Abandoned (The Beckett Series Book 6)

by Mary Martinez

“Yeah, except, I’m not sure how much he heard us talking about our hobby before he realized we were talking about Calistoga, that’s what seemed to draw his attention.” Raymond tightened his grip on the wheel. “To answer your question, no. My assistant thinks the only reason we’re here is the winery.”

  “Speaking of which, the vineyard itself mostly survived the fire, it was just the house and the outbuildings. I think it’s a great investment.” Monroe asked.

  “I do too,” Edwardo said.

  The others paused to stare, it was the first words they’d heard from Edwardo all evening. When he’d first joined their little ring of Cats. They found out quickly it would never be Eddie. He always had their back and had become a valuable partner in their nefarious activities and legitimate dealings alike. But talking? He listened and observed.

  Finally, Raymond looked at Jason. “What are your thoughts?”

  “It will take a lot of work, but yeah I think it will be a great investment. Damn good wine also.”

  Raymond grinned. “True.”

  He started the engine and eased onto the road. The other car was well out of sight. They knew where the hotel was, no need to give themselves away.

  “What’s the plan?” Monroe asked.

  “After they drop her off, we’ll find a way in and take it before anyone knows.” Raymond wasn’t sure how yet, but they’d brainstorm and come up with a plan they always did.

  “You don’t have a plan do you?” Jason sighed and then laughed. “But hell, that’s the fun isn’t it. I mean we don’t need the fucking money.”

  “We also don’t want to be stuck in some American prison either.” Monroe, the voice of reason from the backseat spoke up. “Is this painting really worth it? I mean, even if we buy into the fact the agent is only the boyfriend he’s trained for things like this. I have a bad feeling.”

  Raymond pulled into the lot and found a parking spot far from the building and any street lamps. Once he’d backed in so they had a view of the hotel he turned the car off. Only then did he twist in his seat to see not only Edwardo in the passenger seat, but those in the back, all were his best friends. Jason and Monroe he’d known his entire privileged life. Edwardo they’d gathered into their circle years earlier.

  “I’ve thought about that. This is the first time we’ve ever consulted an outsider. It was only a chance conversation on the other coast and yet it didn’t go well. This was the first time we’ve ever been interrupted during a heist, and that didn’t go well….”

  He fell silent. He scratched his ear while he thought, was it worth it? If they were caught it wouldn’t just be for theft, it would be for murder.

  “It’s a matter of pride,” he finally stated.

  “Yeah yours. I say we cut our losses.” Monroe ground the words out. “As Jason said we don’t need the money. Is it fucking worth it? If we do get away with it, this has caused so much uproar already they’ll be watching the Dark web for any sales, we’ll have to sit on it for a few years before we can reap any rewards for our efforts.”

  Raymond felt the twist of his guts. The adrenalin that pumped through his veins at the thought of outwitting the authorities raced through him. He refused to think he wasn’t using the excellent judgement he usually did in high risk situations. He would not let it be personal.

  He was a shark when it came to the board room. He had more money than God, he had all the beautiful women he wanted. Did he need another notch in his heist belt?

  “True, we’ll have to sit on it. But are any of you ready to let the authorities win?”

  “Yeah. If we’re caught we won’t see the light of day for years. Raymond, think, Are we ready to face that?” Jason asked.

  Monroe shifted again to lean in between the front seats. “I know that you’ve got a stubborn streak wider than the English Channel, but dude, prison? Really? You’re a pretty boy, think about what happens to rich guys like us in prison.”

  “We won’t go to that kind of prison. We’ll be sent back to England. And shall I point out, between the four of us we have a team of lawyers that will throw any evidence they think they have on us out the window.” He grinned at his friends. “I mean, why the fuck do we pay them so much if they’re not the best?”

  Raymond heard Jason draw in a sigh. “You know, I hate to leave a job unfinished.”

