I felt the air rush through my hair as we free fell. We landed on a huge hedge, and that broke the fall.
“RUN,” we all yelled at the same time! Getting up quickly, we jumped over the fence and ran for about 10 minutes.
After getting far enough away from the security guards and the prison, Aliyah questioned, “Does anyone have a way out of here?"
James shook his head, looking grim, but my eyes lit up. I hastily took out my phone and scrolled through my contacts.
"What are you looking for," James quipped?
"When I was a grifter, I had a team of a hacker, a getaway driver, and another grifter. I'm going to see if they can come pick us up.
I found the information and dialed the number. I put the phone on speaker and asked, "Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Hey Dwayne!”
“Jules? Is that you? What’s up?”
“Do you think you could get the team together for one more heist?”
“Sure. Where are you?”
“About a half a mile from the jail.”
“Jail?! Are you ok?”
“Yep.”
“Ok, I’ll be there in about five minutes.”
“Thanks! See you soon."
James shot me a quizzical look. I nodded, knowing his question was were they coming. To be honest, I really missed my old team. I hadn't seen them in a year and I was excited to see them when they got here in 5 minutes. I sat down on the dry grass, waiting for the sound of a car, or the flash of headlights. Sure enough, two minutes later a big Range Rover pulled up and three figures hopped out. Dwayne ushered us all into the seats.
The car had been modified to have 6 seats and extra space in the back for equipment.
"Guys, this is Dwayne, Philip, and Vincenzo. But we all call him Vinnie."
Dwayne was in the driver’s seat. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and rectangular glasses that framed his face.
Vinnie and Philip sat in the back. Vinnie had dark brown hair with a fwoop, brown eyes, and a wide smile.
Philip had brown hair and eyes, tan skin, and a huge grin as he exclaimed, “Welcome to the utility van everyone! We're glad to be of assistance.”
Aliyah raised her eyebrows. "What exactly did I sign up for when I got you guys out of there?"
James quickly explained the plan to the whole car while I dozed off. I was really tired after the big party and getting sent to jail. I guessed I had been asleep for about five minutes when James nudged me.
"Huh," I grunted.
"Pay attention. So as I was saying, we need to find out more about Silvermiller before we try again. Vinnie is going to be the grifter this time, and you are going to walk him through it. Philip is getting the information and Aliyah is in charge of being the hitter. AKA, taking care of security."
I nodded. This seemed like a good team to have. It turned out Aliyah had been in jail for being a spy for America and she was caught. Ergo, they locked her up.
Chapter 8
About ten minutes of driving got us to our destination. It was the old headquarters Philip, Dwayne, Vinnie, and I used to use. It was a rectangular building with a dome top.
The door was made of steel and required a biometric match to get in. It was already set up to recognize Philip, Vinnie, Dwayne, and my eyes. I scanned my gold eye and the heavy door opened with a swoosh.
James and Aliyah gasped as they saw the inside of the building. The bottom floor had all of the equipment including: a mahogany conference table that seated ten, facing a huge screen which could be hooked up to a computer database. It also had a fully stocked kitchen complete with a fridge, sink, dishwasher, and freezer.
There was a mahogany counter with colourful barstools set up around it. The dome-like ceiling had a railing which circled a small walkway that was in front of 6 small coloured oval doors. Stairs led up to the railing and there was a blue door on the ceiling that didn't show any means of getting up there.
James pointed to the doors and questioned, “Why are they there?"
I turned to him and replied, “Each different coloured door is a different bedroom. When we were working, we wouldn't leave here for long periods of time. So we had a place to sleep if we wanted to."
Aliyah commented, “I feel like they match your personalities. Philip would be the vibrant green, Vinnie the happy yellow, and Dwayne in the collected purple.”
We all stared because she had just guessed correctly where we all slept.
James nodded and his brow furrowed as he pointed to the blue door on the ceiling. "What about that one?"
Dwayne answered as I smiled, “That's Juliette's room."
Aliyah stared at me in confusion. "How do you even get up there?"
I grinned and Philip sighed. "Get ready for a show."
I ran up the stairs and did a flip in the air as I tugged on the door handle. The door flew open and I hung on as I swung myself into the room that had a skylight which sent moonlight flooding into the building.
Philip called up to me, “You can come down now!"
I rolled my eyes and jumped down. I could see James holding his breath as I fell the eight or so feet and landed on the ground. He let out a sigh of relief. I smirked and he rolled his eyes but smiled.
I heard Vinnie mutter, “Show off." I shot him a death stare.
"Hey will you all come over here and check this out," Dwayne called? We walked over to where Dwayne and Aliyah were standing in front of the huge screen that was at the current moment hooked up to Philip’s computer. Dwayne navigated it to show a digital 3-D map of Michael Silvermiller's office.
