Finally a plot advancing packed chapter…. Oh yes, you all have been waiting long for this and i'll deliver, i promise.
The Look in Her Eyes
Scene 1
Carmen was very thorough with the explanation of theft and crime scene management. Her method was simple and relied mostly on free thought on part of the person. Everyone was connected with coms in their ears for easier execution and Carmen over saw every aspect and directed most of the time.
The crash course in high stakes thefts lasted a total of 4 days. It included theory of escape and corporal movements of the trade. Even though there was a lot of information Ivy thought Carmen was always holding back something. Some little trick to make it faster, or make it less obvious and she was right. Carmen was training them in the art of her theft, but never in the art of how she exclusively did it. They might capture her henchmen with these techniques, but never her. Her arsenal was more private and more troublesome to explaining even to comprehend. Her mind worked faster than her mouth could operate, and she liked it like that. Stealing the way she did came natural and fluid, it was part of her.
"Uff, that I think is all… for now." Carmen said collapsing on the chair in front of the desk in their purple room.
"For now… wow, I'm exhausted just to hear you all this time." Kevin said from a chair next to her.
All six of them had been sharing the same living quarters for the past four days and it had been very interesting. Carmen and Sarah loved to play practical jokes on Hugo and Kevin. Carmen in particular liked to flirt heavily with Kevin only to leave him wondering in his mind. Made everyone laugh. This is not the Carmen they expected, nor did the Carmen Ivy saw in the last meeting.
Those days passed by in a strange routine. They got up and ate breakfast cooked by someone on their routine scheduled, then on to the meeting desk, and finally some dinner prepared by the same person from breakfast and then to their quarters to sleep. The detectives and thief's slept in different cubicles, probably planning or discussing what next. Chief was their only outside communicator and facilitator, he loved being around for everyone, even for Carmen, talking to her in between lessons.
There were a couple of routine breakers like Sarah's midnight snack steal. Zack was getting some water and all of the sudden Sarah came in the shadows with crazy looking goggles, she placed something on the refrigerator door and when she saw Zack, she hushed him. Sarah started to pump air into the strange device and the door opened without the light going on, she took some cookies, undid the air from the device and left in shadows. Other was when Ivy surprised Carmen and Kevin sort of getting it on in the desk on the wee hours of the night. They both jumped as they didn't expected anyone and sort of rushed past Ivy, each to their respective cubicles.
But other than that, each little group of people stayed closed together. On the fifth day, there were no more lessons; it was time to start planning their first move; surveillance and information gathering. Carmen was in charge of food that day and she got up to promptly do the chores. When everyone got up, they were received with the aroma of coffee, eggs, bacon and strangely enough fried plantains.
"Woah," Kevin was surprised.
"Oh my, hey she cooks." Chief said while looking at Kevin.
"Of course I know how to cook," Carmen was taken aback by the detectives' strange looks at her. Everyone was still in their pajamas with uncombed hair and the scene was a bit surreal for most of them. "I have lived alone all this time, I do know how to take care of myself very well. Besides it's just eggs, bacon, friend plantains and coffee, nothing out of the ordinary here."
"Oh, my fav plantains." Hugo said while snatching one out of the plate. He sat down besides Sarah that had already a cup of coffee on her hands.
"Carmen, does an amazing potato ztew," Sarah said waiting while Carmen started to serve.
Ivy and Zack were estranged by this domestic side of Carmen; they never had pictured her as the homely type. Seeing her like this opened a new side of her to the detectives eyes, even Kevin was smiling at this sudden secret coming out. Carmen loves to cook and is not bothered by the fact she is sharing this with them.
After a very amusing breakfast they all changed and went to work on the project. Planning their surveillance and recon was Carmen's top priority. Her rule was: The recon will dictate the plan. Every detail they could account for and cover will prove helpful in the theft and escape. All part of being a great thief, Ivy supposed.