  Then he heard the leather rustle from the back where Monroe settled into his slouch. “Yeah, then we lay low for a while.”

  Edwardo regarded Raymond who twisted to throw a look in the back at the other two and shrugged and gave an affirmative grunt.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  One of the agents had spotted the car parked across the street from the showing. They had watched the men climb in and wait. The four may think they were the only ones watching, but they weren’t.

  Standing by the front door of the hotel, Patrick’s nerves prickled as they had earlier. Something was going to happen he knew it. There were no other cars on the street it wasn’t hard to spot the car the moment it turned into the lot.

  “They just pulled in and parked as far from the light as possible, if I hadn’t watched where they went, I’d have had a hard time noticing them.” Patrick informed the other agent at the back of the hotel.

  He was glad they’d had enough time to move Adele and her man to the room across the hall. In the room registered in her name, there were two agents in place.

  So far, things were going as planned. Patrick knew that didn’t mean things could slide down a rabbit hole fast. It was going to be a long night, he was sure they wouldn’t make their move now, it wasn’t that late in the evening. Many guests would be returning from dinner and others may have plans for the next few hours. But at least the Madonna and Child was safe and would be on its way home to Berlin early in the a.m.

  Effie and Glenna were with Adele, as Glenna refused to go home. Patrick had agreed because he couldn’t push down a little niggle that he’d missed something, or the feeling that the other shoe was about to drop. Glenna should have been safe at home.

  He was sure all of the men were in the car waiting. They weren’t the type to resort to kidnapping to exchange for the painting, it was the thrill of taking it from underneath everyone’s noses. Yet, he didn’t want to take any chances with her being at the house alone if he were wrong. Finn was at one of his football buddies home for the night, he would be safe. Besides the four had seen how kidnapping had gone down, or had they? No one really knew where Danny fit in, if he did. The man wasn’t forthcoming with the authorities. The last Patrick had heard, since his plan to capture Glenna, he’d had some kind of mental melt down. No answers from that corner.

  Patrick didn’t like mysteries or lose ends. When the four were in custody he’d find out.

  *****

  Patrick paced carefully to stay out of view of the lobby windows. He was antsy, he knew they had a solid plan, but something was off. His gut twisted. Things were going too smooth.

  Too anticlimactic. That’s what it was.

  And still there was that pesky little worry of something he was missing.

  He stopped just to the side of the window, the car was still in its same place, his vision had adjusted with the darkening night and he could barely make out the figures, mostly because they moved from time to time, unlike headrests. He started to turn just as one of the car doors opened.

  “They’re on the move,” he said.

  “We’re ready.” A woman’s voice filtered into his ear.

  The one thing that had bothered him from the get go had been, how did Raymond and his band of cat burglars know the room number? He wouldn’t be surprised if they were hackers and had somehow got passed the firewalls of the hotel. Didn’t matter.

  “Everything in place?” he asked.

  There was a pause and some rustling. “Yes, I’m going to have a robe on over my clothes, give him the impression we’re relaxing, etc. Adele will be in the shower. She couldn’t sleep, you know. And if they insist s
he get out, they have a surprise when they find Agent Coleman instead.”

  Patrick smiled but didn’t reply. No one wanted to tackle the former Raiders’ wide receiver.

  He watched from his place as they drew closer, he needed to get to his post. The elevator doors slid closed as the automatic front door opened. He hadn’t seen who walked through the door. Which meant they hadn’t seen him either.

  As he walked by room 342, he gave a brief knock, the signal he was on his way to the end of the hall where it turned. There were agents stationed throughout the nooks and crannies of the boutique hotel but mostly on the third floor.

  *****

  So far it had been a piece of cake, the woman at the registration desk hadn’t paid any attention to the men entering. Obviously they couldn’t have put on their masks before entering even if though they’d waited until around midnight. They’d found hotels were suspicious of men entering in the middle of the night.