Philip glared at Dwayne and said in a menacing tone, “Don’t touch my computer. I can take them through the digital tour." Dwayne raised his hands and backed away.
Philip looked at him apologetically. “Sorry Dwayne. I get a little overprotective of my electronics.”
Dwayne smiled and shrugged. Philip turned back to the group and started his 'tour'.
"So, we have the main entrance that is guarded by two guards 24/7. The second way in is the back door which has no guards but a load of high tech security lasers, video cameras, and a code to get in."
Aliyah looked at Philip and quipped, “How trained are the guards?"
Philip replied, “Commanding officers in the military and experts in martial arts."
Aliyah nodded. "I could probably get past them but it would take me about five minutes, which I highly doubt we have."
Philip shook his head. "You're right. We don't. But I can hack the security cameras and you can get in the back way if someone can do something about the lasers and code."
Up until that point James had remained silent but now he spoke up, “I’m able to take care of the lasers and the code, I just need to know where everything is placed."
Vinnie's hand shot up and I looked at him pointedly, “Yes? Vincenzo?"
Vinnie glared when I'd said his full name but continued anyway, “Can I pretend to be a council person on an inspection so I can get it?"
I agreed. Now we had a plan.
Philip zoomed in on the map. "So James, the lasers are in a grid format and they're the type that incinerate anything that touches them. The code is located on the door and is biometric, using a fingerprint. I don't know who they think they’re trying to keep out, but whatever. Do you need anything for that?"
James contemplated it and then remarked, “Just some tin foil and eye shadow."
I looked at him inquisitively but Philip just jotted it down on a sticky note.
Dwayne addressed Vinnie, “Vinnie, you're going to be the safety inspector and take Silvermiller out of his office to show him some ‘loose wires' and other potentially hazardous areas. During this time, Aliyah will take out the guard in front of the office door, giving James a chance to get the money. I will be at the front door so we can get away quickly."
Philip spoke to me, “Juliette, you will stay here with me and help from base." I nodd
ed.
I realized of course that I couldn't show my face after what happened. Silvermiller would definitely have an eye out for me.
Suddenly the feeling of being drained, both emotionally and physically, washed over me. I looked at the clock and saw that it was1:36 A.M. I yawned and told everyone I was going to bed.
I did my gymnastics routine up to my room and got ready for bed. It had been a long time since I'd been here, but it still felt like home. I climbed into my four-poster and snuggled into the blankets, thinking about the day.
My mind kept going back to the moment on the hood of the car. I thought James was about to kiss me then. I didn’t want to admit it, not even to myself, but I thought that maybe I was in...Love...
Chapter 9
I woke up the next morning to the sun shining through the skylight and the sound of knocking. I didn’t know how anyone could be knocking seeing as I was so high up, but I opened the trap door that led up to my room anyway. Beaming up at me was James holding onto a ladder.
I groaned. “I’m giving up on life and becoming a burrito.”
“Sorry to disturb you my sapphire, but breakfast has been served.”
And indeed, at that moment the smell of chocolate chip pancakes, Italian spice omelets and buttery toast wafted up to my nose. James was staring at me and I realized I must have looked like a drooling puppy dog. I blushed and looked away.
“You’re cute when you blush. Don’t hide it,” James said in a quiet voice. It was the same voice he had used the yesterday when we were on the car and I had sung for him. James had started going down the ladder already and I hastily followed him, not wanting all the food to be gone.
When we entered the small kitchen area, Philip and Vinnie were sitting down, munching on their breakfast and Dwayne was scooping some fresh pancakes onto an already filled plate for me.
Dwayne looked at me amused, “Good morning sleeping ugly.”
I lunged and Dwayne, thinking I was going for him, stepped back quickly. Instead, I grabbed my plate and sat down next to James.
Vinnie chuckled and stage whispered, “Fifty pounds of crazy in a twenty pound body.”
I stuck my tongue out at him which still had food on it. Vinnie just laughed harder while Philip gave me a sympathetic pat on the back.
“Where’s Aliyah,” I quipped? James pointed at the red coloured door and I nodded. I wouldn’t have the guts to wake her either. She’d probably knock me out.
The rest of my breakfast was finished in content silence. This, however, was ended promptly when Aliyah came down and grabbed the extra plate left out for her. She plopped down in a chair and observed all of us. Everyone was dressed except me.
Aliyah spoke, ending the silence, “So what are we doing today, other than the stealing?”
I shrugged. I was happy to just sit here and watch Disney movies. James however, had different ideas.
“Let’s go around the little streets with the shops and eat ice cream and stuff,” he suggested, smiling.
Everyone agreed that that was a good idea and let me go get ready while they talked. I climbed up to my room and looked in my old closet. I threw on my Hogwarts alumni shirt, black cargos (as always), black converse, and put my hair up in a messy ponytail.
