Ch 31
Marcus Starling was surprised to see Cara Pierce at the fundraiser. He, of course, recognized her right away, but what she was doing with one of the Kabras, he didn't know. The way they were acting made it plain that they were lovers. Interesting, he thought to himself; normally Lucians and Ekaterinas steered clear of each other. He had come to the fundraiser for the sole purpose of seeing the magnificent home his art had been living in for the last twenty-two years. He would be afforded no other opportunity to see the grand estate again.
She wouldn't remember of course because she had only been a baby, but the Starling family had huge family reunions yearly and his distant cousin, Debi Ann, had come to them for years before marrying Rutherford Pierce. She had slowly stopped coming once she had the children and in truth, Marcus wasn't sure he had ever spoken with her but thanks to Rutherford's presidential bid last year and the ensuing debacle, she had been thrust into the media spotlight and he had followed the coverage closely.
"We might have a situation," he said barely moving his mouth as he seemingly examined his watch which was a transmitter fitted to his partner's ear.
"Agreed," echoed his partner. "I am following an infinitely curious creature who has slipped away from the tour."
"Young?" Marcus asked
"Yes, a teenager by the looks of it, and if I were guessing, I would say the same one who was poking around the Gardner last month." Antonio Marcellius replied.
"What do you want to do?" Marcus asked.
"Nothing, let them look. You know as well as I do they'll find nothing." Antonio replied from his hiding spot in the garden shed overseeing all security feed on his bank of monitors.
"There will be fingerprints and traces left behind no doubt. Enough for someone to trace back." Marcus offered.
"No, do nothing. They've been moved and are safe. Let these children look, but I am curious who they are?" Antonio mused
"I recognize two of them. I didn't see the other two. They are distant relations of mine. Very distant, but cunning and clever; not to be trifled with." Marcus responded now turning away from his tour group and pretending to do up his shoelace.
"The one I'm following looks familiar to me as well, but I can't picture where…" he said trying hard to place the amber-haired beauty in the green dress. She was being very thorough; every door opened, every closet examined, bookcases checked for hidden passages. She clearly knew how to look for the unseen.
Marcus knew that even if the art had been traced back to him somehow the statute of limitations had long passed and no criminal charges could be brought to him. Maybe because of this fact he decided to make a bold move. He was going to confront Cara Pierce.
Amy was moving stealthily through the main floor of the East Wing having gained access through the Butler's pantry. That simple unlocked door had given her access to all the rooms on the North side of the hallway and she had checked every nook and cranny possible.
The art won't be on this floor, she told herself. So, as quietly as possible, she waited until the coast was clear and slipped to the end of the hall and the servant's stairwell before climbing to the second floor. She could hear the guests begin their tours downstairs and she knew she had limited time before they made their way upstairs. Where was Jake? Surely, he had been able to sneak away by now?
As she tried doorknobs, she saw a figure emerge from the main stairwell and turn away from her. She had seconds to get in a room before he turned this direction. She knew it couldn't be Jake, so someone else had managed to get upstairs too. Just then, the door to her left opened and she ducked inside. It was one of the grand bedrooms with gilded furniture and ornate draperies.
"Att, Dan, where is Jake? I'm on the second floor and I might have been seen by someone, I can't tell. I'm waiting in one of the bedrooms on the South side of the house in the East wing." Amy whispered.
"He's stuck with the tour. So are Ian and Cara. They're looking, but it may be a while before they can sneak away. The guides are heading toward the servant's stairwells so they can't really get around them." Atticus responded.
"Well, tell them to figure out a way around it because once those tours get upstairs we will have lost our element of secrecy. It's hard to look for stolen works with a few hundred people milling around." Amy said sarcastically.
"I'll relay the message." Att replied.
"Amy, It's Ham. Listen, I was able to hack the Bellosguardo mainframe and access the guest list. I found one name: Marcus Starling."
"WHAT?" Amy nearly shouted. "I mean, what?" she repeated in a whisper.
"It says right here, plain as day. Thought you'd like to know that."
"Thanks Ham. I wish I knew what he was doing here or even who he is. I couldn't pick him out of a line up!" Amy whispered. "Ham, you have to tell the others. We all have to be aware of his presence here tonight."
"You got it Amy!" Ham said enthusiastically.
Hearing nothing in the hallway, Amy cautiously opened the door and made her way silently down the hallway toward the servant's quarters at the other end of the mansion. She knew that's where she'd hide multi-million-dollar art if she had to. It wouldn't be anywhere fancy. Just as she was picking up speed in her bare feet across the parquet flooring, Dan spoke.