  Unless of course, you’re in a major city, here in the laid back town of Calistoga, better to hide in plain sight. They just needed to keep their faces down, that way surveillance would get the tops of the heads. Look at no one, especially any personnel. No reason to make it easy for anyone to give a good description of them.

  Once in the elevator without a word they pulled their masks from their back pockets and slipped them over their heads. They’d formed a routine over the years. From the moment they left the car until the moment they were inside there wasn’t a word spoken, and then only instructions or questions. Voices could be traced as easily as a face.

  Technology while wonderful for their various legitimate businesses was not their friend for their first love. The thrill of stealing priceless art or artifacts under the very noses of the protectors.

  Raymond stood to the side of room 342 Jason on the other, Edwardo behind Monroe, he knocked, schooled his voice to a different register.

  “Room service.”

  The woman’s voice filtered through the wood panel. “We didn’t order anything.”

  Monroe knocked again. “It was ordered for you by a…” Rustle of paper that his friend had had in his back pocket for their little charade. “Glenna Beckett, there’s a note.”

  They heard the bump and a click as the woman undid the lock, the door crept open. Monroe ready, kicked the door the rest of the way open. The woman jumped out of the way with a screech.

  “What are you doing?” her voice wavered.

  What the fuck?

  “Where’s the art woman from Berlin?” Raymond felt his gut clench.

  The woman swallowed. “She’s taking a shower.”

  He nodded to Jason, he walked to the bathroom door where now that he listened could hear the shower going. His gut eased a fraction. He still didn’t like the fact they hadn’t known about this other person. An assistant? She wasn’t at the showing earlier. He’d made a point to study everyone who’d attended.

  Monroe was moving around the room checking to make sure no one else hid in a closet or other hiding place. Another rock hit the bottom of his stomach at the same time he realized there had been no guard at the door. They’d been prepared to deal with him. Before he could form another thought the bathroom door blew open knocking Jason on his ass. And the largest man he’d had the misfortune to see other than on the big screen, stood gun ready.

  Monroe stopped midstride, Raymond turned to leave. Their most important rule: at the first sign of trouble all men for themselves and get the hell out of dodge.

  The problem with getting the hell out of dodge was that the pass was blocked with an impressive wall of men with guns pointed at his chest.

  “Stop! Federal Agents.” As if they’d needed to announce themselves.

  The Madonna and Child had been a jinx for them since Monroe had visited the bar and heard about the piece from Lance Gordon.

  *****

  Something wasn’t right. Patrick always trusted his gut. It clenched. He knew the other shoe was about to drop. He kept to his post. He could see the agents enter, anticlimactic. The thieves weren’t usually violent. The murder of Alex hadn’t been planned, and from the tapes it seemed like knee jerk reaction at the interruption. He wasn’t even sure they were armed as they had been the night at Glenna’s shop.

  Yet the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. “I’m going to stay at my post to make sure there are no surprises.”

  “Gut telling you something?” Came the woman’s voice.

  He could hear the commotion with the agents cuffing and reciting the Miranda. Yes very innocuous.

  He peered around the corner and that’s when he noticed another man lurking at the other end of the hall. Somehow he didn’t think the man was a gawker, especially as the hotel had informed the occupants of the floor with as much of the details as they could. It had been left to them if they wanted to go out for the evening or check into a vacant room on another floor if available. As they hadn’t known what time something would happen, if anything.

  Yet the man stood intent on the happenings. And damn, but he looked familiar. Patrick settled against the wall, he couldn’t see anything from this vantage point but he needed to think. Where had he seen him?

  A moment later he glanced around to peer down the hall, most the officers had either gone back down or were in the room. The hall was empty. The man had gone. Maybe he was just a gawker. He holstered his gun and made his way to the room.

  As expected most the excitement had died down and agents were in the process of finishing up.

  “Enroute.” The women’s voice piped up in his ear and startled him after the stretch of silence.

