One for Sorrow: The Magpies, #1

By Cay Reet

"Finally, this pompous bastard has gotten what he had coming for a long time."

Twenty years ago, Thomas Crowe was called 'The Magpie' and he was the up and coming jewel thief. Then his partner made him take a fall and his career was over. Thomas only recovered from his past when he met Inez in the slums of Rio de Janeiro years later. He adopted her and took her to Paris, the city he always felt was his real home. Now Inez is succeeding him as a jewel thief and she's doing well. And as if on command, his old partner turns up again, stirring old memories Thomas wanted to keep buried. Inez will not let her father suffer, even it if threatens to kill her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cay Reet
• Release date: May 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393071082

Book preview

One for Sorrow

by Cay Reet

© Copyright 2019 Text: Cay Reet

© Copyright 2019 Cover Design: Holz Vanderhuetten

All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems - except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews - without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or used fictitiously. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

In memory of Jeff Zahn and Holz Vanderhuetten

You shall never truly die.

Table of Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

More by the Same Author

One

––––––––

Without any prior warning, a light cone appeared at the other end of the hallway. Inez bit back a curse, since she surely didn’t want anyone to hear her. Her eyes darted through the dark area. After a heartbeat, she spotted a niche and sneaked over to it. She pressed her back against one wall of the niche and her feet against the other, then she moved upwards as quickly as she could. The light cone danced over the ground, approaching her hiding place. It never lifted, the man passed the niche without checking it more closely. She stayed up by the niche’s ceiling for a little longer, to give him time to leave the hallway, then she moved down again quickly and left her hiding place. For a moment, she listened for more movement, but it seemed the man was alone, at least on the floor she was on.

Inez sneaked on, making sure to keep on the soft carpets instead of the hard parquet floor. She aimed for the study, where the object she was after was supposed to be kept. The door was locked, but she had expected that. The lock didn’t hold up long to her lock-picks. Carefully, she pressed the handle down and opened the door just far enough so she could slip through. In case the man passed it by on his route, she closed the door again, then she looked the study over. One of the inside walls was out immediately, since it was behind a row of bookshelves filled with books which obviously saw a lot of use. This wasn’t a library kept for showing off. The books in the study were perused regularly, hence their spines were crushed and their covers partially smudged. The second inside wall held the fireplace, which meant that there had to be a chimney behind it. She glanced at the last inside wall and mustered the two display cabinets which held a variety of small statues and other objects. Between them was a larger-than-life painting of a nobleman with his two favourite hunting dogs.

Inez approached the painting and checked the sides. She found three hinges on one side and simple pulled the painting from the wall. Behind it was the metal door of a wall safe, a rather large one, too. She glanced at the front, spotting a keypad. At least, it doesn’t have a fingerprint or iris scanner. From one pouch of her tool belt, she took a small device and adeptly hooked it up to the keypad. The small screen of the device flickered for a bit while it scanned the keypad, then four numbers lightened up - six, zero, eight, three. She pressed the keys and the safe door clicked open. Carefully, she opened the safe further and glanced inside. A few bundles of money, some documents, a few pieces of jewellery, but not what I’m looking for ... too bad. After a moment of thought, she grabbed the money, but left the jewellery where it was. As Tom always says: don’t steal what you don’t have a buyer for. Money is no problem, but jewels are worth nothing, unless you know whom to sell them to. She pushed the banknotes into some of the pouches of her tool belt and stowed the little safe cracker away into another one as well. Then she closed the safe and put the painting back in position.

Back at the door, Inez listened intensely, trying to find out whether or not the man was nearby. She couldn’t hear anything, so she opened the door a little and spied into the hallway in question. It was empty. She left the study and locked the door again with her lock-picks. This way, they’re not going to realize immediately that someone was in there tonight. She thought about the situation again. Tom is sure they keep the bracelet in the house, it’s not in any kind of strongbox or under lock and key at a bank. If it’s not in the safe in the study, then where can it be?

She touched the small radio in her right ear. Tom?

What happened?

