East Bound

by Nana Malone

  Chapter 27

  East

  For once, Livy, the one who was usually up for anything if it involved keeping Ben safe, stared at us like we had lost our minds. "So what you're telling me is that we are going to go to a party, where your sworn enemy has invited us, and then while we're there, we are going to steal things?"

  "Um, how do I explain? Okay, the last time I broke in there, I took files off the computer. We thought that was enough, but we weren’t looking for Henry Warlow then. Now that we are, we need to tap into some devices that aren't readily accessible. I’ve done some research on the property and discovered he’s had a server room installed that controls the access to his vaults. I need to be on-site to actually hack into those servers. It's going to take some time."

  Livy nodded. "Uh-huh." She then cast a glance at Nyla. "And you're telling us that Lord Jameson has now called for the assistance of Interpol? He’s convinced that Francois Theroux is coming for his art, and he would very much like Interpol to investigate?"

  I glanced at Nyla, and she met my gaze. Something hot and instant flared in my gut, and she gave a minute shiver before answering. "Right. Something like that. He claims to have received a tip that one of his art pieces is going to be stolen. So, joy of joys, he's also inviting Interpol to that very same party to watch his assets and flush out Theroux."

  "So, what you're saying," Livy continued, "is that Jameson knows something is up and that we're coming for him. And he plans to stop us with Interpol. Am I missing something?"

  I ran my hands through my hair. "Ben, you got anything to add?" I asked my mate.

  He was giving his wife-to-be a sheepish grin. "No, love, you have it all, really."

  Livy glanced around the room. "And you're telling me that this seems normal to all of you? That this constant running and fighting is perfectly acceptable."

  I winced. "Well, it does keep life entertaining."

  Nyla looked at me and shook her head. "Now is not the time."

  I laughed. "Okay, fine. It's not ideal."

  And then Livy started to laugh. "Not ideal. Great. Of course. We're going to die."

  Ben shook his head. "We're not going to die. Everything is going to be okay."

  She gave him an exasperated look. "It is not going to be okay. At all. I don't think you know the definition of okay."

  Amelia smiled. "Look, I get it. Interpol has probably been up your arse for a while now, and not in a fun kind of way."

  Lucas coughed.

  Bridge grinned widely. "I'm starting to like her."

  Amelia ignored him. "But we have an advantage. I'll be helping to run Interpol’s play from the sidelines. I’ll know what's going to happen and when it's going to happen. My job is only slightly more difficult because I have to make it look like I'm cooperating. Which, in some ways, I will be, while also trying to keep you guys from getting discovered. Or shot. Rest assured that you'll know ahead of time where Interpol agents will be to the letter. But the key is, you have to get out when I say it's time to go. No lollygagging, no vengeance schemes." She slid her gaze to me.

  I put my hands up. "Oh come on, I'm not the vengeful one." Ben and Bridge both lifted their brows at me. "Oh, thanks a lot, mates."

  Drew laughed. "Well, you know she has a point."

  I glared at him. "You keep your mouth shut."

  Livy laughed again. Sort of a hysterical laughter, actually. "Oh my God, we really are all going to die."

  I shook my head. "No, we're not going to die. It's just a little complicated right now."

  Nyla stepped to the plate then. "Okay, so you’ll all attend the party as guests. Lucas and Bryna, that means you too, but the key is, you two play your parts as royals. We don't need the kind of headache we’d have if someone discovered you were in on this plan."

  Lucas laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you."

  Nyla's gaze flickered to me. "He's not going to listen, is he?"

  I shook my head. "Nope. Chances are he's going to rob everyone in there blind without telling us how he's doing it, and then he'll walk away with a cool mint."

  Lucas grinned. "I only steal from the rich, you know. Well, actually, only from rich assholes."

  Nyla shook her head. "Oh my God, okay. So you're going to attend the party, and somehow we have to create a distraction. Lucas, if you're the one with the deft hands, you need to either fire an alarm, cause a blackout, something."

