Royal Heist

by Rachelle Mccalla

  Impressed by her knowledge of the underbelly of the jewelry industry, Galen nonetheless wished he knew what to make of all the conflicting clues they’d picked up. He had urgent business to attend to, as well—including following up with Captain Selini, and changing into his guard uniform, since his shift had started half an hour before. “I’m scheduled to guard you this evening,” he reminded Ruby. “I need to check in—”

  “Of course.” Ruby nodded, the vulnerability in her eyes bordering on longing. “And I want to talk to Stasi. She asked to have the files brought to her suite in the palace so she could inspect them thoroughly to see if anything was missing or out of place. Can you look for me at her suite when you’re done checking in?”

  Galen agreed, but warned her. “I’m sure Captain Selini will want to discuss the interrogation, so I don’t know how long I’ll be. Just don’t leave the palace complex without me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without you.” Ruby reached for him, resting her small hand on his arm. “I want to finish that conversation we started earlier.”

  Warmth spread from her fingers through his arm, straight to his heart, carrying hope he wasn’t sure he should trust. He wished he could take the time to talk to Ruby that very moment, but the captain was waiting, and Galen couldn’t afford to let him grow impatient. He nodded his understanding and Ruby turned away. For a few seconds Galen indulged his eyes, watching her graceful figure retreat.

  Then he turned toward headquarters to face the captain.

  ELEVEN

  To Galen’s relief, the captain was too concerned about the fast-approaching royal wedding to spend much time picking apart what they had or hadn’t learned from Rocco.

  “I don’t like the idea that these Bulldog Bandits might be somewhere in Lydia, but we don’t have enough information to do anything about them right now and I’ve got my hands full. Princess Isabelle’s wedding coordinator is on her way over here right now to give me my daily lecture—”

  “Daily lecture?” Galen repeated, half under his breath. He couldn’t imagine anyone reprimanding the imposing captain of the Lydian Royal Guard.

  “The woman is a control freak and the current bane of my existence,” Jason Selini admitted, his steely defenses lowered enough for Galen to see the weariness behind his eyes. “Just stay on top of this jewelry business and keep me informed of any critical developments. If you can keep Ruby and the royal jewels safe for the next two weeks, you won’t have to worry about losing your job.”

  Galen nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Dismissed.” The captain nodded curtly, the weariness chased from his eyes by sheer determination.

  As Galen hurried through the royal gardens toward the palace, he felt a rising well of hope. Maybe he wouldn’t lose his job after all. Maybe, if the captain saw that he could capably handle the situation with the royal jewels, he’d be willing to forget all about his transgressions of the past, and his position would be secure. He wouldn’t have to be embarrassed to face his brothers after all. He could help restore the royal guard to their former honor.

  He traced his way through the back halls to the large front staircase. Bounding to the top of the stairs, Galen was surprised to find the princess, Kirk and Ruby all headed down the hall toward him, their faces pale and drawn.

  “What’s up?”

  “I should have realized it sooner,” Princess Stasi answered.

  “We were looking at the files,” Ruby talked over her friend, “and talking about what we learned from Rocco and Carlton.”

  “The royal jewels,” Kirk explained. “Not the ones Stasi’s designing.”

  Galen had some difficulty following the jumble of words, especially given their ominous tone. “Not the royal wedding jewels?” he clarified.

  “The ancient crown jewels of Lydia.” Ruby met his eyes.

  “The Bulldog Bandits,” Kirk added.

  “My files contained specifics on the crown jewels.” Stasi walked past him toward the stairs. “I was using them as inspiration for my designs, studying their construction and trying to stay as true as possible to Lydian royal jewel traditions. If the bandits are after jewelry with historic value, they were probably trying to use the information in my files to help them access the underground vault. And Ruby—” the princess stopped and looked back up the stairs impatiently.

  “That’s why they were after Ruby,” Kirk finished his fiancée’s thought.

  Galen turned to Ruby, still not clear about what the royal couple meant.

  Ruby looked up at him with regret pooling behind her lashes. “As Stasi’s assistant, I’m the only person outside of the royal guard and the royal family with clearance to get inside the vault.”

  Galen tried to understand. “Without a guard, you were an easy target. They tried to kidnap you to get them inside the vault?”

  Kirk answered hollowly, “That may well have been their plan.”

  Galen shook his head. “Even kidnapped, you wouldn’t let them in.”

  “Not on purpose.” Ruby sounded as though she might cry at any moment. “But once they had the information in Stasi’s files, they’d know what questions they’d need to ask me—they might even be able to deduce it themselves. And then the only thing they’d still need—” she held out one trembling hand toward him “—is my handprint.”

  Galen stood still as his shocked mind processed the revelation. Ruby would never let the bandits into the vault. She was far too loyal to her friend—and far too disgusted by the jewel thieves to help them, no matter what threats they might make against her. But ultimately it didn’t matter.

  If they kidnapped her, they could incapacitate her and use her handprint without her cooperation. Galen realized with horrified fear that Ruby wouldn’t need to be conscious for the security pad to read her print. She wouldn’t even need to be alive. In fact, for the purposes of the Bulldog Bandits, it might be easier if she wasn’t.

