AN: You guys are awesome! No seriously, you make me so happy. I am not equipped for such emotions. Hope you're all doing well. School is starting up again for Canadians which means lots of readings for me (I only recently learned that in New Zealand their school terms are vastly different then in North America! What is this madness! Not sure why I was shocked seeing as their seasons are flipped and who the heck wants vacation in winter but I am easily shocked so...) Anyways, enough of my rambling, whether you're just starting up school again or are dead in the middle of it I wish you all luck. And now that I've talked your poor ears off I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review! I love reviews! Reviews make me happy and motivated :) (hint, hint, nudge, nudge).But seriously I'm going to stop talking now... I promise...no really...
"Do you think she'll forgive you, when this is all said and done and everything is out in then open?"
"She'll forgive me, but my mother never forgets. At least not things like this."
"I'm sorry, S." Natalie leaned to the left as the car made a turn off the high street. She didn't think she had ever been to this part of London.
"I know you are. And I'm sorry too, and Mac and James and Cake and everyone is sorry but it never seems to matter. Does it? I'll be sorry for the rest of my life and it won't change what happened," she was on the verge of tears again.
"I know it won't, but I'm still sorry."
"Yeah, me too," Siena said, her voice turning soft.
"Are you alone now?"
"Yeah, just in the apartment with Mac. He's fixing something for us to eat." There was a muffled sound from the background and Siena's voice followed, "Just talking to Natalie." A pause, "Left hand side of the fridge. Top shelf, I think," Another pause, longer this time. "Not sure. I'll ask." Siena's voice rounded back as she addressed Natalie, "Is Jay with you?"
"No, I'm on my way to him. Why? Message from Mac?"
"No, we just figured it must be quite late there. Where are you headed, anyways?"
"It's almost 11," Natalie confirmed. "Not entirely sure where actually. James sent me an address in the warehouse district. Said he's rented the place for the job."
"I never got a chance to ask how Wake Island went?" Siena said before pausing to laugh at something unheard, "Yes, thank you, smartass, I'm aware their continued state of existence means success but I was asking about specifics."
Natalie smiled to herself. At least Siena had Mac to keep her spirits up. "Yes, yes. We're both still alive. It all went off surprisingly well actually." She thought back to the fading memory of sun on her olive skin, "The whole things was almost relaxing, once we got used to the drones."
She could almost hear Siena's eyes rolling, "Oh yes, can't be bothered by the drones, can you. Such a trivial things."
Natalie ignored the jest, "Cake said we managed to get all the information we needed. She spent the day walking James through it. They should have a rough plan set up by now."
Siena groaned in response, "I feel so useless here. I should be helping you, not playing house."
"Honestly, I can't say I've been much help myself. It's James and Cake that have been slaving away while I'm in school."
"How is school going? Are they still all over you about the CEO thing?"
"Well, Susan and her crowd have finally sod off but I can still feel them watching me."
Siena shuddered, "That can't be fun. I don't know how you stand it. By the way, you have to teach me how you did your hair for that board meeting you had the other day. I can never get mine to look like that in a braid."
"How did- but you and I didn't see each other that day- We didn't even skype."
"Tabloids," Siena answered distractedly, "I'm looking at you right now. Cute jumper by the way. God, I sound like Cake, don't I?"
Natalie groaned at the mention of the tabloids. "Nothing in there about being spotted in the pacific I hope."
"Nope, just your outfits for the week. Although they do mark here that you have a habit of disappearing."
"Well, everyone knows that already," Natalie brushed it off.
"Yeah, and now everyone knows that you 'prefer pastel nude nail polish as opposed to the bright, colour-blocking trend that's going around Instragram at the moment."
"How charmingly creepy," Natalie chimed sarcastically.
"Maybe you should get Instragram," Siena thought aloud.
Natalie's laugh came out as a crisp bark, "Brilliant idea, S. Caption: Just chilling with my mates, dodging drones off the coast of middle of nowhere, hashtag-not-suspicious-at-all, hashtag-drone-selfie."