The bracelet is not in the safe. She kept her voice down to a whisper, knowing the small microphone taped to her throat would allow for him to hear. Where else can it be?

He stayed silent for a moment and she didn’t press for an answer, knowing he probably consulted the blueprints and whatever other information he had. It should be in the study, there’s no other safe or strongbox in the house. If it’s not there, then it might not be in the house at all, despite my information.

Are you sure? There’s a guy walking around on the premises with a flashlight.

A guy with a flashlight? That is an unwanted surprise. He fell silent again for a little while. Follow the man, filha. If there’s someone doing rounds, there’s a reason for it. If he wasn’t standing in front of the safe, then whatever he watches over may be somewhere else.

Yes. I’ll keep silent again now.

Good luck.

Inez smiled softly, deactivated the radio, and moved again, back to the hallway where she had almost been caught. If it was on the route, the man had to get back there eventually. She hid in the niche again, but didn’t climb it. Instead, she glanced at both ends of the corridor, in case the man came back from the other side. Time passed, but she knew waiting was inevitable sometimes. Finally, she heard soft steps and saw the light cone approach again. She pressed her back against one wall and her feet against the other, but she didn’t scale the whole height of the niche, she just moved up far enough so the light would miss her. As he had done the first time, the man walked past without checking the niche. As soon as he had passed her, she came back down and crouched low, following him.

Inez moved from shadow to shadow, staying close enough as not to lose her target, but far enough away not to be seen or heard easily. She still tried her best to stay away from hard floors, despite the rubber soles of her shoes. Soft ground like carpets was the best guarantee to staying unheard. The man walked slowly, but he didn’t seem very alert. He rarely moved his flashlight from side to side or up from the floor and he rarely stopped. He didn’t turn around or give any indication that he expected an intruder. Not that he should expect one ... I’m a pro, after all. He walked through the ground floor, as far as she could tell, doing a steady round there. Strangely enough, though, he didn’t even pass the study in a side corridor by at all. Even if the bracelet isn’t in there, the safe holds other jewellery and money. For the owner of the house, the documents probably also hold a certain value. What is the man guarding, then? She followed the man on more than one round, keeping closely behind him until he turned towards the kitchen and the backdoor there.

Then she slipped into a sitting room and touched the radio again, activating it. Tom? The guy does a round on the ground floor, but he doesn’t even check the side corridor with the study.

That is weird.

Yes. What could he be guarding? I haven’t seen anything special on the round.

Good question. He thought about it for a moment. There are a few pieces of art in the house, but none of them is expensive enough to justify a watch at night. What route does he take?

The hallway at the front of the house, the one going through the entrance hall, then down the servant’s corridor leading to the kitchen, then along the back hallway, through the ballroom, and back to the front hallway.

That is once around the ground floor, but without taking the study into account. Yes, that feels wrong. There is a safe in the study, right?

Yes, and there’s some jewellery in there, a bit of money, and also some documents. I took the money, but I left the rest inside.

It makes no sense. He sighed. The study is the only room on the ground floor where you can lock something away. I can’t imagine him keeping the bracelet in some cupboard in the dining room. Are you sure there’s no other hiding place in the study?

One wall of the room is bookcases and the books there see regular use. One wall holds the fireplace. The last inside wall holds the safe.

Go back and check the wall with the fireplace. Perhaps there is a small hiding place there. What kind of desk is in the study?

An old one ... heavy, dark wood.

Then check this one, too. It could have a hidden compartment. Really, filha, you should have kept that in mind.

I’m sorry... I’ll go back to the study.

Stay careful ... I’ll be waiting.

Okay. She deactivated the radio and listened. I’d better wait for another round of the man, just to be sure.

