Ch 23
The next morning, Jake woke up to a text from a former professor in Rome. Antonio Marcellius had been a student for a semester back in the early 1980s. He had studied Renaissance art and he had an address in The Hague, Netherlands on record, which the University forwarded to his cell.
Cara and Ian caught the next flight for New York. A tentative plan was hatched. Ian would call the real estate broker and be his typical charming self, demanding that he and his young wife be allowed to tour the condo. Meanwhile, Amy and Jake would try to sneak up to the 8th floor and look for the paintings in Hughette Clark's many condos.
Dan and Atticus would remain in the comm center where they would each monitor a couple. Cara would try to digitally unlock the back servants' stairwell to the building so Amy and Jake could snake their way up. It was going to be risky. She needed to be inside the building in order to disarm it, plus buildings like these had doormen who were well trained to keep riff-raff out. Ian and Cara had to play the part perfectly or they would be arrested. Ian had pushed to have Amy accompany him on the tour, but she had argued that natural chemistry would be something the agent would look for in a newly married couple. Nobody could deny the chemistry between Ian and Cara.
The realtor agreed and at 1:00 Ian and Cara took up positions. They had gone shopping, it appeared, although, perhaps these were just their normal clothes; with Ian you never knew.
He stepped out of the limousine wearing a fine gray suit with impeccable tailoring and top grain saddle colored leather Tom Ford loafers. His Ray Ban sunglasses accentuated his dark skin and hair. Amy didn't think it would have been possible to outshine Ian, but Cara had done it. Isabelle Kabra would have approved. Cara had clearly gone to a tanning salon and her blond hair was artfully windswept. Her make-up was perfect and her manicured fingernails looked stunning as they wound their way around Ian's proffered arm. She wore an ivory silk off the shoulder blouse with strategically placed slits along the sleeves to show Cara's toned arms. She wore a tight black skirt that she had to give a tug down as she stepped out of the limo, followed by black Christian Louboutin stiletto heels.
Amy and Jake had positioned themselves across the street at the park.
"Holy shit," was Jake's only comment.
"Yeah," Amy offered lamely. She could never have pulled off that look.
"What's 'holy shit'?" Dan asked through their mic.
"Nothing, everyone in position."
"You know we can hear you," Cara said discretely as she wiped her nose with her left hand to hide her words.
"Right, sorry." Jake offered.
"I see the realtor, she's pulling up now." Amy said. "Time for us to move."
Amy and Jake looked like any other New York Couple out for a jog in Central Park.
Amy had on black yoga pants and a fitted t-shirt that showed off her slim, fit body, her hair back in a pony tail. Jake wore a fitted Under Armor t-shirt and dry-wick pants that accentuated his muscular physique. The both had on sunglasses. The very picture of fitness on the Upper East Side.
They both set off at a jog toward Fifth Avenue and 72nd. They kept their eyes on Ian and Cara as they jogged. The realtor offered Ian her hand, of which Ian refused and simply looked up the exterior of the building. Ian knew this sort of clientele and they would have never shaken hands with a common realtor.
Amy and Jake stopped at the corner and pretended to stretch, listening to their conversation.
"Thank you for meeting us here," Cara offered when Ian refused her handshake. "We're desperate to find just the right place and Fifth Avenue is the only location we are considering." She said with a simpering smile.
"And, you have sufficient funds to purchase on the Upper East Side?" the realtor asked eyeing Ian's suit and Cara's heels.
Ian was waiting for this, "How dare you question our wealth! Do you know who I am?" Ian asked, continuing, not giving the realtor a chance to respond, "I am Ian Kabra, I assume your simple mind has at least heard of the Kabra family?"
The realtor shrank back and stammered, "uh, yes, uh, of course, sir, I-I didn't mean any disrespect to you-"
"Of course, you did! You have to weed out unacceptable buyers at the door. Now can we please move inside or do we have to continue to stand out here like common poodles looking for a place to urinate?"
"Ease off Kabra," Jake said quietly. "You want to get into the Condo, don't you?"
"Amy, Jake, as soon as Cara crosses the threshold of the building, she'll be able to deactivate the locking mechanism of the back door. Time to move." Dan's voice said in their ear.
"I'm going to shut off joint communication now." Atticus said, "From now on, you can communicate with us, but not with each other, we'll act as relay."
Cara and Ian disappeared inside the building. Amy and Jake made their way across 5th Ave down 72nd and the side of the building. "We're here Dan," Amy whispered as she made to bend down and redo her laces.
"Cara, now, they're ready," Dan said
Amy heard a 'click' and Jake pulled the servant's entrance door open. They were in.
"Dan, we have a problem. There's a security camera here. We've been spotted." Jake said with alarm in his voice.
