The Bonnies by Nicole N. King
Chapter Four
She was not convinced.
“Have you lost your mind???” She shouted, her eyes almost popping out her head.
“Will you be quiet?”
Walking over to our room door, I opened it and peeped out making sure no one heard Yuri’s yelling. The hall was clear minus Jasmine Evans who was seated outside her room laughing at whoever was on the other end of her cellphone. Closing the door back quietly, I turned around and peered over at Yuri who was pacing back and forth, shaking her head from side to side.
I’d sent her message during fifth to tell her about going on a new mission. After that, she had sent text after text trying to get details from me, but I told her that I would explain after class. The minute we’d gotten out of our last class, she’d snatched my arm up and headed towards the dorm. She’d been so antsy that she was even willing to skip out on hanging with Mark. I had to make her sit on the bed like a little child while I changed out of my uniform into something more comfortable. Now I’d wished I’d just gone to the student center instead. I was even wishing I’d bumped into Mark on the way. At least he would have prolonged the unraveling of my insane idea some.
“Yuri, I know the idea is insane but-”
“INSANE!” Yuri shouted. “It’s senseless Autumn. We could do some serious jail time. I’m talking about maximum security.”
I rolled my eyes. “In case you didn’t notice Yuri, we could have done serious jail time for those other thefts as well. What did you think they would do with us, put us in juvenile detention centers?”
“Well of course! We’re Minors! But at least it would have been worth going to jail for those diamonds, but a painting. We’re not art collectors. Plus the thing is cursed. Why would we take something like that?”
“Because it’s the reason my father died.”
“What?”
Plopping down on the bed, I told Yuri about my father’s obsession with the Beggar Boy painting. It was something that I’d never shared with her just in case she turned out to be like everyone else who ridiculed my father and called him foolish. Once I was done talking, Yuri walked over to our window. It had been thirty minutes and she still hasn’t spoken one word to me. Pulling my knees to my chest, I wrapped my arms around my legs. “Yuri, you’re the one who said you were bored with boosting the clothes and jewelry. We needed something new and different. Plus this painting means a lot to me. It meant a lot to my father.”
“I know.” She said turning around. Yuri usually resembled a model coming straight off the runway or out the picture of a magazine, but at this moment dressed in her sweatpants and tank, she looked like a normal stressed out teen. “I understand what you’re trying to say, but Autumn this is different. The Louvre is located in France, and we’re all the way in California. How are we supposed to hop from here to there and still be present for school? We’ll have to wait until break and by then the painting might be heavily guarded. Besides this is more than just a two woman job. We can’t do this.”
Leaning back into my pillows, I closed my eyes. Didn’t she know I had already thought about all of that? I knew there was no way we could pull off the heist without having a serious team behind us. Not to mention the amount of money financing this mission. Our family’s accountants would surely call to let our parents know that we had been dipping generously into our funds way more than needed. My mom may not call often, but I’m sure she would once she knew I was blowing away all her money.
However, we said the same thing when we first starting robbing stores for their merchandise. And even to this day, every case against us was cold with no leads.
Opening my eyes, I turned towards Yuri who was looking at me worried. “Yuri, I’m scared too. Not only of if we get caught, but of the backlash it will bring on our parents. With us being the daughters of senators, I guarantee you the press will eat this up.” Licking my lips, I took a pause imagining the uproar our little heist could cause. “But Yuri, I have to do this, even if it’s without you.”
Yuri stared at the floor for a while before sighing. “Fine I’m in. I could stand to learn more about art. Not to mention, the amount of press we would get if we actually pulled this off.” That thought seemed to intrigue Yuri as she smiled. “We can go down in history! They may even make a movie about us. Wouldn’t it be cool if we were actually cast to play ourselves?”
“Plus don’t forget the painting is rumored to be worth 14 million dollars or more. Even if they do get on our trail, we will have more than enough money to disappear safely somewhere. There are plenty of people who will pay just to have this painting, and even more when they know it’s been stolen right from up under the museum’s nose.”
“Okay, if we’re going to do this Autumn, we’ve got to be smart about it. Our butts won’t be the only ones on the line if this thing goes south. Whoever we pick to help us pull this off, have to be more than good.”
“Agreed.” I said sighing with relief. “This heist won’t be like the others. It’s going to take a lot of patience and planning, and we’ve only got three months.”
