"So, you're telling me that the guy who hired us to get that violin, he hired Chloe, too?" Sully asked, incredulously. He took a long sip from his coffee. The bistro was small and quiet – they were the only ones at the table.
"Look, I don't know what the violin means or what greater value the thing has – but I do know that this Paul guy knows something we don't," Drake stated. He was trying to formulate an explanation in his mind. Why would one client hire two fortune hunters for a simple job? And why was Chloe doing it?
"The violin has got to have some clues," Chloe said, assessing the menu, trying to avoid Drake's eyes. She had her signature red shirt on, and Drake had to admit that she was still attractive. He tried to push the thoughts away. Lately his mind was filled to the brim with unpractical nonsense. It was like a child's cartoon constantly plaguing his mind – he couldn't sit anymore and just think. Plainly put, he had to confess, he'd lost his edge.
But Drake couldn't resist wondering why Chloe, with her reputation still unsullied as a master thief, would work for a largely unknown, obscure Italian character in northeastern America, all for only a few thousand bucks. Her plane ticket, Drake surmised, probably cost more than her payment. She certainly had some information.
Sully was more interested in his sausage and eggs. In between mouthfuls, he declared, "Who the hell cares? It's a damn violin." He pointed to the case. "We have it, Paul needs it, we give it to him, and split the money three ways."
"Sully, that'd leave us six thousand apiece. Fine, he paid my bail. We're gonna need more than that. And there, in that case, lies the key," Drake noted.
"Nate, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you're assuming that Mozart's violin can somehow lead to more money," Chloe added, "and assuming that it hasn't been damaged by three hundred years of being played and thrown around, how could it possibly lead to anything? It's just a damn instrument. People fiddle with it and put it back in the case."
Drake turned to Sully. "We need a room."
Sully chuckled. "Oh, you two remember to use protection."
Chloe shook her head. Drake said, "Relax there, pal, I'm sure there's something important about this damn thing."
Chloe was skeptical. "And if there isn't, if I waste the rest of my evening on some made up quest, then how do we approach Paul? This isn't exactly a cakewalk situation, you know."
Suddenly, the potential drama of their predicament excited Sully. "You think there'll be girls around?" He turned to Drake. "To be honest, ever since the crash, I haven't been getting, you know, lucky or anything. Man has his needs," Sully declared, popping a cigar into the corner of his mouth.
Drake and Chloe shuddered at the thought.