Siena chuckled, "Not what I had in mind, although that could be very entertaining. No, I thought if you set up an official account and we had Cake photo shop you into some photos it might supply you with an alibi for when, quote 'the mysterious heiress jets off to some unknown location, reappearing days later with a chic tan and sea-side waves everyone is dying to recreate' end quote."
"Ugh, am I a person or the subject of a bad pre-teen novel?" There was an audible thump as Natalie slid down the seat and knocked her head against the car door.
"What was that? Are you alright? Nat?" Siena's voice held unusual panic.
"Fine," Natalie croaked, "Just took a sharp turn, that's all."
"Is Mia driving?"
"No, she had a meeting. Its Ivan tonight. Hold on a minute, S," Natalie rolled down the partition. "Ivan, not that I don't appreciate your keenness for arriving on schedule but I would prefer that we arrive in once piece," Natalie teased, careful to mask her annoyance.
"Apologies, Miss West. We had paparazzi on our tail and I was instructed by Miss Mia that you should not be followed tonight."
Natalie smiled. Even when she was absent Mia was always looking out for her. Switching the phone between her hands, Natalie reached around for the seatbelt, "I see. In that case, Ivan, punch it."
This brought a hesitant grin to the elderly man's face.
"Am I to break traffic laws, Miss?"
Natalie wondered then if there was anyone she couldn't corrupt, "At your discretion, sir."
She returned to her conversation with Siena, "What's that?" the other girl asked.
The heiress braced herself as Ivan pulled another hard corner, "Nothing. Just considering getting my driver a faster car."
A pause, "Mac suggests a Ferrari. Very classy. Understated."
Natalie chuckled as they pulled a rather sudden u-turn, "Tell him I'll consider it. Have you talked to James today?"
"No, we haven't heard from him since he checked in yesterday to tell us you made it back alright."
"So he doesn't know about what happened in the office today?" Natalie was not pleased by the idea of having to be the one to tell him.
Siena sighed, "Apparently Cake was listening in because she told Mac he needed to get to the office and bring cupcakes so I'm willing to bet she's told James by now. That is unless she thought I would want to tell people myself."
Natalie thought it over, "No, she texted me about it earlier today so James almost certainly knows by now." She wondered briefly if anyone had informed Dmitri, and almost voiced the thought before remembering no one had spoken to him in almost two weeks. She missed him, and though they would never admit it Natalie knew the crew was keenly feeling his absence. But so long as he was safe, everything could be forgiven.
Siena could be heard flipping through the tabloid's pages, "Are you still talking to that Eric guy?"
Nat was confused by the sudden change in topic, "Yes, actually, I meant to bring that up. He asked me to lunch next Thursday. I was going to say no but then I thought if I did that it would attract too much attention. The last thing I need right now is for Susan and her lackeys to start an inquisition."
"Cake was right though, he's cute. Not my type," she added quickly, "But still, kind of gorgeous."
Natalie frowned, "Is he in the tabloids too?"
"Yup, page nine. Hey, Mac, come look at Nat's new boyfriend!" Siena called.
"Siena! Honestly you're as bad as Cake," Natalie protested, "He's not my boyfriend!"
"Well don't worry the tabloids don't think he is either," Siena snickered, "Mac agrees, he's very cute. We approve."
"Oh, good, well now that I have your blessing I'll just go ahead and marry him." Natalie replied with sarcasm.
"Don't let Cake pick out your wedding dress just yet. Says here Mr. Eric Holden has recently been spotted with one Theodora Ryde. Do you know her?"
"Sounds familiar," Nat pondered the name.
Ryde. Why did that name bother her? It was like a vague itch Natalie couldn't seem to scratch.
"I guess you wouldn't," Siena's voice broke through her reverie, "It says here the Rydes don't go out in public much."
"Uh, Siena, why are you reading the tabloids anyways?"
"Well, you're busy so I thought I would monitor the media for you to make sure their not on your tail. Though I'll admit, its sort of depressing that the paparazzi know about your new boyfriends before I do."
"Does the paper mention anything about my having lunch with Eric Thursday?"
A quick scan then, "Nope."
"There then. You were the first to know," Natalie joked.
