Page 80 of The Devil Wears Orange
Rashid puts his hands on the painting. “I said I’ll take it.”
“You sure do like to take things that aren’t yours.”
“This doesn’t belong to you, either.”
Neither man lets go. Beside them, Charlotte scurries here and there, grabs what she can.
“You two, knock it off,” she admonishes while slipping past.
Jack lets go. “I’ll help Charlotte.”
Rashid considers Jack’s look as rather smug. They both understand the Sonnenberg isn’t the real prize. He’s not blind to the fact that Jack is in pursuit of Charlotte, but she must see that between the two men, Rashid is the better choice, doesn’t she? Then again, it’s Jack she’s working with at the moment, grabbing pieces and working in tandem, so perhaps it’s not as black and white as he suspects.
Rashid says, “Two minutes.”
Their quickened movement leads to clumsiness, and a bronze sculpture topples over from the boat, hits the water with a splash, and sinks before Rami can catch it.
“Forget it. It’s lost,” Rashid barks. “One minute. Get in the boat now, Charlotte.”
“What about the rest?” she says.
“We’ve taken the more valuable pieces. Everything else will need to be left behind,” Jack says, siding with Rashid.
“You weren’t so complacent to the plan earlier. You objected to leaving anything behind,” says Charlotte.
Jack says, “That was in theory. We’ve got to go.”
“Twenty seconds,” Rashid says, and shortly after that begins the countdown from ten. “...three, two, one. Everyone to the boats. Let’s go. Jack, go in the other boat; it’s better that they carry even numbers.”
Jack looks from Rashid to Charlotte to the other men.
“We’re seven. How is that even?”
“Our boat carries more artwork,” Rashid grumbles and moves past him into the first boat with Charlotte.
Swiftly, the boats glide across the water back where they came, then out of the mouth of the cave. They take the waterway east, toward their vehicles parked elsewhere away from the partygoers back at the castle. Behind them, the fireworks display continues.
When they are close to land, both Kassim and Amir leap out, dragging the boats alongside them, and beach them on the sandy edge. The cube van of the fireworks company that Jack let in earlier is backed up near the water, the back door rolled all the way up. Two more of Rashid’s men jump out from the truck’s cab, and one scrambles into the back of the van, ready to load items.
Rashid looks to their getaway car. “A white Bentley, Professor?”
Jack gives a sheepish grin. “Mr. B. won’t miss it.”
With the two additional men, it doesn’t take long for them to unload the contents from burdened boats into the truck. With everything now stored in the van, Amir closes the back door while Kassim heads into the driver’s side and starts up the truck. A loud, cranking noise sounds as it turns over.
On their way to the Bentley, Rashid notices Jack linger behind, squinting into the darkness surrounding them. “Do you see something, Professor?”
Jack turns to him, looking a little unsettled. “Uhm, no.”
“Come on,” Charlotte says. “We need to get out of here.”
She hops into the passenger side of the Bentley. Rashid stands by the driver’s side, stares at Jack, at his continued slow movements and nervous disposition. Following Jack’s gaze, Rashid stares into the darkness, where he captures movement among the trees. Did the leaves flutter? Or is it just the wind? Finally, Jack takes a step toward the Bentley.
From the darkened space in-between the trees, someone claps. “Bravo, bravo,” a man’s voice says as he emerges from the darkness.
Banning.
Chapter 47
