“Good,” I said. “I’ve disarmed the rune trap on the bridge, but I’d still leave your car on the mainland side and cross on foot. After the two of you are on the island, stay in the gardens and move through them. That should keep you and Xavier away from any giants who might be patrolling the museum perimeter. I’m going inside right now to get Owen away from Clementine and her men. Once I have him, we’ll head to the gardens on the west side of the island. Clementine’s set up some cell-phone jammers inside the museum, so if I miss your text or don’t respond, you and Xavier work your way through the gardens to that part of the island. That’s where we’ll meet.”

“See you there.” Bria hesitated again. “And, Gin?”

“Yeah?”

“Watch your back.”

The concern in her voice warmed my heart. It always amazed me how far our relationship had come in the months since Bria had returned to Ashland. How we’d gone from suspicion, anger, and mistrust to understanding, acceptance, and respect.

“Don’t worry, baby sister. I always do.”

* * *

I hung up with Bria, silenced my phone and clipped it to my belt, and closed the trunk on the Aston Martin. Then I grabbed the bomb and carefully set it on top of the smooth metal lid so I could study the cluster of wires and figure out which buttons to push to turn the attached cell phone into a timer that would trigger the device.

While I worked, I also turned up the volume on my stolen walkie-talkie. Clementine had trained her crew well, because there was no unnecessary chatter clogging up the airwaves. Just brief bursts of conversation about the giants moving from one room to the next, stripping all of the art from the floors and walls, and loading it up.

“The first truck is full,” Dixon said at one point. “We’ll have to open the second one now.”

“Roger that,” Opal responded. “I’ve got the rest of the jewelry loaded into the other two cases and ready for transport.”

Once again, I wondered where exactly the giants were stashing the jewelry, but it didn’t really matter. I didn’t care about the gems and what became of them—only what happened to my friends and the rest of the hostages.

After that . . . silence, as the giants continued with their various tasks. I’d just found the command to program the cell-phone timer when the walkie-talkie crackled again.

“Anton?” Clementine’s voice filled the air. “You and Hannah back inside the museum yet?”