Siena met her jest with one of her own, "What an honor. I guess that makes it best friend, 1, tabloids, 0." There was a shuffling then she said, "Mac says foods ready. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Of course, go eat."
"Make sure your eating too, okay? Or the tabloids will think you've got an eating disorder."
"Don't worry about me. I've got Mia, remember. She would feed me the skin off her own bones before she'd let me starve."
"Okay well don't work too late and say hello to Jay for us."
"Will do. Night, S."
The conversation ended with a click and Natalie was hit with a wave of exhaustion. The car's movements had settled into a smooth roll which meant they must have lost the paparazzi tail. Determined not to fall asleep before arriving at the warehouse, Nat searched for something to focus on.
She spent the next ten minutes pondering over the name Ryde and where she had heard it before giving in and typing the name into her phone. Google brought up several pages about Theodora Ryde. She appeared to be the stereotypical rich, party girl photographed leaving ever popular bar in the city. Theodora, or 'Thea' as her famous companions called her, had recently exploded onto the party scene of London after being confined to her penthouse home for most of her teenage years.
There was no denying the girl was beautiful. She even trumped Eric in the paparazzi shots taken of them leaving TALK, London's newest celebrity run restaurant. Perhaps she should have felt a tinge of jealousy seeing the young woman's arm tucked through Eric's but even thought she was technically an 'older woman' Natalie found nothing the least bit threatening about her. She had seen the story a thousand times over, the good girl who escapes from the strict control of her parents, rising to her rightful status of 'it-girl', befriending supermodels, dating billionaires, before fading off into obscurity all too soon. Most ended up in a rehab center or on a nine month 'tour through Europe'.
But there was a twist. Natalie's eye caught on a single word in Theodora's Wikipedia page - orphan. 'Theodora Ryde and her five siblings were orphaned two years ago following the death of their mother….estranged father died of cancer when Theodora was only five….Now under the care of their uncle'. Natalie felt a pang of guilt for having stereotyped the young woman.
Under the stress of it all, sometimes Natalie had a hard time remembering that she was not the only one suffering. She still had parents, absent as they may be. Natalie daydreamed about what it might be like to have five siblings. Chaotic she imagined.
It struck her that this was how the world must see her too. Just another heiress. Not a party girl, but shallow and removed none the less. Better to let them make assumptions then to peak the presses interest, lest they get too close to the truth. But still, its stung a little.
The car rolled to a stop two blocks away from the location, as requested, and Ivan called back, "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the door, Miss? This neighborhood is not safe." Natalie was touched by the genuine concern in his voice.
"That's alright, Ivan. Here will do," Natalie swung the door open and let the cool night air shake the sleep from her body, "Its likely I'll be a while so why don't you go an have a meal, stay warm. I'll call you in a few hours and you'll pick me up at this corner. Agreed?"
When the car's headlights vanished around the corner, Natalie surveyed the area before checking the address scribbled across her left wrist. 14 Balfour Street.
Still in the clothes she had worn to the office that afternoon, Natalie keenly felt the chill of the night as she trotted past the freshly painted warehouses toward the more dingy structures to the south. It was several minutes before she reached Balfour at which point she carried on past it to Gladstone road and searched for number 12. One street south and two numbers less then the given address. That was the system she and James had established a month or so after she joined the crew.
Natalie plotted a mental map of the area, keeping in mind that she would have to take a different route back so as not to draw attention. She was, after all, the second most recognizable face in London. Heiresses did not take routine walks through the London warehouse district and they certainly did not do so alone, in the middle of the night.
She came face to face with a seemingly abandoned warehouse. Its windows were boarded and the doors burdened with chains. None of this, however, gave her pause as to whether this was the correct location. The structure had James written all over it.
"I'm here," Natalie spoke into her phone.
"Left side of the building. Second door down."
Natalie followed the instructions whilst keeping an eye open for any passers by. She had attended dozens of these secret rendezvous by now but she would be lying if she said it didn't still make her feel like James Bond.
Natalie rapped twice on the door and stepped back as it swung open.
"Have you talked to S?" A voice called by way of greeting. The hall was dark, and James was nothing but a silhouette against a distant light. But Nat would know that silhouette anywhere.