  * * *

  The four of them piled into a sedan to drive to the vault and check on the ancient crown jewels. Ruby slumped into the backseat feeling sick. Her father had been right all along. She was the kind of person who could betray a friend without even realizing it. She’d let down her parents and ruined their jewelry business. Isabelle’s wedding jewelry had been revealed a week before her wedding. And now the crown jewels of Lydia were in danger. They might even be gone already.

  “When was the last time anyone was in the vault? I accompanied the two of you on Monday.” Kirk pulled the car through the palace gates as they opened. “And Ruby was first attacked when? Thursday night?”

  “Thursday evening shortly before 8:00 p.m.,” Galen clarified. “Then she was followed on Friday evening around the same time.”

  Ruby wanted to add that Galen had kept her safe on that second evening, but she didn’t trust her voice.

  “They can’t get into the vault without a valid handprint—the full hand, not just the thumb like most of our security devices,” Stasi rehearsed. “Is it possible for them to lift a clear print and reproduce it somehow?”

  “Highly unlikely,” Kirk explained. “The print pads are extremely sensitive. They don’t just analyze the individual fingerprints, but the whole hand, the position, pressure, distance between fingers—reproducing that via artificial means would be next to impossible, especially without Ruby’s full cooperation. And the print pads are connected to the royal guard computer system. Every time a print registers, the user and time stamp are recorded by the computer.”

  “The computer records could tell us if anyone tried to get in?” Galen clarified.

  “Yes, as long as they use a handprint as the system was designed. If they try to circumvent the system somehow, their activity might not register,” Kirk explained, then asked the princess, “How many people have clearance to access the vault?”


  “Besides my parents and siblings, the captain of the guard appoints three members of the guard, in addition to himself, for the highest level of security clearance. One of the first things I took care of after we regained the crown in June was to make sure all the former guards who had access were removed from the system, and I helped select the new guards who’d have clearance. Jason, Linus, Levi and you.” She smiled at her fiancé. “I had Ruby added for practicality’s sake, so I don’t have to stop working every time I want to reference a setting. But you haven’t gone by yourself since Monday?”

  “Not this week.”

  “There you have it, then.” Stasi nodded. “The vault should be secure, but I still want to check everything for myself. And maybe while we’re there, we can figure out a plan for increasing the vault security.”

  “There isn’t a regular guard posted?” Galen clarified.

  “At the main entrance, yes, but there hasn’t been a human guard further down the line, not since the new ultra-secure vault was built after the Second World War. One of the primary security features of the current vault is that it’s hidden underground. Only those with security clearance know where to find it. Anything more would risk compromising its location. If anyone tries to get past the initial guard, he can trigger an alarm that rings at the royal guard headquarters.”

  “What if he was shot before he could set off the alarm?” As Ruby voiced the question aloud, her words slowed, grinding almost to a halt, hoping someone would interrupt to calm her fears.

  No one spoke.

  Finally Kirk offered, “He’d be found by the next guard when he started his shift.”

  Ruby hardly found the fact reassuring, especially given the Bulldog Bandits’ record. Never in all their fifteen heists had they set off a single alarm.

  Which meant they might have infiltrated the royal vault already.

  * * *

  Galen could tell that Ruby was upset, but he didn’t know what to do about it. His instinct told him to take her hand, maybe even offer a comforting hug, but given the captain’s specific instructions not to get involved with his charge, he figured those gestures were off-limits, regardless of what Ruby had been trying to tell him. His heart said he’d crossed the line already.

  He cared about Ruby more than he should as just a friend. In retrospect he realized he probably shouldn’t have let her witness Salvatore’s interrogation, but his feelings for her had clouded his judgment. He’d let her in because he wanted to make her happy, not because it was the right thing to do. If he had any shot at retaining his position, he needed to do a better job of keeping his feelings under wraps.

  Kirk parked the car in the shadow of the old city wall which had encircled the Lydian capital for hundreds of years. In recent centuries Sardis had outgrown the limestone fortifications with their graceful towers, but the old wall remained, well inside the city limits now, a testimony to the long history of the beautiful city Galen called home.

  No one spoke as they climbed from the car. The others seemed to know what they were doing—of course, they’d been there before. Galen tagged along, alert, head down, praying silently that the jewels would still be safely inside, and that their visit wouldn’t tip anyone off to the treasure that lay hidden somewhere beneath their feet.

  The old city wall, much like the palace wall, was dotted with buildings and shops nestled between its buttresses. But unlike the palace wall, which in most places was no more than a story or two high, the city wall towered several stories above them, its ramparts virtually inaccessible above its sheer stone sides.

  They approached from inside the old city. Far on the other side of the thick wall, well out of their sight now, the stones would seem to tower even higher, perched as they were on a cliff overlooking the ancient moat. A clear creek filled the trench. Beyond it, a tree-filled park followed the wall for nearly a mile in either direction, providing hiking and outdoor recreation opportunities to the residents and visitors of Sardis.

