A Heist Story

by Ellen Simpson

  She made her way back to her desk. “Maybe this is your answer,” she said to William. He was poring over the documents, rubbing his temples, trying to make sense of them. “Special delivery.” She held up the flash drive.

  He looked up at her with weary eyes. “I don’t want to play any more of Kat Barber’s games.” But he tugged his laptop toward himself and plugged the flash drive into it. “Let me scan this first.”

  “Oh, come on, they wouldn’t put a virus on it.”

  “Are you joking?” William snorted. “Of course they would. The breed of asshole you’re fucking would totally try and bring down our entire computer system just as a final middle finger to this goddamn mess.” He exhaled and narrowed his eyes. “But it seems you’re right. No viruses.”

  The smug thrill of triumph shot though Wei like lightning until she saw the files contained within the flash drive. There were hundreds of them: a series of payments, all small, all from different accounts funneling into a two-million-dollar payment from one account to another and then to a third. And there, at the bottom of each transaction was a memo. Indicating a donation to a political action committee.

  “No,” Wei breathed.

  All the color drained from LePage’s face. “They didn’t.”

  “They did.”

  “This is…this is… Johnson used her campaign funds to pay for this painting. She authorized the transaction while the auction was going on. She paid for this out of the public money she took to fund her campaign.” William’s voice was no more than a whisper. “Fuck me…”

  “We have to keep this quiet,” Wei said in a low voice. “No one can know about this.”

  “Fuck, Wei, we have to report it. This is damning. It could get her sent to jail.” William tugged his awful hair out of his eyes and tucked it behind his ear. “We need to be really careful about what our next move is.”

  “But is this information true?” Wei whispered. “Shouldn’t we verify it?”

  “Where’s Marcey Daniels?” William asked. “Didn’t Johnson have her sent to Central Booking?”

  “She should still be there.” Wei tugged the flash drive from the computer and tucked it into her pocket. “If we hurry…”

  “What do you mean, if we hurry?”

  Wei tugged her jacket on, flipping her hair out from under the collar. “She’s got a damn good lawyer, William. It’s only a matter of time until they let her out.”

  Marcey Daniels wasn’t in lock up. She wasn’t anywhere. The paperwork had all been filed. Wei’s eyes went wide, staring down at one particular document. Her signature stared up at her, plain as day.

  “Did you sign that?” William asked.

  “No, but I know who did.” There was only one person who could fake something so convincingly.

  “You’re…you’re joking.” William looked disgusted. “Topeté, she’s a loose cannon. We can’t allow this to continue.”

  Wei handed the clipboard back to the booking clerk, her expression hard. She tugged William away from the busy atrium of the station where she was sure no one would overhear. “I need you to stall Johnson. Just for a few hours.”

  “What are you going to do?” Wei froze, wondering if this was the moment when William revealed that his loyalty was not to the law and his career, as Wei had initially thought, but rather to Johnson. She didn’t think she was wrong about him, not after Rio, not after watching him throw away a marriage and the love of his life for the sake of his career. William sucked in a huge, heavy breath. “Evidence like this will get found sooner rather than later. All she has to do is get a whisper of it and she’ll hide everything.”

  “I need to see someone.” Wei didn’t elaborate. “Just stall her.”

  He put up his hands. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Wei.”

  Wei’s expression was tight-lipped. “Me too.” She turned and left, walking out into the cool day. She hesitated only for a moment before she raised a hand and hailed a cab, rattling off the address of Kat’s hotel without a second thought. She had to know what the hell Kat was thinking, doing this. This didn’t feel like Kat; none of this felt like Kat.

  And Wei’s deal with Marcey Daniels wasn’t enough to get her this sort of sway.

  No, there was some bigger shift happening here, and Wei didn’t know what it was.

  The hotel was empty. It was just after check-out time. Wei made her way up to the third floor and let herself inside. Kat started, as though surprised. Her pants were unbuttoned and she was just in her bra. “What did you do?” Wei demanded, closing the door with a snap.

  Kat turned, her eyes going wide. Her hand scrabbled for her purse, for something hidden there. Wei crossed the room and grabbed her hand, wrenching it away and pressing her up against the wall. Her fingers closed around Kat’s throat. “What the hell did you do?” Her voice was cracking now, bitter. Her accent grew more pronounced. “You ruined this. You ruined our chances, Kat.”

  “Have I?” Kat asked. Wei wanted to squeeze, but Kat’s pupils were already wide and her breathing labored. She pushed Kat against the wall. “I thought I’d all but assured victory.”

  “How can this be a victory? How can this be anything other than the end of my career?”

  “Isn’t—” Choking, Kat pushed Wei away. She ran a hand over her neck, gasping for air. She looked at Wei like a caged animal, poised to lash out. Her lips curled away from her teeth, her voice a snarl. “Isn’t that what you wanted? A chance to walk away? With that book out there and your stupid American friends aware of its existence, we had no hope. Now we control it.”

  “Because you’re fucking her.”

