01| 𝕰𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖍𝖎𝖒𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋
“Ever wondered who, precisely, had written the rule that thieves breaking into anything larger than a paper bag must always scale walls?”
Al let out a strangled laugh. “I mean, you’ve done it a hundred times.”
My eyes slid from the stone wall in front of me to the wrought-iron double gate at the front of the sprawling Somoro Estate and gave a small smile. Some lawmakers were more enterprising than others. “Yeah, but who started with the tradition?”
“Do we care?”
“How’s the hacking coming along?” The impatient click of her tongue told me that it had only taken her a second to override and bypass the security system. My fingers shoved one of the gates open far enough for my body to slip through. “Show off.”
We’d spent the entire week memorizing the location of the cameras and the three motion detectors I needed to pass, and in two minutes I’d crossed through the trees and landscaped garden to sink into a crouch at the base of an earthen staircase. What the photographs hadn’t done was do justice to the color and scope, and I took a second to catch my breath.
Somoro Estate had been built in the 1940s before the partition, and each successive owner had added rooms and floors—and increasingly sophisticated security to its structure. Its current incarnation was probably the most attractive so far. The impressive mansion stretched well beyond the legal means of a public officer with lawns that were trimmed and pruned to perfection.
“You’re drooling,” Al muttered into my ear, her voice tinged with a hint of amusement.
“If they’d built it out of a respectable business, I would have been impressed.”
“You and your strange morals.”
My feet carried me towards the main double doors, going around to avoid the guards, checking out the window casings. They were wired within an inch of their lives. With a check of my watch to confirm my timing, I pulled out a roll of gray duct tape, taping down a rough, three-foot circle low on the patio window, then pulled a suction cup and glass cutter from my backpack.
The glass was thick and heavy, the pop and squeak when I jerked the cut round piece free louder than I would have liked. Wincing, I set the circle into the flower bed and returned to the opening.
“Smooth.”
“Will you shut up?” I hissed waiting for a moment, listening, then, with a deep breath and the customary adrenaline flowing into my system, I slipped inside.
“Go straight up the stairs,” a Gulji painting hung from the wall at the first landing and I passed it with barely a glance. Another would be hanging in an upstairs conference room, both wired with sensors and worth millions. I knew about them already, and tempting as they were, they weren’t the reason I was there.
“The distraction is on its way.”
“How long?”
“Three minutes.”
Keeping low, I waited for Mian Somoro to emerge from his bedroom, counting the seconds to his imminent exit. His wife was on a retreat, correction, his third wife was on a retreat, as expected and his first wife was arriving at the estate tomorrow. Just like clockwork.
Routine was what I looked for. Complaisance. That was the time to strike. When they were perfectly comfortable and happy. Unaware.
A thin, dim glint of moonlight ran straight across the hallway, two feet above the floor and three inches from my left leg. I shifted towards the back, avoiding the light, waiting.
Right on time, a burly and heavily mustached man rushed into the corridor, knocking on the bedroom door.
“There better be a reason for this interruption!”
“Sir, you have to come outside. There’s a complication.”
“What is it?” Mian Somoro, a member of Parliament, esteemed alumni of the prestigious Oxford University, and an extremely corrupt politician burst out of his bedroom in a maroon velvet robe. A color that was, interestingly, also rising up on his overly inflated cheeks.
“There’s a man in the front gardens saying that he was paid to distract you,” Wait what?
“What?”
“What?” Al shouted in my ear. “Defcon 5. Get out of there El.”
“Where is he?”
“In the foyer sir!”
I checked my watch. Two minutes and 30 seconds.
“El. No.”
“Sorry Al,” I muttered, switching the earpiece off. Pushing open the door, I rushed inside the room, targeting the safe behind the main closet. Pulling the main glass aside, I put an ear to the metal casing, my gloved fingers working the combinations.
Two minutes.
The case opened with a soft click. Using a bent safety pin, I worked the lock-free, making sure not to damage the lock. Sweat beaded over my forehead. This was far more complicated than I had expected. Someone had been amping up his security.
1 minute and 30 seconds.
*Click*
“There you are,” The diamond necklace winked and sparkled in the dim lighting, its impeccable cut and finish a pleasure to my eyes. I had been expecting it to be clear, translucent, or perhaps the pale yellow of champagne that some good diamonds were, but instead this shone a delicate and beautiful rose pink, enhanced by the black velvet pillow on which it lay. I was hypnotized by the shine, by the way, the necklace reflected every flicker of light that came its way in a halo of miniature rainbows.
Stunning.
And worth all of the trouble.
I took out the necklace and stuffed it into a specially designed case I’d clipped to my belt. Stowing away the merchandise, I debated on checking up on any other valuables. Maybe he had a set of necklaces? Or cash? He must have something lying around.
The wailing of sirens had me standing up. How were the police here?
1 minute.
“Get me out of here.”
“Oh, now you turn it on?”
“Al!”
“Out into the corridor, take the first left then go up the roof.”
“Don’t they have guards there?”
“They’re searching the grounds.”
30 seconds.
“Perfect.”
“Hope you’ve practiced your parkour because you’re jumping out of there.”
I pulled myself up so I was standing on the edge of the roof. “Couldn’t you have found an easier exit?”
“Why didn’t you listen to me?”
“Really?”
“I’m triggering the alarm in the south. You’ll have five minutes of breathing room.”
“That’s all I need.”
