Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
The man had secrets and it was time for her to steal a few of them.
Across the room Josh caught her eye.
She gave him a smile.
Don’t go.
It was easy to read his expression because he looked plainly panicked.
She tried to make sure her smile this time was a thing of great confidence. It’s going to be okay.
His jaw tightened and then someone touched his arm and he was right back to playing the gracious on-screen god, mingling with the mortals.
Kayla slipped out the back of the ballroom and into the gardens. She would give it to Morales. The man knew how to throw a party. He knew how to live, too. The mansion was dazzling and intricately designed. She glanced up at the security camera and watched the red light switch off.
Riley had done his job. Her stepping in front of that first camera was his signal to start the loop. They’d taken the footage the night before. With all the dancing, no one would suspect there was a reason the gardens were empty. There was a grand ball going on, the likes of which many of these modern, successful people had likely never experienced. It was a scene right out of a historical film where the king welcomed his courtiers into his palace.
Her role for the night? Thief and spy. Luckily it was a role she was well used to playing. Some might even say she’d become typecast.
“You have a guard coming up on your left as you reenter the building,” a voice said in her ear. She was wearing a small comm device that allowed her to hear Riley as he steered her around the house. He had the full range of security cameras while the guards in the house would see what he wanted them to see.
That was the key to a proper operation. Illusion. Deception. Control. These people wouldn’t even know there was a show going on around them. To them, it was exactly what it looked like—a party, and no one would notice the woman sneaking away.
If for some reason they did, she had her excuse. If they didn’t believe that, then she had a small semiautomatic in her clutch and a couple of knives strapped to her thighs.
“Give him a second. He’s not good at staying still. He paces. You’ll have about ten seconds to get back into the house, but from what I can tell, the doors aren’t locked.”
Morales had said he wanted his guests to enjoy the gardens, but there had been a forecast for rain this evening. The guard would likely send anyone caught in a storm back toward the ballroom. Unfortunately, she was going another way.
“Go now.”
She didn’t hesitate, moving across the cobblestoned garden path and back into the house. To her left she could see the armed guard walking away from her. Out that way were some buildings and cottages where security and personnel lived. She’d marked the small guesthouse where Shane was staying. Declan was waiting to pick up Riley once the handoff had been made. He would drive Riley back into the city where they would meet up with Levi Green or one of his operatives at a café in the morning.
Shane was staying behind to drive she and Josh back to the set tomorrow afternoon.
She slipped into the darkened part of the house, the music faint from here. Moonlight illuminated the center of the hall so she clung to the sides. The floor here was parquet, the walls done up in pretty white wainscoting and sporting painting after painting.
Kayla breathed in and slipped out of her heels. No matter how silently she moved, they would click on that wood. Once free of the five-inch Louboutins, she waited, her back to the wall as the guard took his place again in front of the door. He seemed to peer inside as though he knew something had happened but he wasn’t sure what.
Calm. She stayed perfectly calm and still and after a moment, the guard started pacing again.
“Go, Kay,” Riley said in her ear. “You’ve got someone at the base of the stairs but he’s a friendly. Tell Ezra hi for me. Damn, he’s good. This is the first time I’ve seen him.”
She sprinted down the hallway and turned right.
Ezra Fain peeled away from the shadows, his body in all black. There was even a balaclava covering his head so he could pull it down and blend in with the darkness. He nodded her way.
“Where did you come in from?” She had to ask because somehow it was hard to see him hiring on as part of the catering staff.
His lips curled up a bit. “Walked in from the jungle. I do not recommend it though. Next assignment I want to be infiltrating a spa or golf course or something without massive bugs. Everything gone all right?”