The day of the event, Michael joined the Halloways at the venue to set up. Their tradition was to set it all up in the morning, and then have lunch together. Most of the set up – tables, chairs, etc. – was done by the venue's staff and contractors. The buffet table was ready for the food when the caterers arrived, about an hour ahead of the event start time. But the Halloways tried to get as much done before lunch as possible, so they would be free to handle any last-minute issues.

Michael had the list of the pieces Melissa had identified as the most likely targets and the mini-tracking devices Bonnie had made. Now he just had to wait for the auction items to arrive, which was scheduled for mid-morning. The thieves would likely hit in the early afternoon, when no one was around. In the meantime, he helped where he was told to. Doris Halloway would give any two drill sergeants he knew from his time in the Army Special Forces a run for their money. As Michael had observed on his site tour, it was a smoothly run operation. They were done on time and to her satisfaction.

"The auction items are here, Michael, sir," said Greg. "Would you like a hand?"

"Sure."

Doris had given him a key to the locked storeroom earlier. Or rather, she had directed Daniel, the site manager, to give it to him. Michael and Greg walked to the locked storeroom. The list from Melissa included lot numbers, which made it easy for them to find the pieces. Greg read from the list, Michael confirmed he had the correct piece, and then Greg gave him a tracker to attach. A jeweler would know it was there. But a thief grabbing a piece in a hurry wouldn't. Or so Michael hoped.

They had done five of the pieces when the storeroom door opened. Michael looked up . . . and saw four masked men with guns. Apparently, the thieves were striking a little earlier than anticipated. He stepped forward, partially blocking Greg.

"Damn. Someone's in here."

"Grab what you can, then, and let's get out of here."

One of the men kept a gun trained on Michael while the other three grabbed what they could. Including the five pieces of jewelry Michael had yet to tag with trackers.

The four men backed up, then one stepped forward. "Hey, kid, you're coming with us."

He motioned at Greg. Michael took another step forward. But there really wasn't much he could do against four men with guns when he was unarmed. He could only watch as they left, taking Greg with them.

As soon as they were gone, he radioed Kitt. "Kitt, the thieves just left, taking some jewelry pieces and Greg. Meet me at the front door. And try not to lose them."

"I don't see how I could, Michael. After all, the trackers Bonnie designed –"

"I didn't get a chance to put them on the pieces the thieves took."

"However, based on my sensor readings, Greg has them in his pocket."

"Clever kid."

Michael ran for the front door. Paul Halloway spotted him on the way. "We just saw the thieves, and they have my son, Greg."

"I know, and I'm heading out after them. Greg has several trackers in his pocket. I should catch up with them soon."

"Thank you."

Michael was glad Paul hadn't asked him to save his son. He couldn't promise that. He would do his best, of course. But the outcome of hostage situations was always hard to predict. Kitt was waiting for him at the front, driver's side towards him and driver's door open. He jumped in and they headed after the thieves.

The thieves were in the same unmarked white delivery van as before. Only this time, Michael knew which one to follow. Which was a good thing, because there was nothing to show they were escaping from the scene of a crime. The driver was calmly driving down the road, maybe just a hair above the speed limit, secure in the knowledge that there were a lot of unmarked white delivery vans out and about during the day.

The back door had no window, which meant Kitt could get up behind them and no one would see what they were doing. The driver and anyone else up front would know a car was behind them but couldn't see if Michael had to get on the hood. And anyone in back wouldn't even know the car was there.

"Michael, I have detected a single gunshot from the vehicle ahead of us, followed by the sound of a falling body."