"Amy, Jake's made it away from the tour and he should be up to you shortly. Ian and Cara seem to not be responding to their comms anymore. Something is wrong."
This made Amy pause. "They're not responding?"
"No, but we know they're hearing us because we can make out snippets of conversations nearby. They're listening to someone talk, but we can't make out much of it. Cara responds, but it's hard to understand what she's talking about. We figure Ian would give us some code if they were in trouble so we think they're just electing to ignore our calls to check-in so they don't break cover." Dan said.
"Ok, keep me posted. Tell Jake I'm at the servant's quarters entrance and to meet me in there." Amy relayed and turned the knob.
"Unless I'm much mistaken, you're Cara Pierce, am I right?" Marcus Starling said sidling up next to Cara and putting his hand out.
Cara and Ian stopped short. "And you are?" Ian started
"A very distant cousin of yours, on your mother's side, of course." He continued.
"Marcus. Marcus Starling," he said extending his hand to her.
Cara's mouth had gone dry, but she extended her hand to his. Marcus squeezed it harder than necessary before turning to Ian.
"And you are?"
"Cara's date," was all Ian offered Marcus while shaking his hand.
"You probably don't remember, but we used to attend the Starling family reunions together long ago when you were just a baby. I remember your mother. We didn't run in the same circles but we were about the same age so I remember her."
Cara put a fake smile on and responded, "oh, that's, that's interesting. Huh." A million thoughts crashing around in her head all fighting to make it to the top. What was this man doing here? Why was he so blatantly confronting them and did he even know he was a person of interest in their Cahill investigation?
Cara decided to find out one answer to a question: "So, what brings you to this event tonight?"
Marcus' eyes shrank to near slits and a sly smile formed on his mouth, "Let's just call it, art appreciation from a long-time supporter."
Cara glanced at Ian. Had he caught that? It was as close to a confession as they may get. How had they missed the connection between Marcus Starling and Antonio Marcellius? If Marcus was here, it stood to reason that Antonio would be also. She desperately needed to get away so she could talk to Att, Dan and the others. Just then, as if it were planned, Ham's voice came through in her ear.
"Listen up everyone, I hacked the guestlist and Marcus Starling is here. He is a guest at the event tonight. That's all I know, but be on alert. He probably has no idea that he's a person of interest, but if he's an infamous art thief, then it's best not to underestimate him."
"Got it" was the only reply he got. From Jake. Nothing from Ian or Cara though he could hear them talking to someone.
Ian's mind was whirling a million miles an hour. He knew that Marcus Starling was one of the thieves, and he suspected that Marcus had been tipped off to their presence here tonight. He didn't know how he had been tipped off, but Marcus had approached them so he wasn't afraid of their presence. It also meant that he must feel comfortable enough to confront them which means the art must not be here. He didn't have any of the classic signs of anxiety: sweaty face, flushed, shaking hands or legs, unsteady voice. No, the art must have been moved, if it was ever here to begin with. They had to get a message to the others. They were walking into a potential trap.
"Shall we go for a walk perhaps and catch up, one Starling to another?" Cara asked sweetly.
"Well of course, any chance to walk with such a beauty," Marcus said.
"I'll catch up with you both," Ian started, knowing this may be the only chance to talk with the others.
"No, I insist. Walk with us 'Cara's date'." Marcus said forcibly grabbing Ian's arm and pulling him along next to him.
As soon as they were away from the group, the friendly tone of their banter died away and Marcus became laser-sharp. "I know you're a Kabra. I'm not playing this game anymore. You're Vikram's son. I don't know your name and I don't care, so spare me. Cara, I don't know how you got involved in this, but—"
As if it had been planned, both Ian and Cara attacked Marcus at the same time. He didn't stand a chance. Cara elbowed him in the gut at the exact same moment Ian brought both of his hands together above Marcus' head and brought them down on his exposed neck after he had doubled over from Cara's hit. Marcus hit the parquet floor hard. He lay unmoving.
"I love you." Ian cooed, smiling at Cara.
Cara smiled slyly back, "We make a great team."
Cara made to look for a room to stow Marcus when he made a groggy sound from the floor. "Take care of that will you, love?" Cara said over her shoulder to Ian.
"With pleasure." Ian said, kicking Marcus hard in the stomach and pulling out a pair of zip cuffs he just happened to have on him; Lucian's were always prepared for any eventuality.
Cara procured a supply closet off the laundry room and they found a rag to stuff in his mouth. While they were stowing him, they told Dan, Att and Ham what had happened.
"Where is Amy? Is she with Jake?" Ian asked, thinking of the trap that might be awaiting her. "We have to find her. Now!"