To Have and to Heist(29)
“All of them. I did a little murder mystery dinner theater between Broadway shows, and the movies helped me get into character. I also played a cat burglar in a fringe production a few years ago. I was nude except for a tail and a pair of ears. They dropped me from the ceiling to steal a diamond with my teeth.” She mimicked the motion with her hand, fingers splayed.
Chloe choked on her duck. I handed her a glass of water and thumped her on the back. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chef Pierre stagger back against the stove. Either his language skills were better than he let on, or the concept of naked cat women falling from the ceiling was universally translatable.
“If you need a ‘grease man’ or in this case ‘grease woman’ on your crew to hide in small spaces, contort around laser beams, and drop down from the ceiling to avoid pressure plates on the floor, I’ll be happy to help out,” Rose offered. “As Chef Pierre can attest, I’m very flexible, and I still have all my old theatrical rigging. I bought it when the playhouse shut down. I was thinking of setting it up in the garage when Stan gets out of hospital as a ‘welcome home’ surprise.”
“And would you look at the time.” Chloe pushed her chair back. “Olivia will be getting home from visiting with her grandparents soon. I should really be there to meet her.”
“Stay.” I grabbed her arm. “Please.”
“You definitely don’t want to waste any time,” Rose said. “Assembling your crew is only the first step in a successful heist.”
“I know someone who might be interested in driving.” I pulled up Emma’s contact details on my phone. “She drove her Uber to the museum like we were in the Formula 500, and she’s struggling with money, too. I’ll text her.”
“No texts!” Rose held out a warning hand. “You can be traced through electronic records. All communication must be done in person, or you can leave handwritten messages under stones.”
“Handwriting?” Chloe chuckled. “They don’t teach cursive in schools anymore. This is going to be a modern-day heist. I can set up a secure server, and we can use burner phones to communicate. Leave the tech stuff to me.”
“Perfect,” Rose said. “Another crew box ticked.”
Chef Pierre refilled our wineglasses. I didn’t know much about wine, but I did know that only alcohol would burn from my brain the disturbing images of a naked Rose dropping from the ceiling with a diamond in her teeth.
“You’ll also need someone to handle gadgety things,” Rose continued. “An engineer or a mechanic who is good with their hands and can handle drills, wiring, and power tools. It helps if he’s inventive and can come up with ideas to solve mechanical problems.”
“Like James Bond’s Q?” I asked.
“Exactly.” She held up her wineglass and gave Chef Pierre a dramatic wave. “Magnifique.”
He put his hand to his heart and gave a mock bow. I closed my eyes in case he decided to lick his palm.
“You have lots of engineers in your family,” Chloe said to me. “Do you think any of them would be interested?”
“We can’t involve my family unless you want every South Asian person in Illinois to know what we’re doing. They can’t keep secrets. Gossiping is as natural to them as breathing. My entire family knew I’d met with Riswan less than fifteen minutes after it happened. I can’t even imagine how fast the gossip spread when I asked Garcia to arrest me.”
“We’ve all been the subject of criminal charges,” Rose assured me. “I have quite the rap sheet. Mostly for mischief and public indecency. I was a little bit wild in my teens and twenties. I had a kink for exhibitionism in my thirties, and in my forties, I just couldn’t keep my clothes on because the perimenopausal heat flashes were driving me crazy. In my fifties, it was drugs—menopause will do that to you. You’re too young to hear about my swinging sixties. And last year I was picked up for solicitation—but that one wasn’t my fault.”
Something niggled at the back of my mind. It hummed and buzzed. Like a little toy drone.
“I do know someone.” I swallowed back a grimace. “He’s a mechanical engineer, and good with his hands according to his mom. He builds toy planes and drones and he works at a 3D printing company that makes fake jewelry.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Rose leaned up to kiss Chef Pierre, who had joined us at the table to serve the strawberry galette. “Did you see Ocean’s 8? You might want to consider asking him to make a replica of the necklace you plan to steal.”
“Jack called it a retrieval,” I said. “The necklace will be returned to its rightful owner.”
“Of course it will, dear.” She gave me a warm smile. “Now how about muscle?”
A blush crept up Chloe’s face and she stabbed at her galette. “We have that covered.”
“Jack has a friend,” I explained. “He looks like he was in the military, probably some kind of black ops. Jack said he keeps people safe.”
“That reminds me.” She tapped her lip with a manicured nail. “You’ll need a key master. Someone who can pick locks, crack safes, open doors . . . that kind of thing.”
“Jack said he can do that. He also suggested we find a meeting place. I was wondering if we could use your garage. I’d be happy to give you a share of the reward.”