by Zoe Blake
They were sitting naked in bed eating Chinese take-out. Paine had also gotten them some wine which they sipped from the clear plastic cups provided by the hotel.
Grabbing a bite of lemon chicken from the container in her hand with his chopsticks, Paine said, “You just don’t want to admit you were instantly seduced by my charms.”
“Despite what you may think of your charms, I did not just fall into bed with you that night!” said Mirage as she reached over to grab some of his lo mein with her own chopsticks.
They were reminiscing about the infamous night they first met in Istanbul.
“You tried to get in my pants, but if I recall, I told you to go scratch. It wasn’t until you got me drunk on whiskey that I gave in,” said Mirage.
“As I recall it, you did that move where you spread your legs and begged me to fuck you.”
“I was showing you a move from one of my heists!”
“A move that required you to stand on your hands and open your legs…wide?” asked Paine as he quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at her.
Mirage took a dainty sip of her wine as her cheeks blushed pink. “Well,” she said, flustered, giving him a dramatic roll of her eyes.
“Just what I thought,” smirked Paine. “Why did you leave the next morning? I left you a note saying I would return.”
Mirage shrugged her shoulders as she played with the hem of the sheet. “I’m not very good with relationships and interacting with people. I’m alone a lot. I think the only reason why my relationship with Dev worked as long as it did was because he was actually rarely around and always just told me what I wanted to hear. It’s hard to get spooked into running away by a man who sets such a low bar with no real expectations of you. Besides, I didn’t think I was anything more than a convenient one-night stand to you and wanted to avoid an awkward conversation the next day.”
Paine crooked his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Well, you were wrong about that, and I plan to always be around from now on, so you better get used to it. And every time you run away…I will give chase, kitten. Every time.”
Mirage blushed a richer hue of pink at his possessive words.
“And it was your loss. I brought back Yumurtali pides that morning,” provoked Paine.
“I love pides!” exclaimed Mirage. Pides were a Turkish savory pastry with smoked meat, tomato, cheese and sometimes a baked egg.
“I figured you might. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to find pides while a fucking coup was still going on?”
“Sorry,” offered Mirage sheepishly as she bit into an egg roll.
“Speaking of the coup, how the fuck did you manage to vanish out of the country like that? The airports were still closed and the military had the whole city on lockdown.”
Mirage gave him a sly look. “There is a reason why they call me Mirage…because I got skills.”
“I’ll show you skills,” growled Paine playfully as he tossed the egg roll she was eating over his shoulder and leaned in for a kiss.
Much later, they were no longer able to avoid the world outside. They had to discuss their current predicament with The Syndicate—the kill contract that loomed over each of their heads.
“I have an idea but I warn you, you’re going to hate it,” said Mirage.
“Maybe not. Everyone knows no one beats you when it comes to a good, well-thought-out plan,” responded Paine with only the barest hint of a sarcastic reference to her well-laid plan of revenge against him.
Mirage told him of her idea to break into The Syndicate’s headquarters and steal enough evidence against them to blackmail them into leaving her and Paine alone.
Chapter 11
“I hate it,” declared Paine.
“I knew you would,” sighed Mirage.
“You’re goddamn right I would. I’m not letting you put yourself in that amount of danger. There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t.”
“I can protect you, you know that,” said Paine as he cupped her jaw, his eyes sincere.
“But for how long? The Syndicate won’t stop until we’re dead. This is the only way.”
Paine dropped his hands and turned away.
“You know I’m right,” said Mirage.
“That doesn’t make this any easier,” ground out Paine.
At that moment, she knew she had won him over. They would begin to plan the most dangerous heist of either of their careers…with the highest of stakes.
“Tight as a nun’s ass,” quipped Paine.
“I know.”
“That’s what John Gotti said when someone proposed robbing the vaults of the Diamond District…tight as a nun’s ass.”
“I know,” repeated Mirage.
After returning to London to grab clothes, supplies, stashed fake I.D.s, and cash, Paine and Mirage borrowed a car and drove onto the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle train to cross the channel into France. From there, they made their way up the coast to Antwerp, Belgium. Flying would have been faster, but neither wanted to risk getting nabbed by Heathrow’s facial recognition software, which they were certain The Syndicate had access to and was probably monitoring.
They had been alternating between planning the heist and arguing about the heist the entire way.
The Syndicate’s headquarters were located in the Diamond District of Antwerp, in what was called the Diamond Square Mile. It was the most secure three blocks in the world. The three main streets, Schupstraat, Hoveniersstraat and Rijfstraat, were all closed to traffic and protected by armed guards and fourteen knee-high, ram-proof, steel cylinders which rose out of the ground to block any car trying to enter. Not that bringing a car into the narrow, antiquated streets would do much good in a heist, but it also meant whatever equipment they needed would have to be carried on their backs in inauspicious backpacks.
“They have a LIPS vault,” stated Paine.
Mirage dismissed his comment with a wave of her hand. “At least it’s not a Fichet!”
