“Five easels with canvases, some painted and some not. A very small bed. A chest of drawers. Three prints of paintings on the walls.” Despite the increased tension, I couldn’t resist teasing him a little. “I’m looking in his underwear drawer right now. Would you like to know his preferred color?”
“Not unless they’re full of lace and frilly. That could give me ideas for the password at least.”
“Nope, just plain white briefs. Sorry.”
I thought I heard a faint chuckle. “Are the paintings on the walls his? Can you tell?”
I moved toward them. “Not by him. Looks like a Van Gogh print? Yep. They’re all Van Gogh’s.”
“Try Van Gogh.”
“As the password or the username?”
“You don’t even have the username?” He groaned.
“Nope.” Now he sighed.
“Can you see an HDMI cable?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Attach it to your phone and then to the computer.”
“Is this going to take long? I have no idea how long he’s going to be gone,” I said, taking the cable in my hands.
“I need a good fifteen minutes.”
My eyes flicked wide, but I said nothing. Fifteen minutes was a long time. I’d have to keep a good watch. I needed to get to Kamal’s phone and copy and change his SIM card so we could get access to his phone calls. Too bad I hadn’t asked Ace for listening devices yesterday. I’d have to get some of those soon.
Time crawled by as I waited for Ace to work his magic on the laptop. “I’m almost there. Give me three minutes, and I’ll have your username and password.”
I’d already been here too long. According to my watch eleven minutes had passed, and I’d wanted to be out in ten. I looked at Kamal’s paintings. The two that looked completed were colorful and completely different from each other. One depicted a family of five sitting in a park eating a picnic dinner. The other was of the same family, inside a parlor, two of them sitting, comforting each other and two standing, looking into a small casket wherein the youngest of the family lay dead. I felt a sudden bout of sadness well up inside me. The emotion in both pictures, while in stark contrast to each other, was very real. Even I could tell he was good for being so young.
“I’m in,” Ace said. “You have a drive for the info?”
I thought about the drives in my pocket. I was sure they were too small to hold everything on that computer. “I don’t. Can you download it?”
“I can, but it will take a good thirty minutes to do it remotely.”
“Seriously?” I huffed and without waiting for his reply said, “Let’s get as much as we can. Hopefully we get the important stuff before I have to leave.”
“Agreed. I’m going to hang up and work on something for Siron. Can you see the progress bar at the bottom of the screen?”
“I can.” It read 8%.
“Just watch that and disconnect when it says 100%.”
“Will do.”
“Good luck.”
“Wait, Ace. Thank you so much for helping me and risking so much. I truly appreciate it.”
There was a pause. “You know I wouldn’t let you down. And no pressure, but it’s up to you to make sure I don’t get fired. Find that drive.”
I imagined the bemused smile he was sure to have on his face. “I will. Don’t worry. I will.”
The line went dead. I scoured every inch of the apartment again, even looking for hidden floor safes, and as I did, I made sure everything was in the exact location it had been when I’d entered the room. The front door would be out for an escape path if Kamal returned, so I made sure I could get out the window just above his small cot. I had to use a knife and pry the paint-sealed window open. I opened and shut it several times, using some oil from the kitchen to make the sliding action smooth and quiet. Just outside it was a small veranda where one person might stand. Unfortunately, had someone chosen to stand on it, his view would consist of nothing but the brick wall of the neighboring building.
I took up vigil at the door, listening and feeling for anyone’s approach. At twenty-eight minutes, I checked the progress bar. Ninety-eight percent downloaded. Ace had been right on. I checked my watch. I was supposed to be meeting Kamal in ten minutes. I would be late. I kept my eyes on the screen. Ninety-nine percent. At least I felt secure that Kamal wouldn’t be barging in all of a sudden. If he was meeting me at the museum, then he’d have to almost be there. It took another minute, but the bar flashed one hundred percent. I unplugged the HDMI cable from my phone and replaced everything in the drawer exactly as I’d found it. Then I gave the room one more cursory look and left the apartment, locking it before dashing down the steps and to the metro.
I made it to the museum five minutes late, which I thought was pretty good, all things considered. Kamal stood by a staircase on the outer rim of the Louvre, and tapped his foot impatiently as I walked up to him. There was already a massively long line of people waiting to gain admission. I couldn’t wait for the drop off when I could give Kamal the tracked flash drive. I hoped we’d be able to follow the trail today so my pickpocketing days would be over.
He didn’t waste one second in commanding me. His tone was sharp as he spoke. “You’ve got forty minutes in the Louvre. Here’s your pass, you won’t have to wait in that long line. Go right up to the guy by the glass enclosure.” He pointed. “Meet me back here and we’ll go over what you’ve done. Get as much as you can, but don’t get caught. Here’s