When I got back down to the first floor, everyone had their things and was ready to go. We all jumped into Dwayne’s range rover and drove down to the more rural part of Olympia.
“Park there! THERE DWAYNE! WE DON’T HAVE ALL DAY TO WAIT WHILEYOU PARK THE CAR PERFECTLY PARALLEL,” I yelled in Dwayne’s ear from behind him.
“I have to park Lucie carefully otherwise some absolute walnut will come and smash my baby to bits.”
Aliyah groaned. “Just park it already.”
Dwayne parked the car in a random parking lot (finally) and James led the way down the street. All the little shops were run by locals.
The owners all seemed friendly except for one who had a dog which barked and chased us all the way down the street.
“RUN JULI, RUN! IT’S GOING TO GET YOU!”
I was already screaming my head off and that comment from James only made me scream one decibel higher.
It was a foot away from me before James turned around and scooped me up so I didn’t fall prey to the dog’s bared teeth and hot breath.
Chapter 10
We’d been wandering for a few hours when Aliyah said, “We’re going to leave you two alone for a while. Meet you back here at five.”She gave me a pointed look and then left with Vinnie, Philip, and Dwayne trailing behind her.
I turned towards James who had until that moment, been grinning appreciatively and mouthing thanks. But as I turned, he abruptly stopped and held out his hand for me to hold. I blushed, took it, and we started walking in the opposite way that the others had left in.
There were a few minutes of silence and then James questioned, “Do you want to hear about my past?” I nodded vigorously and James took a deep breath before continuing.
“The first few years of my life were great. I had loving parents and I saw my grandparents on my mum’s side every summer. But when I was six, my dad left me and my mum and everything went downhill from there. My mum became stricter and more worried about grades that anything. I only saw my grandparents every other summer. They were my only consolation.
“My mum started dating this fat boring guy who tried to be friends with me but he was just annoying. I went to college studying to be a video game designer and then came to Greece to find a job. I instead found Ashten and she became the best part of my life. After she broke up with me I lost my job that I’d had while with Ashten, so I resorted to doing the same thing you were doing; stealing for good reasons.
“One day I went to Olympia to try and steal an ancient urn to get back Ashten with, and that’s when I met the most breathtaking girl I’d ever seen. She turned out to be the nicest, most selfless person, and she didn’t judge me on what I did because she was just like me. That girl is you Juliette. And I’m not one to sit away and pine for love; I’m a doer. When something needs to be done, I do it. What I’m trying to say my sapphire, is that I love you. I need you.”
As he finished his speech, I looked into his hopeful green eyes, and did the only thing that made sense. I kissed him. I kissed him until I ran out of breath and had to pull away. “I love you too James.”
James smiled the biggest smile I had ever seen and kissed me again. This time it wasn’t quite as long, but when we pulled away I’m sure we looked like the happiest couple in the world. We continued to walk down the street hand in hand and talked. It felt like we talked for ages.
James bought me ice cream and we ate it as it melted, the sticky syrup all over our hands. We didn’t care. In those hours we were the only people that existed in a land that was far away from reality.
Chapter 11
At 4:50 we realized that we had to go back to find the others and began our walk back.
We met them at exactly at five and the whole lot of us drove home to get ready for that night.
“Who’s ready to kick some bad guy butt,” Vinnie asked!
“ME,” I shouted!
Everyone else was silent.
I looked around skeptically and said, “Well, what a bunch of positive people. Would it kill you guys to be energetic?”
They collectively stared at me and burst out into laughter.
James, between barks of laughter commented, “Juli -ahahahah- you’re such -pffttthahah- a child.”
I glared crossly at him.
Vinnie added, “In the best way of course.”
By 6:00 everyone was in their positions. Philip and I were stationed at the house; Vinnie, Aliyah, and James were outside of the gallery and Dwayne was parked in front of it.
“Ready for action,” I asked? I heard assorted mumbling through the earpieces Philip had made us as everyone began to move. Philip had put trackers on every
one’s shoes so we at the house, could see it on the digital map. James had already started getting through the backdoor and I could hear Vinnie talking to Silvermiller.
Philip had hacked all the security cameras so only we could see what was going on. James had the tin foil set up on the laser grid so that the lasers bounced back at each other and made a clear pathway for him to get through.
Next, he dusted the eye shadow he had requested on the fingerprint code and placed his gloved thumb over it. It was genius. The eye shadow caught the last fingerprint that had been placed over it, and the glove provided the thumb like feel of the fingerprint.
Basically, the system picked up the last fingerprint given and James was let in.
Vinnie meanwhile, had taken Silvermiller to see some “leaky ceilings” and was stalling for time as Aliyah took out the guards leading to his office on the floor above.
“Sir, this is bad for your client’s safety. These leakages could potentially burst and flood the building.”