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“What’s wrong?” I ask her. I’m seated on the edge of my bed, doing my best to keep my anxious knee from bouncing.
“Van Straus’ place is a damn fortress.”
“I mean, itwasa medieval castle. That’s kind of the point.”
She shoots me an annoyed glare. “I thought I could take advantage of old servant passageways to sneak in, but according to this, Van Straus had those filled in to fortify the walls. He even dug down and added four floors underground.” She taps a spot on the blueprint before looking back at me, her trepidation clear. “He added a vault.”
“So?”
“So,” she echoes, “unless I get a good look at the thing, I won’t know what I’m up against. Is it a Hamilton? A Centurion? Is it a Class 1 or Class 2? TheVase of Aphroditeis probably tucked away in there, along with God knows what else.”
"It was in plain sight in front of the window, remember?” I reply. “Maybe it won’t be an issue.”
“Hmmm, right…” she says, then shakes her head. “We need to be prepared just in case, which means I need to know about the vault.”
“I’m assuming by your frantic tone that these details matter?”
“Yes, they matter!” she exclaims, agitated. “I need to know what kind of vault door we’re dealing with because I need to account for how long it’ll take me, what kind of tools I need to bring, if there are biometric measures to worry about. Hell, if it’s a Class 3, we’re as good as fucked.” In a calmer voice, she says, “Just in case.”
I frown. “So the blueprint isn’t enough.”
“No,” she says, shaking her head sadly. “I need to see the inside of that castle.”
“What a shame you can’t walk up to his front door and ask for a tour.”
Raquel tucks her knees against her chest, wrapping her arms around herself. “Yeah,” she mumbles. “What are we going to do? We only have a few more days left before…” She does a good job of keeping a straight face, but I don’t miss the way her bottom lip trembles slightly.
To be honest, I’m right there with her. Minus the lip trembling.
I’ve been struggling. Not only because I want to save Odette, but because I’m grappling with my conscience. Knowing I’m going to betray Raquel weighs heavily on my chest. I can feel her growing desperation. We keep running into obstacle after obstacle, but we’re running out of time. If Van Straus’ men don’t kill us on the spot, the stress of trying to figure out how to pull off this heist definitely will.
A phone buzzes.
My hand is about to fly to the burner phone tucked away in my inside jacket pocket, but Raquel picks up the one she swiped off of Anders, the patrol guard from the other day. She frowns as she reads the incoming messages.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“It’s in German. Can you translate?”
She hops up off the floor and rushes over, sitting directly beside me. She leans toward me, her thigh pressing against mine. She brings with her the smell of vanilla and coffee, the warmth of her body seeping into my skin. I try not to think about how there’s a perfectly good bed right beneath us I could pin her to.
I take the phone in my palm and give the message a quick read.
Klaus: Remember, background checks need to be done for all guests before they arrive for Van Straus’ Christmas masquerade next month.
Luka: Even his mother?
Klaus: Especially that old witch.
Elias: Amelia Stern will be here at 8:00 a.m. sharp on Monday.
Luka: That famous decorator?
Elias: Yep. Van Straus wants to deck this place out.
Klaus: Copy that.
Klaus: Also, keep an eye out for Anders’ phone. The idiot’s misplaced it again.