* * *

Inez followed the man on his next round until they reached the side corridor with the study. Then she sneaked away, unlocked the right door again, and stepped inside. She considered turning on the penlight she always took along, but decided against it. Even if the man didn’t usually check the area, he was still in the house, so he might take the corridor for some reason or other. She walked over to the wall with the fireplace first. Apart from the fireplace, there were a few old hunting trophies on the wall, complete heads or skulls with antlers from several different animals. By the look of it, the trophies are probably older than the current owner of the house. She dismissed the huge bison’s head over the fireplace, it was too high up and too heavy to handle easily, therefore an unlikely hiding place. Two of the skulls were too high up for easy handling, too, and the wolf’s head probably was too heavy as well. That left a few small heads and smaller skulls to check.

Inez spent almost fifteen minutes with the trophies, checking each of them and the space they were hanging on for a secret compartment or hiding place. They didn’t contain anything unusual. Next, she checked the display cabinets, looking for the bracelet among the other objects, but it wasn’t in there, neither did the cabinets hold anything big enough to hide the bracelet in. Apart from the cabinets, the painting, and the safe, the wall didn’t hold anything else.

Next, Inez turned her attention to the desk and carefully checked it over. She opened the drawers, unlocking a few with her tools to do so, and checked the bottoms and backs, but there were no hidden compartments in them. The surface was flat, there were no decorations on the top. She checked the legs of the desk, but didn’t find anything suspicious there, either.

Again, she activated the radio. Tom? Nothing in the study so far. Shall I check the bookshelves, too?

Yes. There simply is no other room where the bracelet could be.

What about the bedroom of the lady of the house?

Think, filha ... if she did keep that bracelet in her bedroom, she’d also keep the rest of her jewellery there.

You’re right, of course.

Did you check everything on the walls?

Well, I didn’t check two heads and two skulls above the fireplace. They are too high up for easy handling.

Check them, at least superficially. Then check the bookcases. If there’s nothing to find there, retreat.

Yes, Tom. She deactivated the radio again.

Inez pulled the desk chair up to the fireplace, glad that it wasn’t a swivel chair, and climbed on it. She checked the bison’s head first, knocking on it to see whether or not it was hollow. It didn’t sound hollow and she knew she wasn’t strong enough to take it off the wall. Next, she checked the two deer skulls, but each of them was empty as well. She put the desk chair back and checked the wolf’s head. It wasn’t hollow, either. Afterwards, she went over to the bookshelves. Now, if I had to hide something here, where would I put it? I can’t pull out all of the books and check them, I’d still be here by the time the inhabitants come down for breakfast. She looked at the books, dismissing the paperbacks immediately, since those were bad for hiding something inside. That left about half of the books, most of them old and with well-worn covers and thoroughly broken spines. Almost all of them were bound in cloth, only a handful were bound in leather. Let’s start with the leather-bound ones. She started on the right side and carefully pulled out the first book.

Almost half an hour later, she had reached the end of the left shelf and checked all hardcover books. Nothing, but I’m sure it’s somewhere here. Yet, the large windows don’t allow for anything to be hidden in the outside wall and there’s nothing of note by the windows, not even plants. Well, the family has a large winter garden for plants, they don’t need to keep some in every room. She looked at the bookcases again. Those are pretty massive, what if... She ran her fingers over the shelves themselves, checking for something, anything, out of the ordinary. Under the second shelf from the top of the middle bookcase, she found a small button and pressed it. Something behind the books on the shelf below clicked. She removed the books and found a small hidden compartment behind the bookcase, in the wall. In it, on a small cushion, was the broad golden bracelet she had come for. In addition, there were two bundles of large banknotes. She took the bracelet and the money out, put the back wall of the shelf in its place, and put the books up again. Since she had put them down in order, she could also put them back on the shelf in order. Afterwards, she left the study and locked it again. Even if the owner of the house finds money missing from his safe, he’ll probably think that nobody has found the bracelet and the rest of the money.

She waited behind the corner of the side corridor until the man with the light passed her by on his round, then she followed him to the kitchen, waited for him to check everything, and let herself out of the backdoor. After locking that door again as well, she sneaked through the well-tended garden to the wall in the back and climbed over it. A small transport was waiting in the narrow alley behind it. She slipped into the back.

Tom turned around in the passenger seat. Did you find it or was it for naught?

I found the bracelet. There was a secret compartment behind one of the bookshelves.