  Kirk led them to what looked like a narrow alleyway between buildings, a booth at the entrance marked Information. The shadow of a man filled the window. Kirk motioned for the rest of them to stay back as he approached.

  The shadow moved. Ruby let out a relieved breath, grateful the man wasn’t dead. Kirk exchanged words with the guard, then gestured for them to follow. When they reached a steel door built into the base of the wall, he turned to the princess. “Key?”

  Anastasia passed him a slender object. “One of only three in existence,” she noted.

  Galen kept tabs on the various safety features he’d observed. One was the obscurity of the door. If he hadn’t grown up near this neighborhood and recognized the particular shops they’d passed, he might have mistaken the narrow alleyway for any of the dozens of others that tunneled through the old city, most of them leading to private courtyards or gardens, some leading to other streets and alleys. When he was younger, he’d actually stopped at the information booth before to ask for directions through the tangled streets of the city. Everyone knew the men in the booth.

  No one realized what they were really there for. They’d always given him perfect directions that led him far away from the clandestine entrance. He’d been none the wiser.

  After unlocking the door, Kirk handed the key back to the princess and they proceeded inside. “Pull the door shut securely,” Kirk requested.

  Galen did so, making sure it was locked behind them.

  They stood in darkness for one tense moment before Kirk muttered, “There’s the switch,” and a series of widely spaced lights illumined the narrow path.

  “We’re inside the wall?” Galen asked, still keeping tabs. “I thought the interiors of the walls had been filled in for safety reasons.”

  “Most have,” Stasi explained as she followed her fiancé down the narrow passage. “And it serves our purposes if people believe that none of the walls are hollow. If people don’t know there’s a space inside the wall, they won’t come looking for it.”

  Galen ticked off the fourth security feature. Obscure door, disguised guard, exclusive key, passageway thought to be nonexistent. He couldn’t help wondering how the Bulldog Bandits would sort out all the details, especially when they were unlikely to ever get past the first door.

  Over the next ten minutes he learned of more security features. Kirk unlocked a second door that led to stairs winding upward.

  “I thought the vault was underground.” Galen was nearly certain he’d heard the others say as much.

  “We have to go up to go down,” Kirk explained, leading them to the top of a tower. Once they were high above the city, they paused.

  Ruby looked out through a high window and sighed. “The view from up here is amazing.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Galen agreed as the late-afternoon sunlight caught Ruby’s hair, turning it to orange gold. “Which tower is this?”

  “They called it The Last Stronghold,” Stasi explained. “The moat is just below here. Centuries ago there was a drawbridge, but it was taken down and the entrance walled over. Legend says this is the tower where King John of Lydia and his brother Luke holed up in their battle against the Illyrians. They rode out at dawn, joined forces with the Emperor Charlemagne and defeated the Illyrian army.”

  “Or so the legend goes.” Kirk smiled at his future wife. “That was over twelve hundred years ago.”

  Galen appreciated the history, but his greatest concern was the security of their location. “These tower windows are open to the air. Couldn’t an intruder circumvent the doors we passed through and climb through these windows instead?”

  Kirk laughed. “We’re over seventy feet off the ground on the city side. You’d need a crane to reach this tower, but there’s not a street nearby wide enough to park one.”

  “But the rooftops—”

  “None of them ar
e directly beneath us. The closest are still more than fifty feet below—too low to reach the windows with the tallest ladder, even if you had permission from the store owners to climb up on their roof, even if the angles to the windows weren’t impossible to navigate from a ladder.” Kirk dismissed the possibility.

  “What about the other side of the wall?”

  “The park is too dense with trees for a crane, and besides, the tower is nearly a hundred feet up from the moat. Perhaps a determined intruder could use a helicopter to reach the windows, but they wouldn’t go unnoticed. Even if an experienced rock-wall climber tried to scale the wall itself, the ancient limestone is too porous for suction-securing devices to hold and too crumbly to allow a decent handhold or foothold.” Kirk crouched near the floor. “Now watch closely for the hidden staircase.”

  Galen did as instructed. The stairs they’d taken had wound around the perimeter of the tower, lit by arrow-slit windows at even intervals. Kirk pivoted back a large stone from the cobbled squares that made up the floor. The rock raised a panel, a trapdoor that hid a narrow, far more steeply winding set of stairs.

  “The escape hatch,” the princess explained. “Centuries ago, if these towers were ever taken, the men defending them had a means of falling back.” She slid her fingers along a slender silvery band. “If the guard in the information booth triggers the alarm, this bulletproof panel will slide closed, along with three other panels between here and the vault. They only come open again with a complicated key code, known only to the head of the guard and the king.”

  Kirk led the way down the ancient stone stairs.

  As they made the long twirling trip down, Galen prayed that they’d find the jewels undisturbed in the vault. They’d seen nothing that might indicate anyone else had passed this way since Ruby had visited with Kirk and the princess on Monday, but given what he understood of the Bulldog Bandits, that was hardly reassuring. Rocco had said the jewel thieves came and went without a trace, save for a few stray bulldog hairs.