I Opia (17 page)

Blaine and Vince suddenly became very attentive. Walter noticed the mood change.

“Hey baby girl, why so serious?” he asked her.

Blaine realized she had gone into work mode.

Vince overheard and spoke up, “I asked the captain to show us some nice homes here.” He said as he looked at Eric, “Who knows honey, maybe someday we will be able to have a home somewhere nice like this.” Eric perked up and excitedly asked the captain to get closer for a better look.

Blaine looked at Vince and smiled.
Well played, Vinny. Well played.

She kissed Walter on the cheek and took his hand to pull him to the railing. “Sorry, I got lost in thought about the work Vince and I still have to do. I shouldn’t let work interfere with our time.”

Walter smiled and hugged her, “No worries, baby girl. Just want you to relax and enjoy this beautiful day.”

“Hey guys, how about taking some pictures of Eric and I,” Vince said. Blaine realized that he was strategically posing with the Webber’s house in the background.

“Absolutely, boys,” she said and began snapping away.

“Now, let me get some of you two,” Vince said as he took the camera. He and Eric switched places with Blaine and Walter. He too began to strategically snap away.

After a few minutes, Eric piped up, “Hey guys, I am really starting to get hungry. Any chance we can head back?”

Blaine looked at Vince to see if he had what he needed. Apparently he did because he quickly responded, “Yes, honey. I agree. We’ve seen enough for today. Let’s grab a cocktail and a bite to eat. Blaine and I will have to work tomorrow, so let’s enjoy the rest of our day.”

As they headed back to the dock, Eric began chatting with Walter. It was a prefect opportunity for Blaine to pull Vince over to the side. “Well, big boy, what do think? Did you see what I did?”

He looked at her and smiled, “If you are referring to the back of the house being totally open to the water, then yea, I saw what you did. My guess is that there is an invisible fence that I will need to disarm.”

Blaine frowned, “Damn! I didn’t think of that. I should realize that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is.”

“Don’t worry, partner. I got this.”

She looked at him. “I know you do.”

The next morning arrived before they knew it.
Eric had been irritated that they had worked until late last night to plan. Eric kept reminding Vince that it was supposed to be a fun day. Vince had to remind him that the day was over and that he and Blaine had a very important client meeting the next day. They had to be prepared. Eric was placated by the promise of a shopping trip.

After much discussion, the two had realized that they had to have a boat captain. There was no way they could navigate themselves. They also learned that there was a tourist area close to the Webber’s and accessible by boat. The plan was to have the captain drop them off there for lunch and shopping. They would have him pick them up at the same place. It was the only way the two could figure how to get to the Webbers’ without a witness.

The trip across the waterway was not as jovial as the day before. In fact, they kept going over the pictures on Vince’s laptop looking at every angle of the back of the house. Blaine had her tools, Vince’s laptop, and the replicas in her designer bag. Anyone would think she was just an average American with her huge, oversized purse. She guarded it fanatically. It had been a challenge sharing a suite with Walter not to have him look into it. Luckily, as she now knew, he had a lot more he was thinking about than what she had or had not packed.

Once again, they would have two firewalls to penetrate. Vince had determined that the invisible fence would go down with the first firewall. They would have a very short period of time to locate the tiara and earrings, take the originals and replace them with the replicas before Vince would have to disarm the second firewall. After the disaster the first time, he felt more confident that he had figured out the secret.

Adding to their confidence was the discovery that the Webbers’ had recently purchased the home. The documents of sale were on the Internet and it didn’t take Vince long to hack into the title company’s site. In doing so, Vince and Blaine discovered a floor plan. There was an addition that had been added to the house within the past year. The two figured that had to be where the jewels were kept.

The captain pulled into the marina. “Okay, let me know when you want me to come back and pick you up. Have fun.”

Blaine smiled at him and said, “Thanks! Can you be back by 3 p.m.?”

The captain looked at his logbook and nodded. “Yup. That works perfectly. Gives me time to book another charter and then circle back for you. Okay if I have some additional passengers when I pick you up?”

Blaine looked at Vince who shrugged. “Sure, if that works for you, it does for us. See you soon.”

The two stepped onto the dock and began walking to shore when Blaine stopped in her tracks. Vince almost bumped into her.

“What the hell B?” Then his eyes followed where she was looking. “Wow! What the hell!”

The two were looking at kayak rentals. They had planned to walk the length of the beach and were concerned about what obstacles they may encounter.

The two looked at each other. “It’s perfect Vince. We can enter by water. If caught, we are two stupid, lost tourists.”

Vince nodded, “You’re right. There is only one problem. I have never paddled anything anywhere.”

Blaine looked at him mischievously. “Never paddled? Hmmm. . . we need to work on your sexual repertoire.”

He punched her in the arm, “For God’s sake B, is that all you think about?”

She laughed and said, “Maybe.”

He laughed too as they headed over to the shack to secure a rental.

After a brief orientation, the two were set. The young man at the rental shack was more than enamored with Blaine and she flirted shamelessly. Vince just rolled his eyes.
Seriously, this woman has no limits. Let’s go already.
But Blaine wanted to be sure that they were prepared and that if they were a bit late on the return that it would be fine. She played the dumb pretty girl role a little too well sometimes.

Eventually, the young man shoved their kayak off the shore and they were on their way. Well, at least attempted to be on their way.

“Damn, Vinny, paddle with me, not against me. If you keep doing that, we will go in circles and get no where.”

Vince was hot and was getting madder by the minute, “Blaine, dammit, this was your idea. YOU paddle with ME! One of us has to take the lead and I am in front, I can’t see your happy ass back there.”

