Crushed (17 page)

"Watch it, kid." The guard said as they tried to push her off. She stubbornly remained in place, shifting her body so that it blocked the flash drive.

"I told my sister I wanted to see the game." Sophie cursed under her breath, hoping she sounded realistic. "She insisted on coming to this dump." She scowled, rolling her eyes again in what she assumed was a teenager-ish way.

"You like baseball?" One of the guards laughed as they noticed how awkwardly positioned she was to get closer to the monitor. "Pull up a chair, you don't have to crawl over Tom."

Sophie's eyes widened. It hadn't been nearly sixty-seconds yet.

Just as she was about to come up with some attempt at an excuse, the sound of a ball hitting a bat drew all the attention back to the screen. A player had just hit a pop fly. The ball landed in the glove of the left fielder, who threw it infield to the second baseman. The moment the ball hit the baseman's glove and the runner reached the base were less than a second apart.

While the umpires decided on whether the runner was safe or out, Sophie found the perfect opportunity to slip out the flash drive. Her random stroke of luck had allowed the drive more than enough time to finish up its' run.

"I'm just going to wait outside." Sophie said in a hushed breath, backing away from the guards as quickly as she could. They'd begun to argue over the umpires call and paid her no attention whatsoever.

Instead of waiting for them to realize she was leaving, she rushed out of the lobby as quickly as possible. Once she was safely outside she realized her actions were suspicious, though none of the guards seemed to notice. If the flash drive had worked, there would be no security camera footage to show her running away either.

With shaking hands Sophie pulled the switch on the side of the flash drive that would erase all the data. She threw it in the nearest trashcan while walking as far away from the museum as she could. The moment she felt safe enough to rest, she settled down on a nearby bench to give herself some time to recover.

She'd succeeded in her mission, but she felt nowhere near relieved. Sophie couldn't forget that if it wasn't for the baseball game, she would've surely been caught. Luke would tell her not to worry about it, but she could visualize Robert laughing at her if he knew. Professional thieves didn't make mistakes like that.

She leaned back against the bench, closing her eyes tightly. She wanted to feel proud of her first real mission, but she couldn't muster enough enthusiasm. As she contemplated her mistakes, she barely noticed when a passerby tossed a tiny paper bag onto the bench. It took a few moments to realize that she wasn't crazy, and she picked the bag up in her hands.

"Hey!" She called out, standing to take a few steps in the direction the person had gone. While she'd been lost in her own world she hadn't seen who it had been. "You lost your bag!" She continued, frustrated now. This was the last thing she needed to worry about.

Then, the bag began to ring and vibrate at the same time. Sophie nearly dropped it in surprise. She pried opened the bag to reveal a small cell phone lying at the bottom. She sighed, wondering who would just throw away a phone like this. Reaching inside, she picked up the phone, still debating whether to answer or not.

She didn't think it would be right to answer a strangers phone, but it kept ringing constantly, to the point where it drove her insane. Finally, ignoring all sense of right and wrong, she answered the call.

"Hello?" She asked, frustrated. "This isn't my..."

"Miss me?" A smooth, amused voice asked before she could continue.

Her mouth dropped open in shock. She didn't want to believe it was true.

"I leave you alone for one day and you've already joined the enemy. I hope Luke's playing nice."

Sophie would've recognized that mocking voice anywhere.

"Robert?" She asked, immediately feeling stupid for having to. Obviously, it wouldn't be anyone but him.

"You seemed like the type that would be more loyal than this. I have to say, I'm disappointed."

Her shock faded away to be replaced by defensiveness. "You should be the last person to talk to me about loyalty." Her lips curled up in a smile, hoping her next comment would annoy him. "You never told me how reliable Luke was. He's taught me so much in such a short amount of time. I'm considering switching mentors."

"I'm sure you'd love working for Max. I've heard the benefits are great." He answered politely.

"Luke's offered to teach me without telling Max. He's proven himself to be worth trusting."

"Oh, I've no doubt about that." She sensed Robert was smiling. "How long do you think it'll take before Luke realizes you're only with him out of pity?"

"Who said I pitied him?" Sophie shot back.

"You're surely not with him for the reason he wants you to be. Either way you spin it, you're in this for your own gain. It's cruel to offer him hope when you'll only crush him later."

"He seems genuinely concerned about me." Sophie thought back to Luke's sincere gaze.

"Which makes you all the crueler for playing with him. Isn't it rather selfish of you to risk his safety by working together? I would think you knew best how unforgiving Max is."

