“Naples took out Britt and Joe? There’s no question of that?”
“None.”
“And tried for Summerset as well.” Mick nodded. “I see how it is then.” He drew a long breath. “There are two men inside. One in your special security, one in the hotel. Honroe and Billick. The job’s set for tomorrow. Two in the morning, precisely. At that time a maxibus and a car will have an accident at the east corner near the hotel. The bus will turn over, slide into the jewelry shop. They’ve hired a hell of a driver. Do you remember Kilcher?”
“I do.”
“This is his son, and he’s even better than his old man. There’ll be a small fire, and an enormous mess. The cops, the security, even the fire department will be out there, dealing with it, handling the looters, and so forth. At the same moment, a delivery van will pull into the proper entrance of the hotel. We’ll be six, and armed with tranqs. We’ll take out those of your staff we must. I’ll be handling your security. I’ve worked it to jam to give us a twelve-minute window. Couldn’t widen it more than that, and that alone took me six months of hideous work.
“Your security’s a marvel, and that’s a fact. I’d never have made a crack in it without the men on the inside.”
“That’s little satisfaction at the moment.”
“I suppose that’s true. Still, I’m likely the only one live and kicking who could have widened that crack on you. So. Each team member has assigned goods to pluck. Every one of them must get it done and be out of the room within ten minutes. Gives them two to get back to the exit point. Anyone not there gets left behind.”
He rose, set his glass aside. “I’ll get my equipment and discs, so you can see how it’s meant to be.” He hesitated. “I should have known better than to tie myself up with the likes of Naples. I’ve no excuses for that mistake, and you’ve my word I’ll do what I can to make up for it. Will you give me over to the cops then?”
Roarke met his eyes, held them. And saw all the miseries. “No.”
Eve burst into the house, all but choking on her own rage. She swung toward the stairs even as Summerset slid into the hall. “Where are they?” she demanded.
“Roarke is in his private office. Lieutenant—”
“Later. Goddamn it.” She pounded up the stairs, streaked down the hall. She had a hand on her weapon when she coded herself into Roarke’s private room.
He wasn’t behind the console, but leaning back against it, his eyes tracking the data and diagrams on his wall screens. His unregistered equipment hummed softly.
“Where’s Connelly?”
Roarke continued to study, to access. He’d nearly come to the conclusion they’d have managed to pull it off. Son of a bitch. “He isn’t here.”
“I need to find him, now. The bastard’s part of this.”
“Yes, I know.”
His comment was so mild, she was two beats behind before it sank in. “You know? How long have you known?” She marched up to him, blocking his view of the screens. “What the hell kind of game are you playing here?”
“No game at all.”
No, she saw that now. His voice might have been calm, but his eyes weren’t. “When did you clue into him?”
“I suspected when we realized the auction items were the target. I told you there are only a few who could handle a job of this nature. He’s one of them.”
“And you didn’t bother to tell me that.”
“No, I didn’t tell you because I had to be sure. Now I am.”
“And you’re sure because?”
“I asked him,” Roarke said simply. “And he told me. I have his notes and job plans here. They might have done it,” he added with a glimmer of admiration leaking through. “If everything had gone perfectly, if there’d been absolutely no mistakes, no unknowns, they might have done it.”
“You asked him,” Eve repeated. “Fine. Great. Where is he?”
“I don’t know. I let him go.”
“You—” Now she did choke. It wasn’t just fury, but shock and outrage and not a little betrayal. “You just let him walk! He’s a key player in my investigation, he’s a fucking thief who was about to stab you in the back, and you let him go?”
“Yes. I have everything he knows about your investigation, about what was done and what’s planned. It won’t be much help to you regarding Yost. Mick didn’t know Yost had been brought in.”