The sounds of laughter and silver hitting glass echoed throughout the large dining hall as students sat at the dinner tables, socializing with friends and packing their mouths with food. Near the front of the room, Mark and a couple of his friends stood on the stage, giving some poor fellow a hard time. A guard finally took notice and decided to go over and take charge of the situation.
Leaning back in my chair, I raised the cup of tea to my lips as my pen scribbled across my notebook. “Okay, we know this assignment will take more than two people. But exactly where do we start our search. We can’t just go out and find anybody. Too many complications can arise from that.”
Yuri spooned some spaghetti into her mouth and chewed it before answering. “You’re right. We don’t want another Perkins on our hands. We need someone who’s in close proximity, someone we can keep our eye on to make sure they don’t leak any information.”
Yuri opened her mouth to say something else, but it was lost to me. Because at that moment dark eyes, I mean Micah Martin had walked into my eyesight. Since it was after hours he was no longer in his uniform, but instead in a pair of shorts and some geeky Captain Planet graphic tee. I frowned at that. How could he go from looking like a Colin Farrell look-a-like to resembling someone who attends a comic con?
I watched him stopped to talk to a group of boys. My eyes followed his hand movements as he talked animatedly about something. The groups of guys were no different. They followed alone with his conversation as their faces held huge smiles. I moved my eyes to the side for a split second to see that Mark and his gang of ruffians had turned their attention to Micah. Mark face was filled with jealousy and anger. He was the top dog around here and Micah was stepping on his territory. Walking up to Micah, he threw an arm around his neck interrupting his conversation. Micah’s smile dropped as Mark began to take over what was left of Micah’s conversation. The guys were now enraptured with Mark’s story as he tapped Micah on the shoulder. I could see the angered look on Micah’s face. Those taps weren’t exactly friendly. Micah finally excused himself from the group walking the other way.
A sharp pain in my leg knocked my eyes away from Micah Martin. Frowning, I turned to look at Yuri who stared at me with her smirking. “Ow! You could have done some serious damage to my knee.”
“Well had you been paying attention I wouldn’t have had to kick you.” She said. “So is that him?”
“Who?”
“Do not pull that clueless card with me” Yuri said with a raise of her eyebrow. “I’m talking about Micah Martin. You know the guy’s arms you practically leaped into outside the library.”
“I did not leap into his arms!” I screeched.
Several students turned to look in our direction at my outburst, Micah included. His eyes moved from Yuri’s to mine.
Great he was conversing with another person I deemed in the same club with Mark. Paige Harper was the daughter of Evelyn Harper who ran against my mother for office in the last election. Evelyn Harper was a snake and her daughter was no different. While she campaigned against my mother out in the real world, Paige campaigned against me here. At first she had won everyone over with nasty and fictitious rumors about me, but people quickly began to see her for the Medusa she was. Sadly, she still had some loyal followers in her rank who felt I was the bottom of the barrel compared to Paige. She always wanted everything that I had or even thinks I want. My guess, that’s why she was taking an interest in Micah Martin.
“Looks like someone is making moves on your man”
I turned my attention from them. “He is not my man.”
“Thank the heavens, someone has an available seat”
Taylor plopped down with her tray in the chair next to Yuri. “This school is seriously getting way too overcrowded. I thought this school was supposed to be special invite only.”
“Aw, Taylor look at this way. You get more customers to fill your pockets.” Yuri said.
“You’re right and I need the extra cash. I’m running low on funds. I had to replace my laptop and some other equipment I needed. They got damaged in the move to my new office. My parents have also cut me off this month since the incident with Karen.” Taylor’s hands balled up into fists. “I could seriously pummel that girl.”
Yuri and I grinned at Taylor’s expression. I knew it had to be hard for her to change the place she did her illegal activities on campus. Her room was her safe domain, now she can get caught being out in the open. It was clear that Karen will be getting a drop in her grades this semester.
“Anyway” Taylor said spooning her dinner. “I need to come into some serious cash fast or else say goodbye to my business.”
A light switch went off in my head as I stared at Taylor. I switched my gaze to Yuri who too had picked up on a hint. We stared at each other for a minute, silently communicating with each other. Taylor was a super genius when it came to all things technical. She could hack into just about anything and she always made the most realistic I.D.s. ever. The only reason Yuri and I didn’t go to her before the heist was because we didn’t need someone who knew our real identity and could link us to the crimes. Taylor had been caught several times hacking into government sites but her dad has saved her each times. She was already into illegal activities. She was perfect.
“You guys are weird.” Taylor said laughing. “What’s up with you two?”
"Taylor, I think I may have the solution to your money troubles.”