Sophie's heart sunk in her chest. He was right.

She hadn't even considered how Luke would suffer if he was caught.

"You are quite the trouble maker." Robert continued, his voice growing serious. "Cleo's not going to be happy about this."

At the moment, Sophie was passed caring what Cleo would think.

"Well, let her get pissed. If I'm going to be a pawn, I should at least leave an impression."

Robert laughed into the phone.

"Wait a minute." Sophie pulled the phone away from her to stare at it in surprise. "What is the point of this phone anyway? It seems a bit excessive since I have a cell phone of my own."

"I could've called your phone, but it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun." Robert mused. "I also got to show off my skills."

"Honestly, it's kind of creepy." She smirked to herself.

"Well, once Rylan informed me you were with Luke, it was obvious where he would take you. I'm a very talented guesser."

"Or a very dedicated stalker."

"Either way, were you impressed?" Robert sounded like was smirking as well.

"It takes a lot to impress a girl like me. Keep trying. Maybe one day you'll get there." Sophie smiled as she ended the call.

"There you are." Luke called out from behind her.

Sophie's smile fell as she met his eyes. Robert had opened her eyes to the risks they were both taking by working together. No matter how much she trusted Luke, she couldn't keep this up.

However, his innocent expression was too happy to crush right now. She would wait until they were back home before ending their relationship.

"You did well." He complimented as they turned towards the direction where the car was parked. "A bit slow, but you didn't get caught."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't think of a good plan." She bit her lip, wondering if she would now have to pretend to be as relaxed as he was. "So, when do you think they'll realize the paintings a replica?"

"Never." He answered confidently. Sophie glanced at him in confusion. "The painting I switched with was the original."

His comment was enough to stop Sophie in her tracks. "What?"

Luke's smile was bright as he shyly met her eyes. "I wanted to surprise you." He explained quietly. "I stole the original painting a couple of weeks ago. Max wasn't impressed, so he told me to dispose of it. I figured it would probably be best to return it where it belonged."

Out of everything Sophie had seen in the last few days, he'd just impressed her beyond all the others.

At first glance, Luke was dark and threatening. Though everything she'd gotten from him up to this point had fought against that image. He was kind, considerate, mostly awkward, but an overall a good person. He wasn't in this business by choice, though he accepted his own fate.

Sophie felt a wave of disgust roll over her at the thought of what she almost risked. Robert had been right when he said she was being selfish. Luke didn't deserve to be with someone like herself. He didn't deserve to be in this kind of business as all.

Robert wouldn't have thought twice about tossing out the painting if it was useless. Deep down, Sophie knew that she would've done the exact same thing.

What Luke had done was both stupid and wonderful. He easily risked getting caught again to give back a painting no one would have blamed him for throwing away. It was the simple innocence of his actions that she found impressive.

"That makes you feel better, right?" He asked cautiously. "You seemed uncomfortable with stealing from the artist."

"I was." Sophie admitted. She was unsure if she should thank him, or tell him how impressed she was, but the words wouldn't come out.

Luke seemed satisfied with her short answer, and he remained smiling for the rest of the trip to the car.

Sophie braced herself for the ride home.

She had a feeling it was going to be suffocating.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Secrets should've been something I expected. At the time, maybe I was naive enough to believe they were only fantasies.

"On a scale of one to ten, how badly do you think you screwed up?" Robert inquired as he walked into the kitchen.

Two days had passed since Sophie had last talked to him, but it felt like only a moment had gone by since she'd hung up with him.

"Ten being the worst?" Sophie leaned back in her chair, flipping over her scrambled eggs absentmindedly with her fork. "I would say zero."

"That's not exactly the score I would give you." Robert headed towards the counter where the leftovers were. As he began to fix his own plate, he flashed her a pleasant smile.

"I view my time with Luke as a learning experience. As long as it benefits Cleo in the long run, she shouldn't be mad."

"Oh, but the thing is, she's very mad." He pulled out the chair across from her and took a seat without glancing at her once.

"Why am I not surprised you'd be petty enough to tattle?" Sophie scowled at him, slamming her fork on the table in frustration.

"I'm just trying to be a loyal minion." Robert answered with a smile.

"How about you? Pissed that I decided to work with the enemy?"

"Would you care if I was?" His voice grew serious. "I'm more concerned with how the kids feel about your betrayal."

"Don't bring them into this." Sophie warned.

