Chapter 1
“We’re in,” Alonzo said.
That was the moment there was no way back.
You’re probably wondering how this started. It was a painting heist. On the dark web, its value was estimated at ten million. For some, it was a collector’s piece. For us, just another job.
But let’s go back to the beginning.
I received a message on the dark web with coordinates, instructions, and a date. I accepted. I needed the money. My father’s business wasn’t doing well. We were in debt, and I wanted to go to university. Fake names. No personal belongings. No contact outside the operation.
There were five of us. Me, under the alias Claudia. On the dark web I’m known as NixVixen and so far, no one has managed to uncover my real identity. I meant to keep it that way. Nothing stays hidden online forever. From the start, I chose caution over risk. That’s why I created a separate digital identity.
For the last two weeks, we’d met every day. I wore a carnival mask so none of them could see my face. It was easier that way.
The first step was getting inside the auction house without attracting attention. We posed as buyers from fake companies.
“Understood. Phase two,” I said. That’s when the fun began.
The painting was displayed inside a secured glass case. Only authorised staff knew the code. A single camera covered the hall, mounted just above the restroom corridor. I adjusted its angle a few degrees higher. The entrance to the hall was guarded by a security guard we needed to distract so he wouldn’t appear in the camera frame.
I signalled Alonzo and Enzo to move.
Enzo was top-tier behind the wheel and equally oustanding as an explosives expert.
Alonzo was a thief nicknamed The Ghost by the police. An underground fighter. Boys staged a convincing scene that forced security to intervene.
The loop was running. Marcello could enter the restroom out of the camera’s view. Marcello was our technician. A fighter hardened by the streets. And the least predictable member of the team. Marcello came out of the restroom and entered the hall. Without triggering the alarm, he patched the module into the keypad wiring. The module was in place. I waited until he got back to the restroom so I could switch the cameras back to live.
“Hey, you two! Take it outside,” he said, grabbing Alonzo by the shoulders as he spoke to the security guard.
“Please excuse these idiots, sir.”
Marcello was supposed to stay in the restroom until Enzo came for him after the fight, but he veered off course. My stress level jumped instantly.
“Marcello, this wasn’t the plan. You were supposed to stay in the restroom.”
“He saw me go in. It’d look suspicious if I only came out after the fight.”
“Stick to the plan, Marcello.”
“You don’t give me orders.” That stunt alone could have made tomorrow’s front page.
“Break the plan again and I’ll send you straight to prison.”
“I handled it, didn’t I?” I let out a quiet breath.
Phase two was complete. Alonzo moved next. Then we waited for them to take the painting out for presentation and return it to the case. In the meantime, Alonzo had to steal an access card from a member of staff in the lobby without being noticed.
“So, who’s it going to be today?” Enzo asked after looking over the crowd.
“I’m betting on the blonde in pink,” Marcello said.
“I’d go for the fat one on the right,” Enzo added.
“Your courage must be impressive,” Fabia said, sipping prosecco at the bar.
“A hundred on the woman?”
“Shut up, all of you,” I interrupted. I couldn’t stand listening to them anymore.
“Deal. Don’t ruin our fun,” Marcello said.
Fabia was our forger and dealer. Seconds later Alonzo passed me the card number. Marcello had apparently won the bet.
We had access to the security system, so we could trigger the alarm using an employee’s access code from the lobby. According to security regulations, the entire security team had to respond, which gave us a maximum of three minutes.
They were returning the painting to the case. I passed them the code and watched them move. We were preparing for the most difficult part of the whole heist. Enzo had to get out of the building before the alarm went off. Once triggered, the system locks the entrance doors until security deactivates it.
I worked through the security system like my life depended on it. The alarm was supposed to trigger after the access code. But it didn’t. I ran through the codes again at lightning speed. Then I saw it. In my panic, I had entered the code backwards. One mistake. That was all it took.
The operation continued.
Fabia immediately replaced the canvas with the copy we had prepared in advance. Marcello removed the module from the keypad and returned to the crowd in the hall. Alonzo was supposed to jump out of the upstairs window with the painting into the car where Enzo was waiting for him.
Security was finishing downstairs. Alonzo moved into position while Fabia tried to buy herself a few more seconds, but Marcello was already too far away to help. I gritted my teeth. My fingers flew across the keyboard.
I told Fabia to get out immediately. Neither of them responded. Something was wrong. We had to move.
“Alonzo, you have to go,” I said quickly. “If they catch anyone-”
“No. They still have a few seconds,” Alonzo interrupted. Were they finally going to listen now?
