Chapter Three: Stephan
Who is she?I thought, sipping on my espresso, watching the rainfall turn to a drizzle before I made my way out. I couldn’t remember the last time I ran into a stranger that piqued my interest the way that Annika did, and we barely said two words to each other. I wondered if it was maybe due to how incredibly beautiful she was, and I wished I had a bit more of her time because now I had no way of seeing her again.
She nearly made me forget what I’m doing here in the first place. I can’t believe I let Adrian talk me into running this mediocre job before we go to some party tonight because he met a girl he can’t seem to stop thinking about. I told him time and time again that we couldn’t afford to be making connections when we were constantly on the run, but I was starting to see where he’s coming from. If I had another minute with Annika, I probably would’ve wanted to go wherever she was headed. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something different about that girl.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Adrian asked. I nodded and we all got onto our motorcycles and set off down the alleyway behind a small bank. We were in need of a bit of extra cash, and I wasn’t going to wait until another contract came in to get it. I felt quite guilty because I was starting to line up work without Adrian, Eduard, and Feliks, but they had to know that we’d all start to go our separate ways eventually.
Outside the bank, I gave one last briefing. “We’re going to move in fast, get what we need, and get out of there before the cops show up,” I said. “If you want to make this party tonight to woo your girl, Adrian, we don’t have time to fuck things up, okay?” They all nodded in unison.
“It’s now or never boys,” I said, and we all checked our weapons, pulled our ski masks over our faces, and we burst in through the front doors shooting off the first few shots to see everyone start to duck and scream.
“On the ground everyone, this won’t take long,” I said, pointing at the ones who looked like they wanted to run, and I headed up to tellers who had a familiar sense of fear in their eyes.
“Hi, darling. I’m going to need you to get me into the vault, now. If you don’t, I’m going to blow your head off, okay?” I said, and she nodded at me. I followed her to the back, watching her shaky hands open up the vault, and the guys and I started to fill our duffles with as much cash as we could fit in.
I could hear the sirens high in the air outside the bank and we only had about two minutes before the cops would burst in to take us all out. I noticed that in the very back of the vault, there was something in there that I didn’t expect to see. It was in a cylindrical cardboard cover, but in my efforts to rush out of there, I grabbed it and ran, and we escaped without having to gun anybody down.
We rode off, trying to lose the police that were hot on our tail, until we managed to disappear down a few choice alleyways that we had planned ahead of the raid, to where the sedan was parked. Here, we dumped the bikes and torched them before jumping into the sedan and setting off in another direction.
“Job well done, boys. I say we deserve to enjoy a night off after that one. We’ll split like usual,” I said.
“What about that thing?” asked Eduard, noticing the cylinder that stood upright in the passenger seat.
“I have no idea what it is, but there’s no cash in there, It’s too damn light. I’ll take care of it,” I said. I had no idea what it was or what was inside it, though something was drawing me to it, so I played it down, and they let it go.
The sun had begun to set, and we had to head somewhere to get cleaned up. Home was out of the question just in case there were still any police left on our trail, and once the coast was clear, I had a feeling we’d all be coming home with women on our arms. I could already see that Adrian had that giddy look on his face like he was back in his younger years, getting ready to see a girl for the first time.
We pulled over at a gas station, and the guys got out and headed towards the bathrooms. I lingered in the driver’s seat, waiting for them all to get inside before I took the cylindrical cardboard between my fingers, opening it up to see what could’ve possibly been inside. When I pulled out the fragile painting and had a few moments to study it, I realized why it was hiding in the back of that vault.
A Malevich painting? What the hell is something with this kind of value doing in a bank vault?I carefully placed it back inside the tube and put it in the trunk before the guys came back.
I didn’t bother cleaning up because I didn’t want to leave any of them alone knowing that there was a painting in the trunk of my car that was worth more than I’d ever made in my entire life. It wasn’t the kind of information I wanted to share, and I had a feeling that it was going to be my ticket out of these smaller jobs so I could finally start earning more and making a living on my own. The older I got, the greedier I became, and I didn’t want to share everything I made with them even though I’d known them my entire life.
This may be the opportunity I’ve been looking for, but I’m going to have to find someone willing to take a look at this piece and price it before I know what to do with it. Something tells me that I’m going to have to be careful with who I trust around this. It is a Malevich painting after all.
The night wasyoung when we finally made the drive up to the lavish mansion with the wrought-iron gates and perfectly landscaped garden. It was a much bigger property than the one we lived in and it took half of the money we’d ever made to even get that. I was in awe at the long stone pillars and cascading stairs up to the front double doors.
What kind of girl are you really seeing, Adrian?
I rang the doorbell, and it slowly opened to reveal a beautiful woman who I assumed was the one Adrian had been after, seeing as how his face lit up the moment he laid eyes on her.
“Welcome. I see you brought your friends,” she said, and I could tell from the crowd behind her that she wasn’t quite used to men like us. We stood out instantly amongst the rich businessmen, the housewives, and anyone else that managed to weasel their way in here.
“I hope that’s alright, Natalia. I don’t really go many places without them,” Adrian said, and she smiled, opening the door up wider for us to enter.
“Have a lovely time, boys. Drinks are through there,” she said, pointing towards the French doors across from the living room.
“Have fun, Adrian. Try not to get yourself into too much trouble,” I said, patting him on the shoulder, and he shot me a smile before taking off with Natalia.
I broke away from the pack as soon as I could because I genuinely needed a moment alone to think about what I was going to do about the painting I stumbled upon.
If I could find something like that on a whim, what could I find if I was actually looking for it?
Gazing around the elegant living room, I noticed that the entire home was covered in expensive artwork.
I didn’t think I would’ve even noticed it had I not found that painting today because even though I knew a thing or two about art, I wasn’t absolutely consumed by it the way the owner of this house must be.There must be millions of dollars in this room alone.
I thought about sacrificing it all and stealing one of them, but there would be no way for me to do that without alerting someone to my activity. I decided I had to find out who was the collector around here, so I could ask a few questions about the painting in my possession without letting them know that I had it.