  “I’m on my way in a few. Going to check on our guest with the painting.” He glanced around a last time and made his way across the hall.

  He gave a quick two knocks a pause and another knock. The door opened cautiously, and Adele’s guard’s face appeared. Patrick wondered again how much security training the man had had before they dubbed him trained enough to protect Adele and her treasures when she traveled around the world. He looked white as a sheet.

  “Come in.” His voice even shook.

  Nerves of steel the man did not have.

  “How are things here?”

  “They’d be fine if the flu hadn’t decided to bite me in the ass. I’m glad I had your help tonight.” The man slipped into the overstuffed chair in the little sitting room. “I’m weak as a fucking puppy. You must think I’m a wimp.”

  Patrick tried not to look as guilty as he felt about his earlier thoughts, as the man echoed them. That made him feel a bit safer leaving Glenna at the hotel while he drove to his office.

  “Sucks. Sorry, are you going to be okay to fly in the morning?”

  Patrick knew it wasn’t charitable of him, but he wanted the damn painting out of his jurisdiction, it had caused enough harm. Even if they guy felt as sick as he looked, Patrick wanted him on that early flight.

  “Hopefully, this is just a twenty-four hour thing.” The man regarded Patrick for a moment. “Even if it’s not, I’ll make sure Adele and her painting are safe and on their way home.”

  “Do you need me to get you anything before I leave?” He asked as an afterthought he didn’t have the time, but it seemed like the decent thing to do.

  “No. Before the showing, we stopped at the market and picked me up a few things.” He started to push up from the chair, then apparently thought better of the idea and slumped into the cushions. “Things should be quiet around here now. Especially since your agent Coleman has offered to stay until we leave for the airport. You better get going if you want to finish up tonight.”

  He wanted to stay, make sure. That niggle was very persistent. But he couldn’t think what lose end there could be. Danny was in custody in New York, and the spoiled rich boys were on their way to the Federal offices in San Francisco now.

  “Oh, hi.” Glenna had walked through from the other room of the suite. “I thought you were gone by now.”

 
Effie resplendent in iridescent pinks and blues tonight followed a step behind.

  “I wanted to check in, make sure you’re okay.” To Effie, he said, “Adele has an early flight, do you want me to drop you off on my way to San Fran?”

  “Effie is going to take me home. With all the excitement I haven’t really had time to talk to Adele. We’re going to stay a little while and then we’ll head out.”

  “I think it’s so cute the way he worries over you.” Effie commented, then went over and held her hand to the guards head. “You feel warm, do you want a Tylenol?”

  Effie and the guard? Patrick almost grinned, the two couldn’t have been more opposite. But then the old cliché…

  Patrick looked down at Glenna kissed the top of her head. “Be careful and I’ll call you from the office.”

  Patrick shut the door of the suite and started toward the elevator. His gut twisted with indecision. He needed to follow the others, but he really didn’t want to leave Glenna even if Coleman was staying. There would be no way he’d leave if he didn’t know they were safe.

  He paused before stepping in the elevator, just to be safe he’d take another sweep around the floor and make sure he wasn’t over thinking everything. He needed to prove to himself the little niggle was prodding him to be overly cautious and there wasn’t really anything else going on.

  *****

  Waiting.

  He hated waiting. It had been hours since the showing, it had been all he could do not to rip the painting from the easel and take off. Patience. He was good at that, hadn’t he been patient for what, two years now? He should have had it by now, but no, Glenna had forgotten about the box of treasures she’d gotten from the garage sale. Apparently he’d been too convincing in his pursuit of her when he’d swept her off in the romance of planning a wedding.

  Who knew that would have been so easy?

  The inner circles of the art community were a tight knit group, and Lance Gordon was one of their community. It was what he did, acquired treasures, usually legally but The Madonna and Child had tempted him to move to the other side of the law. He’d heard about the art expert Glenna had flown in from Berlin had been keeping track since.