The Dutch safe manufacturer LIPS created some of the most secure vaults in the world. They were good, but not as good as the British manufacturer, Fichet. The fact that it was a LIPS made the heist difficult but not impossible.
From her wine-soaked, loose-lipped operative back in Italy a few years ago, Mirage had learned not only the location of The Syndicate’s base of operation but also the name of their shadow company. After that, it was just a matter of a little computer hacking to learn where that company was insured. All companies located in the Diamond Center, a group of business offices and vaults in the center of the Diamond District, had massive amounts of wealth that required vaults and extensive security. This, in turn, required them to have insurance inspections and detailed security plans. Fortunately for Mirage, that detailed plan was in the shadow company’s file with their insurer. They knew how many guards to expect, the type of vault and all about the motion and laser detectors, as well as the video cameras.
“The School of Turin took two years to plan their heist, and we’re trying to plan ours in two weeks,” said Paine.
The School of Turin was a group of thieves who had robbed the Diamond Center about a decade ago. It was the same building they would be targeting. The Syndicate was smart. They were hiding all their wealth and criminal activities in plain sight among some of the most heavily secured, legitimate companies in the world. It was brilliant really. In any other city, even New York, it might have raised eyebrows to see an armored BMW pull up with a trunk full of gold bars. But in Antwerp’s Diamond District, that was just a Tuesday morning.
“The School of Turin needed to make off with a truckload of jewels and cash. We don’t,” reasoned Mirage.
Conversing and slowly building trust in one another over the last two weeks, they had learned they had both been smart with their criminal earnings. Paine had about fifteen million stashed away in various countries and Mirage had about twenty million, a fact she liked to repeatedly remind Paine of. “Does this mean I
would be your sugar mama?” she would tease.
This wasn’t about grabbing more wealth. It was about securing enough damning information to make The Syndicate back off.
“So you think once we have shit on them, The Syndicate will just walk away instead of doubling their efforts to kill us?” asked Paine.
Mirage shrugged her shoulders. “It would only take a few seconds to launch that information into the world via social media and they know we could make arrangements for that to be done the moment someone pulls a trigger. It would be safer to just keep us alive and monitor us.”
“I agree. Hey, didn’t you do a job in Antwerp not too long ago?”
Mirage peeked at him through her eyelashes, “Allegedly…but if I had, it was one of the smaller diamond businesses just outside the Diamond Square Mile.”
“Repeat it back to me,” ordered Paine.
“We’ve been over this. I got it.”
Paine tucked a dark curl behind her ear before cupping her face in his hands. “I’m not taking any chances, baby. Now repeat it back to me.”
“If we get caught, you are going to tell the police I’m an employee of one of the offices and your hostage. I’m then to contact Logan and let him know what happened so he can put a plan in place to get you out of prison.”
“Good girl.”
“But we’re not going to get caught.”
“Do you know how many times I have been sent into a country to retrieve an operative for The Syndicate who thought the same damn thing? No one expects to get caught, Mira.” He placed a quick kiss on her lips. “Let’s go.”
Grabbing their backpacks, Paine and Mirage headed out into the dark, still night. They had rented an apartment just a few blocks away from their target. It came with the type of landlord who took cash and didn’t ask a lot of questions, so they only had a ten-minute walk to the Diamond District. Paine had his arm around Mirage and they chatted animatedly so if they passed any police, they would look like a couple out on a date.
“You know, we haven’t even been on a date and you are already talking about the future,” observed Mirage.
“As soon as the blood-thirsty criminal masterminds who want us dead are brought to heel, I will take you out for dinner and a movie. How does that sound?” Paine took a playful bite at her ear.
Mirage felt a warm glow in her chest. She knew he was probably teasing, but the thought of going out like a normal couple on a normal date appealed to her.
There were cameras and security kiosks monitoring all the entrances. Luckily for them, the C Block building where The Syndicate’s vault was located had a garage door that was not in the security guard’s line of sight. After a bit of reconnaissance earlier, they had captured a photo of the type of garage door opener that was used for it. After that, it had just been a matter of using an electronic scanner to figure out which one of the possible one thousand twenty-four radio frequencies the garage door opener used to make their own remote. Paine hit the garage remote button as they approached. Looking to the right and left of the silent street to make sure they weren’t observed, they quickly slipped into the garage.
Paine knelt before the first locked door. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out an L-shaped torque wrench and inserted it into the bottom of the keyhole. He then took a thin pick with small teeth and inserted it into the keyhole as well. Carefully dragging the pick back and forth, he waited for the pins of the lock to set.
“Are you setting up a picnic?” whispered Mirage.
“Patience.”
Mirage crossed her arms. Finally, after a few more seconds, there was a barely perceptible metallic click. Paine turned the knob and motioned for Mirage to enter. She pointed to her watch. “Hmmm… nine seconds. I could have done it in six.”
Paine gave her a playful swat on the ass.
“All right, your turn. And I’m timing you,” said Paine as he prepared to set the stopwatch on his wrist.
