All of them minus Jonah and Ham boarded Jonah's private jet the next morning and made their way to Santa Barbara. Ian's vision for Amy and Jake was realized when he had a private shopper make the journey up to Santa Barbara from L.A. to deliver the Balenciaga dress and Tom Ford suit. Ian had settled for a custom-made suit from House of Bijan, which any normal person would have found extravagant, but because Ian's tailor couldn't be flown over on such short notice, he had to settle for something 'subpar' as he put it. Ian insisted Cara have a personal shopper even though she assured him she had a closet full of benefit-worthy dresses in Boston. The shopper had shown up with a gold metallic Stella McCartney sheath dress with spaghetti straps and platinum strappy heels. They checked into the Ritz Carlton with adjoining suites in the penthouse. Cara came over and did Amy's hair and make-up for her as she had no clue how to do such things. She also needed practice to walk in her Louboutin heels; she was strictly a sneakers and sandals girl. It also gave her and Cara some much needed girl-bonding time. They talked at length about Ian and Jake, their two preferred topics. By the time they were ready, she had grown a little closer to Cara. It was nice to have more female companionship around her; she seemed to spend all of her time with boys.
When it was time, Amy and Cara met the boys in the lobby. All four of the boys' mouths were hanging open taking in Cara and Amy's drastic change. Cara was stunning as usual, but she was much more familiar with the spotlight and felt more at ease dressed like this. Amy was still getting used to her heels.
Amy zoned in on Jake's face as soon as she stepped off the last step. His eyes were blazing and he had a triumphant grin plastered across his face.
"You look amazing, Ames. Absolutely gorgeous." He said taking her hands and giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek.
Wow, he thought, I have never seen her like this before. She's always gorgeous, but this just cranks it up a level. The green of the dress matched her eyes perfectly which set off the red in her hair. The ivory skin on her décolleté was flawless and the slit up the front of her dress draped nicely as she walked, showing just the right amount of leg.
Jake glanced over at Cara who was being appreciated as eagerly by Ian. He had Cara's hands in his and his head was inclined by her left ear, no doubt whispering his appreciation of her beauty to her. She wore a shy smile. Cara was stunning. The tone-on-tone of her hair, tanned skin and gold dress was something out of a movie. She radiated like a true California sunset. Both boys were in shock at their good fortune of having two living goddesses on their arms.
Ian glanced at Jake and gave him an appreciative nod as if to say, "See? I told you."
Jake wordlessly nodded his approval, as if to say, "You were right, just this once."
Dan and Atticus walked with them to the car and passed along ear pieces to each of them. These were chosen especially by Cara for their small discrete size and sound quality.
"You won't be able to hear each other, but we can hear all of you. If you need something, just say it and we can relay to the others-just in case you get split up." Dan said. "These also have locating beacons in them that Ham is monitoring from Attleboro. He's got a schematic of the grounds and house plans so if you need directions, just ask."
"Good luck." Att added before hugging Amy, "You look so pretty, Amy."
"Thanks, Att," she said returning the hug as Jake held her door open to the front seat. Ian and Cara took the rear.
It didn't take them long to make it across the city to Bellosguardo. Search lights lit up the night sky like homing beacons. It was apparent they had gone all out for tonight's inaugural benefit. Rows and rows of luxury automobiles and limousines lined the long driveway leading up to the estate. It was truly spectacular, Amy had to admit. When it was their turn, Jake handed the keys to the valet and they made their way to the queue leading into the main entrance.
"Ok, we need to split up and try to search as much of this place as we can tonight." Jake began. "I think we ought to stay in teams though, and we can communicate through Att and Dan. Do you guys copy?"
"We hear you loud and clear, Jake," Dan replied. "You're good to go."
"We hear you too," Ham replied from Attleboro.
"Look for out-of-the-way hallways, niches or out of bounds areas. Maybe even the attic. Stay in contact at all times and report in. This place is huge, so Jake and I will take the East wing, Ian, you and Cara take the West," Amy commanded. "If you get caught, act innocent, flummoxed or feign a language barrier."
Ian rolled his eyes, "Amy, I'm pretty sure we've all got it. This isn't the first hunt for stolen items any of us have been on."
Cara and Jake just slowly nodded.
Amy looked at all three of them, "Sorry, old habit."
When they reached the reception desk, they were checked off a list and shown out into the courtyard. Champagne and hors devours were served by black-clad wait staff. Guests in tuxedos and ball gowns were milling around the English Garden grounds surrounding a reflecting pool. It was lit by fairy lights on poles. It was very romantic.
The program she had been handed showed that guests had time to mill about and meet others for another 30 minutes before the guest speaker was set to take the stage.
