When he turned back to her, he saw the gun aimed in his direction. He shuddered at the sight. His sudden movement sloshed a little of the brown liquid over the edge of the glass, spilling it to the floor.
He tried to put on a disparaging face. “Now what are you going to do with that, Ally? Put that thing away. It might go off.”
“You spilled some of my drink, Frank. Are you okay? You seem… tense.”
“Just… just happy you’re alive, my dear.” He walked cautiously over to her, handed her the drink, and then stepped back. After a long drag of his cigar, he waved his hand at the weapon. “Now please, put that thing away before someone gets hurt.”
She calmly raised the glass to her lips. The rim barely passed between them, and she tilted it back, dumping the entire contents of the vessel into her mouth. With a single swallow, the whiskey was gone. Her eyes narrowed slightly as the burn streamed down her esophagus, dissipating as it fell. She stole a short glance at the glass.
“You always have the best, Frank.” Her fingers let the glass slide downward. The glass crashed on the floor, shattering into a hundred pieces. “Oops.”
He shook his head and shrugged awkwardly. “Don’t worry about that. Terry will clean it up in the morning. Would… would you like another drink?”
She sniffled and shook her head slowly. “No. I think I’m good. Besides, I have a long drive ahead of me.”
“Oh? Going on a trip, are we? I thought you’d want to rest after your… you know… your recent journeys.”
“Oh, I plan on catching up on some R&R. I just have to make a few stops first.”
“Stops? What… where would that be?” His hand shook nervously as he put the cigar to his lips again and drew in a short breath of smoke. He started to ease his way backward around the other side of his desk, but Allyson stopped him.
Her tone sharpened. “Stay where you are, Frank.”
He froze immediately. “What’s wrong with you? You are acting very strangely, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t like it.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to kill me, Frank.”
He was incredulous. He shook his head defensively, the little patch of loose skin on his neck jiggled when he did. “Kill you? Why would I do that? That is preposterous. I’m insulted you would even suggest such a thing. What would make you—”
“I saw Evan in Paris. He was shooting at me. Unfortunate, the way he died. I imagine it must have been pretty painful. You know, burning to death like that.”
Frank’s face turned grave. The pale pallor flushed red. “Yes. He was there in Paris, but he was shooting at the other thief. I received word that she had taken you hostage. Evan was trying to rescue you.” He waited for a few anxious moments to see if the lie worked.
It didn’t.
“I suppose the guy with the shaved head was there to help me too? Is that why they call him the Eraser? Because he helps people?” She laughed and recrossed her legs. The gun remained trained on him. “Of course, I guess you heard he’s no longer with us. I have to say, Frank, if he’s your closer, you could do much better.”
He swallowed. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
She smiled. It was a polite, satisfied grin like someone would give a child who was proud of brushing their teeth. “Frank, I appreciate the expensive whiskey. And don’t get me wrong, I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me in my life. You’ve made me a lot of money. I mean, a lot of money. Of course, I had to use some of that money to pay off the cops in Amsterdam. Finicky lot, those. Took a few million out of my accounts to make that little disappearing act happen. And of course, there were the papers and all the reporters that had to get their story. They were easy enough to take care of since the police were the ones giving them the news. Then there was the hospital staff. They weren’t too bad. Honestly, I think I overpaid the police a little. But as you know, cops can be greedy.”
Allyson raised the weapon, pointing it straight at his chest. “Thanks for everything, Frank. I’m gonna miss little talks like this one.”
Her finger rested on the trigger. It retracted slightly at the pressure. Frank’s hands went up in the air.
“Wait. Just wait. We can talk this out. Just don’t shoot me.”
“I’m done talking Frank. It’s time for you to go and for me to retire to a beach somewhere. I’m thinking Serbia sounds good.”
“Just hear me out!”
“So you can tell more lies? Like I said, I’m getting real tired of those.” She stood up and took a menacing step toward him. There was no chance she’d miss her target at this range.
“Please! Don’t! I… I have money! I can pay you!”
“But I have money, Frank. You’ve been good to me in that regard over the years.”
She thought she saw a tear forming in one of his eyes as he begged like a frightened animal. He was less a man to her now than ever. “I have more. More than you could imagine. I’ll give it to you. Please, just don’t kill me.”
“Oh? You’re going to give me more money? Just to let you live?”
He nodded frantically. “Yes. Yes. How about… twenty million?”
She looked up at the ceiling, pretending to consider his offer. “Hmmm. Twenty million. That’s a pretty good offer, Frank.”
Allyson stepped to the left. She drifted around behind his desk and slid into his seat. “But it’s not good enough. Besides, like I said, I already have plenty of money.” Her left hand reached under the desk into the chair recess and pressed a hidden button.
Behind her, the bookcase suddenly pushed out and then slid sideways to reveal a giant metal door with a nine-digit lockpad on the left. A black box with a clear window and a digital screen was attached to the security system’s keypad.
She watched his shocked reaction as the vault was revealed.
“How did you… no one knew about that.” He pointed at the door.
She frowned sarcastically. “Really, Frank? The old safe behind a bookcase gag? I’ve known about it for years. Of course, until recently, I never really considered breaking into it and taking all that gold. As I said, you were good to me. But then you sent that bald guy to kill me. After that, I figured why not?”
“Allyson. Please. I don’t. I mean… I didn’t send—”
“Save it, Frank. You really don’t want to sound like a sniveling idiot before you die, do you? I mean, really. You sound like such a wanker.”
She was right, and he knew it. He straightened his back and flattened out his shirt. His voice escalated rapidly. “Fine. I sent him. I heard you were collaborating with the other thief. I was told you were planning on taking the paintings for yourselves and disappearing. You would have reacted the same way!” He pointed an accusing finger at her. “You betrayed me, you self-righteous little street rat! I pulled you out of the gutter, and this is how you repaid me! If you’re going to kill me, you might as well do it because I will never give you the code to that vault. And if you enter the wrong one even twice, the police will be crawling all over this place within ninety seconds!”
Allyson snorted a short laugh and stood up. She whirled around and stepped over to the vault, keeping an eye on Frank as she moved. “Oh. In that case, I hope it’s already open.”
She hit a button on the keypad, and the safe swung open. Automatic lights flickered on inside, displaying a room with thick steel walls, floor, and ceiling. Shelves lined each side, including the back. And it was completely empty.