Julia glared at her phone for a moment, her body posture so intent they could all tell when she got a text—except it wasn’t a text.
The phone vibrated in her hand, and she hit Speaker.
“What is it?” she asked without preamble.
“It’s been inscribed with a laser,” Danny’s voice said, loud and clear. “It’s probably man-made, but I’ve seen it done very neatly on regular gems. There can be entire microchips worth of information inscribed in each facet of the gem. You set the gem, and all people can see are striations in the light. It’s very skillful work, and people do it on purpose just for gem design, but that’s not what this is.”
“How do you know?” Julia asked tensely, looking up at those left in the room.
“Because I know the people who do it. I even dated one of them for a time—”
“Are you kidding me?” Felix muttered, loud enough to be picked up by the phone.
“It was years ago, Felix. Never serious. But that’s not the point.”
Hunter and Grace exchanged dry looks. Felix and Danny had been split up for ten years before their recent reconciliation. For all of Danny’s modesty and self-deprecating charm, everybody in the crew got the feeling that Danny had enjoyed a much freer social life during the separation than the earnest and sober Felix had.
“The point is, this gem could have all sorts of things on it,” Julia said, her gaze seeking Hunter’s.
Hunter nodded grimly, and Grace narrowed his eyes.
“Why is that important?” he asked.
“This is a really secretive way to move information,” Hunter murmured. “It isn’t just industrial espionage. It could be military secrets, covert ops blacklist information. And a lot of it.”
“Did you say a lot of it?” Danny asked over the speaker. “Because that’s my concern too. This isn’t one secret—it’s many. And if Sergei Kadjic has been trafficking in many secrets lately, then the implications of this uptick in activity has the potential to be very important. We need to see what’s on that stone!”
“But we can’t steal it now!” Julia said. “All of the suspicion would immediately be thrown on Grace and Artur. Or Lucius, and that wouldn’t be fair either.”
“So we steal it after they pick it up,” Grace said, because duh.
“Grace, you can’t even walk,” Hunter protested, but Grace rolled his eyes.
“I danced Romeo and Juliet once with a broken ankle,” he said, which was mostly true. “Never underestimate a dancer’s threshold for pain.”
Julia shook her head. “Grace, we can’t ask you to—”
“It’s why you brought me!” Grace reached for the package on the side of the bed, lifting it carefully so he didn’t lose any of the paper fill. “Hand me the box. I’m putting this back in.”
Hunter picked up the box, but he didn’t hand it over. “No,” he said.
“Julia, are they back with the food yet?” Grace asked. From the corner of his eye, he watched to see if Hunter would lower the champagne-colored velvet box.
Nope, nope, nope….
“No, darling. Not even close. Hunter, do you need me to get your jacket cleaned?”
Hunter couldn’t help it, Grace knew. Most people couldn’t, particularly when the distraction came from an unexpected source. Hunter’s eyes darted to the entryway table where he’d put his muddy coat, and Grace snatched the box smoothly from his hand.
“Hey—” Hunter protested, but Grace batted him away as he reached for it back.
“One way or another, I still have to put it in the package,” he said. “Don’t argue.” Then, because it was only fair, he glanced at Julia. “Thanks for the assist,” he said.
“A good redirect can be crucial,” she told him modestly.
Grace made himself busy easing the box back into its previous place in the paper fill while Hunter glared at them both.
“Julia, he can’t go climbing around ventilation shafts and leaping from stairwells tonight. You didn’t see his feet.”
Grace glanced up to see Julia regarding him thoughtfully. He shook his head, to indicate he’d be up for the job and she didn’t need to be worried, but she shook her head back, and that was as far into the nonverbal communication as he got.
“I’m fine,” he said out loud. Very carefully, he took the tiny tube of adhesive and put one drop on the edge of the paper gift bag. Using his tweezers, he poked the bottom flaps down until the drop of glue touched the back of the far fold, and voila. It was like the bag had never been opened.
He smiled, pleased with himself, and mushed the bag a little so it looked as it had when Artur had emerged with it, then set it aside.
Hunter and Julia had been having eyeball wars without him. “I’m fine,” he said again. “Stop being eyeball ninjas. It’s stupid. Hunter, you’re not the boss of me. Artur needs my help.”
Almost automatically, they all looked toward where the old man was sleeping in his chair, his white-whiskered chin sunk to his cardiganed chest, his fuzzy white hair more askew than usual.
Hunter exhaled, then turned to look Grace directly in the eyes. “Be careful,” he said. “Let us do recon first. Me, Josh, Molly—we can be your backup. Stirling can run coms. We’re pulling a job here with no homework. I don’t like it.”
Aw. Grace felt a warm, sunny smile overtake his usually pinched mouth. “You’re worried about me!” he said in wonder.
“Being a thief is not the only thing you can offer the crew,” Hunter said.
Grace wasn’t sure what his mouth was doing, but he was sure it was something stupid.
It didn’t matter. At that moment, all the people who’d been getting the food came back in, and while they shushed the crowd a little so Artur could get a much-needed nap, the shushing didn’t seem to matter.
Julia distributed the food, which was incredible. Apparently Vancouver was known for having the best food anywhere, and while Grace was usually a staunch defender of Chicago’s pizza and other eclectic fare, he had to agree that Vancouver might possibly pass them up when it came to pad thai.
And while they were eating, Julia—who had long ago ended the call with Danny—brought them up to speed.
Josh leaned back in his reclaimed office chair and blew out a breath. “Okay, then. So when does Artur drop the package off?”
Grace looked at his watch display. “Another hour and a half.”
“Where?”
“The Times Square Suites,” he said through a mouthful of perfectly seasoned pad thai. He’d gotten the information from Artur as they’d been unpacking. “It’s about four big blocks away.”
Hunter, who was making his way through a bowl of chicken and vegetables, swallowed quickly. “Artur, how does the drop go down?”
Artur had revived over his own plate of veggies and noodles and was engaged in quiet conversation with Julia. He looked at Hunter. “I drop the bag off with the concierge and walk away.” He shrugged. “I never look back. That’s what I was told from the very beginning.”
“Okay, good,” Hunter said, nodding. “Stirling, can you bug the bag since you can’t actually bug the gem?”