Secret and Scandal

Chapter Four

“Hi, officer,” Alexia spitefully called out at Fred, holding the bloody towel, “you might need this, I guess.”

She dropped the towel carelessly but made a last cursory look at the high window through which Robert had burst out. She nodded her head at the look of the window just before leaving the scene with the gang.

Robert was as still as a mannequin in the penthouse behind one of the panels. This scene unfolding before his eyes could only shock him more. He had just heard every word that was said in the room. He just witnessed his girlfriend being injected in the skull and acting under the influence of some substance. That was definitely not the Alexia he knew. Maybe he knew her, but not exactly what he expected. He thought back to the moment he had almost taken her out in the mansion. But there she was doing all she could to protect his identity in the murder of his business partner. Why would she do this for him now? He wondered. Several other questions popped up in his head. Who were the gang that had just come in and why was Alexia assigned to eliminate Jimmy? Somehow, he resented taking out Jimmy by himself before Alexia and this strange gang did, but it was not the time for regret. He had superior questions he needed answers to.

Robert had known Alexia since she was 17. He met the young Alexia when she was drowning in troubles of threats of jail-terms for being part of an infamous art theft ring. As a young girl, she was extremely adept at pickpocketing. It was almost a talent as she had an eagle’s eyes to spot anything before anyone could. Poor Alexia lost both parents at 17 and Stealing was her only means of surviving to feed her disabled brother and herself. She dropped out of school immediately despite offers of sponsorships from the school authorities and other societal bodies. To Alexia, school was a complete joke as she found it difficult to express her talent effectively.

On the day of her last heist at Queen Victoria’s Art Museum, Robert was in the museum, too. The 17-year-old Alexia was the pawn in the heist as she skillfully mixed with the spectators to execute the job. She stole a 74-year-old golden pendant which allegedly belonged to an Ethiopian King. Her execution of the heist was extremely swift as she successfully replaced the pendant in the show glass with a fake. It was as though nothing happened that very day. The heist was well coordinated, too, with the theft ring members lurked around and disguised as janitors and viewers to get the pendant out through the exit. The heist ring was smart enough to have one of their men, Martin, to manipulate the security cameras as he was assigned to ensure that the event was erased from history. Martin was due to destroy each video recording collected after every heist, but he refused to destroy the video recordings without the ring’s knowledge. Martin derived strange pleasure in keeping a backup copy of documents and video recordings of their heists even after destroying all evidence to clean the team’s track. He always had a back-up somewhere regardless. It was not long before Martin left the ring and took on a job in the technical department of the police force. Martin was a repented man now. However, the constant activities of the theft ring adversely affected his team’s progress and his own new interest. Bu then, Martin was not ready to expose information about the ring as this would draw attention to his past life, too. Instead, he focused on Alexia as she was the reason for their successes. He would constantly send video recordings of their past heists to Alexia threatening to give her away unless she quit the ring. As a matter of fact, Matin gave Alexia an ultimate of seven days to visit his apartment for a pep talk, threatening that the video would be released, but Alexia was not ready to visit Martin. She feared what Martin could do to her as such man in the opposition camp with big threats could not trusted. It was the night of the sixth day, Alexia had no clue about what action to take next. She was between the devil and deep blue sea. Having thought it through, she visited The Jameson’s club downtown. Jameson’s club was known for buzzing every Friday night. It was indeed her stomping ground. Short of ideas, she was willing to drown in the music and drink herself to stupor, at least before Martin would drop the bombshell on her the next day. While drinking alone at the bar, Robert came along and was intrigued by the sight of such a beautiful young lady. Alexia did not look her age whatsoever. She had been a precocious young lady with the endowment of ladies in their mid and late twenties. Little wonder bars and clubs sold alcoholic drinks to her without caring about her age. At first, Robert attempted to get Alexia’s attention to no avail.

“Hi, pretty,” Robert said winking an eye flirtatiously at the young Alexia, “I’m Robert Langley. Call me Rob.”

Alexia looked at him indifferently before taking her eyes off him and focused on her drink. She gulped down a shot of vodka. It was her sixth shot of the night as she aimed to drink herself to stupor, throwing caution to the wind. She poured herself another glass of vodka – the seventh one -- aiming to gulp it down in quick succession.

“How about we start off with your time at the arts museum?” Robert chipped in, daring to tread on dangerous path.

Alexia halted her seventh gulp of shot. She stilled the glass in her hand as she was about to gulp down her drink. Somehow, Robert’s comment about museum had just done a trick and jolted her back to sobriety. She wondered if Martin had finally sent one of his men to pin her down now. She trembled with fear as much as she strived not to give in to pressure. But this man before her looked nothing like a cop neither did he look like he was in the force. He had the looks of one of the rich married men who would dress casually to hunt different girls to lay with.

“Excuse me, who are you?” Alexia demanded sharply, her voice laced with caution while squinting at Robert as if to have an answer instantly.

“Let’s just say I’m someone who appreciate arts, beauty and skill,” answered Robert. “You, my dear, possess all three.”

Alexia held on to her drink tightly, “what do you want?”

“I want to talk about your masterpiece at the Queen Victoria Museum,” Robert replied, his voice laced with confidence and caution. “The way you beat the security system, the precision with lock breaks and cuts, your within-few-seconds swiftness in delivering…. It’s just breathtaking.”

Alexia looked round to make sure nobody else was within earshot. This was a classified secret a random man just came along to discuss with her. She was not particularly comfortable discussing her engagement in heists with anyone. Alexia’s eyes widened, her mind racing. Who was this man, and what did he want from her?

“How do you know about this?” Alexia asked in a whisper, leaning towards Robert as though she was discussing a secret.

Robert leaned towards her in return, his voice taking on a witty shape. He whispered, “Let’s just say I have my way. You see, I have been following your works: the Phoenix Heist, the Bellview Burglary, the New Jersey Caper, and the latest of ‘em, the Victoria Break-in.”

Alexia was completely swept off her feet. At first, she had an instinct of running away as fast as she could. Her engagement with the heist ring was not meant to be discussed with anyone. Every stunt she and her teammates pulled off was completely under disguise: from their dressing down to their names at the museum.

“You are quite the talented thief, you know.” Robert continued wittingly and chuckled at Alexia.

Now this was a blunt comment from Robert. Somehow, Alexia seemed to be drawn towards Robert’s wits and she was starting to appreciate the humor he found in her own big secret. She studied his face for a moment as he chuckled, searching for any sign of deception. All she found was honesty and intelligence.

“Oh yeah, you know one when you see one,” replied Alexia chuckling along with Robert.