"First off, we need to get to the museum and canvas the area. I need you guys to monitor guard movements, cameras, doors, floor color, everything the way I have taught you." Carmen started her pre-setup enterprise. "We will go at different hours and collect different but specific data. Prepare to act in a role I'm going to be giving you and dress up and work around it. No hero stuff, just be simple and relay any information back to us. Zack and Sarah, you will be a team. Sarah you'll play the mother and Zack you're her son." Sarah and Zack looked at each other and started to protest. "No complains." Carmen looked sternly at both of them.
"Your job is to monitor electronics. Camera, sound system, movement, thermal and laser sensors, every aspect of digital surveillance is on your department. You'll go as family cause I need Zack to play the over-nerd son explaining things to his mother, while Sarah takes pictures and detailed maps. You guys will go twice to the place, only team that will. The first round is for frontal surveillance like cameras and sensors; the second round is for mundane surveillance like doors and windows. Now go and prepare your equipement and roles." Sarah got up and walked to the kitchenette where she beckons Zack. Carmen trusted Sarah to go into full detail explanation as to what they were supposed to be surveying with Zack before heading out. Sarah was also short on words when it came to explaining what she did, but Zack fallowed her nonetheless.
"Ivy, you're an exchange student admiring the museum for a day. You'll be in the museum from dawn till dusk and your job is to survey non-security personnel. Make a who is who list and understand their patterns. Since you'll get a student visa, you can ask the personnel some questions and piece together the surveillance. Hugo, you know what I love you to do, however, don't concentrate just on this building's guards, look to the building beyond, extend your research into the night and I'll join you as always. Go now." Carmen said with a serious tone. Hugo took Ivy to the far side of the room where the computers where and started to explain to her the signs she needed to look for.
"What about me?" Chief said impatiently.
"You my good sir, will compile all the data we will be transmitting with our cell phones, cameras and coms to you. I need statistical data, graphical data and metric data as detailed as you can. Process the monitor feeds we will need to hack, the sensors we need to block. Correlate the guard movements and personnel transactions within the allotted timeslot. You're our eye, ears and brain processor at this point. Once we are inside I'll ask you specific questions and I'll need them answered on the spot, no hesitation or joke in them. Got it?"
"All right, I'll start by building some programs to process the info and.. oh my, so much work, so much fun…." Chief went on with his business.
"And what and who are we going to be?" Kevin asked with curiosity.
"We are a married couple of PhD historians and museum verifiers on vacation in London, which happen to secretly know about the Xul Mask exhibition and would love to get a sneak peek at it," Carmen said smiling flirty at him.
"We are basically going to con them into showing us the mask?"
"I like to check out my playground before playing in it. Our job is to make all of their jobs, but in that room. Plus since we are playing for an inside scoop we will relay information to them for specific detailing on things we figure out that could cause trouble." Carmen said while reorganizing some pictures and plans of the museum they had on file on the desk. "Will you be my husband once again?" she asked shyly.
"Why, detective Sandiego, I thought you'd never ask." Kevin said while taking her hand in his and kissing it. Carmen laughed a bit but quickly got away from him.
"Alright people, lets move. We need to steal this in about 15 days tops. Chief make the necessary accommodations for us. We need false IDs, papers and hotel rooms. You know the works."
"Wait, fake ID's?" Chief was puzzled.
"Yes, we can't actually go as us there." Carmen looked at a surprised Chief, she then looked at Sarah. "Alright, stand back, let me work. Sarah lets do this fast and after this C-5 us to London."
Sarah sat beside Carmen and they both uploaded a program in to Chief's system for making fake IDs and all sort of fake papers. The detectives were in awe at the amount of laws they were breaking, but the thiefs found it relaxing. After some time everyone had their fake IDs and were practicing their roles.
"No regrets I suppose." Carmen looked around at her team of unusual suspects. "C-5 us to London."
Scene 2
(if anyone has seen the tv show Levarage, yeah, I'm trying to be that cool.)
"Mom, look here." Zack said from the first exhibition panel near the front gate of the museum. He was dressed to appear a bit much younger than what he really was.
"Alright, I'm coming. Keep close to me, you know I'm not good at reading maps nor following directions." Sarah said with an incredibly true American accent. She looked to the receptionist and guard and smiled. "He is a prodigy, but I'm lost without his directions for morning traffic." The guard let them through and they both started their tour of the museum.
