Philadelphia.
“Remember,” Snod said, his focus now on the mission at hand, “pull around back. Keep the engine
running. It should take me approximately six minutes to disable the alarm, four more to get the desk
out of the—”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Rees sighed, thrusting one of the Hello Kitty walkie-talkies into Snod’s hand.
“Just give me a buzz when you’re ready. I’ll be waiting to hold open the door and help you load up.”
“You can’t even lift the chairs at the bar,” Snod pointed out. “How are you going to help me load a
piece of furniture?”
“Moral support, darling.”
Feeling a headache coming on, Snod held back the urge to scream. He watched through the
windshield as they crept up toward the back of the museum. They had to be fast. He took a deep
breath, running the plan over in his head one more time. He looked at Rees, asking, “Are you ready?”
“Ready,” Rees replied, giving a little mock salute.
Snod snorted, tucking the walkie-talkie in his pocket and grabbing his tools. He slipped out of the
truck like a ghost, sliding through the shadows to the back door. He had a mask, pulling it over his
face well before he was in range of the security cameras’ view.
He popped the panel off of the alarm and got to work. A snip here, a twist there, and after a few
minutes he heard a happy beep as the alarm was disabled. He hurried into the museum, tracking his
movements in his head by the map he’d found online and memorized.
Snod knew exactly which exhibit room to go to. Thanks to Rees, he also had a vague description of
the desk. This was going to be a simple snatch and grab. The alarms for the doors were off, there
were no guards, and the only thing keeping him from the desk would be a length of velvet rope.
He strolled right into the exhibit, confident and smug.
Despite the stumbling start, this heist was actually going very well. Once they were back home, Snod
would call Frankie to run an errand for him to lure him away from the apartment. Something simple, a
quick trip down to the store, just long enough for them to sneak the desk inside while he was gone so
it could be a proper surprise. It was going to be great.
Snod stopped short as he walked up to the rope, staring dumbly at the furniture in front of him as all
the warm and fuzzy feelings faded immediately.
There were two desks.