Scrambling up on the concrete roof, I sprinted across the vast distance, running towards the wall. Soon enough I was looking across an eight-foot gap to the top of the old stone wall. The gap looked a lot wider from this perspective, and the wall a lot narrower. Staring between the two was not boosting my morale.
“Hurry up.”
“3,2,1...” I jogged back to give myself a running start. Then I sprinted down as fast as I could and launched myself into the air.
For a second, there was nothing to keep me from falling to a horrible death. At the very last second, I twisted lightly, graceful as a bird, sending out a grip line towards the wall, zipping, rolling and landing safely on the ground.
Not one of my better ones, but it’ll have to do for the time.“Nicely done. Rendezvous point?”
“See you there.”
A frisson along my spine whispered of someone else’s presence and chills rose on my arms. I’d only had that impression once. Then came a noise, or something less than a sound—an aura. That feeling had never arisen so close to me. Unclipping the belt from my waist, I threw the diamonds into the bushes, making sure that my prized possession was out of sight.
I glanced over my shoulders, listening for an echo of a careless footfall, the movement of a shadow that shouldn’t exist. The change in the atmosphere was the only indication I had before I was being tossed into the air, taken by surprise.
Rolling to avoid the incoming blow, I got up on my feet. I was fast as hell, but not like before. The jump from the roof had managed to drain most of my energy.
The man in question came at me again, and I held up my fists ready for the fight. The figure slipped an ankle around the back of my leg, pulling me in close enough that I couldn’t get much momentum behind my blows. First, an elbow came in hard from the right just as I managed to get a shoulder up, causing his forearm to glance off it and absorb most of the force. What was left, though, nearly took me down.
I reached up and grabbed his wrist, yanking it downward, driving my shoulder upward, forcing his elbow to lock in the wrong direction. I was rewarded with a sharp cracking sound as the joint strained and then snapped. Seeing him buckling, I got ready to deliver the killing blow when another arm crept up behind me hauling me to the side. Breathless and shaken, I raised my knee to kick him but he managed to block it and move it away from the wall. I tried to sweep his foot but he put all his weight onto it, compromising my balance and letting me fall.
Not giving up, I twisted and slammed him into the wall. With the quickness and dexterity of a seasoned fighter, he twirled me around, one arm snaking around my body to keep my hands in check, while the other pinned me to the wall.
Intense and dark eyes, with a way of looking at you that left you feeling stripped bare, met mine.
A shiver crawled up my spine. I knew this man.
“You!” His voice was soft and sibilant as if sand slid against silk.
Apparently, he knew me too.
“My fan club grows.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, I do have to go somewhere, so if you don’t mind,” A flash of vague amusement crossed his eyes.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Who was this man? “You’re coming with me.”
“Would have been delighted to but I’ve already got dinner plans.”
“I’ve been chasing you for a long time, I think you can make an exception,” It could’ve been the sense of authority that seemed to bleed from his pores even though he couldn’t be much older than I was—maybe the same age as me or a year or two older. Or, it could be the fact that I had managed to evade this man for the past three years but something about him just irked me.
A lot.
My heart pounded at the thought of how he’d contained me with technical, precise steps and power. The reminder made my skin flush. Senses hyperaware, I watched as he stopped in front of me and lifted his right hand, gripping the back of the hood. He was close enough that I caught his fragrance, a hint of pine or something cedar.
He smelled like heaven.
I waited, my body stiff, my heart fluttering in my chest, so fast that I felt faint. My stomach jolted as I felt him lean over me, tiny tremors racking my hands and legs.
And I never trembled.
He pulled my hood back, his eyebrows knotting at the mask on my face. Dark hair fell forward onto his forehead but the rest of his features were shadowed in the soft, moonlight.
“Mian Somoro would be extremely glad to know that we’ve found his thief.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
One side of his lips kicked up. “Do you always lie?”
“No,” I immediately lied.
“Liar,” He murmured, his tone almost teasing, almost as if he knew me. Embarrassment flooded my system and I dragged my eyes away from his, scared that I’d be swept away in their depths.
“I am not lying, I was simply out for a stroll.”
“On the roof?” Not a single thing about his tone or his look said he believed me.
“It’s an unusual hobby.”
“You really are something aren’t you?”
“Maybe. Why have I been handcuffed?”
“So you don’t claw my eyes out.”
“What makes you think that’ll stop me?”
“What do you- Ah,” He grunted as I launched forward, kicking his knees out from him and wrapping the handcuffs around his throat. As soon as the initial shock wore off, he pushed back, forcing us both to the ground, his body hovering over mine. I yelped in surprise, losing my grip on the handcuffs.
“Nice. Magic tricks. Who would have thought?” He whispered and my heart twisted itself up into a knot. “Any other things I should know?”
“I...” I ran out of words as he shifted blocking out any chances of an exit, leaving me trapped. All my years of training disappeared in a flood of panic. I kicked with the leg that wasn’t pinned. I kicked him, I kicked the grass— But it was no use. “Get off.”
“Promise not to run away,” His lips brushed my ear, causing me to gasp. This was highly improper. “I’ll let you go.”
I tried to throw him off but he just tightened his grip on my wrists. Defeated, I closed my eyes.
“El!”
“Al?”
Panic. Absolute panic made my hands steadier and my mind clearer and I pushed against his grip and he moved back letting me have some space. “Why is my sister here?
“Your sister is in our custody,” The triumph and smugness in his tone were impossible to miss. His arm eased from my wrist as his hand drifted toward my mask. “And so are you.”
