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“Ignore them,” Ryder says, leaning forward a bit and keying in on my genuine interest. “Basically, imagine a cavity inside a gemstone. It’s full of liquid—that’s one phase of matter. It’s also got a gas bubble trapped inside. That’s two phases of matter. A Colombian emerald, on the other hand, can have three phaseinclusions—liquid state of matter, gas state of matter and a solid state of matter like a crystal inside of the emerald.”
“That’s fascinating, Ryder,” Linc states, voice dry as he stifles a—pretend?—yawn. “You still awake, Hunter?”
I smile at Ryder. “It’s interesting.”
“Maybe if you knew some of this stuff, you would’ve realized it was a fake right away,” Ryder shoots back.
Linc shakes his head. “I’m The Safecracker and The Muscle. You handle the geek stuff.”
“We think Torres has the real emerald locked away at his Spanish villa,” Addie says, getting the conversation back on track. “Right after Knox and Linc stole the fake, Torres fled Colombia fast. My intel says he rushed straight to Spain.”
She turns her full attention to me. “We need to go to Spain and get the real emerald, and I’d like to hire you to fly us over there.”
I decide not to mince words. “No offense, but I’m not a thief.”
“Well, that’s good. Because we don’t need a thief, we need a pilot. A damn good one.”
“Right, but I’m not going to be an accomplice and go to jail for stealing from Torres.”
“Technically, Alejandro Torres is the one who stole that emerald, and our job is to steal it back,” she clarifies. “To return the gem to its rightful owner.”
Wait. Did I hear her right?“Return it?” I echo, confused.
I look over at Knox, wondering why he didn’t lead with that part of the story. He arches a dark brow, but doesn’t comment, his dark blue eyes studying me closely.
“Are you in or out?” Addie asks. “Because we leave bright and early.”
My mind is spinning at this new information, and I let out a low breath. This kinda changes everything.
“I’m—” My eyes lock with Knox’s intent, blue gaze, and I hope I don’t regret this. “—in.”
Chapter Seven: Knox
She’s in.My heart knocks against my ribs and my pulse leaps. I’m not sure why I’m so excited to have Hunter join our team for this heist, but I can’t deny it—I’m fucking thrilled.
“You’ll fly our plane,” Addie continues, “and, of course, be well-compensated.”
“We have a plane?” I ask. This is news to me.
“We do now, thanks to The Man.”
Nice.One of these days, I’m going to find out the identity of our mystery benefactor.
Addie returns her attention to Hunter. “Ryland told me you crashed your own plane to help his team?” Hunter nods, and Addie’s voice softens when she says, “Thank you for being so instrumental in helping them take down The Agency.”
Hunter looks a little surprised and touched by Addie’s gratitude. “You’re welcome. They’re a great group. Like family.”
“I understand that only too well,” Addie murmurs, looking around at our crew.
Even though we tease each other mercilessly, she’s right. This little ring of thieves has become extremely important to me.I’d do anything for any one of them. I’m lucky enough to still have my big family back in the Midwest. I might not see them as often as I’d like, but I know they’re there. Not everyone sitting here can say that.
Hunter confided in me about her parents dying, and honestly, I can relate. Angel was like a mom to me. Losing a mother figure is hard as hell whether she’s your blood or not.
“Keep helping us out,” Addie continues smoothly, “and you’ll be able to buy yourself a new plane in no time at all.”
When Hunter doesn’t comment, Addie merely smiles. “That’s enough for tonight. I’m sure you and Knox are exhausted. Rest up as best as you can. We’ll leave for Spain by nine, if that works for you?”
“That’s fine,” Hunter says, and everyone stands up.