  He nodded. "I can cause a blackout."

  Bryna chirped up then. "Well, that might not be so easy. Looking at East’s schematics, it appears the estate has generators. The power will probably come back on quickly because he wants to keep the information he has private."

  Nyla nodded. "Right. Then I think our best bet is for Amelia and I to go in early as if Interpol has sent us and get access to the vault that he is most concerned about. East, if you can provide directions that will get us to that server, we will get you the technical information you need. I think that's ideal. And then we'll hand it off to you, and you can use it at the party to get in."

  I grinned at her. "Have I told you lately that you’re incredible?"

  She laughed. "Tell me that when we're not all in jail, yeah?"

  Bridge started to gag. "God, are you two done yet?"

  Nyla ignored him. "All right, so during the party, East knows what he's supposed to do. Bridge and Ben, you’ll act as interference. We have to keep Garreth and his father distracted. But, East, you’ll need backup. Amelia and I won't be at the party. Interpol’s involvement will be strictly outside the house during the party unless a credible threat is detected, and if I turn up as your date, I'm suspect."

  Emma piped up. "This is my chance to shine."

  Bridge frowned at that. "And what would you be doing?"

  "I'll be the bait."

  Bridge's brows furrowed. "What do you mean, bait?"

  "What I mean is, I'll be there to keep Garreth occupied."

  Bridge's brows only dropped further. "Explain."

  I jumped in to her rescue. "Bridge, we know you have a tendency to feel protective toward Emma, but this is for the best."

  He only continued to frown. "For whose best?"

  Emma cut me off. "Look, you can play caveman all you want, but let's try and remember that I'm not yours to control. I can do whatever I like. And even though you don't like it, I'm part of the team, so that's the deal."

  Bridge glared at me. "Are you fucking kidding me? You know what he's capable of."

  I nodded slowly. "Yes, I do know what he's capable of. I also know Emma's pretty capable herself. She's a black belt in jiu-jitsu. She can handle a handsy arsehole on any day."

  "You recognize he's capable of killing her, right?"

  Ben sat forward. "This is what's happening Bridge. We don't have time to argue with you about it."

  I watched as his jaw ticked. "Fucking hell. Fine, since it's all been decided."

  Nyla watched us back and forth. "Right. I'm so glad we're in agreement. So maybe now is the time to remind everyone what we've already said. No cowboy antics. No fucking around. No doing things that we don't need to do right now. Get in, get into the server, get the information we need, and pull out."

  The love of my life looked pointedly at me, and I threw up my hands. "One time I go off-book, and you never let me live it down."

  Everyone laughed. "One time?"

  I grumbled. "Fine."

  They had a point. Sometimes I was the one who strayed from the playbook, but it was always to ensure the safety of everyone around me. “Fine, I won’t go off-book.”

  Nyla continued. "I mean it. That goes for you too, Bridge. If Emma seems like she's in danger, know that she's not. Besides, Bryna will be there, and she can help out if needed."

  Bryna smiled and pulled out what looked like a tube of lipstick but was really a switchblade. "I gave Emma one of these as a present."

  Bridge's brows lifted. "Okay, Lucas. I see you have your hands full."

  Lucas laughed.
"Yup, I sure do. She's my future wife."

  Bryna grinned. "One hundred percent."

  Emma crossed her arms. "All right with you now, Dad? I can tag along on this little adventure?"

  Bridge swore under his breath. "I swear to God, I will tan your behind so fast."

  With a chuckle, Nyla stepped forward. "Hey, what you two get up to in your spare time is nobody else's business. But everyone remember… At the party, Amelia and I will be outside, and no matter what, from the moment you step foot in there, we’ll be watching and have your back."

  We all nodded. Our lives were on the line, and everything relied on our plan going off without a hitch. But I trusted this whole team with my life. I knew that by the end of this we were going to be the last ones standing or we were going to be in jail. And I was definitely too cute for jail.

