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The hand Mouse had on my shoulder tightened almost imperceptibly. I put my arm around his waist and looked up at him. “He’s right. But maybe you can encourage me to hit the gym instead,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
Elek’s attention moved to me. “You are both beautiful, sexy men. In fact,” he said, leaning forward, “I would not be opposed to getting to know the both of you a little more… intimately.”
Okay. This… was not what I’d expected to happen. But I had to tread carefully, because I couldn’t risk them getting upset and leaving.
“Well…” I said with a grin. “Then what do you say we break out the good whiskey? It might help everyone relax a little bit more.”
24
King
We decided I’d go in via the tunnel. It was easy enough to bypass the alarm connectors on the outside of the hatch, and Ziv would disarm the main system with his computer. He’d hacked into it already to prep the video loops.
This was the operation we’d planned originally, so we knew exactly what to do. I triple-checked I had everything I needed before slipping out of the van and into the drainage entrance.
Linney’s sweet voice kept me company as I crouch-walked down the tunnel to the hatch. She’d been keeping an ear on Falcon’s date night with Elek and assured me they were still at our house. There would still be guards at Elek’s of course, but they wouldn’t be in the bedroom itself.
When I was ready for Ziv to initiate the system override, I said, “Go.”
Ziv’s voice was calm when he replied, “Done.”
I drilled out the simple lock and pulled the hatch door open. Thankfully, Ziv had eyes inside the house to confirm that there wasn’t anyone in the wine cellar to see me enter the room from the tunnel.
I made my way upstairs, following his whispered instructions about guard movement and my own knowledge about the layout. When he confirmed the motion sensors had been deactivated, I entered the main-level hallway, hanging a right before making my way toward the master bedroom. According to Ziv, all of the guards were in the guard room with the exception of one walking around the perimeter of the house outside.
When I got to the bedroom door, I saw the dual fingerprint scanner and a numerical keypad. I went ahead and attached the number scanner, knowing full well Elek would have a long, convoluted string of numbers that would take the scanner longer than usual to determine. Meanwhile, I pulled out the prosthetic fingerprints.
After several minutes, the scanner finally beeped with the right combination of numbers. I placed the fingerprints on the keypad and entered the number. When the lights flashed green and I heard a muted beep, my heart thundered with excitement. Having Elek and Demitri gone for the night had made this much easier.
Once inside the bedroom, I spotted the display case immediately. The crown was lit from inside the case, and the gold of the crown shone brightly. I couldn’t believe I was standing in Elek’s bedroom looking at the Holy Crown of Hungary.
After approaching the case, I looked for all the indicators on my list of potential security obstacles. Pressure pads, wiring, motion sensors that were attached to the main system, and anything else that looked out of place. There was a pressure pad around the display stand, but I could easily reach across it.
I knelt on the floor outside of the area holding the pressure pad and used my screwdriver to pry off the panel at the base of the display stand. Inside, I found all of the electrical wires. There was wiring for the system we had already deactivated remotely, the lighting, and one other set of wires I didn’t recognize. I followed them from the floor up to the base of the glass box holding the crown.
“What are you here for?” I muttered at the wires. I racked my brain to think of all the things it could be until I finally noticed an additional fingerprint scanner mounted underneath the glass box. It had to be Elek’s print.
Sure enough, I used the prosthetic with Elek’s print and heard a click. When I unscrewed the base of the glass box, it lowered easily into my hands, bringing the crown within reach.
Now all I had to do was release the special fasteners. They were no longer connected to the security system, but they did keep the crown mounted to the display case. Since I couldn’t sneak out of the house with a large heavy display case, I had to get the crown off its mount.
I swore half the purpose of these fancy fasteners was to slow down a thief long enough to get caught. But I’d spent hours practicing on them at home and had it down to a science. When the crown finally came free, I slipped it into the slim pouch on my back, set a single Greek coin in its place, and closed up the display case the way I found it.
