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“You sure?” she asks, leaning in to look at the monitor. “I thought thirteen was supposed to be unlucky.”
“Unlucky for Lorenzo, but lucky for me,” I reply, unable to hide a wild grin. “This is it. This is where the stash is hidden.” My whole body is vibrating with a buzz of excitement I haven’t felt since I slipped into Lola’s apartment the first time I met her.
Finally having the Family heirloom back means so much to me. I’ve spent years trying to get it, and I’m minutes away from cracking this train open and finally holding it in my hands.
“Over here!” I call to a cluster of men I have waiting on the sidelines. “Bring me a crowbar. As a matter of fact, bring me two.”
A few moments later, I’m able to hand off the scanner to them and enter the train with Lola. We’re both carrying dark iron crowbars, but she looks like she’d rather not have one at all.
Not me. I’m going to fuck this compartment up until I find those jewels. According to the scans, they should be under the floor in the third cabin down.
I recognize the compartment we’re in. It was the one right before I reached Lorenzo. In this case, it’s not X that marks the spot.
It’s death.
“Right here,” I say, coming to a stop in front of the third cabin. “We should find the stash under the floor, though you might have to get through a few layers.”
Lola nods, but waits for me to make the first move. I doubt she even wants to be prying floorboards up, but it’s nice to have her here with me, if only to watch me uncover what I’ve been searching so long for.
I pause for a moment before I start, looking over the pristine floor and wondering how anything could be here. They did a great job of hiding the stash, I’ll give them that much, but they won’t be able to keep what’s mine from me anymore.
I look over my shoulder at Lola as I bring the crowbar back. “You want to have the first swing?”
She shakes her head vigorously. “It’s all yours.”
“Just checking,” I say with a grin before swinging the crowbar so hard into the floor that it nearly slips out of my hands.
It goes straight through the floor like a hot knife through butter, burying itself deep. I try to pull it out, but it won’t budge at first. I have to plant both feet into the floor and lean back with my full weight to get it dislodged.
I stumble back, laughing as I regain balance.
Lola gives me an amused look, like I’m a boy who’s making a fool of himself in the backyard after having just a bit too much caffeine at the family barbeque. “Don’t hurt yourself,” she says.
“A bit too late for that,” I mutter, feeling a soreness in my shoulder that’s probably not going to haunt me for the next few days. I’m in shape, but age makes healing take a hell of a lot longer than it used to.
That, and the hangovers. Jesus, those are bad.
I ignore the feeling and swing the crowbar again, but I’m not as heavy-handed this time. I make sure that I aim just beside the hole in the floor, breaking it open a bit wider. Now, I can get the end of the crowbar int o apply leverage, tearing up the floor with ease.
It peels away like a banana, revealing several large potato sacks under the floor. I’m willing to bet my life that they’re not filled with anything edible. What’s inside would break my teeth.
I grab the first one, rolling it out onto the floor and sliding it toward Lola with my foot. “Tear this shit open. If you see something pretty, you can keep it, but look out for a large red ruby with a crest etched into the back. That’s the Family heirloom.”
“How big is it?” she asks, shrinking away from the bag at her feet like it’s going to bite her.
I pull my fists together to show her. “About this big. It’s cut very nicely, with gold inlay on the back.”
Her eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “That’s huge!”
“And expensive, which is why it was stolen. If you can help me find it, I would be forever grateful.”
She nods, using the tip of her crowbar to tear into the first bag as I pull out the second. There are a few more in there, but I bust into the bag like my life depends on it, scattering the jewels across the floor as I sift through them.
I’m already on the third bag by the time I hear Lola gasp. I turn to see her holding up a beautiful crimson ruby the size of her fist.
But it’s only one fist, not two.
I step toward her, my heart slamming in my chest as I get a better look at what she’s holding. It must not be the crest, but… the gold inlay is there. And the etching…