"They trusted you." He continued, putting emphasis on the word "trusted."

"I know when you're trying to hurt me. Making comments like that doesn't work when I know what you're trying to do."

"Then, let me backtrack. Yes, I'm very pissed you decided to bring Luke in. He's going to start having expectations. Expectations you aren't going to be able to fill. We all can't be friends, and you've encouraged him to believe that."

"I set him straight." Sophie whispered, wincing at the memory of the car ride home. She could still feel Luke's disappointment when she'd told him they couldn't work together again. He'd tried to persuade her, but at that point she'd been too far gone.

It hurt even more to picture how his disappointment had faded to cold realization. Like he'd figured out that she was just like everyone else after all.

"We'll see about that." Now that she really got to look into Robert's eyes, she could see flickers of agitation. He seemed tired as well, though he was struggling not to show it.

"How'd your trip go?" Sophie leaned forward, growing curious. She'd watched the news all weekend, hoping to see tidbits of what he'd been up to. She hadn't caught anything at all.

"I heard you painted your bedroom." Robert didn't make any attempt to answer her question. He seemed like he hadn't heard it at all. "You know this house is older than your grandparents."

"All the more reason to make a few changes." She was growing irritated with how little he was giving her.

"Cleo's not going to be happy with that decision either."

"Well, you wouldn't love me half as much if I were predictable." She smiled sweetly.

"Painting your room on a whim isn't unpredictable. It's childish. I hope you feel accomplished."

"Oh, I do. I left my mark on this place, which is more than you can say." She rested her head on her hands, staring at him with piecing eyes.

"A few rebellions and you feel like a big shot. Is it your white knight that's made you so confident?" He mocked.

"The way you keep referring to Luke makes you seem jealous. Afraid your student is being unfaithful?"

"I'm just surprised Luke sees you as a girl. I sometimes forget you're not a boy."

"Really?" She asked, smirking. He'd just pulled the trigger on her temper.

"Really." He flashed her a smile, leaning back in his chair lazily. Before he could say anything more, she lifted out her leg and jerked his chair out from beneath him. The whole table shifted as he toppled backwards to the floor.

For a moment, he was in too much pain to move. Sophie stood, rounding the table so that she could bend down in front of him.

"I acknowledge that I'm in trouble. Luke is the bad guy, I'll remember that in the future. I painted my room out of spite. That was almost as petty as you tattling on me. All those things I accept. You continuing to bully me is unacceptable. You may be my mentor, but we will be peers."

Robert groaned, cradling his head with his hands.

"Oh, and one more thing." Sophie pushed away his hands so that she could bend down and kiss him. Her kiss was brief, but passionate enough to drive in a point. "Don't ever forget that I'm a girl. One day it might just cost you more than a kiss."

She leaned away from him, but he caught her hand. "It's not smart to provoke me." He warned. His eyes were serious for a few moments before flickering back to their normal nonchalance. "Anyway, I'm too old for you, kid."

"Is twenty-five considered old now?" She asked, breaking his grip on her arm.

"Twenty-nine." He corrected, obviously amused by her shock.

Sophie had felt like she was stretching it by calling him twenty-five. He didn't look a day older than that.

"I have a baby face." He explained as he pushed himself up.

"Baby face..." Sophie mocked, scowling.

"Sorry to interrupt." Rylan broke in from the kitchen doorway. "There's something you two need to see."

"What is it?" Sophie stood up quickly, feeling dread sink in her chest.

"A news broadcast." Rylan's face broke into a grin. "It seems Robert's outdone himself this time."

Robert stood up as well, a confident smirk on his lips.

"Told you so." He whispered into her ear as he walked out of the kitchen.

*  *  *

"With the way you were talking, I assumed you stole from the Louvre." Sophie muttered as she squeezed between Rylan and Robert on the couch. Everyone was facing the TV with interest. Even Robert, who knew where he'd gone seemed curious.

"How cliche would that have been?" He commented as Rylan un-paused the television.

In a way, Sophie had hoped the museum he'd stolen from would be small and insignificant just so that he wouldn't have bragging rights. However, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was neither small, nor insignificant. Her jaw dropped in awe of how regal the building looked as the camera closed in on it.

A bright red banner at the bottom of the screen was flashing large black letters, indicating this segment was a major news story. In the background a sincerely shocked reporter was commenting on how three priceless works of art had vanished during the weekend. Authorities hadn't been notified until yesterday that there was a breach in security, but upon closer investigation almost half of the museums security system had been shut down.