  Nyla

  My palms were sweating. Everything hinged on this going exactly right.

  As Amelia and I were led into the Jameson mansion, she gave me a tight, reassuring smile and a nod. Unfortunately, we had four of our other team members tagging along as well. Because of who Lord Jameson was, Interpol was making a show, which meant lots of faces. But Amelia had it handled. "Okay, Kyle and Jacinda, I want you going over security footage. Lord Jameson, if you can let your security team know to cooperate with them, that would be helpful."

  "Why do you need to look at security footage? Nothing has happened yet.”

  “Well, yes, but history shows us that people don't usually approach a place cold. They prefer to work a place that they're at least somewhat familiar with. So we want to see if anyone who looked like maintenance men, meter readers, electricians, or any workmen whatsoever have been on the property recently."

  "But I wasn't warned of this in advance. I don't need anyone going through my security footage."

  Amelia could have backed down, but she wasn't buying his shit. "Sir, if you want us to do our job to the fullest, it’s imperative. So it's your call. If you don't agree, we can go now and return when there's been an actual crime reported."

  Finally, he nodded. "Fine."

  "Thank you, sir." She gave Tony and Ayalla their marching orders as well and instructed them to check all the exterior access points of the estate. Then she turned back to Lord Jameson. "Agent Kincade and I will check the vaults with your most valuable pieces just to make sure they’re a hundred percent secure."

  He nodded, and I wondered why he wasn't more concerned with us wanting to see his vaults.

  Because you are trustworthy. After all, you are Interpol.

  That was true. We were the trustworthy ones, yet we planned to copy the security settings of the very high-tech vaults which I would then give to East, who was going to break in later. Completely fine.

  "This is it," Lord Jameson said proudly.

  After a trip down a lift and a long temperature-controlled hallway, we stood in front of the vault. He waved his hand as if he was showing off something impressive. Inside my pocket, my hand clamped around the device East had given me. I knew that once we were close enough, all I had to do was press a button, and it would check the frequencies of the locking system. Then magically, East would have what he needed to break in later.

  "Um, sir, you're going to have to let us in."

  He frowned at that. "Why?"

  Amelia sighed as if she was much beleaguered by his questions. "Well, because we need to verify what's inside. We would hate to discover later that this room was actually empty and that you’d wasted Interpol's time. And that you’d used this as an alibi for what will later be an attempt at insurance fraud."

  His brows lifted. "I would never."

  "Well, sir, sorry to say, it has happened before. So if you can let us in, we’ll check things out and take a few photographs of what's in here. Then later, a team will need to get in here and verify the full inventory, just as a precaution."

  "No one said I would have to do this."

  Amelia’s back remained straight, and she gave him what appeared to be a beatific smile. But I recognized it as her Are you kidding me, arsehole? face. "Sir, when you called Interpol and said that you had a threat against you and your property, and you insisted that Interpol, not Scotland Yard, be the ones to investigate, calling in favors as you did, what did you think was going to happen? Did you think we wouldn’t look around and visit your mansion? You have a perfectly accomplished security team, I'm sure. So what exactly did you think was going to happen when you got Interpol involved?"

  "I just wasn't told what to expect."

  "I recognize that, but we're not in the habit of disclosing everything we're going to do ahead of time. So if you would like us to continue and catch these thieves, to put the people responsible for millions in stolen art behind bars before they can steal from you and your family, please, let us do our jobs."

  He moved closer to the vault, and we were not even a step behind him. He glowered as he turned back to us. ”Do you really need to see this part?”

  Amelia smiled. "Well, we would appreciate a close look at how it works."

  He seemed surprised at first, but I could tell he was a little giddy to show off his toys.

  "This vault is hermetically sealed and temperature controlled. It stores the most valuable pieces I have. I assume someone will need to catalog these as well."

  Amelia nodded. "Once we get our basic assessments of security, I'll have the rest of the team do a full catalog."

  He nodded as if finally satisfied. "You recognize, if anything goes missing..."

