Prologue
“Twinkle, twinkle littlestar...” my voice echoed through the empty room save for the single glass case sitting in the middle. Alone, yet the bearer of beauty so stunning it glittered against the lights around the enclosure. Ankles entwined in the rope suspended high above my body, I dangled from a precarious height. Once I gauged the distance needed, I released my grip slightly. With the ease of a snake, I slithered down the rope.
Stopping a meter and a half above the floor, I slipped the bottle of white powder from the small black bag secured around my waist. A liberal dose in the air scattered like snowflakes during a winter storm, uncovering the red laser beams crisscrossed around the centerpiece. Counting in a muted whisper, I grasped the end of the rope just below my head, folded my body over my arms, and dropped to a spot on the marble tiles with practiced silence.
“Steady on,” my partner’s voice crackled in my ear.
Glancing up at the gaping hole in the skylight I’d come through, I smiled and adjusted the earpiece before tiptoeing between the infrared lines in a sequence of steps that would make any dance teacher stand up and take note. When I reached the outermost circle surrounding the centerpiece, I studied the strategically placed pressure plates. One false move or a step in the wrong direction would trigger the silent alarm. I’d been doing this for a while, so I knew all the little tricks to bypass high-tech security. It would take a lot more to fool me. Drawing in a deep breath, my first step was cautious. Then with a mechanical fluidity I’d become accustomed to during practice, I sidestepped the plates with the same confidence as the installer.
A brief pause allowed me a quick mental check. Breathing smooth and deep, muscles relaxed and supple, heartbeat slow and steady. Done, I eased into the final stage of readiness. Wiping all thoughts from my mind so that my sight, smell and hearing were in tune to react to any possible danger. Satisfied, I fished out a miniature version of the glass cutter I’d used on the skylight, from the bag and four sticks of gum that I unwrapped, popped into my mouth, and stuffed the wrappers back in the bag. Taking care not to shift the case unnecessarily, I adjusted the cutter and then carved a hole in the glass, the size of a fist. I placed the sliced piece on top of the casing, pocketed the blade then eyed my handiwork, my lips stretching into a smug grin before my gaze fell to my prize.
Mesmerized, I stared. Sparkling in a rainbow of colors from the light above it, the jewel, the size of a medium-sized marble, winked at me as if in greeting. A sudden feeling passed over me, like the feather-light touch of fingertips on my skin. It happened so quickly, I stiffened, my brow creasing, my heart pulsing before I jerked my head in all directions. I could’ve sworn something whispered in my ear. Nothing but silence waved back at me in a blindsided taunt. I stared at the jewel again, growing more hypnotized by the second.What secrets are you hiding?
“Everything okay?” the voice in my ear shunted me back into reality.
Giving a thumbs up heavenward, I inhaled deeply to slow my heartbeat and shook the idiocy out of my concentration. “Like a diamond in the sky...” I whisper sang, taking the gum from my mouth. Rolling it between my thumb and forefinger, I reached into the structure. With sleight of hand agility, I replaced the large diamond with the wad of gum pressing it in to create the same pressure as the diamond. Slowly, I lifted my hand off the gum and glanced around. No alarms. Good.
Pleased, I slipped the jewel into a pocket in the black leather jacket I wore then turned. I returned to the area below the rope with quick somersaults. Stepping back a few paces, I ran forward, sprung up, and seized the rope, scaling it with the limber movements. Once I reached the ceiling, I climbed through the hole in the skylight onto the roof, where my partner waited.
After a quick nod to me, we walked in silence to the edge of the roof and looked down—a death-defying drop. Grinning at each other, we spread our arms and fell forward into the warm night air, soaring like a pair of gliding eagles. To any observing eye, it would seem like a dangerous feat—two people diving to the ground from the roof of a building without safety harnesses or parachutes. Only, that wasn’t the case. With a deft flick of our wrists, we pulled cords hidden inside the sleeves of our jackets opening small parachutes concealed in our neat tiny backpacks, dark like the night. Gaining ground, we landed and quickly rolled up the chutes. Another few seconds and we climbed into the black sedan hidden behind thick foliage.
When the car was a safe distance away, I took out the diamond and held it up to the overhead light I switched on.
“That’s a beaut,” my partner glanced at the jewel. “It will fetch a hefty price.”
Slowly, I shook my head, my eyes glued to the glittering jewel. “No. This one is special.”
England – One Summer