"Just got off the phone with her," she stepped inside the warehouse, letting the door thump behind her.
"Mac's with her?"
Natalie nodded through the shadows.
"Good. She shouldn't be alone after that," Jay allowed. He looked Natalie up an down, "Follow me. I've got a spare pair of track bottoms if you need them. Cake and I have been going through the data."
Natalie was keenly aware of her heels clacking against the concrete floor, "She told me. Said you've made good progress."
She saw the back of his head bob in conformation, "We have most of our entry planned out. I'll warn you now, this is going to be a tough one."
It was at this point that they reached the end of the hall and pushed past yet another heavy door into the well light warehouse. When Natalie's eyes adjusted to the light she found herself looking at a mostly empty space. At the center of the space were several desks covered in schematics and wires.
"I've sent Cake to bed so its just us tonight," James shrugged apologetically.
Natalie let her waves tumble across her face when she leaned down to remove her heels, secretly pleased that he couldn't see the slight smile on her face, "We'll make do. So what's first, boss?"
"First," he handed her a mug, "Coffee."
"You're a saint," Natalie practically chugged the thing, "Next?"
"Grab a seat. This might take a while."
He brought up 3D blueprints on the nearest screen.
Natalie whistled, "This looks… fun. All - what is that?- twenty floors of it."
"Twenty-five actually. But we'll be aiming for sub-floor 14."
"What are we up against?" Nat shed her blazer and curled up in the offered chair.
"24-hour guard surveillance and cameras,-" James began.
"Naturally."
"At least one laser field that we know of. Heat, motion and sound sensors on each floor. And a Fletcher 5000 vault entrance complete with retinal scanner. The goal is to get in an out without a scratch."
"Isn't it always?"
"Well this time its essential. This place is too good for any common run of the mill criminal mastermind to target. Any trace we leave will make it obvious we came with a specific purpose."
Natalie nodded in comprehension, "And for someone to go through the effort of targeting a specific vault they would have to have an idea of what's inside. Which would point to a breach of security from within Hale Industries."
"Which would lead straight to Siena," Jay finished for her, "We can't allow that. We'll need to get Siena well and clear of Hale Industries before they even have a chance to consider that Teller's takedown came about through corporate espionage."
Natalie snorted, and rest her chin on her knees, "If my grandfather could only see me now, all tied up in corporate espionage and its not even for my own company. This was what he hated about the business world."
"I can pull this one on my own, Nat. Technically we only need one person."
"Not a chance, cowboy. You're not going in there alone."
His smile was sad, "No, I didn't think so."
"Alright, hit me with it. What's our entrance strategy?"
It was another half and hour before the pair had run through the entire break-in plan, five minutes of which were spent disputing the best point of entry.
"So that's it huh," Natalie said when they had completed the walk through. "One wrong move and its all over."
"Cake and I have already mapped out the first corridor. We'll need to disable the motions sensors first, then the heat, all without entering the camera's field of vision."
"Is it possible?"
"Yes, but it will have to be planned out down to the second. One of us will disable the alarms, and the other will follow with the equipment. I would offer to disable the alarms but you're faster then I am, and speed will be a necessity here."
"No, you're right," Natalie had taken to chewing her thumb nail, "My height will give me an advantage when it comes to the cameras anyways."
"It won't be easy," Jay remarked.
"Yes, but since when has the level of difficulty ever deterred us," Natalie poked fun. "Although, there is one problem I don't see a way around here."
James brow pulled tightly into a frown, "And what's that?"
"If we pull this off, you're never going to find something to top this. And that just might drive you crazy," she teased.
"A valid point," he said, "I guess I'll just have to find something else to obsess over."
"You could take up fishing," she suggested.
"Not really my speed."
"Nascar?"
"That's more Mac's speed." James shrugged and the laughter fell out of his cheeks. He said, "When my mother was our age, a little younger actually, Aunt Gabs said she went through this phase where she only stole things she felt needed to be returned to their rightful owner, and then a few jobs on the side to pay the bills. She'd track down paintings that had been stolen during wars or seized by corrupt government officials and return them to the descendants of the original owners."
