Page 93 of The Scarab's Game
With a smirk, Rav quipped, “So, no explosives?”
Jayce snorted. “No explosives.”
Will slid another small box to Jayce. “This is the replica of the scarab. It’ll fit in the pouch hidden in your dress, right at your hip bone.”
Drew said, “I must say, she tested the hidden pouch last night, and it worked perfectly. Engineering, goldwork,andtailoring skills? That’s an impressive resume.”
Will shrugged. “I can build anything out of anything else.”
Jayce held her spoon near her lips as she said, “Will’s like our own MacGyver.”
“My mom loved him.” Will gave a small laugh, staring at the tablet, likely remembering better times with his mother. He was in a lot of pain. This trip was hardly the vacation his sister insisted he take, but it would help him find some normalcy for a few days, at least.
“I could smuggle a phone in, too,” said Jayce, around another mouthful.
“Too risky,” I said. “If they catch any of us sneaking tech in, we’re out of the game. Drew and I need to keep as clean as possible so we can help you without worrying about ourselves.”
Jayce shrugged. “Fair.”
“The plan for tonight is simple. If I win the scarab at the auction, we’re done. If I can’t, the next move is to woo the buyer into giving it up. If that doesn’t work, we get Jayce into the storage room.” I zoomed out on the floor plan, shifting to the third main room. I tapped the hallway near the high-rollers’ room, where the secure storage was located. “Jayce swaps the scarabs, takes the genuine one, and leaves through the hidden doorway into the caves. If the buyer realizes they’ve been duped, the blame will fall on the Casino first. Martine—the manager—had a lengthy chat with Mum last night.”
Drew asked, “They know each other?”
“Yes. From way back, according to my mother.” I held Drew’s gaze for a moment longer, and he nodded. Scarlett and I had kept the MI6 story under wraps, except when we needed Drew’s assistance. When would we inform Brie, Rav, and the rest of the crew? We hadn’t decided yet. “She’s highly regarded in all the right circles, but there’s always an element of buyer beware in the black market. She and Massimo have some history, so she’ll pin the blame on him, claiming he gave her a fake.”
Much like the Constable painting his son hired Jenn to clean. Poetic justice.
The black market was a strange thing indeed. A Picasso could go for a song if used as leverage, or a small golden artifact might fetch many times its actual value if someone desired the rare piece enough.
“Why don’t we go right now?” Jayce scraped the bottom of her first cup of gelato. “It’s probably quiet, with fewer people in the way.”
“Quieter, but not empty.” Casino Rocher operated twenty-four hours a day. Mornings and early afternoons saw the fewest people, but the security was still high. “And too empty for you to sneak into the storage room.”
Jayce shrugged and switched to her second cup of gelato. “What if we staged a fight? Get a couple of drunk guys to start swinging near the ladies’ room?”
Drew shook his head. “They’re guarding the other side of the door. They wouldn’t handle disturbances inside unless it threatened their position.”
“Fair point.” Jayce reached out, idly moving the image around on the tablet. “How about a medical emergency? Someone collapses near the hidden door? Surely they’d come running if someone yelled for help?”
“Still won’t work,” I said. “You’d wind up with more people gathered around that entrance, and possibly paramedics to contend with.”
Suddenly, Will snapped his fingers. “What if we don’t create a distraction ourselves? What if we let someone else do it for us?”
“Go on,” I said.
“Have you ever heard of urban exploration?” Will leaned in. “People love finding hidden spots in cities. What if we leaked the location of the secret door on some adventure websites?”
That idea had potential. “A bunch of thrill-seekers descend on the guards at once from the cavern side of the door?”
Rav nodded thoughtfully. “It would overwhelm the guards. They’d try to keep people away, possibly call in backup, and the chaos allows Jayce to slip past.”
Will folded a small keyboard out from his phone and began typing. “I’ll talk to Brie. Her team will set up the website posts and make it look like there’s a lot of interest. Arrange for multiple confirmations at the right time.”
“Make it two waves of explorers,” I said. “One to mask Jayce’s ingress and one for egress.”
“I like it. Stealth, skill, and I bet it’ll be hilarious.” Jayce’s eyes gleamed as she offered Drew a spoonful of gelato. That was a change—she didn’t usually share food. “We’ve been rehearsing movement through the Casino, and I can make it to the storage room in three minutes and twenty seconds without looking more suspicious than I normally do. I’ll have Brie’s remote access thingamajig so she can futz with the security feed.”
“Good.” I was too well-known in the Casino to be sneaking around.