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“Oh my God,” Claire laughed, trying hard to catch her breath.
“What?” asked Mia, the frustration beginning to come out in her voice.
Claire shook her head. “Sometimes I think we get so involved in how smart we are and how technologically advanced we are, that we forget it wasn’t always that way. Can you remove that little jamming thingy from my headband and put it in something else?”
“Like what?”
“I dunno—a scarf, maybe a ball cap?”
“Sure. As long as it’s not any thicker than the headband it should be fine. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking we go old-school. Fletch said no one’s spotted the pattern because the MO isn’t the same. This one should really throw him for a loop. Do you need to be through the firewall to hit them with an electronic pulse?”
“No,” said Mia, shaking her head.
“Good. I’ll go in to talk to Pennington and raise my concerns about the three paintings. It is perfectly characteristic of me to be a pain in the ass. Once I’ve done that, I’ll go look at them again. They’re in the gallery behind the necklace. You send an EMP…”
Mia nodded. “It’ll disrupt the power to the whole building, including the alarms, the lights, the cameras, everything.”
“I’ll make sure I’m in place and when you say go, I’ll cut a small hole in the case, reach in and snatch the necklace. I’ll hide it somewhere on me—my bra, under a ball cap, we’ll sew in a pocket, whatever…”
“The scarf; the vintage Hermes scarf I got you last year for your birthday. Didn’t you buy something to wear with it?”
“I did. I can easily conceal the jammer in that. I’ll grab the necklace and just walk out. It may not be fancy, but I’m pretty damn sure it’ll work. Something that simplistic, when they know we were using advanced technology, will throw them off guard.”
Mia grinned. “You may be certifiable, but I think this might work.”
“I’ll go in tomorrow to scope it out. We’ll do it around lunchtime when lots of people are there. I’ll make the call on the spot, and we’ll get it done.”
“I like it. Why don’t we head out to your place so I can get the scarf fixed…”
“I can make dinner, have a lovely ride, and you can sleep over.”
They packed up Mia’s gear and bundled into her car. Mia made sure to drive in and around London before heading out to Claire’s place. As they drove past the Savoy, Claire couldn’t help but look at it longingly.
“You really like him, don’t you?” asked Mia quietly.
“Yeah, but it could never work between us and my dropping my guard around him, even for a second, could spell disaster for us. No, I need to chalk up Ryland Fletcher to ‘things that might have been.’”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
Mia was a good enough friend to know what giving Fletch up was going to cost her and so let her friend mourn her loss in her own way as they made their way out to Greenwich.
CHAPTER8
CLAIRE
The next morning, Claire dressed casually, keeping in mind she was going to wear the scarf and secure it around her neck so that it would, if necessary, obscure her face. They drove into London and found a place for Mia to park where she would have a clear line of sight to the museum so that she could focus her EMP and disturb as few other buildings as possible.
Once she was in place and secure, Claire left the van and headed toward the museum, trotting up the steps and waving to the security guard as she headed for the reception desk.
“Dr. Mitchell, how nice to see you again.”
“Thanks, I know I’m not on his schedule, but if I could have a few minutes of his time...”
“I know he has a lunch appointment, but I also know he’ll make time for you.”
