On the Fence by Cade Haddock Strong

Author:Cade Haddock Strong [Strong, Cade Haddock]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2021-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“The Warhol is pretty small.” Mattie grinned. “At least compared to some of the stuff Ellen and I have stolen in the past.” She looked up. Three sets of eyes stared back at her. She, Ellen, Alex, and Wallace were sprawled out in the living room of the house in Stowe. A box with a half-eaten pizza sat open on the coffee table and a fire crackled in the fireplace. Mattie flipped open the notebook in front of her. “I’ve been looking over the floor plans for Feldman’s. Both the ones Olivier gave us and,” she waved a hand between Ellen and Wallace, “the ones that you two drew. The building is really choppy. The only big open space is the salon, the big room where the auctions are held.” She ran a hand through her long blond hair and stared up at the ceiling. “Its layout is far from ideal. There are all these little spaces to get trapped. It’s like a maze in there. Therefore, it’s imperative we come up with a plan that doesn’t require all four of us to be inside the auction house when we steal the Warhol.”

“I agree,” Ellen said. “Three of us at the most.” She drew a finger along the bottom of the floor plan she’d drawn. “The long hallway that leads from the salon to the front entrance could cause all sorts of problems. I’m extremely concerned about it.”

Mattie nodded. “Me too. Given how narrow it is, if we ram a truck into the corner of the building—”

“People will be clambering to get out the front door,” Alex said.

“And they’ll probably rush the emergency exits too,” Wallace added.

“Most likely,” Mattie replied. “Which means it’ll be nearly impossible for us to get out of there quickly, especially with a painting tucked under our arms.”

“What if we played to that disadvantage?” Ellen asked.

Mattie was confused. “Play to what disadvantage?”

“The fact that it’ll be difficult for us to make a speedy escape.” Ellen stood and walked over to the fire. She poked at the logs as she spoke. “Let’s try and work with that. Turn it into an advantage.”

“How do you propose we do that?” Mattie asked.

Ellen placed the grate back in front of the fire and turned to face the couch. “We’ve already agreed that only three of us should be inside Feldman’s when we swipe the Warhol.”

They nodded back at her.

“What do you think about this?” she asked. “What if one of those people was in a wheelchair?”

Mattie tapped her pointer finger against her lips. “So, you’re saying, instead of rushing to get out of the building, we do just the opposite.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Ellen replied. “And it would solve another problem for us.”

Wallace slid to the edge of her seat. “What’s that?”

A light bulb went off in Mattie’s head. “It would give us a way to smuggle the painting out of Feldman’s.”

Ellen clapped her hands. “Bingo!”

Mattie jumped off the couch. “It’s perfect! I’ve been trying to figure out how we were going to get the Warhol out of a crowded auction without anyone noticing.

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