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He’d embraced their fathers’ teachings about business and people. While Mia had bucked against the lessons in manipulation, he’d made a career from it.
“I don’t want to use people who know us, who we are. Word will spread and our anonymity will be lost.”
“Youshould know better,” he said, throwing her own words back at her. “The players I know on the dark web never reveal their identities. It’s a given that we all use aliases.”
She sipped more wine. “All right, then. Let’s talk about who we’ll need. A thief, obviously.”
“A hacker, someone who can get past security systems.” Immediately he thought of Data. He’d used her services many times over the last few years. Efficient and relatively cheap. “I have someone I can reach out to when the time is right.”
Mia crossed the room and returned with a small notebook and pen. She made a few notes. “I’ve been looking for a forger, but I haven’t found anyone I like.”
It figured she would start with the forger. Art was her area of comfort.
He chuckled. “You don’t have to like them.”
“I’m aware. I meant I don’t like the quality of their work in conjunction with their attitudes. It’s as if making a forgery isn’t enough. They want to make itbetter.”
“I’ll put some feelers out for a thief while you continue to hunt for a forger.” He leaned back on the couch and drank the rest of his wine.
She paused in taking notes, tapping her pen on the pad. “What about selling the artwork once we have it?”
“I can definitely find buyers.”
Her jaw muscle pulsed. It was a small twitch, but he knew his cousin. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Is there a problem?”
“It suddenly feels like you’re taking over. I’ve spent years gathering information and planning this, and now you walk in and want to handle all of the active pieces.”
He sighed and shook his head slightly. “We each have a skill set. You’ve utilized yours masterminding this plan. Let me use mine to help you carry it out.”
She didn’t seem convinced. He reached over and laid a hand over hers. “This is my legacy, too.”
Sometimes it seemed like she forgot he shared the same guilt she felt.
“Fine. But I make all final decisions. This is what I have so far.” Spreading the images from the folder across the coffee table, she ticked off the list of twelve—men who not only aided and abetted their fathers, but who also got rich off the same scheme.
“How do you see this working?” he asked.
“I’m still developing the list of artwork they have. We’ll only get one shot, so I want to choose the piece from each of them that will hurt. I’ll commission a forgery. Then the thief goes in, swaps the forgery for the original and we sell the original.”
“And then?”
“We use the money to make some reparations for what they did. We might not be able to repay every family, but we can make a difference.”
He smiled. That was the cousin he knew—all cold steel on the outside but a soft, mushy center. “And how do you decide who gets the money?”
“I haven’t figured that piece out yet. I have a list of names, people who came forward and publicly criticized our fathers for what they did. That is one way you can help. They can’t know it’s coming from us and you can dig around and see who needs the most help. Prioritize who needs what.”
Jared nodded and considered who he could have do background checks on the victims. He picked up Mia’s notebook and saw a list on the inside cover. It took a minute, but he recognized the lessons. Their fathers had said these mantras as if they were motivational quotes:
Spending money to get the best is worth it 99% of the time.
Endearing yourself to others makes it easier to manipulate them.
Loyalty to the right people is vital to success.
He’d assumed that Mia had never paid attention to the rules for business. She’d been an art history major, after all. She preferred the pretty things in life over the gritty side of making money.
He pointed at the list. “Why have this here?”