"Like you did with the Hermes statue, back when we first met?" Natalie asked.
He nodded the said, "After all this destruction and damage, I guess I just like the idea of doing something to fix holes, instead of causing them."
Natalie smiled thoughtfully, "I like that idea too."
"And once the family finds out what we've done its not like we'll be able to go home anytime soon. I don't know, maybe - maybe I'm just trying to clear a dirty conscience, impossible as that may be."
"Well, there you have it," Natalie smirked.
"Have what?" James looked at her with curiosity.
"You've found your next impossible task. Clearing your conscience."
He chuckled, "Yeah, maybe I have. But in the mean time we have another impossible task to focus on. Ready to get to work?"
Just then Cake's voice chimed out of the speakers, "I hope you darlings have drunk you coffee because we have a problem. I big problem."
James lips became taut, "I thought I told you to get some rest, Cake."
"And I fully intended to but I was checking a few things before I hit the sack and I found something disturbing." Satellite images of a beach flashed onto the screen.
"Please tell me that's not Wilson's island," Natalie said wearily.
"What are we looking at here, Kai?" James voice was once again stone.
The image changed and several shadows appeared on the beach. With each successive photograph the shadows moved closer to the water and then seemed to circle something on the ground, "Is that us? It can't be there are more then two people there." Natalie commented.
"Worse darling," Cake's voice had taken on a rare note of stress, "This is from several hours after you left the island. I think they found your footprints in the sand."
"Sh*t!," James cursed under his breath, "How is that possible? The tide should have washed them away."
"Looks like the guards spotted them before the tide came in. I'm sorry, James, I should have thought to warn you about your tracks."
"Its not your fault, Cake. We should have been more careful." Natalie responded for him. She suddenly felt like and idiot for having frolicked through waterfalls so carelessly, leaving tracks through the entire forest. Natalie felt sick, not only because of the increasing stakes, but because the memory of her and James splashing through their own personal paradise was now tarnished by her own stupidity. The mental image of his devilish grin and violent blue eyes peering out at her through the sheets of the waterfall were what had gotten her through the last grueling twenty four hours and Natalie had had every intention of holding onto it for the rest of her life. Now the memory lay shattered on the concrete floor and it felt as though something had died. Natalie could practically hear James thoughts- how he never should have let himself get distracted- how he should have gone alone. She pushed all these thoughts aside and tried to focus on being a thief. "What does this mean for the heist?"
"Now they know that at least two individuals made it onto the island by sea. They'll have upped their security in anticipation of a break in," Cake filled her in.
"It also means they'll be going over all their drone footage with a fine tooth comb," James hissed, "Damn it, as if this job wasn't impossible enough already! Now they'll be expecting us!"
"Any hope of getting in the way you did before is out. They'll have their eyes on the ocean." Cake reported from the speakers.
Natalie turned to James. She could almost see the gears in his head grinding the information into little particles of sand and then trying to reform them into a new plan, "What does that leave us?," she asked. "Air? We can't exactly land a plane on their runway discreetly."
There was silence for a moment as the gears turned.
"We'll just have to tell Teller its an impossible job," Cake admitted defeat.
"Maybe, not-" James pondered.
"I know that face. What are you thinking?" Natalie studied James expression.
"Its crazy," he warned her.
"It's always crazy. Start talking, Bishop."
Slowly the corners of his mouth turned upwards into that familiar almost-grin, "When was the last time you jumped out of a plane?"
AN: I know, I know. Yet another talking chapter with no action. I apologize. (There is action in this story, I swear it, just not till near the end). As always I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter. Side note: After this run is finished I think I will be putting aside the fan fiction for a time to focus on some original work and possibly getting things published. I don't know if this will be my last fan fiction story but if it is I intend to go out on a fun note. I mentioned it before, but I am working on a companion series for this story that I think you'll all really enjoy (I hope) (think romance and betrayal). I am so eager to start publishing chapters for it but I can't because that would ruin the plot for this one and ugh I am just so impatient and its all my own fault because I am taking forever to upload chapters. So I'll let you go before my impatient side spills the beans. For now, good fortune my virtual friends- George&Eckels