"Let's split up and see if we can sneak off to explore. Nobody will miss us if we leave in this crowd." Amy said.
"Agreed." Ian intoned and they set off in opposite directions to find an exit to sneak through. However, they met right back where they started exactly 10 minutes later, none of them being able to get back into the mansion.
"The doors are all being monitored by a guard," Cara said looking around fruitlessly for any unmanned door.
"They don't want guests seeing the estate before the guided tours," Jake said, taking the program from Amy and reading further into the schedule.
"Then we play along," Amy said with determination. "We act like the benefactors we've paid to be and let's hope that the guided tours are large enough that we can sneak away unnoticed."
"Ham, can you give us a rundown of the main floor and where staircases are located?" Cara said to no one in particular, in reality speaking to her mic and Hamilton Holt in Attleboro.
"You bet. The main floor has a long central hallway running east to west. You had to pass over it to get to the courtyard.
"We remember, it ran a long way in both directions," Amy said.
"Ok, well, if you follow that hallway east, you eventually end up in the dining room, kitchen, library and a few offices I think. There is a servant's staircase on each end of the main hall. You already saw the grand staircase, right?"
"That'll be us" Amy said, indicating she and Jake would head this direction.
Ham continued, "If you head west, you get to the parlor, music room, drawing room, and a billiards room."
"Thank you, Hamilton," Ian said nodding at Cara who had her game face on.
"Is there anything about the servants' quarters or closets on that schematic that might be helpful, Ham?" Amy asked.
"There are 22 bedrooms upstairs and 9 bathrooms. There isn't a lot of room for attic space, and I don't even see access anywhere. The servants' quarters are on the west end of the house above the garage."
Jake's eyebrows arched as he mouthed 22 bedrooms? "And I thought Grace's house was big," he said.
Cara spoke up, "We need to split up. We are the youngest people here by a long shot and the more time we spend together the more attention we are drawing to ourselves. Less target in the bullseye. Stay in touch, tell anyone what you find." And just like that she and Ian disappeared in the crowd.
"I am starting to think we need to split up too. It's easier for a single person to sneak off than both of us. I can act like I need the restroom and maybe not be monitored. The guest speaker should take the stage in a few minutes anyway." Amy said.
"I don't like that idea. If those pieces are here, I guarantee the thief will have put precautions in place to safeguard any snooping guests from accidentally finding them. It may be a trap Aim." Jake said looking furtively around him.
"Or, he's gotten complacent and thinks time and dulled memories are the only safeguards he'll need." Amy countered.
"Let's just stick together, OK?" Jake asked.
"I'm going to try the restroom, if it doesn't work, I'll come right back here. If it does, then you follow behind me in five minutes." Amy offered, already heading back toward the restroom she'd seen when she first entered. Sure enough, the reception desk woman was busy checking in the final arrivals and didn't keep too close of tabs on Amy as she made her way to the restroom. She was able to get lost in the crowd and sneak off down the East wing hallway. She tried doors until she found one open and quietly slipped inside. It was some sort of Butler's pantry. It was dark but the crack of light coming under the door was enough to illuminate the space. She slipped off her heels and hooked them around her thumb. The pantry apparently connected to the larger dining room at the back of the space and through a side door, the kitchen.
Jake had watched this whole incident transpire from the doorway to the patio. The reception desk attendant had her hands full and wasn't watching the East hallway. However, the final guests had been checked in now and his window to sneak off had closed. The atrium was empty now and the reception attendant sat idly at her station checking her phone. No way he was sneaking off the way Amy had. He had to think of another way.
In the distance, he could hear applause and the sound of someone speaking into a microphone. The event had started. Frustrated, he turned to join the crowd, his next best bet would be to join the tour. He scanned the crowd and spotted Ian and Cara near the back, holding flutes of champagne and scanning the crowd, no doubt, looking for the two of them.
"Att, tell Ian and Cara that Amy was able to sneak off and she's somewhere on the ground floor of the East wing. I couldn't follow so I'm waiting for the tour to sneak away." Jake spoke quietly as he pretended to wipe his nose to disguise his talking.
"They're on it Jake." Att responded.
Soon, the tours began. They had all been assigned a tour and they were to check in with the wait staff to find their tour number and location. They had their chance. At the first sign of movement the three of them joined tours going in the direction they had predetermined, and were off. Even though he knew he was only about 10 minutes behind Amy, it felt like a lifetime.
Jake managed to find the door he saw Amy disappear behind. He waited until the tour turned to continue down the hallway before trying the knob, but it wouldn't turn. It had been locked! Jake silently cursed and continued down the hallway.