Unmasked

Nichelle accosted Audrey scarcely five minutes after she got home.

"How did it go? Are you going to see him again?"

"It went fine, and yes."

"Fine," Nichelle snorted. "Don't try to fool me, Audrey Christine. You know it won't work. You like him, you dirty little fun haver."

Audrey rolled her eyes but she couldn't help but smile a little. "Okay, yeah. I admit it. I like him. He's very sweet."

"And I am officially five hundred for five hundred in predictions," Nichelle said smugly.

"Don't get cocky about it. I said he was sweet, not that we're getting married."

"One thing at a time. We'll get there."

Audrey swatted Nichelle with a pillow and flopped on the couch.

"In other news, your wild escapades are still all the rage," Nichelle said, smirking. "Larsen looks about a hundred years old and is apparently coming unhinged."

Audrey grinned. "Perfect. Maybe it's time for me to give him something else to make him regret his career choice."

"Uh oh. I know that look. What scheme are you concocting in that pretty, deranged brain of yours?"

"There's a big auction event at the Barringer Center tomorrow night, isn't there?"

"Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much security they're likely going to have there? Especially in lieu of your recent jail break."

"Good. Maybe they'll actually make it a challenge for me then."

Nichelle shook her head. "Promise me that you'll be careful, Audrey."

"Hey, this is me we're talking about. I'm always careful."

Audrey did her research on the upcoming Barringer auction, hacking their system to see what sort of goodies they'd be auctioning off. She couldn't steal anything big, of course. She wanted this heist to be quick and quiet. Mostly. She decided to steal a ring; gold inlaid with lapis lazuli and topped with a rather impressive rare red diamond. Valued to be worth approximately fifteen million, it was called the Blood Moon Diamond, and soon it would be joining Audrey's collection.

She spent the better part of the evening devising her plan to steal the ring, finally retiring to her room around two in the morning. She was pleasantly surprised to wake up and find a text from Matt, asking if he could see her again that day.

I have to be at the lab most of the afternoon, so how about dinner? There's a great Italian place called Romanza downtown. Say 6:30? Don't worry, you don't have to order pizza ;)

The restaurant in question was located on the same block as the Barringer Center, so it would be easy enough to swipe the Blood Moon Diamond and then slip off to dinner with Matt. She dressed in a sleek black dress cut just above the knees, with small black boots and black tights. The dress could be easily concealed beneath her Phantasma outfit, and little black dresses were inconspicuous. She put on her Phantasma coat, which looked like a perfectly ordinary black coat until she turned it inside-out. The fabric inside the coat would change color from black to deep, vivid purple when exposed to the air instead of her body heat. She buttoned it over the dress so that only her calves and shins were visible. She'd swap out her Phantasma thigh-high boots for her heels when she pulled off her heist.

Lastly, her dark purple wig with its girlish pigtails and her black and purple mask went into one of the secret pockets; along with a few of her various lock picking devices and an incredibly tiny but incredibly effective stun gun.

She drove this time, handing her car over to the Romania valet before sneakily slipping around the restaurant and heading down the street. Audrey essentially had easy access to any exclusive events such as this one, given her wealth and status. But she was careful to avoid having Audrey North associated with too many places and events that were robbed by Phantasma, in the off-chance that anyone noticed and started getting suspicious.

So she put on her mask, gloves and wig, turned her coat inside out, and let herself in through the coded employee-only back entrance. Audrey found it hilarious that the modern world used so much electronic and high-tech gadgets for the sake of security when she was a master thief who could control all the technology in her general vicinity. It practically felt like she was being invited to come right in and take what she pleased.

The Barringer Center was a hive of activity, and even if it was easy enough to tamper with the security cameras it was another thing entirely to avoid being seen by the people bustling around. She managed to catch a ride on a food cart, rolling out and into the hallway that lead to a flight of stairs that would take her up several floors to the storage room. This room required a key and a code. The code she was able to get easily enough; she was basically the Circuitry Whisperer and could coax all kinds of secrets out of computers. Her lock pick took care of the keyhole and she ducked into the room just in time; a security guard making rounds turned into the hallway just as she shut the door.

Audrey prowled the room until she found where they were storing the Blood Moon Diamond, inside its own protective glass case. This required a code and voice recognition. Audrey could sift through the inner workings of the program and override that protocol, though it would likely be faster to simply shatter the glass. She jumped when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the storage room. They sounded like they were in a hurry.

Audrey cursed and sent a jolt through the keypad on the case, causing it to short out so she could open the case. An alarm sounded as she stuffed the ring into a hidden pocket and then slunk to the door, primed to take down the security who came through the door. As the door opened she shoved it from her side and sent one security guard sprawling on the ground and almost taking his two comrades with him. Audrey swung around the door, kicking one of them solidly in the face and pulling out her stun gun. She had all of them twitching on the floor and jumped over them, sprinting down the hall.

Footsteps thudded behind her and she whirled, expecting to see another guard and instead found herself facing Cryogen.

"You can't just leave well enough alone, can you?" he asked, sounding more annoyed than usual.

"They're still sending you after me, Snowflake? Even after your last failure?"

A thick sheet of ice coated the entire floor and Audrey slid backward, keeping her balance and mimicking an ice skater as she kept moving backward to keep an eye on him. He strode forward with ease, grabbing for her arm.

"Listen, Carmen San Diego, I have better things to be doing so I really don't have time for this bullshit."

Audrey went limp as he grabbed her, catching him off guard. She crumpled onto the ice, kicking out to knock his legs out from under him. She skidded backwards a ways, spotting an elevator and a window at the end of the hall. She rolled and crawled rather ungracefully across the icy floor. Snowflake cursed and got back on his feet, marching angrily after her. He caught her again, hauling her to her feet and pinning her arms to her sides.

"Consider yourself under arrest, again," he said.

"See, now's not a good time for me," Audrey said, coaxing the elevator doors open. "I have plans of my own this evening."

"That's unfortunate for you, then."

"Actually, sugar plum fairy, it's unfortunate for you."

She still had the tiny stun gun in her hand and she gave him a tiny little zap. He flinched and reeled backwards, right into the open elevator.

"Going down," she chirped, waving. The doors slammed shut before he could get out, the elevator dropping back down to the first floor. Audrey swung out the window. She was four stories up so she had to drop from one window ledge to another, almost losing her grip a few times. But she finally reached the ground and began rearranging her outfit to hide Phantasma.

Her phone rang and she saw Matt's number. "Hello?" she answered, a tad breathless.

"Hey, Audrey, I just wanted to let you know I'm running a little late," Matt said.

"Oh. That's fine, I'm actually a few minutes behind myself. I'll see you when you get there."

She booked it back to the restaurant, smoothing her hair back into place and sneaking through the lot to her car; swapping her boots for a pair of red kitten heels. She exchanged pleasantries with the maitre d and sat down to wait for Matt. She watched cop cars zoom by outside as they headed to the Barringer Center. The ring was tucked safely inside her hidden pocket, and Audrey smirked into her glass of water. Chief Larsen was going to be so pissed.