Ian's Ultimate Gamble - Brenda Jackson [55]
Ian remained where he was, sitting in silence while he thought about everything Dare had said. He stood and began pacing the room, replaying in his mind all the times he'd spent with Brooke since she'd arrived at the Rolling Cascade, and he knew Dare was right. She had come here to look out for his best interest.
He rubbed a hand down his face. Why did love have to be so damn complicated? And why was he so prone to letting his emotions rule his common sense where Brooke was concerned? Mainly because he loved her so much. Deep down a part of him was afraid to place his complete heart on the line. But he would. He knew what he had to do. He had to swallow his pride and surrender all.
He moved to the door with an urgent need to see Brooke, wondering if she was downstairs in the casino. His cell phone rang and he stopped to answer it. "Yes?"
"This is Vance. It seems they're going to make their move earlier than planned."
Ian understood. "Is everything in place'?"
"Down to the letter. It's like watching a movie and I've saved you a front-row seat."
"I'm on my way."
He quickly walked out of his office and glanced over at Dare. "It seems the triplets are about to put their show on the road. Come on."
Ian's gaze lit on Brooke the moment he and Dare walked into the security surveillance room. He wanted to go to her, ask her forgiveness and tell her how much he loved her, but knew it was not the time or the place.
Even so. he couldn't help studying her. It wasn't quite eleven o'clock, however it appeared as if she'd been roused out of bed. She had that drowsy look in her eyes, although he knew that with what was going down, she would be alert as a whip.
Knowing that if he continued to stare at her, he would eventually cross the room and kiss her. he fought the temptation and turned to Vance. "Okay, what do we have?"
Vance chuckled. "They did just as we figured they would. They placed the video monitors in a frozen mode so the images my men are seeing are images from three hours earlier. Unknown to our intruders we installed additional video cameras and are able to see everything they're doing. Take a look."
Ian came to stand before the monitor. He saw two figures dressed in black as they silently moved across the room toward the vault. "Where's the third woman? And the guy?"
"They're in the casino," Brooke answered, and Ian could tell she was deliberately not looking at him. She pointed to another monitor that brought the couple into view. "What they're doing is establishing an alibi," she explained. "For the past hour they have been hopping from table to table, playing blackjack, poker, talking with the casino workers, anything they can do to make sure they're seen. Their alibi would be it's impossible to be in two places at the same time."
"It's possible if you're dealing with identical triplets." Dare said, frowning. "But then, no one was supposed to know that."
Ian shook his head. The foursome could have pulled this off as the perfect jewel heist if Brooke hadn't suspected something with that woman. No longer able to fight the urge any longer, he moved to stand beside Brooke and heard the sharp intake of her breath when he did so.
"Did we ever find out why we couldn't pick up a solid ID on the other two triplets?" he asked Vance.
"Yes. It seems they were separated at birth and raised by different families. They hooked up while in college, and nothing is recorded of them getting into any trouble. In fact, all three are from good homes. One of their adoptive fathers is a research scientist in Brussels."
He shook his head and continued. "It's my guess they're doing this for kicks to see if they can get away with it. For four years they have eluded the law, which has made them bolder and bolder and almost unstoppable." A smile lit Vance's eyes when he added, "Until they decided to do business in my territory."
Everyone crowded around the monitor and watched as