9 hours after the painting went missing

Manhattan, New York

News had broken that the Louvre had been broken into, it had travelled faster than Kat and her Dad. As they touched down in JFK there were already newspapers sprawled with the headlines wondering how this could have happened, who was responsible and why didn't they take the Mona Lisa.

Kat had pondered these questions all the way back to Uncle Eddie's townhouse. The house, as per usual was warm and cozy, the fresh smell of bread enveloped Kat as soon as she stepped inside. There was chatter coming from the kitchen, the sound of cutlery scraping on bowls and plates.

Kat drifted towards the hub of the house, the place where many heists were planned, family feuds were fought and food was shared. This was one of the only places Kat could truly call home. And when she turned to corner she saw the people that made it home. Uncle Eddie was sat as his usual place at the head of the table, Gabby, Simon and the Banshaw brothers were sat around him, sat in their usual places. There was also another addition to the table, one that the family have accepted over the years and to this day is the only person that Kat stole. W.W. Hale the fifth sat in Kat's usual place, his sleeves rolled up and tucking into the fresh soup and bread.

'Hey Kitty' Gabby smiled at them 'Hey Uncle Bobby'

'Hello Gabrielle, how's your mother?' Bobby asked. Gabby rolled her eyes

'She's will a Duke or a Lord somewhere' She ripped off a piece of bread 'I've been invited for Easter'

'How was Paris?' Hale asked. Kat glanced at her father, he remained calm, moving around to the stove and getting two bowls out, ladling the soup. Kat's eyes remained focused on her father, she'd seen him do this routine many times, ladling his food and hers, yet there was the secret hanging over both of them and Kat wanted to share it. Everyone was aware of the silence, thieves are always aware when moments are too quiet, and this was one of them. Eddie being Uncle Eddie ignored the silence and dropped a copy of this morning's New York Times. The headline and the photo standing out.

'I thought you couldn't do it' He commented.

'We didn't' Kat muttered, Bobby handing her a bowl, both of them sitting in the two vacant seats. Everyone stopped. Kat and her father began to eat, a realisation that neither of them had had any food since leaving Paris.

'What was taken?' Hale asked. Kat looked up at him, swallowing a lump of bread, then her eyes skipped down the table to look at the man at the head. Kat watched as the man who barely was surprised began to transform, his eyes widening and his spoon dropping.

'No…' He whispered. Kat looked away and back at her father. Bobby sat back in his chair.

'They have no leads. A Picasso was taken, two Turner's and the Monet'

'Aunt Nadia's Monet?' Gabby gasped. Kat nodded. 'Oh Kat! I'm so sorry'

'Wait' Hale began 'You put a painting in a museum?' He raised his eyebrow and smiled, almost not believing what he heard.

'It was my mom's favourite Monet and her favourite museum...She wouldn't have wanted it any other way' Kat gave a faint smile. Although she didn't have many memories of her mom, she could still recall several of her likes and dislikes.

'So who stole it?' Eddie asked

'It wasn't us!' Gabby, Simon, and the brothers said automatically. Kat smiled.

'So who could it have been?' Bobby asked. Simon reached for his laptop and began typing away. Everyone waited on tenterhooks...everyone except Gabby.

'Well?' She snapped.

'There doesn't seem to be anyone boasting about the Louvre job on the dark web, and none of the paintings appear to be getting sold'

'What about the museum, are there any clues as to what happened?' Kat asked. Simon began to type away again.

'The cameras were down and they were on a closed feed. It was a scheduled maintenance and they tested the alarm system. If someone got on the inside, all they had to do was wait and then they'd have the whole museum to themselves. They'd probably have been able to gain access to anything they wanted'

'So why would they steal these?' Angus asked. Kat was already trying to answer that question. Wondering with the information that Simon provided, her brain already ticking overtime. Everything seemed to familiar, right down to the amount of paintings that were taken...

Author's note: Decided to upload twice today. I've been so excited to share this story! Very different style to how I usually write xxx