  “No,” Kat said. “Not anymore. She has what she wanted. I’m done.”

  Wei’s hand clenched into a fist. She couldn’t accept this. This manipulation that was as clever as it was hurtful. Kat knew how to push Wei into saying yes to things, but this time, this time it would not be enough.

  The wounds of this relationship, of the woman caged before her, were aching and deep. Wei clutched her chest, her eyes glassy with the onset of tears. Love was a death meant to be died a thousand times over the course of a lifetime; each blow, each careful cut from Kat, severed years from her life. “I’m nothing anymore. You’ve torn everything out of me and settled yourself against my heart, Kat.”

  Kat’s gaze softened, a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Yes, darling,” she said.

  “So why does it feel as though you’ve ripped my heart out to make room for yourself?” She said nothing, turning away from Wei, from the tears that now flowed freely. “Answer me!” Wei begged, words in English all but forgotten. “Please.”

  Her back ramrod straight, Kat turned back to face Wei. “I promised you that I would find a way to get Charlie’s book, long before Interpol ever caught wind of me. Long before I ever got caught. Long before Charlie ever did either. That was the first promise I made to you, Wei. How could you have forgotten it?”

  “Because you couldn’t do those things, Kat! You could pretend to be something you’re not. You like the game, the manipulation of people and feelings to get what you want.” Wei looked down at her hands. “Now you have me right where you wanted me, don’t you? Where you can watch as I betray the profession I’ve given my life to, just to run away with you. That’s what really makes you tick, doesn’t it?”

  Kat was a ship in the sea of Wei’s anger. Good. Let her see how she’d broken Wei for her own amusement. Kat’s face was no longer blank, her expression no longer serene. She was outraged.

  “Everything I did, every time I slept with that awful girl, that was for you.” She turned, grabbing a shirt and pulling it on over her head. “I did it so you could get out from under the thumb of Johnson and her idiot assistant. They were going to find your name as soon as they got the book. They were going to find out what you did for Charlie and they were going to destroy you for it. I saw it coming, Wei. I saw it and I did everything I could to stop it. If you do this, if you tell your handler
at Justice what you know about Johnson, Marcey will give us the book. The original. No forgery made to throw Johnson off the scent.” Kat stepped forward, grabbing at the lapels of Wei’s jacket. “It’s just a little thing, Wei. You don’t even have to worry about Marcey after this. She’s got her revenge and her friend’s getting out. She won’t be a problem.”

  So, the eleventh hour was upon them. “I can’t do it, Kat.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t lie. Not when I have just as much evidence to show that you deliberately framed Linda Johnson for corruption.” Wei grabbed Kat’s hands and pushed Kat away gently. Her hands shook. Kat had gone about it all wrong. Wei could get the book from Marcey Daniels so long as her friend was granted parole. With the book, Wei could find a way to clear her name without having to do this, to play into Kat’s fantasy.

  She drew a shaky breath. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes. Maybe, in the end, all of this would be for nothing, but this was her freedom. She leaned down, kissing Kat gently on the mouth. “When William called me and told me Charlie was dead, I wondered if this would be the end of us.”

  “No—” Kat’s breath hitched. “No, Wei.” The tears at the corners of her eyes were real now. “We can be free, we can be together. Happy. In love.”

  “Maybe one day, we’ll meet again, Kat, but I think…for now, that this should be good-bye.” Wei kissed her once more, turned and walked out of the hotel room and into the growing night.

  POST

  Services, Rendered—

  The article in the paper some three weeks later was bombastic to say the least. Marcey read greedily, sitting on the appointed bench, a little before the appointed time. William LePage, it read, ace investigator for the New York District Attorney, had found another way to demonstrate his innate understanding of crime. He’d found a trend in the campaign donations of his boss, ADA Linda Johnson, and brought it to the attention of the Department of Justice.

  “The man always was career oriented.”

  Marcey jumped and lowered the paper. Kat Barber stood before her holding a bag from a bakery Marcey knew well. It wasn’t close. Marcey was almost flattered. “You scared me,” she confessed. “Who’s career oriented?”

  “LePage.” Kat wrinkled her nose. “I hadn’t considered him, not in depth, as an option for the end game.” She shrugged. “Shame though, as Wei backed out.” Kat sat down beside Marcey. Her leather boots were splattered with paint and her jeans were old; the knee on one of the legs was a giant hole. “I got you a scone.”

  “You’re so English.” Marcey rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Everyone appreciates a good scone, Marcey.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “So, your friend gets out today.”

  “He does.” Marcey nodded. “I hadn’t expected you to stick around to see it happen.”

  “It wasn’t by design, I assure you. The book never made it into my hands, as per our deal.” Kat waved her hand dismissively, as though she wasn’t speaking a threat. “I came to collect.”

  “I told you to be here.” Marcey put a corner of the scone into her mouth. It was still warm. “So, is this really a conversation where you hold any of the cards?”