  "I understand, sir, that's why we're here. I need to ascertain that this is, in fact, a credible threat."

  "Of course, it's a credible threat."

  "Well, I certainly hope not. Where did you say your information came from again?"

  "I had an anonymous phone call."

  Amelia nodded. "Right. But your very capable security team made a point of showing us all their devices and equipment, and I'm sure they’re trying to locate where the original call came from, right?"

  "Of course they are, but so far they’ve been unsuccessful."

  "Well, if you don't mind, we'll have our experts take a look."

  "Sure, fine."

  For a man who was more than likely capable of deflecting any credible threat, using Interpol in this game of cat and mouse seemed rather off.

  Maybe because he knew we wouldn't be able to find or trace anything.

  Amelia kept him distracted while I appeared to be photographing his pieces while surreptitiously doing the technical duty East had given me.

  When it was done, I breathed a sigh of relief. I turned to Amelia. "All right, the vault is probably ready for a full catalog. I have the initial images we need."

  She turned to Lord Jameson. "Thank you so much for your cooperation sir. I'll bring in the rest of the team now."

  He nodded. "Actually, now that I think about it, it would probably be wise to have Interpol inside the event."

  Amelia blinked. That wasn't the plan.

  Her brow lifted, and I knew that to be her slightly panicked face. But then she recovered quickly. "While that's a kind offer, I'm not sure I can secure the man—"

  Before she could even get the word manpower out, he waved his hand dismissively. "I'll call your boss. It'll be much better talking to the person in charge."

  I frowned at that. How many times did she get dismissed in a day?

  Even I was rarely dismissed like that. Especially from someone needing our help.

  My jaw tensed as I finally saw exactly what she'd been talking and complaining about with my own two eyes. But she ignored it with more poise than Lord Jameson deserved. "Feel free to do that. But, if there is no actual credible threat, having us on-site is overkill. We really don't know how credible the threat is yet."

  "In that case, consider it an invitation. One that you shouldn't deny."

  I gave Amelia the barest of nods, letting her know that we'd deal with it as it came.

  "Fair enoug
h. I'll gather some team members."

  "Yes, you do that. Actually, I insist on the two of you being here. Since you seem to be heading up this team, I want you on hand."

  My steps faltered. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm not available."

  Jameson turned his gaze on me. "Then make yourself available."

  Fuck. I wasn't supposed to be anywhere near this. How the fuck were we going to pull this off?

  As we were shown out of the vault, Amelia and I exchanged glances, and I knew that she was thinking the exact same thing. Already, our plan was going to shit. We'd be here. Likely, so would several other Interpol agents. Team London Lords was going to be in trouble.

  Chapter 28

  East

  My first inkling that something was wrong was when Amelia came to hand me the device and not Nyla. "Where is she?"

  "We have a problem. Jameson wants us at the event tonight. He insisted that since he had a rapport with Nyla, he was sending a car for her. She couldn't do the hand off."

  "She's not supposed to be there."

  "I know, I know. Look, here it is. I have to get back. I made a point to tell Jameson that I had to coordinate a team so I would not be taking his car service, but he was very insistent about Nyla. I hope that this is what you need, and I hope that you’re successful."

  I wanted to scream. "She's not supposed to be there. Anything could happen."

  "Then make sure something doesn't. She's my best mate. Don't get her killed."

  My gut twisted. "Fuck me."

  "No thanks, though you're very pretty. I can see why she likes you."

  Amelia turned in her dress, all slinky black and sequined. "Where do you keep your gun in that?"

  "You probably don't want to know."

  "Jesus."

  I could hear her laugh ringing out as she hustled out of Lucas and Bryna's townhouse. I turned to my mates. "Christ, are we still doing this?"

  Lucas held open his tuxedo. Inside were little sachets filled with lock picking tools and other things that I didn't quite know the purpose of, but I somehow knew people were going to be leaving the event without their jewels. "I'm ready."