Page 77 of Booked for Theft

“Hire. That shit is expensive, and I can afford to pay my father’s employees a fair rate. It’ll also give you a place to send employees on work trips. There’s a guardhouse on the premises that can hold six families. There are also a few guest cottages that could be turned into homes for guards if six living on castle grounds isn’t sufficient.”

“Six on castle grounds should be sufficient if we have homes nearby for the rest of the permanent staff. I’ll add it to the list of things to do while abroad, and that’ll give me all the cover I need for bringing along a hefty chunk of the employees, especially if I offer to send pairs to work the castle for two weeks a year. I approve of your use of the money. Do more of that, and I’ll provide the security. It’s an excellent cover. Well done, Bradley.”

My fiancé grinned at the praise. “Italy and Greece are possibly on the agenda, as it seems Janette has an infatuation with their architecture.”

“We can help look for properties,” he replied. “All right. So, you need therapy. That’s fine. If you need someone to go to the sessions with you, just let us know. Let’s get the important business done first. When do you want to hit the warehouse storing Senator Maybelle’s campaign materials?”

“Tomorrow night, late. I think that’ll be the least likely to be detected. We want to strike when it’s quiet.”

“I have a few illusionists who are eager to stretch their legs and test some new methods. Three of them can even trick cameras. I’ll have them help you get out of your condo so that anyone observing will believe you’re still at home. I’ll have a package delivered to Ren, that way you can go out while the courier is going in. That will also keep Ren’s alibi intact, as he will be able to say he ran into you outside of your condo when you got home, which will collaborate with the security folks and their footage.” Bradley’s father rubbed his hands together. “How do you want to handle destroying the evidence at the site?”

Bradley smiled. “We’ll use copious amounts of fire. We will not tell Janette’s mother we’re picking up bright careers as arsonists. The warehouse and the neighboring gas station will be our targets. We’ll put fuel in the tanks, let the fumes gather, blow it up, and have the fire catch the warehouse next door. Your illusionists can cover our presence at the site, and they can disguise us. We’ll wear disguises, though—and burn those as well. We won’t use the same site for that, though. Perhaps your fireplace at home?”

“Our fireplace works,” his mother confirmed. “We’ll wear dark clothing made of cotton so it’s easier to dispose of. I’ll handle the attire. I have plenty of cotton fabric at home, and I can whip up ghost costumes in ten minutes flat.”

Ghost costumes would work. “Wouldn’t cheap sheets be easier at that stage?”

Bradley’s mother shook her head. “I don’t have any cheap sheets in dark colors, but I have cotton I’m willing to sacrifice to the cause. We’ll bind your chest so if someone does see something, you appear more masculine—and I’ll install shoulder pads for everyone to help change our body sizes. I’ll handle that tomorrow. You two act normal tomorrow until it’s time to go. I’ll text you when it’s time for you to leave the condo for the adventure. Just make sure you go out with Ren sometime in the late afternoon.”

“Who else should we involve?” Bradley asked.

“Beatrice and Mickey,” I suggested. “It can be a play date. We’ll have them head out after we get back with Ren, which will help with the illusion that we’re not there, then they can find somewhere to get a lift with you. If we can rope Mr. Tawnlen in, we should. He can help us on the forensics front.”

“I’ll invite him over to go over my non-fiction collection to see if there are any particularly good titles for your history project at work. I’m sure we can get him to dance to our tune. What about Meridian?”

“What she doesn’t know can’t bite us all in the ass later,” I replied, sighing over excluding our friend and accomplice. “For this hit, we need perfect silence. But we can give her an important assignment for the cell. I propose we have her follow the money of the victims. She loves talking with the money, so we should give her a chance to shine. Who knows? Maybe she’ll find something we missed. Just remind her that charitable donations are public information, and the government requires that records be kept for twenty years. That should give her a lot of important work to do.”

Bradley’s father smiled at me. “You, Janette, are brilliant. It’s good cell work, and she won’t feel at all excluded this way. And when we do get our hands on the campaign information, once we leak everything of importance to the media, we’ll have her sniff the money there, too. For some reason, I suspect we’ll be able to get a lot of media outlets biting on their campaign information once it’s anonymously submitted to everywhere in the nation—and elsewhere, too.”

“How are we going to pull that off, Dad?” Bradley eyed his father. “You sound confident.”

“Just trust me.”

My fiancé regarded me with wide eyes. “I wasn’t worried before, but I am now.”

Like father, like son. Shaking my head, I began the process of unwrapping my gifts so I could admire the collection of books the sneaky politicians believed might help us topple our corrupt government. “One way or another, everything will work out, Bradley. While they make preparations for our hit tomorrow, we should go put my new books away and prepare to have a lengthy discussion about Italy and Greece while in the comfort of the tub.”

Bradley’s mother shot to her feet, gathered her things, and headed towards the door. “I love you both, and we’ll see you tomorrow. Come along, dear. The children need tub time. Don’t get into trouble without us.”

“I think we can handle that much,” I replied, smiling and escorting them to the door.

Tomorrow would be a good day.