Page 143 of Stolen for Keeps
Noah just gave him a look that said,I handled it. You’re welcome.
“Let’s get to work,” he said. “Her passcode’s ‘sbwdepom3.’ Whatever that spells out on your number pad.”
Dom squinted. “Not her birthday?”
“It’s her dog,” I said. “Sir Balthazar Wigglington de Pompadour the Third.”
Dom chortled. “You made that up.”
“I wish I had.”
When Noah handed the phone to Dom, I caught it mid-pass.
“Guys, no offense, but let me do the first sweep,” I said.
They both looked at me.
I hated Annamaria, but no one deserves their laundry aired like this. And knowing her, it’s not just dirty. It’srated.
Noah nodded, immediately respectful. “All right. Flag anything that looks like it might help.”
I took the phone and slipped away to the bedroom, curling up next to Reko, who instantly flopped a paw over my thigh like a therapy dog with no training but perfect timing.
I opened the gallery and started scrolling through the timeline around the first heist.
There’s Annamaria in full costume at Big Sky’s Halloween party, barely a week after my sentencing. She was dressed as a prisoner, with an orange jumpsuit, fake chains, and a giant plastic diamond at her throat. The caption?Cousin vibes.
I stared at it and scoffed. “Classy, Ann.”
She knew what she was doing. Of course she did.
I kept scrolling.
And…ugh. Yep. Exactly why I told the guys to stay out. Videos that belonged in a vault labeledDO NOT OPEN EVER. Her and the boyfriend she used to have. I winced, muttered a horrified “oh no,” and skipped past.
But then, I paused.
There was a string of photos that were seemingly harmless, such as her dog posing in a little sweater beside a potted plant. Normal.
Until I looked closer at the reflection in the mirror-like silver pot.
Her face. And what was that white thing?
Not a mask.
She was bandaged across her nose and cheeks!
And the timestamp?
Two daysbeforeI broke into the mansion.
My fingers trembled around the phone. And my throat dried up.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
So she hadn’t gone with her dad for her grandparents’anniversary that weekend because she’d been nursing an injury.She had been home.
I burst out of the bedroom, half-running, half-sliding across the rug. Reko jerked upright, confused, but chased after me anyway.