Crap! He is right. I could just kick him over the side right now.
She thought better of it. “Okay, partner, paddle away. I will follow your lead. Just get us there, okay? The clock is ticking.”

And with that the two began to have a smoother ride. It took a full 20 minutes to find the Webbers’ house. Clumsily, they navigated the kayak toward the dock located in the back of the Webbers’ home. As they pulled up to the dock Vince said, “Crap! How are we gonna secure this thing?”

Blaine said, “No worries, my dear partner, I have a bungee cord in my bag of tricks.” She handed the bungee cord to Vince as she held onto the dock. He fumbled for a bit, but managed to secure the small craft. Vince jumped out first. Blaine handed him the bag. He was stunned by how heavy it was and stumbled a bit.

“What did you expect? I am the one toting everything. Where do you think I get these muscles?”

Vince just shook his head.

Blaine followed him out on the deck. After removing his laptop, he handed her the bag and she slung it over her shoulder. Both tried to look casual as they could while looking around. Without thinking, Blaine started to walk the length of the dock to the shore.

“Stop! Now!” Vince yelled. She froze. “I don’t know where the invisible fence begins. Give me a minute!” She dared not move another step as Vince sat on the dock, fired up his laptop and began furiously pounding the keys.

She was sweating in places a girl shouldn’t when she is alone. The heat and the humidity were getting to her when he finally looked up.

“I have it. I am going to disarm it. We will have only 10 minutes to get to the door. I say we stop on the back porch and wait for the second firewall to kick in. Let me disarm that and then you can work your magic. I want to play this one way safer than we did the last one.”

Blaine nodded as she wiped the sweat from her face. She pulled her hair up into a knot.
Holy crap. It is hotter than hell here. What are people thinking when they buy vacation homes here?

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

He pounded on the keyboard, stood and ordered, “Go!”

The two hurriedly made their way to the back of the house. Blaine set her bag down and grabbed her tools to enter the door. As decided she waited while Vince watched his stopwatch and his laptop.

They sat on the back porch and swatted the mosquitoes as they sweated. Neither spoke. They didn’t need to. They knew what they had to do. And they knew they had to wait to do it. Vince kept glancing at his stopwatch and then his laptop. Blaine kept watching him sure that she was going to have a heat stroke.
Holy crap. I am going to melt out here before we even get started.
Finally without a word, he fired up his laptop and began. Blaine waited. She knew that to talk was useless. She just needed the word to proceed.

After a few minutes, he looked at her. “Go! Your turn.”

She had arranged everything while they waited and she was ready. Without a word she began. It still amazed her how easily this came for her. While Vince may be the computer guru, she was the one who could get them in anywhere. This time was no different. She went into her zone, worked her magic, and got them in the door. They both entered and looked around.

Vince whistled. “Damn! Who would know these two live this large when they are out of town.” There was art on every wall and beautiful pieces of sculpture everywhere. The home was truly a dream. Money exuded from every corner.

“Well, I know who my new boyfriend is after all! Dan Webber is looking better all the time.”

Vince rolled his eyes. “Get busy will you?” He took out the floor plans, “This way,” he pointed. Blaine picked up her bag and headed that way. The two couldn’t help but look around as they walked.

“Damn, Vince. There is lots of inventory in here.”

“I know,” he replied. She looked back to see that he was taking pictures of everything.
Smart thinking. Once again, I remember why he is the best partner.

They arrived in the study. Vince studied the plans then pointed to a bookcase. Blaine realized that it looked newer than the other cases in the room. She walked over to it and looked it up and down. There was an odd bookend. It was a monkey. Totally out of place with anything else they had seen. She put her gloves on and reached for it. The case swung open.

The two now looked at a metal wall with a keypad on it. “B! This has to be it!”

She looked at him “You think?”

He glared at her,
Smart ass!
He thought as she turned and began to work.

She placed her earplugs in and stuck what looked like a dart on the wall close to the lockbox. She held a device the size of a smart phone and began the decoding process. She used a combination of technology and intuition as she listened to the keypad whirl. Every time she heard click, she knew that one part of the code had been broken. The device would run through millions of combinations in minutes, but it was that familiar click that she listened for to know it was working. After the fifth click, the whirring stopped. She took out her earplugs and looked at Vince.

“Ready?”

He nodded. “Ready.”

She slowly pulled the door open as Vince monitored his laptop. There was no alarm. He smiled and gave her the thumbs up, closed the laptop and stood to follow her. They entered the room the size of a small bedroom. A light came on as they crossed the threshold causing them both to jump. Once their nerves settled they began to look around. The room looked like a neatly organized treasure chest. Jewels were neatly arranged everywhere. Trinkets and gold coins were neatly displayed. It was obvious that the Webbers had developed a taste for old treasures. Vince began to take pictures of various items as Blaine searched for what they had come for. She was not disappointed this time. Proudly displayed on a mannequin’s head were the tiara and the earrings.

She gasped. The set was even more beautiful in person.

Vince came up behind her and whispered, “Wow.”

She shook her head, “Yes, wow. Really, really wow.”

She reached into her bag and took out the replicas. She removed them from a velvet box. She also removed velvet cloths. Then she and Vince painstakingly removed the tiara and wrapped it carefully. They did the same with each of the earrings. Just as painstakingly, they placed the replica tiara on the mannequin’s head and then the earrings. Blaine realized she was still sweating. This time from nerves and not because of the heat. In fact, the room was obviously temperature controlled.