"I've already disabled it, I've got it on a continuous loop for the back stairwell and all hallways." Dan said
"Awesome, little brother," Amy said smiling as she and Jake sprinted up the stairs two at a time.
When they reached the 8th floor, Dan called to Cara, "Cara, they're in position, unlock 8E."
A moment later they heard a click. They were in the first condo.
"These buildings were built in an era when homeowners had servants for cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. Each condo will have an access door with a back stairway or elevator for servants to use. They were never allowed to use the main entrance. They were to be perfunctory, not elaborate. Their quarters were plain compared to the rest of the home." Amy said as they entered the servant's room.
"Thanks Professor," Dan said, "Do you mind keeping the narrative to a minimum? We need to keep these lines open."
Amy rolled her eyes. The condo was musty and dark. Mahogany paneling and heavy drapery covered the walls. The windows were covered in layers of dust, as was the furniture. The furnishings were elaborate however and several notable artists hung on the walls.
"Wow, they weren't kidding. This Hughette Clark had some amazing taste in her day. You should see this place." Jake spoke with reference in his voice. They had made it out to the main gallery of the home where many priceless works of art hung on the walls, neglected and forgotten.
"This is heartbreaking," Amy noted, sadness in her voice. Thinking about the last time these works saw human eyes.
"Uh guys, you're going to have to look faster, Ian's really pulling out all the Brit pomp he has and the realtor is wearing thin. I'm trying to tell him to tone it down, but I don't know how much longer she'll put up with him. Plus, that condo is a lot smaller than the ones you're snooping around in." Dan said
"Ok, we need to split up then, meet you back here in a few minutes," Amy said giving Jake a wink. They both pulled out their flashlight phones. There was plenty of notable art on the walls, but none of it was the stolen Gardner art.
"Do you have anything Jake?"
"No, I think we need to go on to the next condo."
Amy and Jake made their way toward the front door.
"Dan, are we good?" Jake asked as he made to pull open the door.
"As far as I can tell, yes, but watch where you step," Dan added
Jake looked quizzically at Amy, mouthing Dan's words back to her, watch where we step?
It became instantly clear what Dan meant. The building had apparently been using the vestibule between 8E and 8W as a storage space. Rolls of carpet, palates of light bulbs and spare railing parts were stacked randomly in the 200 sq. feet space. The building had decided Hughette Clark wasn't coming back, so they had reclaimed some of the square footage for themselves.
"Make sense, I suppose." Amy said, stepping over piles and heading toward the next condo.
"Seriously you two, Ian won't last much longer, it's not going well." Dan said.
"I've tried telling him you two need more time," Atticus said forlornly "but he's dug himself a big hole now."
Jake opened the other condo door and they entered.
"Atticus, turn my coms back on and let me talk to him," Amy said.
"Alright, your funeral," Atticus said
"Ian, it's Amy, we need more time up here. These places are huge and we've only just now entered the second one. Whatever game you're playing, you need to back down. Come up with some sad story that gives you sympathy instead of being bold as brass. This may be our one chance to find the works." Then, as an added thought, she said, "I need you to do this for me. Just for me, nobody else Ian, please."
There was a moment's pause when she wasn't sure if he'd heard her. Then, "alright, I'll do it for you, Amy." He whispered back.
Soft sobbing came back over the comm. It was Ian. He was going to milk it for all it was worth, he had bought them some time.
"Att, cut our communications with them, I can't handle much more of this," Jake said, giving Amy a withering stare.
"Hey, it's what we needed." Amy said as she fanned out away from Jake toward the salon gallery. "I'll try in here first, you take one of the other rooms,"
They split up and spent 15 minutes looking in every nook and cranny they could find. They even tried to find hidden bookcases or storage rooms. No luck. The art wasn't here.
"What do we do, should we try the 12th floor?" Jake asked Amy.
"No dice, you're out of time," Dan said "You better head toward the servant's stairwell, Ian and Cara are leaving the condo now. She'll only have access to the doorways a few more minutes."
"Time to go," Jake said, heading toward the kitchen.
As they ran down the gallery, a painting of a stately home caught Amy's eye.
"Jake, look at this," she said shining her flashlight on the painting. It was enormous. It had to be 8 feet tall and 12 feet long. "Bellosguardo" Jake read the brass plaque at the bottom.
"You two better get out NOW" came Dan's voice in their ear. "They're in the lobby!"
"Go Amy, go!" Jake said, ushering her ahead of him toward the kitchen. They flung the back door open began to fly down the staircase.
"Stall Cara, we aren't going to make it!" Jake shouted into his earpiece.
"No good, the realtor is at the door," Dan said