Footage began to play of hundreds of tourists rushing out of the building as loud buzzers rang out in the background. It seemed like they were performing some kind of drill, though there was no smoke or fire in sight. The news reporter said that it was still unclear who had pulled the alarm, which was strictly under the constant surveillance. The footage being shown came from Saturday afternoon, but the chaos had quickly subsided after the buzzers had gone off.

At the time, there had been no indication a theft had taken place. It was only later when the collections of paintings were being closely examined that professionals revealed the fakes that had been skillfully switched with the originals. The segment continued with interviews of random tourists that had been caught in the initial panic of the blaring alarms.

Sophie wasn't really focusing on what they were saying until a familiar face popped up on screen.

A frazzled looking Robert was shaking his head as the interviewer called him over for questioning. The questions were simple: where he'd been, what he'd been looking at, what his thoughts were on the cause of the disarray.

Robert answered naturally, without missing a beat. He lied so easily to the camera, telling the audience he'd been with his youngest daughter, taking her out for a day of fun. His wife had gotten lost in the chaos, but he hoped they were okay. People hadn't been expecting a drill, but it didn't seem like anything major had occurred.

Sophie examined his tight suit, his slicked back hair, and the professional glasses he wore to top off the outfit. She glanced at the Robert beside of her, and marveled at how much he'd changed. Everything from the way he talked, to the way he held himself was different from normal. She would've thought it was a different person entirely if his face wasn't so similar.

Having been so shocked by seeing him being interviewed, Sophie hadn't really put together what it meant. She gradually realized that if the alarms were going off inside, he'd succeeded in switching out the paintings before setting off the buzzers. It had been completely unnecessary to create such chaos, but he'd done it anyway, and she suddenly knew why.

"You wanted to show off." She accused, flashing him an awed look.

"I didn't want to leave a doubt in your pretty little mind that this was my work." He laughed, relaxing back against the couch. "Now it's impossible to deny that beating me before was simply a miracle."

"What an arrogant..." Sophie couldn't finish her sentence she was so disgusted with him.

"When you're as skilled as me, you become entitled to having a little bit of fun."

Sophie turned back towards the television, tuning out Rylan and Gwyn's praise for his skill. She stared at Robert's disguise closely, trying to learn as much as she could about how he'd gotten away. She could no longer doubt his abilities, at least, not with such strong evidence in front of her. She doubted if Luke could pull of such a huge mission.

Something seemed off as examined on-screen Robert. His acting was flawless, but a bit too real. He seemed to be laying on the exhausted expression a bit too much. Everyone around him was shocked and a little bit tired, but Robert looked positively worn.

"Something went wrong." Sophie guessed, glancing at him to confirm her suspicion. "You must've slipped up somewhere."

Robert's easy-going smile faded, though he didn't glance at her. "I don't slip up."

"That's not the look of someone who's purely showing off." Sophie grew more confident in her assumption. "You screwed something up."

Robert seemed genuinely impressed that she seemed to have caught on.

"The security system." Gwyn broke in. "They said only half of it was shut down." Her calm eyes had grown cold. "Hackers are supposed to take out the whole thing."

"I worked through the problems." Robert smiled, glancing at them all in turn. "Everything worked out just fine."

"It was a sloppy job though." Rylan mused. "You don't do sloppy."

"That's the result when you have to work with second best." He seemed like he didn't want them to push the subject any farther.

"Does Cleo not have the resources to find the best hackers?" Sophie asked, frowning. "Luke told me that you always had the best of the best."

The room fell silent. Bringing up Luke had not been a good decision. The kids hadn't said much, but it was obvious they felt betrayed that she'd chosen him over their makeshift family. Even if it had only been for one day, their trust had been broken again.

Gwyn was the first to break the silence. "My mother was the best of the best." Sophie studied the young girl, looking for a moment of weakness. However, Gwyn seemed just as calm as usual. "Before she disappeared."

"Now, Cleo makes due with what's left." Robert finished.

Sophie immediately felt obnoxious for letting her comment go so far. She'd unknowingly brought up past events the rest of them would rather not speak of.

"I can do it, you know." Gwyn whispered, looking intently at Robert. "If you're having trouble, I can make a program for you." Her comment had filled the room with silence. Both Robert and Rylan's face contorted with an emotion Sophie couldn't place. "It won't be nearly as good as my mother's, but I can learn."