me didn’t realize what I was actually doing, I could easily use code for my observations or orders.

But with Jenn standing next to me?

I was giving a play-by-play of everything happening in the room, and she was following my every word. I should have been more careful, but I didn’t have time for that.

Noah glanced in my direction, frowning at me before he vanished through the exit.

“You’re acting weird. What’s going on?” Jenn’s arm tightened around mine. “Noah warned me we should leave. Should we?”

Leave?

Fuck Noah for dismissing us as minor irritants.

Fuck Enzo for breaking into Jenn’s hotel room.

Fuck all of them. Those bastards would not win again.

“If the disc is what Fenix wants,” I said, an image of shoving the words down Noah’s throat too appealing, “I want it more.”

Jenn asked another question, but Jayce’s voice in my ear drowned her out. “Well, I’m in the storage room already. And it’s sitting right in front of me. It doesn’t fit as nicely into my dress, but I can grab it.”

Scarlett began to protest. “That’s not part of our?—”

“Do it,” I snapped, my mind made up.

“Do what?” Jenn’s confused voice practically melded with the background noise. “Leave?”

My focus was on the unfolding situation. On my team. On Jayce.

Noah was en route to the storage room to collect Massimo’s prize. He knew Jayce. He’d spot her. What would he do if he caught her with the disc?

Shit. What if Enzo was in the Casino somewhere? Why hadn’t I planned that out earlier?

We were so close to our goal. I had to act fast.