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“It isn’t their building.”
“Don’t argue semantics with me. I’m so glad you’re having a good time. I’m on my second Pepto Bismol smoothie of the night.”
“Mia, sweetie, I wish you wouldn’t get so upset. I’ve never even been questioned, and the only person who has ever accused me of something was Evangeline Robbins, and no one believed her. We only know someone said something because of that DCI you used to date.”
“Ah, Dickie Evers…” Mia sighed.
“Don’t take that tone with me. You said he kissed like a dead fish and was lousy in the sack. So, buck up, buttercup. After we’re through we’ll head to Monte Carlo and live it up.”
“I swear you’re going to be the death of me,” said Mia as Claire slipped into the nondescript van.
“Only if you plan to die having too much fun.”
With a wry grin, Mia shook her head. “We’ve got a glitch in the Grenadine Necklace job.”
“What kind of glitch?”
“The insurance company has asked that at the close of tonight’s fundraising event that the necklace be pulled from public display and returned to Paris. They plan to have armed guards remove it from the case and walk it out to the armed elevator down to the secure parking lot, into an armored truck and then to a private airport to be taken back to Paris via a private plane.”
“Shit. I want that necklace.”
“It’s worth a small fortune and the insurance company was iffy about allowing the Petacci family to exhibit it at all.”
“Rightfully so. It doesn’t belong to them.”
“No one has ever been able to prove that the Grenadine Necklace didn’t find its way into the family long before Clara.”
“Knowing and being able to prove are entirely two different things, which is why no one has ever been able to wrest it from their greedy grasp until now.”
“You know, if it wasn’t for the fact that you don’t so much as keep a dime from these heists, I would have left you twisting in the wind in Dusseldorf. But like it or not, you, my friend, are on the side of the angels. I think you’re going to have to chalk the Grenadine Necklace up to a loss.”
“No. We’ve put in too much time…”
“And if we get caught?”
“We won’t. Let me think a minute.” Claire brought her fist up toward her face, bouncing the back of her thumb on her lips.
“While you’re coming up with something, you should know, I think someone may be on to us.”
“Why do you say that?”
“When I was running my routine this afternoon, the program found two clandestine hits against our firewall at specific enough times that I don’t believe they were random. The first one was the day before the last job in Milan; I might have written that one off to an anomaly. But the second one was just this morning. I think someone is phishing.”
Claire looked at Mia and smiled. “It’s not like you to just dump a big problem in my lap. What are you thinking?”
“You know me too well,” she said with an impish grin. “There is a small—a very small—chance that you still might be able to snatch the necklace. Their plan is to send it out with armed guards who will exit via the still under construction new gallery. Their thinking is that it’s wide open, and no one can sneak up on them…”
“But you know better.” Despite what Mia liked to tell herself, she got just as much of a buzz out of pulling off these capers as Claire.
“I do. There’s a small piece of ducting that runs from the women’s loo. We take a canister with knock-out gas and roll it down to them. The loo is right around the corner from the new gallery. Once their down, you slip in, grab the thing and then walk out with the rest of the people at the fundraiser.”
Claire returned Mia’s wicked smile. “I like it. Simple, elegant, and no one gets hurt. And who will I be this evening?”
“Luckily, it wasn’t invitation only. Tickets were offered exclusively to those who made the right donation…”
“I take it you made the right donation?”
Mia nodded. “Several months ago, just as a backup. I didn’t pick up the ticket until a few hours ago. I didn’t want us on any lists unless we had to be. There are people who are supposed to attend who know your real name, so I used it for the ticket.”
