Even if someone did manage to summon help, Clementine had a whole rotunda full of hostages to use as leverage, and there were enough important people here tonight to make the cops think twice about simply storming the museum. None of the underworld bosses would appreciate being collateral damage, especially since so many of them paid the po-po to look the other way when it came to all of their illegal activities.

No, Clementine had been smart about things—just not quite smart enough, since I was still alive and eager to mess up her plans.

One of the men standing by the door opened it. Dixon pushed Owen through the opening, and the two guards went inside behind him. Clementine turned to the two giants who’d followed her here from the rotunda.

“Tanner, you go inside with the others and help them get set up. Gary, you go over to the security center and see if Rose needs any help monitoring the camera feeds. We’ve got the museum locked down tight, but I want some extra eyes on the hostages in the rotunda, just in case any of them get any dumb ideas about playing hero.”

The giants nodded and did as she commanded, heading down the hallway and leaving her alone with her family. When the others were out of earshot, she turned to Opal and Dixon.

“How did we make out with the jewelry?” she asked.

Opal lovingly patted the silverstone case she was carrying. “At least five million in this case and another five to ten million easy in the garbage bags. Maybe more.”

Clementine nodded. “Good. Go back and deal with the jewelry. I want it out of the rotunda and secured as soon as possible. Dixon, you know what to do with that case.”

“Sure thing, Aunt Clem.”

Dixon expectantly stretched his hand out to his cousin. Opal’s fingers clenched around the handle of the case for a moment before she finally passed it over to him. Dixon smirked at her, his swollen nose and the dribbles of blood on his face making his orange skin look even more cartoonish. Opal coldly eyed him like she wanted to rip the case out of his hand and make him eat it. Definitely no love lost there.

Clementine checked her fancy watch. “If everything goes according to plan, it shouldn’t take Grayson more than an hour to work his magic. Most of the art should be loaded into the trucks by then. Then the rest.”

Opal and Dixon both smiled at her words, their faces creasing with dark delight.

The rest? What else did they have planned? And what did they need Owen for? I also wondered why Clementine was so concerned about making sure she had all of the hostages’ jewels, when her men were busy robbing the entire museum. But I shrugged the questions away. I’d find out the answers soon enough—body by bloody, bloody body.