“The official opening ceremony is tomorrow, as you know,” Elodie said. “But the red carpet’s tonight. The photographers wait all day to get a good spot.”
The traffic cleared when we got past the festival, and we sped the rest of the way to Colette’s villa, which was on a cliff at the far end of the city. It was cream with black shutters, looking over a reflecting pool lined by palms and manicured hedges. Before we could get out of the car, Colette ran down the front steps while the driver got Elodie’s bag out of the trunk. She was the only one of us who’d brought luggage, so Colette was getting a nearby department store to send the rest of us some essentials.
The tall hedges hid the villa from the surroundings, and I relaxed for the first time since we saw the news this morning.
“Lucien told me what happened,” Colette said, sweeping me into a hug and then kissing Jack on the cheek and throwing her arms around Elodie. “Are you okay? Are you all okay?”
“Besides a few minor injuries,” Stellan said. Colette tucked herself against his side, but he just squeezed her shoulder and let go.
I watched her back as she led Elodie and Jack into the villa, and remembered what Stellan had said on the boat. You use whatever tools you have.
“You did the same thing to me,” I said. His hands in my hair on the plane, taking out my bobby pins, just hours after we met. The inappropriate remarks, directed straight at my overactive blushing mechanism.
He saw me watching Colette and seemed to understand. “I thought you’d be an easy target.”
We climbed the wide sandstone steps. “I think I knew it. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. That’s why I got on the plane with you.”
Stellan opened the door. “What if you’d been wrong?”
I ducked through ahead of him. “I wasn’t.”
Inside, we found everyone in a sitting room walled by glass, making it look like the room was made of the palm trees and vines outside. I took a seat next to Jack on the sofa, and he slipped an arm around my shoulders. He was taking the assertion that he no longer cared what anyone thought seriously. Elodie noticed and raised an eyebrow in our direction. I ignored her.
She cleared her throat. “As you all know, the bracelet we’re here to get is going to be on display at the opening ceremony of the festival tomorrow, and that will be our best—and maybe our only—chance to steal it. So we’ll need to be prepared.”
I looked around at all the nodding faces. We were becoming a well-oiled machine.
“Here’s the plan,” Elodie said. “Before the main event tomorrow, there’s a red-carpet photo call tonight. Colette and I will recon there. We’ll figure out where the bracelet is located, and get a sense of what kind of security there is on it. Tomorrow night, Colette goes to the opening ceremony. When the time’s right, she’ll signal me, and I’ll trip the electricity, which should kill security on the display boxes for a good forty-five seconds before backup generators kick in. Stellan will be with Colette, acting like a bodyguard, and when the lights go out, he’ll grab the bracelet and replace it with this one, which Colette found at a thrift shop earlier.” She held up a passably similar piece of gold costume jewelry. “And then everyone gets the hell out as fast as they can.”
Everyone nodded, except me. “So what’s my job?”
“You and Jack make us piña coladas so we can celebrate when we get back.” Elodie spread her hands with a flourish. “Listen. You are the single most recognizable person in the world of the Circle right now, and a fugitive outside it. If anyone saw you, it could complicate things. And you,” she said to Jack, “are not as recognizable, but there are quite a few Circle members who think you’re a traitor and would gladly take your head off, which would really screw up the whole plan. You’ll need to stay out of sight, too.”
I started to protest, but Jack chimed in. “You’re right. We’ll stay here.”
I bristled and pulled out from under his arm, but then I gave up. “Fine. I’m not going to screw up the plan just because I want to be part of it. I think not using us is silly, but okay. What else?”
“That’s it. For now, we lie low and get ready for a heist.”
CHAPTER 25
When everyone had dispersed to choose bedrooms, Jack followed me outside through arched French doors and onto a back patio dotted with topiaries and lounge chairs. I wandered to a fountain, where a jumping marble fish sprayed water out of its mouth and into a pond below. Jack stopped beside me, hands in his pockets.
“Sorry about that in there,” he said. “Knee-jerk reaction. I should have let you argue with Elodie if you wanted. I would rather have you stay here, but . . .”
I frowned and tucked my hair behind my ears. “I just think it’s better to have all of us close in case something goes wrong. But if you all think the risk of me being recognized is too much, then I guess I should just believe you.”
Overhead, a pair of birds called to each other, and I leaned against the railing around the fountain and looked up at the surrounding mansions.
We stood in silence for a few seconds, lost in our own thoughts. Finally, Jack held out his arm. I laid my cheek against his chest, and he rested his chin on top of my head. “You know I’d do anything for you, right?” he said. I could feel the words as much as I could hear them. “I don’t care how often we don’t agree. You can argue with me all day, and I’d still—”
He cut off abruptly, and his hand, which had been tracing small circles on my lower back, stilled. I tensed, staring into his shirt. He’d still what?
“I’d still do what’s right for you,” he finished. He rubbed my back again. “I always will.”
I thought about the part of Jack’s past he hadn’t told me about. How helpless he must have felt about Oliver Saxon’s death; how if it were me, I’d do anything I could to not feel like that again. “I know,” I whispered.