Page 68 of Take the Sub and Run

“You’re saying you saw the true da Vinci original?” Colette asked in an almost reverent whisper.

“Yes. It’s beautiful,” Sofie said. “The shoulders are twisted just a little like the Mona Lisa. And the orb is…indescribable. It’s not just clear and flat. The fabric folds reflect the visual distortion of the curved surface of the orb.”

Colette looked enraptured, and Sofie felt almost bubbly with excitement at sharing this information with some who could appreciate it. It was so nice to talk to people. Who knew?

“It took me a long time to replicate that part,” Sofie added. “The sphere.”

Colette braced her hands on the back of the couch and bent over. “You made a copy?”

“Oh. Um. Yes.”

They all stared at her.

“And you didn’t call me?” Colette demanded.

“We hadn’t met yet.”

“Oh, okay.” Colette pointed at her. “Next time, you call me.”

Landon reached up and grabbed Colette’s hand. “No. Next time your friend is replicating a priceless piece of art, how about she not call you.”

Andrei was ignoring the byplay between Colette and Landon, attention on Sofie.

“Your father brought you this painting. One you knew he shouldn't have. What did you say?”

“I saw it, knew right away what it was, and realized that anything involving that piece of art would be international news. Not just in the art community but to everyone. So I asked him what he was going to do with the copy I made, and if I would go to jail if I didn't do a good enough job.”

Colette sobered, circling around the couch to sink down beside Landon.

“My father stared at me for a long time, and asked if I understood what we were doing. I said no, because I didn't really. But I said that I knew what a forgery was, and that if anything I made was presented as the original and not a reproduction, that I could go to jail.

“He said that all I was doing was making copies. Reproductions. There was nothing illegal about that. He brought me originals to work off because I was a gifted artist and deserved to be in the presence of the original pieces created by other gifted artists.”

Sofie looked down at her and Andrei's joined hands. "I should have asked him where he got the originals. I should have asked him again what he was doing with the copies. I didn’t.”

“You were young and isolated. He was an authority figure in your life. It's understandable that you didn't question him,” Landon said.

“It was smart,” Andrei countered. “You protected yourself.”

She smiled at him, but it felt shaky. “After that, I saw my father less, but other people started to show up. They would bring me things and ask me to make a copy. An exact copy. At first, my father would send a note with each stranger who came, so I knew he sent them. But then, after a few years, people started to show up who weren't referred by my father but by one of those first few strangers.”

“I assume that's how you two met?” Landon asked Colette.

She nodded. “I'd heard whispers about a forger they called the new Dutch master. Able to make anything. A true artist. I worked for years to build trust with… well their name doesn't matter. The point is, it took me years to get that person to trust me enough to give me Sofie's contact information.”

“By the time I met Colette,” Sofie said, “most conversations I had were very frank. I knew that the copies I made would get passed off as the originals, but I was very careful to always say that what I had created was a reproduction.”

“That’s why you kept insisting I couldn’t arrest you. You think you’d get off on a technicality.”

Sofie cocked her head as she stared at Andrei. “I was wrong. Because you did arrest me.”

“If it makes you feel better, if I do have to really arrest you, it will be for handling and possessing stolen goods. All those originals you had in your studio…”

Sofie opened her mouth, then closed it. “Is that a crime?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

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