In less than an hour, she�d canvassed the first floor, discovering a small gallery�s worth of beautiful artwork, resplendent but never ostentatious.

Her dad would�ve appreciated it. He would�ve stolen it, but he would�ve appreciated it first.

Maybe it shouldn�t have mattered, but in Charley�s eyes, it made her father human. Faulty and corrupt, like his daughter�but human. And that humanity? It was the thing that separated the father she loved from the uncle who all but owned her.

Charley thought of them both as she disappeared down a set of stairs into an exquisitely furnished basement. She wondered what her dad would think of her now�taking orders from Rudy, barely dodging Travis� threats, desperate to find a way out of the game.

He�d be horribly disappointed. And I wouldn�t blame him.

With practiced but weary eyes, Charley cased the basement, identifying the artwork she knew Rudy would want. There was also a high-end media room, complete with the most sophisticated video and sound system Charley had ever seen, but they�d probably leave that alone. Luxury electronics were valuable, but they weren�t unique. Rudy�s clientele preferred the exclusives: one-of-a-kind art, rare artifacts, things they couldn�t order online with a flash of their Amex Black cards.

At the back of the basement, Charley spotted two sleek black doors. The first was just a utility room, but the other looked promising.

A safe room?

No, not a room. An elevator.

She drew a quick mental map, orienting herself with the level above. She hadn�t seen any elevator doors up there. Maybe this one only went down.

A sub-basement?

Charley looked for the button to call it up, but found only a keypad and some kind of fancy fingerprint scanner with a digital screen below it, blinking back at her now.

alarmed� alarmed� alarmed�

Excitement flooded her chest, the rush so familiar it was hard not to bask in the momentary high. Whatever the Redthornes had stashed down below, it had to be more valuable than the millions of dollars in artwork displayed upstairs under significantly less security.

More valuable�or more secret.

Charley�s skin tingled. She knelt down on the floor and peered underneath the gap, confirming her suspicions; in addition to the keypad and scanner, the elevator was alarmed with a laser security system.

There was no way she could crack it�not without more time.

For now, the chamber below would remain a secret.

Unless I can convince him to give me a tour�

No. It was bad enough she was facilitating the robbery of Dorian�s art estate. Whatever lay hidden below could stay hidden. She�d just have to tell Rudy the basement was a bust. Hopefully, he�d buy it; time was of the essence during a heist, and they�d have their hands full on the main floors, especially if Travis wanted the cars�

Charley�s insides burned.

It�s not going to happen. I�ll figure something out before it gets that far. I won�t let Dorian suffer.

Rising from the floor, she smoothed out her dress and took a deep breath, eager to move on. But when she returned to the staircase that led out of the basement, her eyes landed on a narrow library table with a protective glass top. The table itself was unimpressive, but the marble statue under the glass was anything but.

Charley gasped.

It can�t be� JrNovels.com