AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Following behind the receptionist, Claire said, “This may be the last time he wants to make time for me.”
The receptionist knocked on the door and stuck her head in saying, “Dr. Mitchell asked to speak with you.”
“Show her in,” he called, rising from his desk as Claire entered. “Always a pleasure, Dr. Mitchell.
“I hope you still think so after you hear what I have to say. I feel obligated to report those paintings to the authorities. I know that in the case of one of them, the descendants are actively seeking redress through the courts. They haven’t known where the painting was, but now they will. I know you thought them to have legitimate provenance at first, but when you began to question it, you called me in.”
Pennington nodded his head. Claire was fairly sure he understood she was giving him cover. She wanted him to be thinking kindly enough of her, that he wouldn’t believe she could be a part of any theft.
“I just don’t want you to get caught up in the middle of this thing. It has the potential to get very ugly, very quickly, and to become very public,” she continued.
“Of course, I understand your position, as once you gave me your opinion, I knew what had to be done. Perhaps we could make a joint report to the Commission.”
“What an excellent idea, Edgar. You don’t mind if I call you Edgar, do you? And you must call me Claire.”
“I would be delighted.”
“What if I draft it, you review it, and if it represents what we both want, we’ll sign it and have it delivered?”
“That is an excellent idea. I want to thank you for allowing me to go on record as opposing this sort of thing. There’s far too much of it going on in the art world.”
“I agree. Those of us with our ethics intact need to stand together.” Claire reached out and shook his hand. “Thank you again, Edgar.”
“It is my pleasure, Claire.”
She turned away and left his office and headed back to where the paintings were hanging. Edgar Pennington would be the first person to defend her, saying it was only natural for her to want to see them again before drafting such an important report.
See? All you have to do is give people the opportunity to do the right thing, and most of them will.
She wandered through the museum, taking her time, but ensuring she knew the position of all the security personnel and cameras. She went into the gallery where the questionable paintings were hanging and made a quiet show of looking at all of them more closely. She’d searched high and low for Fletch and not seen him.Now or never.
Moving into position she muttered under her breath. “Getting into position. On my mark. Shit, Mia, this is going to work.”
“Shut up, and let’s get this over with before I have a heart attack.”
“In position. In three-two-one-now.”
Mia did her thing, sending an EMP and disrupting the power—turning off the lights and cutting the energy supply to the alarms. Claire breached the secure area around the necklace’s case and when nothing happened, cut a small hole in the rear glass and lifted the necklace, putting it beneath the scarf around her own neck. She replaced it with a cheap replica of colored glass that Mia had purchased at the beginning of the exhibit. Moving away from the case, she stepped beyond the cordoned-off area, hooking the velvet rope back into place. In and out in under sixty seconds.
Just as the lights came up, Claire joined a small group of people heading towards the exit at the front of the building. She strolled out slowly with the group, nonchalantly nodding to the security guard who moved in and stared suspiciously around the room. No one would notice the hole in the back of the case for a while, she hoped.
It had been laughably old-school and incredibly risky, but it had worked. She had the Grenadine Necklace and vowed to herself that she would see it back in the hands of the rightful owners before the end of the week.
“Heads up. The dreamboat is entering the building and there are cops headed to the museum.”
Claire offered her arm to an older woman as they approached the stairs. “Lean on me and we’ll get you out of here. No use you taking any risk.”
She may have been talking to the elderly lady, but the message was meant for Mia.
“You need to get out of there. If you get caught up in that group still inside, they’ll detain you.”
Claire heard him before she spotted him. “An EMP? How the fuck did that happen?” snarled Fletch.
She couldn’t hear the response but focused her attention on the woman whose group seemed to have deserted her. “Who are you with?”
“My family. See?” she said pointing to where they were standing, scanning the steps looking for her. “Bless you for your kindness in helping me negotiate those steps.”
“It was my pleasure,” Claire assured her.