  “My, my.” Kat raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you big for your boots, Ms. Daniels.” She looked down at her nails. “If this isn’t a friendly exchange, then why am I here?”

  From her bag, Marcey produced a thin Moleskine journal, filled with pages upon pages of her own notes. The spreadsheet on the anonymous cloud drive was gone. Instead, all that remained was this. The book. A code, written in dashes and notes. She tore a page from the back of the book and flipped to an entry designated with only the number three. She wrote down the address carefully, her tongue caught between her teeth.

  “A little bird told me you might want to know where this was.” She got to her feet, her smile blossoming. It was on the other side of the world. Kim had taken it there doing some charity work. It would keep Kat guessing, keep her busy until Marcey could figure out how to deal with the myriad of emotions that still came up when she looked at the woman. “I’ve got to get down to the bus station. Darius is going to be arriving soon.” She paused, the early June sunlight warming her cheeks, before she added, “Be seeing you, Kat Barber.”

  “I’m sure, Marcey Daniels. I’m sure you will.”

  CODA

  Wei, at a New Beginning

  She stands at the base of a mountain, this one far shorter than the last. It juts straight out of the sea, the city crawling up around it, as though it will protect it from the angry ocean. This peninsula and this bay, the point where two great forces meet, feels old to Wei. Old as she crawls through streets lined with wire, old as she passes vibrant houses and colorful people.

  But it is here, tucked away at the end of the world, that she finds a woman sitting on a patio, her face turned toward the sea. Coffee in her hand, a flower in her hair. Wei reaches out, but does not touch. Not just yet.

  “I never thought you’d find me.” She doesn’t turn around.

  A smile tugs at Wei’s lips, it’s small and wry. Shy. In the shadow of another flat-topped mountain, they meet again. It’s almost fitting.

  “Maybe I wanted to see what came next.”

  Kat turns, her eyes warm and her body wrapped in a blanket against the cold ocean air. “Hello,” she says. “I’ve missed you.”

  “Hello,” Wei answers. “It’s been a while.”

  ABOUT ELLEN SIMPSON

  Ellen graduated from the University of Vermont in 2010, majoring in political science with an emphasis on media and its effects on society.

  She served as social media writer and story editor for Carmilla: The Series before becoming creative consultant on Carmilla: The Movie.

  A love of running, watercolor painting, the mountains and the ocean fill her downtime.

  Ellen Simpson’s first book with Ylva is The Light of the World.

  CONNECT WITH AUTHOR

  Website: www.ellenannes.com

  Tumblr: anamatics.tumblr.com

  Twitter: @anamatics

  OTHER BOOKS FROM YLVA PUBLISHING

  www.ylva-publishing.com

  THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

  Ellen Simpson

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-508-3 (mobi), 978-3-95533-509-0 (epub)

  Length: 107,000 words (357 pages)

  At the back of her grandmother’s closet lies a mystery. After her grandmother’s death, Eva finds a series of diaries detailing the life of a girl caught up in the magic of the Roaring Twenties. She cannot reconcile the young woman in these diaries with the miserable old woman she loved so fiercely. What happened to change her grandmother so drastically? Eva is desperate to know more about this period in her grandmother’s life. What is the light of the world, and who is the mysterious girl that her grandmother fell in love with?

  Eva starts to investigate the puzzle her grandmother left behind. With the help of a local historian and his enigmatic assistant Olivia, they find a forgotten labyrinth under the city streets. But they are not the only ones down there. Someone else is searching for the light of the world.

  COLLIDE-O-SCOPE

  (Norfolk Coast Investigation Story – Book 1)

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  ISBN: 978-3-95533-574-8 (mobi), 978-3-95533-575-5 (epub)

  Length: 90,000 words (291 pages)

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  Kate’s investigation into the woman’s death delves into the heart of the tiny fishing village where
nothing and no one is quite what they seem.

  REQUIEM FOR IMMORTALS

  Lee Winter

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-711-7 (mobi), 978-3-95533-712-4 (epub)

  Length: 86,000 words (263 pages)

  Book One in The Law Game series is a dark lesbian thriller with plenty of twists in its tale.

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  THE LAVENDER LIST

  Meg Harrington

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-624-0 (mobi), 978-3-95533-625-7 (epub)

  Length: 62,000 words (249 pages)

  After the Second World War, Amelia Maldonado opts to live a quiet life bussing tables at a diner during the day and going out for auditions at night. The one bright spot is her friendship with the charming Laura Wright, a well-heeled woman with a mysterious war-related past.

  When Laura shows up outside the diner, barely conscious and spitting lousy lies, Amelia takes it upon herself to figure out the truth. From mobsters to spies, Amelia quickly finds herself forced back into a world of shadows she thought she’d escaped long ago and thrust into partnership with the one person she’s sure can ruin her—the enigmatic Laura Wright.

  A Heist Story

  © 2018 by Ellen Simpson

  ISBN (epub): 978-3-95533-960-9

  ISBN (mobi): 978-3-95533-959-3