“Right this way, gentlemen.”
Five security guards. All armed. Roman looked over his shoulder. Eight security guards.
Shit. What kind of distraction were Mimic and Bang Bang going to cause that would grab the attention of all eight of them?
“As you can see, there’s a large number of security employed to make sure the tome stays safe.” She gave a friendly wave toward a grim-faced security guard. The wave wasn’t returned. “But aside from the guards, there’s also a pressure system inside that will trigger a lockdown if it’s tripped.”
Roman looked to Wyatt, a quick flash of surprise crossing his face.
“That was actually added this morning.”
She pulled out a key from the pocket of her white pants. “Now, I can open it for a total of five minutes before it needs to be closed again. Is that enough for your livestream?”
“Yes,” Roman said, trying to ignore the dark and rotted feeling that began gnawing at his insides. He brought out his phone, looked at the time. The room was still packed with guards.
“Actually, before you open it and we flip through some of the pages, can I chat with my partner about the script?”
“Definitely. Want to go to my office?” She sounded almost relieved, like maybe Roman was suggesting an end to this before anything even happened.
“No need. We can talk here.” He grabbed Wyatt’s elbow and walked some steps away, out of earshot of Alecia and two of the guards.
“Did you know about the pressure alarm?” Roman asked, heart pounding.
Wyatt chewed his bottom lip before that turned into a small grin. “I did. It came up this morning when I was knocking out the rest of the security systems.”
“Fuck, Salt, you’re a genius. If we weren’t meant to be business partners, I’d kiss you right now.”
“Business partners can still kiss, can’t they?”
Roman chuckled, his heart racing but his worries slightly easing. With the pressure alarm off, that meant they’d avoid the museum falling into a lockdown situation, which would have made it infinitely harder to have a clean escape with the tome.
Bang Bang’s voice sounded loud in Roman’s ear. “About to start the distraction, broki.”
“Good, go. We’ll see you two on the outside.”
Roman nodded back toward the tome, where Alecia was looking around with big, saucer-like eyes. “Does she seem a little nervous to you?” Roman asked before they walked back to her.
“A little, but it’s not exactly a regular day for her.”
“No, no it’s not.” Roman couldn’t shake it. He looked around, trying to pinpoint where the feeling of being watched was coming from. The four tourists wearing matching shirts by the corner? The lone museum visitor standing with his back to the wall, his eyes everywhere but on the exhibits? Or the husband-and-wife pair that still wore their sunglasses indoors and kept craning their heads in Roman’s direction?
The walkie-talkies dangling off the hips of the guards all went off at the same time, creating an echo chamber of static and voices. One of them managed to make out the message and shouted at the rest to follow her, all eight of them apparently needed in order to handle whatever disruption Mimic and Bang Bang had just caused.
Roman and Wyatt reached Alecia’s side. “Ready?” she asked, holding the key to her chest.
“Yes,” Roman said. “All you need to do is open the display, and we’ll grab the tome. We’ll run out, and you stay behind, acting as if you were robbed. Your hands will be clean, and I’ll make sure the balance in your bank account will get larger.”
Alecia nodded, eyes darting over Roman’s shoulder. She whispered something to herself and pushed the key into the lock. Roman held his breath. Wyatt held his hand. This was it, the tome was finally theirs—
The key didn’t work. Alecia let out a frustrated breath and tried again.
“What’s going on?” Roman asked, every second more vital than the last.
“It’s not… This isn’t the right key.”
“Did they change the locks?”
“No, I don’t think so. My other set of keys is in my office. I need to run back and grab them.”
Roman pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “How fast can you get back?”
“Minutes. Five minutes.”
“Go, hurry.”
She nodded, grabbing the key and bolting away, winding through a group of students trying to paint a sculpture of a mountain made out of books. Wyatt looked to Roman, wincing.
“This isn’t great,” he said.
“No, it isn’t,” Roman echoed, looking down at the tome. So close. He could take out his gun and shoot through the glass—that’s all it would take to grab the tome and get out of there. But it would draw all of the attention directly to them, and Roman didn’t want to risk that. Shooting a gun in a crowded museum and stealing one of the exhibits was exactly the kind of thing that would land them both in jail.