To Have and to Heist by Sara Desai

Author:Sara Desai [Desai, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-07-18T00:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

In heist movies, there’s always a montage of scenes where the caper crew rehearses for the big day. The grease person practices maneuvering through a mock laser beam field made up of string. The driver races through obstacle courses, back alleys, and dark city streets. The hacker pounds on her keyboard, staring at screens full of code. The gadget person demonstrates all their clever toys. The key master practices opening a safe. The muscle finds a few security guards to knock unconscious and wrestles guard dogs to the ground. The inside person seduces or befriends the target and gets them to spill their secrets. And the leader organizes it all with the help of her second-in-command.

At least, that’s the way it works in the movies. In real life, with a bunch of newbs who are scraping by with low-paying jobs, inflexible hours, difficult bosses, and a bunch of side gigs to make ends meet, just organizing a rehearsal heist was one hell of a task. And on top of it all, we had a wedding to plan.

We met at Rose’s house on Saturday morning for the drive to the vacant mansion in Englewood where we were going to do our dry run. Jack had gone ahead in the van to collect the keys from the real estate agent. The rest of us traveled in the limo Emma had borrowed from her friend.

“Chloe got the floor plan off the real estate listing,” I said, trying to balance the plan, my phone, and my list of tasks on my lap while sipping a glass of complimentary champagne. “The layout is similar to the Angelinis’ mansion. Is everyone clear about what they’ll be doing?”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Anil had shown up with my brother’s old drone, a pirate hat, and a velvet jewelry box containing the fake necklace he’d made at work. In response to my query about the hat, he’d simply said, “Dead men tell no tales.”

Gage pulled a weapon from the holster under his jacket and another from his boot. “Lock and load.”

“Put those away,” I snapped. “This is a no-shooting heist.”

“Not even one shot? Just to scare the guards away?”

“No.” I polished off my glass of champagne and poured another.

“What about a Taser?” Emma looked back over her shoulder instead of keeping her eyes on the road.

“Do you have a Taser?”

She cut her gaze to Gage, who was following the conversation with obvious interest. “Maybe.”

“Do I want to know why you have a Taser?” I checked out the champagne supply. It was becoming clear that I would need a substantial amount of alcohol to get through this day.

“I do.” Anil lifted his hand. “I’m a curious beast.”

“Yes, you are, sweetheart.” Chloe patted his knee.

“Do you want the good answer about how a nonlethal legal weapon is always a highly preferred choice for self-protection . . .” Emma asked as she turned off the highway and onto a gravel road. “. . . or the bad answer about my last boyfriend who was into electric—”

“Oh look!” I cut her off with a shout.

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