“So all that out there”—she threw an arm out toward the living area—“was a lie?”
He wished.“Not all of it.”
A shadow fell across the mouth of the hallway, and Cam crowded into Abby’s space, a forearm braced on the wall blocking their faces, pretending he was going in for a kiss.Abby’s lips brushed against the corner of his mouth, wanting a real one.He turned his chin instead, dodging and slipping past her cheek.Pretending to kiss her elsewhere for anyone who was looking.But really not.
Cam waited until Jared passed on his way to the bathroom, then stepped back and hustled Abby into the bedroom across the hall, closing the door partway behind them.
Abby jerked out of his hold, halfway between seething and dejected.“So that kiss last night was a lie too?”
“I had to know whether you were lying.If you were still on Becca’s side for real, I had to sell the rogue cover.I need to stay close if I’m going to get you and your sister clear.”
Sighing, she sank onto the end of the bed.“Who the fuck am I supposed to trust?How do I know you’re not lying now?Becca’s got me tied in knots and you just pulled a fucking one-eighty.Which end is up?Fuck, I just want to get me and my sister out of this alive.”
The fact she was asking him those questions, telling him where she was at, was all Cam needed to know.There was more than a nugget of trust there he could expand on.“I believe you, Abby, and I need you to believe me.”Cam knelt in front of her, a gentle hand over hers on her knee.This was what Cam did best—the rescue part of the equation—and he wouldn’t fail Abby.He’d do what Nic said.Use all of his past and all of his present to do his job.“I won’t lie.Right now, we’re on a razor’s edge.We have to play this very carefully, but this is what I do.Trust me, work with me, and I will get you and your sister clear.Can you do that?”
She looked up, eyes still wary, but after a deep inhale, nodded.“All right.What do we do?”
“Let’s go put on a show.”Standing, he held his hand out to her, and once she was steady on her feet, slung an arm over her shoulder.She circled his waist with her arm, but the hold, while convincing, was just shy of being with actual intent.
They strutted back out into the living room together.Becca grinned.“Not staying out of the middle any longer?”
He kissed Abby’s temple.“Your girl convinced me otherwise.”
Becca approached, trailing a nail down his chest over his T-shirt.“Maybe we can take a little break.”
“On the contrary,” Kristic said, reemerging from the kitchen.“Our timeline’s been accelerated again.We’re doing this tonight.”
Abby’s arm clenched around his waist.He held her tighter.
“I thought we were waiting for the public show tomorrow night?Or at least after the soft show tonight?”he asked.“Let the attention die down.”
Kristic shook his head.“I’m not waiting.And doing it during tonight’s show will provide distraction and cover.”
The change in plans wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but would his team on the outside be ready?“Why the expedited schedule?”he asked.
“Because someone just pinged my bank accounts.”
A five-foot-nothing someone who was as accurate with a computer as she was at the firing range.Cam bit the inside of his cheek, hiding a smile.His team knew all right.
Cam hated wearing a tux.At least this jacket didn’t have fucking tails, but the stiff fabric and bow tie still made him feel unnecessarily contained.
Caged.
He was restless enough as it was, eyes roving the museum floor as he followed Kristic and Abby.Kristic shook hands like the consummate dignitary he was and accepted condolences like the grieving husband he should have been, near tears and with a choked voice he effortlessly affected.Acting as translator, Abby, dressed in a stylish silver gown with her hair pulled back in a bun, played the part well.In front of them, Becca, wearing a blond wig and black pantsuit, acted as security and cleared a path for them.
Jared had hung back, an evil shadow on Cam’s tail, while Russ waited outside in the car, ready for a quick getaway.
Observing the situation around him, Cam counted guests and security personnel.It didn’t look like any more force than usual for one of these events, not that he’d been to that many to know, but this was what he’d expected.Maybe a few more guards were on hand than would normally be for a soft opening but not unexpected given Anica’s murder and the repeated theft attempts.
He was beginning to second-guess whether his team knew this was going down tonight when the crowd parted for a striking couple.The man with bright blue eyes and light brown hair was taller than everyone else in the room and wore a tux better than everyone else too.And the woman...Well, if a certain prosecutor wasn’t already in Cam’s sights, and if the woman in red weren’t married to his boss’s brother and able to break his neck with her bare hands, Cam would have definitely asked for her number.
As it was, he already had it.
Jamie and Mel, clearly recruited for an assist, walked close and cozy, seemingly in their own little world.So much so that neither Becca nor Kristic gave them a second glance, their attention elsewhere as Jamie passed by and dropped something into Cam’s pocket.His best friend always did have a trick up his sleeve.By the slight weight of the object, Cam figured it for a flash drive or some sort of trigger.
After another few minutes of shaking hands, Kristic was interrupted by a museum docent.“Sir, if you’ll come with me please, we need to finish preparing the exhibit.”Meaning they needed him and Abby to open the safe.
It was the perfect setup.If Kristic got away with the artifacts, no one would be the wiser, their attention distracted by the crowd.If things went sideways, he’d play the hostage taken by Becca’s crew.Becca had realized she was the patsy as they’d gone over the plan earlier that day.Too far in to change course, she’d negotiated for more money instead.Kristic had given it to her, which made Cam wonder exactly how much those artifacts—and Kristic’s ego—were worth, given the funds he’d expended to get them.