Mirage knelt before the second door. This small, empty guards’ room contained the key for the vault. A LIPS vault had a one-foot thick door of iron and steel protected by a four digit combo code, a magnetic lock and a key. The key was just over a foot long so it was too cumbersome to be kept anywhere but near the vault. Giving Paine a wink to start the clock, she quickly inserted her own torque wrench and pick.
Five seconds later the door sprang open.
“Show off,” whispered Paine.
Mirage stuck her tongue out at him.
After a quick search, they found the key and made their way down the narrow hallway. Mirage reached into Paine’s backpack for the can of silly string. As soon as they were within view of the vault, she handed the can to him. Pressing their backs against the wall, they crept to just below the first motion camera, attached to the ceiling. Using the silly string, Paine disabled the camera. He then took out the next two and the three video cameras. They took slow and careful steps toward the vault. Just because the motion detectors were covered didn’t mean they wouldn’t react to quick and large movements.
They both knelt before the vault’s massive iron and steel door. After pushing the key in place, Paine pulled out a drill and some fiber optic cable while Mirage worked on the magnetic alarm. It was a simple contraption. There was one magnetic plate on the door and one on the jam. When they connected, they completed a circuit and a simple alarm was set. Mirage carefully placed a heavy metal bar over both magnetic plates. She made eye contact with Paine as a signal she was about to go. If all went well, the metal bar would pull the magnetic plates off the door and bypass the alarm. The trick was both plates had to stay connected and be dislodged from the door at the same time. If the plates disconnected even slightly, the alarm would trip.
Mirage held her breath. Paine gave her a reassuring nod. Counting to two, she pulled on the metal bar. The magnetic plates came off the door with a soft popping sound.
They both waited.
No alarm.
Mirage smiled.
Now it was Paine’s turn. Handing a pair of plastic goggles to Mirage, he put his own on and started to drill. It was the loudest part of their whole operation, so it needed to be done as quickly as possible. Drilling through the keyhole would give them access to a narrow shaft through the one-foot iron and steel door. The key plate gave way. Paine threaded the fiber-optic cable through the keyhole and turned on the camera. Mirage’s hand was at the ready over the combination pad. As soon as the camera was in place, Paine would be able to read the combination off the back of the locking mechanism on the inside of the vault door.
He read off the numbers. Mirage typed them in.
The sound of several heavy bolts sliding on greased rails greeted their efforts. Some turns of the large metal wheel, and the vault door slowly slid open.
The inside of the vault was protected with light sensors. They both put on their headlamps and turned them on. The usual white light was covered with a red lens. Red was the closest color on the visible light spectrum to infrared and could be used to trick the security system if you were careful with your movements.
Paine gave Mirage an assessing look as her features were bathed in crimson red light. “That reminds me. Where is that red lipstick I bought you?”
“I still have it. Why?”
Usually, she always wore red lipstick. It was her signature look and the only real makeup she used, but the last two weeks they’d been trying to blend in more, so bright red lips were out.
“I just thought about how I wanted to celebrate when this is over.”
Mirage had a sudden vision of herself on her knees sucking Paine’s cock as she left lipstick marks up the shaft. The thought made her bite her lip in anticipation.
“Will you focus please?” she remonstrated.
They found themselves in a large room. Each wall was covered with brushed metal safety-deposit boxes of varying sizes. In the center was a long, polished wood conference table with seats. Since boxes required both a key and a combination, it was easier
to just break the deadbolt on each one.
With each of them taking a side, they began to systematically pop the boxes open.
“Remember, make sure to grab any silver flash drive with the letter M etched on it. That’s more than likely one of my jobs, and I stole a lot from foreign governments for them,” said Mirage.
“Got it,” responded Paine.
They couldn’t possibly know anything specific to look for. They would just grab as much information as they could along with whatever looked incriminating enough. As they emptied the contents of each box onto the floor, the room became littered with priceless jewels, gold coins, uncut diamonds, salacious photographs and documents.
“Don’t be afraid to grab anything sparkly that catches your eye,” quipped Paine.
Mirage pulled another box free and dumped it onto the floor. Bending down to rifle through the contents, she looked up. “Hey, that reminds me. I want my Raj Pink diamond back!”
“You mean my Raj Pink diamond?” asked Paine with feigned innocence.
Mirage narrowed her eyes at him. “How about we compromise…our Raj Pink diamond?”
Paine gave her a seductive wink. “Deal.”
Mirage was still having a hard time believing the strange turn of events. She now accepted that she was head over heels truly in love with Paine. Not the idea of Paine or some silly fantasy about what a relationship should be, but the real deal. Never in a million years had she thought she could so easily fall into step with someone. Her relationship with Dev hadn’t even come close. Even this heist, she would have thought it was their hundredth and not their first, they worked so well together. To think that she would relish having a partner in crime. Literally. She still got scared. Every now and then, there would be this cold pit in her stomach. She would worry about having to return to those solitary days where her life was a controlled vacuum devoid of any real feeling or passion instead of the beautiful chaos which surrounded her and Paine, but then he would grab her by the hips and say something outrageously arrogant and possessive and warn her as he always did…that she was never getting rid of him.