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"No one said anything about stealing A family donated an antique crystal ball for display, but there was so"

"Were they supposed to get a copy?"

"Yes," I said "The faet it, you see, because they’re respectable noith political aspirations None of them wants the public to knohat kind of value they place on it, or that it tells the truth about the past and shows the pro a bait and switch, then?"

"Just a switch" I grinned "You really don’t knowthe rules, do you?"

He shook his head

"Well, then I look forward to teaching you" I meant it

Except … every time a Chronos job came up I felt torn There was a constant pull between the desire to get out of my house and do a job well and the need to define myself beyond Chronos and my father’s expectations Dance allowed for that, but only within the boundaries of my studio

Taking Dune on the Bourbon Orleans job was necessary to keep hiood side, and to keep hio on the job with me, it had been before he and I had become … whatever ere now

He was the only part of my life that wasn’t solely connected to Chronos, and suddenly, I didn’t want hiht of what I did there I didn’t want hied to discover over the past couple of weeks

And I didn’t want to forget her either

The hotel was just off Jackson Square

We caught a cab instead of usinganonymity was a bitch The rain had cleared out, and the sun was shining The cabbie dropped us off on the corner of Orleans and Bourbon so we could walk to the htup his backpack "Did you look at the file I sent you? If we have ti, our heads bent close together, staring at his laptop screen It progressed to our hands touching accidentally, and then our shoulders, and then …

He was looking atopen

"Sure If we have tilasses up on my head so I could see his eyes "We’ll check in first I need you to scout the case the crystal ball is in Make sure it’sIt’s in front of the check-in desk We’ll do so, and later, I’ll create a diversion in the lobby while you take the crystal"

"If that doesn’t work?" he asked

"Then we’ll apply stealth"

"Maybe we should apply it froo" He put his hand at the small of my back, and the valet and the doorrandiose furniture, fine art, and huge bouquets of flowers in crystal vases The blooms smelled absolutely divine

I sashayed up to the check in desk and plopped down my fake ID and credit card

"Welcome to the Bourbon Orleans How may I assist you?"

"Check in Christian Arnold"

"Yes,read OLGA, and I was pretty sure the accent was Norwegian "Would you like to leave the room on this credit card?"

"I would And you should have a package for me?"

She frowned "I don’t see a note on the reservation Just a h a doorway, I pushed Dune away from the desk "That case Over there Just be casual"

I turned back just as Olga came around the corner