Page 49 of The Scarab's Game

If I’d been paying attention earlier, I might have been able to answer her. Scarlett had likely given some options. The original plan was to use the jammer to take down their cameras. After that, Jayce and Drew would bypass their security system. With the truck potentially whisking the scarab away, following it would have been options two and three.

“Look for the money, then follow it,” I said.

“Good call,” said Scarlett over my earpiece. “Jayce, plant a tracker on the truck, then head into the gallery.”

“Exactly.” Jenn sighed. “If theyknewthe painting was a fake, why pay a stranger to clean it? They couldn’t have vetted methat closely. If I discovered the truth, I could be shady and extort money from them or immediately call the police. Why take that risk? I doubt they know.”

“Or that’s why Dante’s attempting to distract you.”

“What?” snapped Scarlett, no doubt at me. After she’d warned me not to touch Jenn, Jenn had gone off and found someone else to test her loyalty.

“Distracting me?” Her brow furrowed. “You think that’s all he’s doing?”

“I don’t trust him. I know people, Jenn, and he’s got an agenda.”

“He’s a good man. Surprisingly honest.”

“Tracker’s in place,” said Jayce.

Thanks for the reminder.I had to sneak one into Jenn’s purse before she left in the morning, until Will brought me something more reliable to always be on her. “People don’t become as wealthy as the De Rosas without more than a few skeletons in their closets, not to mention a string of broken hearts behind them.”

She let out a quiet laugh, as though my words had hurt. “Something you know a lot about, right?”

I had more skeletons than she could understand.

“Watch yourself, Em,” said Scarlett. Yet again, my sister didn’t trust me to make wise choices. At work, she trusted me implicitly. But in the real world?

“I’m sorry.” Jenn stood abruptly, dropping the pillow and letting the robe’s hem fall so it covered her again. “I’m interrupting your work. I should leave.”

Drew and Jayce bickered in my earpiece about her lingering too close to the truck. She’d seen the lock on the back and wanted to sneak inside while it was moving. Drew called her reckless and the rest of the team got involved.

Jenn hadn’t made a move to her room yet.

I tapped a button on my keyboard, breaking rule number one: Never turn off your earpiece. Although that mostly applied to people in the field who were in danger. I was supposed to lead the crew, so I had more latitude, but Scarlett could coordinate them. Brie was on the line with her, so they’d be fine without me for a few minutes.

“Yes, I have work to do.” I rose from my chair, pinning her in place with my eyes. “But if I couldn’t handle the interruption, I would have locked myself in my room.”

“You promised to leave your door open.”

“I did.” I started walking toward her. “More importantly, I need you to understand what’s going on here.”

Her lips tightened. What was going through her head? She’d come out in a playful, teasing mood, and now she seemed on the brink of tears. Or of yelling at me.

“We suspect they asked you to clean a forgery.” I stopped so close to her that she had to tilt her head back. “We also suspect they have the scarab we’re looking for.”

“Suspect? You didn’t ask Jean-Philippe?”

“I did. He told me they’d already sold it, but it was a lie.” At least I could thank Enzo for that tidbit. “They’re sending it to the auction, too.”

“I don’t understand.” She scrunched her nose. “If they have it and you want to buy it, why lie? Why not just sell it to you? Or what if he was telling the truth and the new owner?—”

“It’s worth millions. They believe I’m an antiquities broker who’ll do his due diligence before buying such an expensive piece.” Mental note: The scarab wasn’t in the inventory because it was a stolen piece. Instead of comparing their inventory against stolen art databases, I’d need Jayce to take photos of the storage area and comparethoseto the databases. “If they can list it at an underground auction, with some level of anonymity, they wouldn’t be attached to its original theft.”

“Underground?” Her eyes widened slightly, and she shook her head. “Dante wouldn’t…”

She was so naïve.

I dealt with people like Dante and Massimo all the time. Thieves and criminals who thought the world owed them something. Thought their money and their polished exteriors put them above everyone else.