The Dangerous Thief (Stolen Hearts #3)(43)

“Fighting about it or passing blame isn’t going to help anyone. We need to move forward.” Willa hated being the voice of reason considering that she was the least experienced person here, but she wanted to get this back on track. So they hadn’t gotten their documents right then. There was still time. There was no other option. They needed to get dirt on Jadon. “You said that the documents might not be stored in the office, right? So the fact that we didn’t find anything isn’t game changing.”

Jennifer pursed her lips. “The fact that the payload wasn’t there isn’t the bothersome part. It’s these new security guys. I’ve gone over what happened a hundred times. Because Weston was there, I know when I set off the alarm, but I’ve been trying to figure out what alarm I tripped. It had to be something that could be added quickly but subtle enough that it slipped by Toni.”

“And?” said Willa.

“I think it was a motion sensor inserted under the carpeting. It would’ve been imperceptible to the eye and if it was hooked up to the building Wi-Fi, it could be connected to any cell phone. Quick, easy, and effective.”

“And is that going to keep you from getting into my father’s apartment?” asked Willa. Scott looked at her questioningly. “I’m not a master thief, but I listen. I know that you said your plan B was getting into his place.”

“It doesn’t keep us from going there, but we have to assume that if security at his office has been beefed up, the same thing happened at the home.”

“I thought you were supposed to be some of the best in the world at stuff like this.”

“Yeah,” said Austin. “And what makes us the best is that we don’t go into situations blind.”

No. Willa couldn’t accept that. “So you’re telling me that you know everything about every place you’ve ever robbed?”

“If we don’t know everything, then we get in other ways. We convince the owner to let us in.”

“You run a con,” said Austin. “Which is impossible for us because Jadon already knows all of our faces. Jennifer and I from what we did to Stranger. Toni because of her connection to Jen. Scott Hart has been on camera around us too many times. Weston is already in play. We can’t do any of the basics, like a gas leak or inspector. Maybe we can work it out to get the owner of the building to let us in when Belli isn’t around, but that’s still risky....” Austin trailed out and his eyes met Willa’s, telling her what he didn’t want to say out loud.

“Fine,” she said to his unsaid question. “I’ll do it.”

“No,” said James immediately.

“I’m his daughter. I have a key and the doorman knows me. If anyone is going to get in, it’s going to be me.”

“The last time someone searched your father’s apartment, they ended up dead,” said James. “There’s a room full of us who can get in somehow. The civilian doesn’t need to get shot in the head.”

Civilian.... Somehow, the word sounded like an insult coming out of James’s mouth. “I’m not useless,” she said. “And I’m more invested in this than anyone. I got stabbed!”

“Barely,” he said, a contradiction to how protective he was being of her at the moment.

“Maybe we don’t have to get into the apartment,” said Scott. “If Sterling sent guys over, he’s actively monitoring the situation. So we can skip over Jadon Belli and work on drawing Sterling out.”

“What? No. I agreed to help you and in return you were going to help me. That means getting my father arrested.”

“Do you really think that’s how this is going to go?” asked Hart.

“How else would it go?”

“Your father has connections in every corner of the government. We can’t get him arrested. Or he’ll get right out. If this all went out and we could prove to a higher-up that Jadon was a traitor, he was never going to be taken away with handcuffs. He’d be taken with a bag over his head. Are you willing to do this to your own father?”

Willa took a step back as she looked around the room. Everyone’s eyes were on her. “I’m not stupid,” said Willa. “I knew this wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

“Sometimes knowing something and knowing something are different,” said James gently.

“That’s not it. Things with Jadon are too hard. You want to pull back on your end of the bargain now that you don’t need Jadon to help you.”

“Hard isn’t the problem,” said Toni. “We do hard all the time. Hard is our specialty. Hard is one thing. Dead is another. We’ve already lost people. We’re not going to risk your life if we don’t have to.”

“You’re not risking my life! Jules did this. She’s the one who brought me into this and she’s dead. Because I know it’s easy to forget, but I lost someone too, okay? She might not have been an immediate family member or even a really good friend, but she was someone I cared about. She was a good person who was trying to make the world a better place and I saw my father, someone I trusted and loved, put a gun to her head and kill her. So don’t act like I don’t know the consequences. Don’t act like I don’t know that I could end up splattered on the new rug in that room. I know exactly what I’m getting into.”