Zack bounced along happily telling and commenting things around the museums exhibitions and Sarah took lovely pictures of her son in action. Secretly though, Sarah was mapping the entire museum floors and spotting all hidden cameras and sensors. Zack was busy noting the camera angles and view paths, noticing how the sensors reacted to object and people and their proximity to one another. Zack never knew recon and survey was this complicated. Sarah was used to it even directing Zack towards a point of interest. Guards passed them by but they took little to no notice to the happy family.
Scene 3
Meanwhile Ivy paraded into the highest floor of the museum to be somewhat alone. She wanted to give the impression she was studying with determination and the upper levels had little public at that time of the morning. She also wanted to attract the attention of some personnel so she could ask some questions about the museum. She convinced herself she was doing this as a detective and not as a common thief. A young museum curator came to her and watched her as she wrote some notes on her pad in front of an amazing painting.
"It is strange to see such a fine young lady so inmerse in art," he said in the most calming of voices, but Ivy had to fake she was startled a little. All part of the role Carmen said. "yet, I find it reassuring that the newer generations truly appreciate this type of art."
"I find it extremely satisfying to interpret painting meanings and how they correlate to the expression the artists wanted to tell in them." Ivy said with a hint of country accent looking blushed.
"Well, then, an American that loves art."
"I'm a student from Tulane University. I'm here just to experience some of these stories for real, ya know what I mean."
"If you don't find it odd, I'd like to escort you through the museum's floors for a tour. I'm the collage advisor and I'd be honored to convey my knowledge."
"Well, sure I'd be delighted." Ivy got up and the curator started his detailed tour of the museum. 'So this is what being picked up by a green old man feels like' Ivy though, but suppressed a snicker.
Scene 4
Hugo didn't liked wearing elegant clothes, but Carmen needed him to play a savy entrepreneur and parade the museum looking like and iPad junkie. Cell phone in hand and parading his tablet around he didn't looked suspicious among the younger audiences and artists walking around.
He bumped to some security guard and took his ID, but promptly started to apologize. The bump with the guard gave Hugo the clue to check for his wallet to offer the guard his card and noticed his wallet was gone. Hugo explained to the guard he may have lost it somewhere in the museum and the guard took him to the security stall. Hugo's plan was in motion.
Scene 5
"Excuse me sir, Mr. and Mrs. Banderville on the suite. They were expecting a meeting with you this morning." The assistant's voice was heard over the president's intercome.
"Who?" Mr. Shawles was lost in his though. He had a grand opening of the Mask in a few weeks and was inmerse in the preparation papers for it.
"The Banderville's, Sir. They are the historians that authenticated the Wasio Mask in Peru a decade ago. They said they had an appointment with you today, but I don't recall anything about it sir. They are a bit enraged; you'd better come and meet them."
"THE BANDERVILLE'S," Shawles got up faster than he had ever known. Refreshed his hair a bit and went straight to greet them.
Shawles had never seen the Banderville's in person, but knew that a good review from them meant a great deal amoung his peers. He arranged for some of his personnel to ready the conference room and prepare for an exclusive lunch for all.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Banderville," Shawles greated a well dressed pair. The woman wore a white back-neck strap dress with white high heels, her hair black as a raven flowed down her back and white sunglasses that covered her eyes. The man wore an elegant suit and stood tall with his cane and hat, his face was expertly shaved and wore the same white sunglasses as his wife. Carmen though Kevin looked stupid with his sunglasses, but when Kevin put on the hat, he became a stallion, she said to him in the hotel room. Kevin had a hard time not looking at Carmen, she was splendid, good enough to don't let her out of their hotel room and just eat her all up in there.
"Hi Sir Shawles," Mrs. Banderville (Carmen) extended her hand to him. Shawles took it and kissed it. "I'm in awe at the marvelous collection your museum has in its power." Flirting about a man's power always gave her an advantage.
"I just ask for the best, none the less, madam." Shawles was pleased by the attractive woman in front of him.
