The Art Thief's Guide To Freedom

10: Step 10: How To Get Blown Up

"At 5:15 p.m. on Monday, three apparently middle-aged men — one carrying a bag from a shoe shop — walked into the Dorotheum auction house in Vienna and went to the second floor. There, they walked up to "Golfe, mer, falaises vertes" — an 1895 painting of some green cliffs and the sea by Pierre-Auguste Renoir that was to be auctioned Wednesday for an estimated $131,000 to $181,000. Then they took it out of its frame and walked out. The robbery lasted just minutes. The men made next to no effort to hide their appearance."

~Alex Marshall, The New York Times, 28 November 2018

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Will drummed both hands against the steering wheel, rotating one wrist to glance at his watch.

Ten minutes had passed since Nico disappeared inside the rinky dinky shop. He didn't expect her to breeze in and out of the establishment in seconds, but he still couldn't help the anxious feeling generating in his gut.

His stomach churned and a nervousness flooded his system.

What if he lost her? What if she slipped out of the back and made a run for it?

He knew he had an impeccable career history but he doubted it could take a hit by losing a high flight risk like Nico Stravos.

Especially with Jack as his boss.

The man did not believe in special treatment. In fact, Will had the feeling that the Commander was even harder on those closest to him.

Jack wouldn't have let her go by herself.

Jack would have gone inside with her.

Jack would have—

He growled slightly in annoyance. It didn't matter what Jack would have done. Will wasn't Jack and he didn't want to be. He needed to stop comparing himself to the other man.

Rhodes might be the courageous war hero who survived death and captured killers, but Will was just as good at his job. Sure, he didn't put away murderers, but he helped people and tried to make the world a better place.

He couldn't help but feel surprised at the irritation radiating through his bones. Jack was his friend and this apparent jealousy was unfounded.

Maybe his blood sugar was low? He made a note to check it once Nico returned.

Make that if she returned.

What was he thinking? Letting her meet an old contact who most definitely knew how to remove a tracking device.

He had bet that she wouldn't want anyone knowing she had been captured. That would surely crush her hopes of rejoining the criminal network. It was his only safeguard against her escaping.

Just to be sure, Will whipped out his cellphone and pulled up the surveillance app. His heart started to beat slower as he spotted the unmoving red dot in the middle of the screen.

She wasn't on the run.

At the current moment, that was.

Upon closer inspection, he realised it wasn't moving at all. Not even a little bit.

Surely, it should be moving, at least slightly.

Then the dot disappeared.

Completely.

As if it had never existed in the first place.

She was making a run for it.

Will ripped open his SUV door and bolted towards the store. He had barely covered fifty feet when the front door opened and Nico walked out, ignorant of his mad dash.