It’s a good thing you’re so persistent, then. Anything else?

Quite a bit of money.

He smiled. Good, then we’ll have reserves until the next job. He turned his back to her again. Get changed.

Inez took the tool belt off, removed the gloves and the hood, and slipped out of her black leotard. She slipped into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Then she put the clothes, the belt, the radio, and the microphone into a small gym bag and climbed into the driver’s seat.

Tom glanced at her and sighed. I really wish I could at least drive us, since I’m of no use in the actual heist.

Don’t say that ... you’re very useful during the heists and you know that. You give me all the information I need. You have trained me. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to do all this. She paused for a moment. Without you, I might not even be alive these days.

He smiled softly. Alright, enough with the drama ... let’s get the car back to the rental service and then we’ll go back home.

Yes, let’s. She turned the ignition key and put the transport in gear.

They reached the rental service they’d taken the transport from rather quickly. They both left the car, Inez hurried into the office while Tom stayed outside, taking the gym bag out of the back of the car and casually slinging it over his shoulder. She found a young man behind the desk, listening to music on his phone. For a moment, she tapped the desk and he looked up.

Hi. She smiled brightly at him. It wasn’t a show - she did have a naturally sunny disposition.

He smiled a genuine smile back, despite looking gloomy before. She often had that effect on people. Hi. Done with the move already?

Yes, it went quicker than expected ... we worked well into the night, though.

They left the office and Inez made sure he checked the whole car and signed a note for her saying that it didn’t have any new damages. Since she often rented a car, she was a pro when it came to avoiding additional costs. After she had paid her dues, she walked out of the office and joined Tom on the other side of the street. They walked to the nearest metro station. Inez didn’t walk as fast as she could have, though.

Tom glanced at his watch and sighed. We’re not going to make the next train.

Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon enough.

They reached the stairs leading down. Without a word, she took the bag and hurried down, leaving him to take the stairs on his own, much slower than her, because his right knee was stiff. She looked up the stairs, watching him. I know I shouldn’t think this, but if he didn’t have this injury, we would never have met, so I’m glad about it. Finally, he joined her at the foot of the stairs and took the bag back.

She smiled at him. You don’t have to do that, you know...

I know, but like this, I feel more useful.

They both took their tickets out and walked through the turnstile. On the right platform, they leaned against the wall and watched the other passengers for a while.

She looked up at him. We have a few reserves now, don’t we?

Yes, we do. The bracelet will bring us a good amount and I’ll get a good exchange rate for the banknotes, too. Should keep us afloat for a month or two. By then, we’ll have a new job ... you’re earning your name.

Do I?

Yes, your reputation is climbing constantly.

Will it match yours at some point?

He fell silent for a moment and she worried she might have hit a nerve, since he rarely spoke about the time before they had met. Then, however, he smiled brightly. You will surpass me at some point, filha, and I will be very proud the day you do.

Two

––––––––

Inez woke up a little later than normally on the following morning. She stayed in bed for a moment, stretching herself, then she rose and grabbed some clothes for the day. On the way to the bathroom of the small two-bedroom flat, she smelled fresh coffee from the kitchen. So Tom is up already. She showered, washed her short hair, brushed her teeth, and dressed. Afterwards, she went to the kitchen itself. Tom was pouring coffee into two large cups, each of which was already half full of milk. Even though he was British, he enjoyed a milk coffee in the morning much more than a cup of tea. She loved it as well.

She spied a paper bag with croissants. You didn’t have to go out and get them ... I could have done that.

He chuckled and shook his head. I’m limping a little, filha, I’m not one-legged. Going up and down the stairs regularly is good for my health.

If you say so... She glanced out of the kitchen window. It’s a nice day today.

He handed her one cup and placed the other one on the table by his favourite seat. Yes, it is. It will be warm, but not too hot. The flowers outside are in full bloom already, too. He grabbed the newspaper he had bought together with the croissants.

She looked outside a little longer while dunking her croissant into her coffee. "I think I’ll grab the camera later