I switched between the camera feeds when my earpiece suddenly came alive.
“What are you doing here? Everyone was supposed to be in the hall!” they had found Fabia on the stairs.
“I’m sorry, sir,” her voice shook. “I have epilepsy. I had a seizure while running. I can’t stand up.”
I prayed he’d believe her. If he didn’t the whole operation collapsed right there on the stairs.
“Why didn’t you call for help?”
“I did. But nobody heard me because of the alarm.”
There was a pause. On the CCTV feed I saw the guard looking around uncertainly.
“I’ll help you back to the hall,” he finally said, lifting her up and carrying her to the nearest chair.
“Will you be all right?”
“Yes. I just need some water. Thank you.” The guard turned and walked away.
Relief spread through the comms channel as Fabia made it back safety, though Marcello couldn’t resist teasing her about improvising. I kept watching the monitors. Enzo confirmed they were already waiting at the location. Marcello and Fabia had to stay in the lobby until security finished checking the building. It took another fifteen minutes before they were able to leave.
Phase three was complete. Marcello slipped out first. Fabia followed him twenty minutes later.
I wiped the logs after hacking into the security system and then headed to the meeting point on foot. Everything had gone according to plan, and I felt invincible. Even though the stress had almost overwhelmed me at times and I’d made a few mistakes, I had been waiting for this feeling for a long time.
“Barbie, what’s taking you so long?”
Marcello called while I was on my way to the meeting point, joking as usual and asking whether the buyer had arrived yet. He sounded too relaxed for someone who had almost ruined the operation an hour earlier.
Once we finished the formalities of handing over the painting and the money, I received an envelope with instructions. I handed out the new identity files. Marcello and Enzo joked about them, but I made sure they understood how important it was to stick to their covers.
Then we got to work. We counted money and split it. When everything was finished and the bunker was left in a state that wouldn’t attract attention, we started leaving one by one.
Alonzo left first. He headed straight for the airport and flew to Ibiza. For the next few months, he would be surrounded by alcohol and drugs.
Enzo went straight to the nearest street races to steal cars and start building his own workshop.
Marcello? I was glad I wouldn’t be hearing from him again. At least that’s what I thought at the time.
But Fabia was a different story. The day before the heist, she had taken me out. I should have realised earlier something was wrong.
The day before the robbery
Fabia told me to grab my bag. She said we were going out and didn’t give me a choice. I told the others we’d be back within the hour.
On the way we bought coffee and cigarettes. Then we stopped in a park that was surprisingly quiet. We sat down by the fountain and stayed there in silence for a while. I was getting bored. After a while I asked her what this was about.
“I know your secret.” I froze.
Too many possible explanations ran through my head at once. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, but I couldn’t let her see it. I forgot to breathe. I could feel my hands trembling with fear. The coffee in the cup began to tremble. I denied it twice, but she kept watching me as if she already knew the truth.
“You’d already be in trouble if that was my plan,” she continued calmly. “But you’re going to help me make sure the painting is never discovered.”
“And if I don’t?” I tried to sound confident. She paused.
“You have until tomorrow.”
She didn’t need to explain what would happen after that. I stayed silent. Probably for too long because she kept watching me the whole time. She finished her coffee and stood up. Just as she was about to leave, I stopped her.
“What do you want?” she turned, smiled over her shoulder and sat back down.
She trusted the plan, but not the others. That was why she had prepared a backup strategy – and why she needed me involved. Fabia was the oldest of us. She knew exactly what she was doing. As she said, we both had something to lose. Just different things.
“All right.” That was all I said. She stood up and walked back to the car.
The present
After the others left, Fabia and I stayed behind in the bunker to finalize the details of our insurance policy. Two days later, at the auction, Fabia bought the fake painting for one and a half million. I was left with only two hundred and fifty thousand.
It was the price of certainty. Or at least the illusion of it. I stopped her before she left. I needed answers.
“Sofia,” she said quietly, stepping closer, “You have two options. You trust. Or you report us.”
When she said my name, a chill ran down my spine. I had never told her.
“How do you know that?” she smiled gently.
“I know more than you think. And you’d better hope you never have to find out.”
I didn’t understand what she meant. And that was what frightened me the most. What else does she know? What am I not supposed to know? She turned and walked away without another word.
I stood there, unable to move. Without answers I might never get. Or maybe this was just the beginning. I knew it wouldn’t end there. And this time, I wasn’t the one in control.
