Legend & Lace

10. I Get Caught By A Tiny Human...And It Is So Worth It

Chapter 10

I Get Caught By A Tiny Human...And It Is So Worth It

"You know," I started as Drake pulled the hood of my leather jacket up. "I thought the whole reason we were going at night was not to get noticed."

"Which is why we're wearing normal clothing," he smiled before leaning down to kiss the tip of my nose. "John and Emmy can keep the whole 'breaking in in black clothing' thing. To anyone looking our way, we're just going out for drinks."

I looked down at my plain gray t-shirt, jeans, and Converse. "I have to admit, though, it's a heck of a lot comfier than what I've had to wear whenever we had to go to a museum or anywhere I was representing Antecedent."

"Yeah, because this time, you're breaking into the place," Cruz snorted. He handed me an earpiece, a similar one I'd seen John and the others use a few years back. I didn't put it in immediately, but rather in the pocket of my jacket.

"Stole those from that guy Ren," Kenna smiled with no trace of guilt whatsoever. "Thought we could put them to better use than they could at the moment."

"Kenna's going to be our eyes and ears," Cruz explained. "We're going to take the car and park a few blocks from the building. Hattie, this is basically going to be all you, okay? Drake and I will be on lookout and Kenna will be in the car, but you're going to have to get up to John's office, down to the vault to get everything, and then back out within ten minutes. Yeah, no one's going to know we're there, but we don't want to push it past that."

"Okay, got it," I nodded, and then took a deep breath before blowing it out in a rush. "I'm nervous. Why aren't you guys nervous? And it's not like we're actually breaking in with...like...alarms going off or breaking glass or holding people up for money. No, we're taking what's actually ours...and we're a part of the business. Well, they still think Drake and I are dead, but who's...?"

"Hattie," Drake said, holding my face in his hand. "Everything's going to go smoothly, okay? You know the building like the back of your hand. You know how to get into John's office and down to the vault. You've got this."

"I've got this," I repeated, nodding. "Yeah, I've got this."

But I so didn't have this.

No, Drake was right. I knew almost everything about the building, including how to get into John's office and down to the vault from there, which was, of course, the only way to get down to the vault. Kenna would be my eyes and ears from the inside and Drake and Cruz would watch everywhere else. If I just acted as if this were any other day going into Antecedent and down to the vault only a handful of people knew about, then I was in the clear.

Okay, if I didn't keep psyching myself out, then maybe I did have this.

Grabbing our bags, we checked out of the hotel. The woman who'd checked us in looked a little puzzled, but Kenna played on the lie we'd told when we'd gotten there – we were on layover on our way to Germany and would possibly have to check out later that night if we were able to get an earlier flight.

After packing up the car, Cruz drove to a half empty parking lot on the opposite side of the street from the Antecedent building. It gave Kenna a clear view of the front doors while the interior of the car and her laptop gave her all the video feeds from inside. Cruz would also be out at the front, though sitting on one of the benches pretending to be on his phone with someone.

Drake, however, was coming with me to the side entrance only a few people used. It required a keycard to enter, which Kenna, of course, was able to produce after swiping it from an employee just a few months before. She would immediately delete the entry codes just as soon as I was through each of the doors, so there would be no trace of us ever being here.