Page 5 of Secrets and Lies

“You don’t think the plan will work?” Dani asked with a pointed stare at the notes around the blueprints.

“I have no idea. Not my line of expertise. You will have to tell me. Do you think it’s a good plan? Do you think it will work?” Monty countered.

Dani sighed, and Monty’s stomach rolled. That wasn’t a good sign.

“I think more time would be better. There are a few unknowns that worry me. If she were going for a piece of artwork that was hanging in one of the galleries, I would say absolutely not. But, she’s just going for the storage room and not even one of the high security ones with temperature and humidity control. The garden gnome statue she’s after is about eight inches high with a large belly.” She patted her own tummy with a rueful smile. “Honestly, it’s the ugliest thing and of no real value except sentimental. I think with all that factored in, it should be okay.”

Dani gave a small shrug. “I did talk to Gage, though, and he and Mitch are going to be on standby near the museum in case she needs help getting out. We have a plan.”

Monty’s stomach knotted tighter, but she remained silent.

Dani sighed again. “I know. I feel it too. I tried talking her out of it, but she’s insistent. Leo never asks for anything, so when he asked for this, she felt she must do it.”

“Yeah, I heard that too,” Monty said.

Dani leaned back in her chair. “I’ll do my best, and I know Alex will as well. It’s the best we can offer.”

“I know. It will all go fine. I’m just overreacting. This isn’t my area, so it all makes me super nervous.”

Dani offered a small smile. “I think we’re all on edge. This is a tough job, and a lot can go wrong.” She glanced at her watch. “Either way, we’ll know soon enough.” She lumbered to her feet. “I’m going to have a nap before tonight’s adventures. There’s pizza upstairs in the kitchen if you want some.” She turned and shuffled toward the doorway. “Don’t wait too long to get some or it will be gone. You know what vultures the boys can be.”

Monty grinned as Dani left the room. She was not wrong. She’d seen Jake and the Callahan men in action. They could eat like no one else. The grin slid off her face. replaced by tension. No one felt good about tonight. which is a sure sign that Alex shouldn’t do it to Monty’s way of thinking, but it was none of her business. All anyone could do now was cross their fingers and pray.

CHAPTER THREE

ALEX

Alex took a breath, held it for four seconds, and let it out. It had been a while since she’d broken in anywhere, and breaking into the Met, on the edge of Central Park in New York City, was definitely a challenge. But she trusted Leo. He’d given her some of the intel, and she’d figured out the rest with Dani’s help.

She glanced at her watch.

It was go-time.

She touched her earbud and spoke quietly, “Dani, are we good?”

“Yes, the cameras are on a loop.”

“Thanks.”

Creeping out of the trees, Alex headed toward the staircase at the back of the Met. She was damn thankful to whoever decided to build the museum in New York’s famous park. The trees really helped with cover. The stairs were close to the southwest corner, and they led down to the maintenance area. She held her breath as she descended the staircase to the door, and her lock picks clutched in her left hand.

It had been a while since she’d done any serious lock picking, but surprisingly, muscle memory kicked in and breaking in was easy. Then again, she was entering through the maintenance area. They didn’t exactly install Fort Knox-level security back here, which was a good thing. They relied on the cameras, the locks, but she knew on the inside, there were more serious electronic locks.

She opened the door, slid inside, and closed the door gently behind her, pausing to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. The door on the right was the one that she had to go through, and this had more serious security. According to Dani, the camera above it was on a loop which Alex believed, and appreciated wholeheartedly. The lock on the door itself was a biometric lock. Only certain people could access this area. Luckily, Alex had known this ahead of time and managed to get a whole handprint from one of the guards by getting him to hold a can of beer while she flirted with him. That was a whole hour of her life she would never get back, but this was a favor for Leo, and she owed him. An hour of her time was the least she could do.

She pulled out a glove that she’d made of the guard’s handprint and smoothed it on. Setting her hand on the bio scanner, she held her breath until the lock clicked. Letting out a relieved breath, she opened the door.

The hallway was empty, as it was supposed to be. Slowly, she made her way along the hall. She mentally brought up the map of the museum in her head and made the appropriate turns

The good thing was she was heading to one of the storage areas—and not even a good one. This was where they stored the rejects. Things people donated as part of a bigger collection that nobody wanted to see. Items with no real value. Treasures simply not suitable for display.

Part of her wanted to sneak upstairs and wander through the museum just to see if she could do it, but the rest of her knew that doing that was the quickest way to get caught. There was no need to prove herself to anyone, least of all herself.

She made one final turn and counted doorways as she walked forward.One. Two. Three. She stopped and pulled out her tools again. The lock didn’t take long to pick. Again, this was stuff nobody really cared about, so they didn’t worry so much.

Alex took a breath, opened the door, and slid into the room. Again, dimly lit. A couple of exit signs and scattered lights illuminated the huge space. Overall, it was much bigger than she’d anticipated.

She stood motionless for a long breath, just taking in the room. Stuff was jumbled everywhere, reminding her of a garage sale, or an estate sale, where some poor wretch’s belongings were just cast onto tables with no rhyme or reason other than to sell them off fast. A massive table down the middle had pieces on it—things people must’ve been working on sorting them—and everything else was stacked on shelves. The shelving ran floor to ceiling, and there was stuff covering every available inch.

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