I take a few precious seconds to force my heart into a slower rhythm so I'm not distracted by the pulsing in my fingertips. Then, I'm moving the dial.
Right…tick.
Then left…tick.
Around twice to the right, and…tick.
Back to…
…there.
The satisfying metallicknockof the lock disengaging rattles through me and I glance down at the phone.
"Fuck yeah, you see that?"
"Twenty-nine seconds," Eli tells Atty through the earpiece with the kind of high in his voice he only gets from this sort of work.
He tosses me back my earpiece as he opens the vault.
"New record," I announce as I remove the earbuds and push the earpiece back into place.
"Congratulations. You have three minutes."
Elijah swiftly removes the Modigliani from its plexiglass case, eating a minute we don't have, but it'd be too bulky to carry as is.
"Why aren't you moving?"
"Moving!" Eli announces, carrying the frame through the vault door. "Route?"
I throw the shotgun over my shoulder and take out the pistol loaded with rubber bullets instead. So much less fun than real ones, but I guess we can't go around killing people who don't deserve it.
"Down the hall, take the first right, twenty paces down there should be an emergency stair exit on your left. Take that up two flights and exit onto the second floor, turn left, and go straight. I'll buzz you out the emergency exit past the sculpture exhibit."
"Got it," I reply, moving through the halls to open the doors for Eli since his hands are full. The Modigliani is huge, and his knuckles are white where he grips the frame.
"You good with that?" I ask. "We can swap."
"I've got it."
"Police have been dispatched," Atticus says. "Ninety seconds out."
We're to the door in under a minute, and it buzzes under my hands as I swing it open to an array of red and blue lighting up the sky in the distance.
"Black van, two blocks south.Run."
I check, but there isn't a soul near this exit, so I pocket the pistol, take one side of the frame from Eli, and together, we run.
Halfway into the first block, Eli breaks into a laugh, and when I look at him, I know that beneath the glowing red smile of his mask is a real one.
And I can't help it, I laugh, too, even when the frame of the Modigliani starts to loosen and creak under my grip.
"Oh shit," I say between laughs as the van comes into view, trying to find a better grip as Atticus throws the door on the side of the van open and gets out to help us maneuver the frame inwithout damaging it. His skull mask making him look even more deadly than he already is.
We manage to slide it in and then I notice the street camera overhead. The reason for the masks.
"Wait. One sec!"
I stop Atty from rushing into the van, jerking him back and Elijah in with my other hand until I have them with my arms around their shoulders.