"A man that knows what he wants, they don't make those any more my love. Atleast you got one of them." Mr. Banderville (Kevin) said and kissed her neck, which made Carmen giggle a bit.
"Do what I owe the pleasure of your visit my sir." Shawles asked Mr. Banderville.
"We heard from our inside sources that you have acquired a Xul Mask, and we were wondering if you could let us a sneak peek at it before the grand opening."
"Well, rumors do run fast." Shawles looked a bit worried and Carmen noted this. Could be and advantage later on, however she whispered in the com. 'Chief, get me everything you can on Shawles, the museum curator, he appears to be less than what we though.'
"We won't be able to attend the grand opening next month since we will be in Thailand for an authentication process, and since we are on vacation in London we decided to do it now. If you don't mind of course, we might even be of good use to the exhibition; one good review from us in the Museum's International Incorporated and you'll have your sales over the roof."
"Well, that exhibition is still in preparations. It is quite a hassle to go there in the midst of boxes and part workers there."
"Aw, but Sir Shawles," Carmen said as she left the arms of Kevin and took Shawls arm. "It is just a sneak peek. One professional to another." She said that with some growl in her voice that made Shawles tremble under the gaze of the woman. "Besides, we are the best of the best out there."
"Sure, when you put it that way. Yes, I'll prepare to escort you, sirs, to the exhibition. Wait here one moment please." Shawles disappeared into his office, but they both heard when he told the secretary to prepare the saloon with the Mask, he wanted everything perfect just like when the exhibition opens.
"That was perfect." Carmen said smiling at Kevin.
"Perfect, that was fun."
Scene 6
Closing time came at last, and not one of the detectives dared to express their feeling of exhaustion from the days work. Neither could understand how Carmen and her group could do this on a regular basis. All that walking, noting, detailing, listening more noting was really hard work. They had agreed in the morning to meat up in the plaza just front of the museum. Everyone was there except Hugo.
"What a long day," Zack said stretching.
"Long indeed, I had to suffer through information and pick up lines for over 8 hours, can you believe that." Ivy was exhausted.
"Hey, atleast you don't have to come back tomorrow." Zack said as he opened a C-5 and hopped in. Ivy fallowed him, she couldn't wait to slip into a nice hot bath at the hotel.
"Well, I'll go prepare for zhe rest." Sarah said as she walked out of the plaza. Carmen and Kevin stayed alone in the plaza admiring the scenery.
Hugo appeared on the side of the museum in the shadows and caught Carmen's eyes. He signaled he was ready for the night. Sarah was on the corner within an unmarked van and spoke to Carmen on the com.
"Ready when you are."
"Ok, t minus 3 minutes." Carmen said in a low voice, then she looked at Kevin and gave him her purse. "Go to the hotel, now." Carmen said taking off the high heels she had been the entire day and putting on some tennis. She changed to less conspicuous clothes and got some climbing gear on.
"What, why?" Keving asked confused.
"The next part of the surveillance is the night shift and I do need professionals for this. I got no time to explain how to do this to detectives, I need people with experience. I'm going to do this with Hugo up there and Sarah down here. Go to the hotel and start plotting all the surveillance on Chief's programs to work up our strat." She looked back at Kevin and saw a worried expression on his face.
"I thought we were all a team, that you didn't hide things from us."
"Do you trust me?" Carmen looked directly at his eyes. Kevin was enthralled by the look in her eyes and nodded in agreement. "Then do as I say, and never question my authority." Saying that, she strolled off to the side of the building and disappeared with Hugo.
Kevin stayed longer than he was supposed to. He didn't quite understand why the sudden change of character. 'Probably the job requires it. Besides we aren't thiefs, why would she trust us with her safety.' Kevin thought as he opened a C-5 portal and left for his hotel room.
End of Chapter 8
Uuuu… don't ya love how they work together. ^^, This was a lighter chapter I must say and I enjoyed writing it. Is the story going over too long? Is it interesting? Is it a drag of personal unachievements? Wait what? Leave comments and reviews.