Chapter 2

Kat's father pulled up his car in a barren forest about a quarter mile east of the estate. But before we go bashing through houses, we needed a plan. Her dad had many connections, and this being a well-known mansion, one of his friends had already scoped out the place. He had splayed out a rough blueprint with security details and where the painting would be located.

"The alarm system is on the opposite side of the garage wall. I can go into the garage easily and tamper with it. Then you can go in through the basement window. When I get into the garage, wait five minutes before you start," my dad said.

"The basement leads to next to the stairs…downstairs. Then I'd have to go up the stairs and get it off of the wall, then go back down the stairs?" That is quite a journey. We see a car pull out of the Hale Estate with people in the back and front seats. My dad had the same idea. The only people who would be home are probably any butlers or maids they had.

"You could go to that balcony off the upstairs lounge."

"Yes, that seems the best," I said, grabbing a tool to pick the lock.

There was a tree that leaned into the balcony and I could jump off that and get onto it. It would be pretty risky. I climbed the tree, and crawled onto the slightly thick branch that hung off. I just hoped it could hold my weight. I balanced myself, and reached for the balcony. Something cracked and I knew the branch had started to snap. I grabbed the rail just in time as the branch broke off. It was still connected to the tree as it dangled limply. I could still get out by jumping onto the tree. Jumping down is easier than jumping up, but I would definitely be leaving here with more bruises than I already had. I was now hanging onto the balcony with my hands. Thankfully, my dad has made me do many pull up exercises over the years. As I pulled myself up, I realized a room to the left had a light on. The door was closed, but there was a faint glow beneath the door.

I looked at the timer I had 5 seconds left. Perfect. I meddled around with the lock, and found myself crouched behind a couch in the upstairs lounge. I left the door behind me a tiny bit open and crept around the corner to the wall above the stairs. I looked at how it was attached, and saw it was just a latch. I flipped it open with my screwdriver, and continued with the other 7 latches. The light in the room turned off. I panicked and quickly ran to the balcony and leaned against the wall outside. I peeked and saw the boy I had stolen the wallet from. He walked down the stairs with a quick glance behind him. Once he was all the way down, I waited five seconds and went back to the painting. He was going to come up in about two minutes, I guessed. I finished the last latch and pulled the painting off and covered it with a black case. I took his wallet out of my pocket and left it on the top step.

I ran out the balcony and realized I had to either throw the painting or jump with it. I propped the painting in between the opening in the side of the balcony, and jumped onto the tree. I reached for the painting, and finally grabbed it. I swiftly climbed back down and headed for my dad's car. I put the everything in the car, but he hadn't returned yet.

I took off my robber-looking gloves and rung the front doorbell.

"Can I help you?" W.W. Hale the Fifth asked as he opened the door and leaned on the frame. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. I decided to go with the innocence act.

"My dad and I were lost, and I was just waiting in the car. And he said he was going to come ya'll for directions. But it's been awhile. And he hasn't come back. And I wanted to know if anyone stopped by. And yeah," I said in my best nervous southern accent.

"Uh, yeah. There was a man walking around the outside of the house. I assumed he was looking for the front door. I invited him in. I'm the only one home right now. But I guess we can look up the directions and you can be on your way…I'm Hale by the way." He said shifting. I have to admit, this cover was peculiar. And unlikely.

"Thank you so so so much!" I gushed and followed him inside to his kitchen. My dad was sitting at a chair, sipping on coffee.

"There you are, Kat! Sorry, I didn't realize how much time I was taking. This young man offered me some coffee, and then I got into the whole second part of my life story. You know how it is," He said. I knew he was just stalling so this W.W. Hale five point oh wouldn't catch me.

"It's alright. Do you have a map or something anywhere? We're trying to get to Newark," I said

"Yeah, it's upstairs. Be right back," He said.

My dad and I looked at each other, and once he left, we dashed out the door. We ran all the way back to the car and I looked for the painting.

"Where is it? I put it right here and locked the doors!" I panicked. I knew it was there.

"Let's go back"

"WHAT? He's going to realize-"

"Probably already has"

We walked back and my dad pretended he was talking on the phone outside. Hale opened the door and my dad told him one second and talked in hushed tones to his phone.

"Katarina Bishop…So, tell me. How did you do that job in Spain? More specifically Barcelona. Or the Museum of Natural History. That one was a classic," He said. A grin encasing his entire face, "Your face isn't forgettable."

My dad looked up from his phone and merely said, "What you get for having a beautiful assistant…" He chuckled and asked Hale what tipped him off.

"The wallet, you know you could have kept it," Hale said.

"Didn't need it," I said and shrugged.

"You're lucky you decided to steal from me. Most people wouldn't be half as intrigued. Oh speaking of…I need a favor. You owe me anyways," He said as he pointed to the Monet propped up on the wall beside him. "I need help with a little heist…"