Page 16 of The Scarab's Game

She continued staring out the window. “What are they doing?”

“Sweeping the room.”

“Sweeping?”

“Have you noticed anyone suspicious while you’ve been in town? Or while you were in Nice?”

She let out a small laugh. “Eccentric, maybe. The man I delivered the painting to in Nice was an odd duck.” Her hands rose to her eyes again. “I don’t understand any of this.”

Talking wouldn’t fix anything for her. She’d fallen into a world she didn’t understand—my world.

She needed a distraction. I’d deal with the team’s results when?—

The front door opened, and Rav appeared around the corner. He inclined his head toward the bedrooms.

“Jayce?” I called.

The diminutive thief stuck her head around Rav. “Yeah?”

I flicked my gaze intentionally from her to Jenn and back again.

Jayce scrunched her nose. She knew I wanted her to comfort Jenn and keep her company while I talked business with Rav, but Jayce wasn’t the touchy-feely type. At least, not with those outside of her tiny circle of friends. “Drew?”

“Yes?” came her boyfriend’s voice from further away.

“Emmett needs us.” Jayce strolled into the room and hopped onto the sofa opposite us.

Drew followed her in, a mask of empathy on his face. The former spy wasn’t particularly touchy-feely, either, but he had a talent for dealing with people. When I stood, he took my spotand introduced himself. His voice was soft, and he started with simple questions—how did she know me? What brought her to Monte Carlo?

He already knew the answers to these questions. But they were what Jenn needed.

I joined Rav outside his bedroom.

The big man pushed his dark hair from his forehead. A muscle ticked in his jaw—which usually only happened when Scarlett was doing something dangerous. “Two bugs. One was obvious—attached to her bedside table, and it squawked when we got close with the sweep. The other was inside a drawer and didn’t make a noise.”

Shit. That was worse than I’d been expecting. “One designed to be found.”

“And to lull you into a false sense of security so you don’t catch the second.”

Jenn may have been one of Scarlett’s best friends, but Rav had also been one. Scar had her boys, and she had her girls—two separate sets of friends, but all close enough that Rav knew Jenn better than I did.

He didn’t have the same fierce protectiveness with Jenn as with Scarlett, but from how his biceps flexed when he folded his arms, it was obvious he was furious over this. “She needs to go home.”

I slid a hand into my pocket, running my thumbnail over the edge of my poker chip. “We need to figure things out before we make any decisions.”

“Two, Emmett.” He unwound one arm long enough to flash two fingers at me, then re-crossed the arm. “Two bugs.”

That fact wasn’t lost on me. But there were also too many questions. “Could be mistaken identity. Someone could have been spying on whoever was staying in the room before.”

“Or she’s the target?”

“You’re right.” I sighed and glanced over my shoulder, listening. Drew and Jayce were still talking to Jenn. Regardless, I kept my voice low. “We have to assume she’s the target.”

“Ideas on who?”

I had two obvious choices. “De Rosa’s the first and easiest guess. They knew she’d be at the gallery, so the timing’s perfect.”

“That makes sense.”