“You’re too observant for your own good.” I grin. “But no, the only locks my sister and I have ever picked—some successfully, others not—are all in the pa… in our house.”
I check my wristwatch. It’s almost closing time. “You’re the lookout.”
Blocking the door with my body, I grab an electric pick gun from my set and attack the lock. The door opens with so little resistance I’m almost disappointed. Glancing at Lucie, I sneak into the storage room. Tiny and cramped, it smells of lemongrass detergent. Between the vacuum cleaners, brooms, buckets, overflowing shelves, work clothes and junk, there’s no room to sit down. Still, it’s a great hideout.
“Mesdames, Messieurs!” A pleasant female voice pours out of a speaker. “The Mermoz Treasury is closing in fifteen minutes. Please proceed to the exit.”
Lucie darts to the door that I left ajar. “I saw a guard entering the fan room,” she whispers. “He’ll be here in less than a minute!”
I seize her hand and draw her in, pulling the door closed.
“What if he checks this door?” she whispers. “We don’t have a key to lock it from inside.”
I point to the coveralls and work coats hanging by the door. “We’ll blend in with those.”
Which we do at once, as the steps grow uncomfortably loud.
Someone tries the door, peeps in without bothering to flick the lights on, shuts it and locks it. The guard must’ve thought that whoever had used the storage room last, had simply forgotten to lock it. Maybe it wasn’t the first time.
As his footsteps retreat, I feel Lucie’s body sag next to me.
I fumble in the outer right pocket of my jacket and find the mini flashlight that Anders packed for me, just in case. Dimming it to night light, I place it on a high shelf over our heads, between a box and a bucket.
“Can you pick the lock from this side?” she asks, looking out from behind the blue workwear.
“I’m sure I can, but I won’t try it until all the visitors have left, the guard has done his first round, and we’re ready to dive for the fan.”
“You’re afraid he won’t be as cavalier as earlier if he finds this door unlocked again?”
“That’s right, Ma’am.”
She draws the workwear in front of her, like a curtain. “Then we wait.”
16
MAX
“Can I ask you something?” Lucie whispers, pushing aside the coat between us, so we can see each other.
“Go ahead.”
“The questions during my job interview,” she begins hesitantly.
“What about them?”
“Some of them were just…” She looks me in the eyes. “Wild.”
“Were they?”
“Oh, yes.” She nods vigorously. “You said there were things that didn’t add up about MINDFUCH. Well, that interview is definitely on that list.”
“Damn!” I let the corners of my mouth fall. “I thought I’d done a good job.”
She chokes a giggle. “The crazy riddles? You must be very fond of riddles.”
“I am, indeed. I wanted Yasmina to give you another one, but she insisted it would be too much.”
She curls her fingers. “Bring it on!”
