The girl was perhaps nine or ten years old, with long, curly red hair loosely gathered into two side ponytails, and a splash of dark freckles on her fair skin. She was wearing flip-flops and shorts over a swimsuit, carrying a plastic grocery sack that revealed the corner of a towel.
Gwen stood up from her crouch and threw Annie a quick warning glance. “Well, hello, there.”
The girl frowned. “What’s the ladder for?”
“That’s a funny story,” Gwen said, trying to look friendly. “We forgot our key.”
The girl’s face creased in a deep frown. “You don’t live here.”
“Neither do you.”
The girl rolled her eyes. “No kidding. But I have permission to be here.”
“So do we!” Gwen said.
The girl frowned again, eyebrows furled. “Yeah? Who says?”
“Bill and Susan. They asked us to come over while they were out. We had a key, but we forgot to bring it.”
The girl stared at them for a long time. “Why should I believe you?”
Gwen and Annie shared another glance, and Gwen put her hands up. “I don’t know. But we could call them—they’d tell you.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Annie tense, but she didn’t react, still smiling slightly at the girl, doing her best to appear non-threatening. The girl’s eyes went back and forth between the two of them.
Finally, she shrugged. “Okay. If you call, and they say it’s okay, I’ll believe you.”
“Can you get inside?” Gwen asked.
The girl nodded, setting down her plastic bag. She dug around inside and came out with a key. Regarding them warily, she walked to the back door before unlocking it. Annie and Gwen followed her in and watched as she typed in the code to disable the alarm. The girl pointed at the phone.
“There it is.”
Annie went toward it, but the girl held up her hand. “Wait. Tell me what the number is.”
“What?”
“Tell me the number so I know you’re calling the right one.”
Annie thought for a few seconds before responding. “214-555-6586.”
Some of the girl’s tension seemed to ease, and she nodded. “That’s right. Susan made me memorize it in case something happened.”
“Are you watching the house?” Gwen asked, surprised.
The girl lifted a shoulder. “Sort of. They let me use the pool if I water the plants inside. They have a guy that does the outside stuff, but I guess they didn’t want him poking around in here. I’m also supposed to call if I see a broken window or something.”
“Seems like a pretty good deal,” Gwen said, glancing at Annie. She was delaying the phone call as much as she could, but Annie was clearly nervous.
The girl smiled for the first time. “It is. I love their pool. Normally they’d have it covered while they were gone, but I did such a good job with the plants last time, they said I could use it. I’m a good swimmer, so they don’t have to worry about me drowning or anything. I get to use the pool, and I get five dollars a week for taking care of the plants.”
“Wow,” Gwen said, sounding impressed. “That’s a lot of moola.”
The girl giggled at the word, covering her mouth with her hand.
“So my name is Gwen, and this is Annie. What’s your name?”
“Jennifer. But I like Jen better.”
“Okay, Jen. Nice to meet you. I think maybe you can help us.”
“Oh? How?”
Gwen waited for a second, wondering if she was pushing this too far. This was a smart little girl, and she seemed to have a pretty good bullshit meter. Despite the relative trust they’d developed, Jen was still standing as far away as possible. Gwen knew she had to get the girl to forget, momentarily at least, about the phone call. She decided to risk it.
“The thing is, Susan asked us to come over here and get something for her. It’s super important, or we wouldn’t have tried to get in on our own without a key.”
“What is it?”
“It’s supposed to be in her office. It’s a file, a business file. This is such a big house, we’re not sure where to go.”
“Oh, I can show you,” Jen said. “Follow me.”
She rushed out of the room, leading them to a staircase. Annie held back at the foot of the stairs, waiting until Jen was out of earshot.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Improvising. Now come on.”
She went up, Annie following a few seconds later. Jen was waiting at the top, shifting from foot to foot. She ran away down the long hallway once they’d caught up. Gwen and Annie followed at a more leisurely pace, Gwen glancing into the open rooms. They might find something in the office, but if not, she wanted to know where to look next. They passed a large TV room, a bedroom, and the next room was the office. Jen stood inside, clearly pleased with herself, and both Gwen and Annie paused in the doorway, taking it in.
“Holy shit,” Annie whispered.
The place was a wreck. Papers were strewn across the room, on the floor and across the desk, piles of folders on almost every surface. A large computer monitor sat on desk, taking up most of the space beside the piles of file folders and loose papers.
“Wow,” Gwen said.
“Right?” Jen asked. “It’s a mess.”
Gwen wondered, then, if something had happened—if someone else had been here before them. “Is it always like this?”
Jen nodded. “Just about. The rest of the house is always nice, but not in here.”
Gwen felt a momentary relief and nodded. “Yeah. Some people are real slobs.”
Jen giggled again. “So what are you looking for?”
Gwen glanced at Annie, finally out of ideas, but Annie was already smiling at Jen. “Bank records.”
“What are those?”
“They should be pretty obvious. They’ll have the name of a bank at the top and lots of numbers on them.”
Jen peered around at the mess helplessly, realizing, perhaps, the extent of what was being asked of her, and frowned. “Jeez. I don’t know anything about that.”
“That’s okay. I can find them.” She glanced at Gwen.
“She’s good at this kind of thing,” Gwen said immediately. “Why don’t you and I let her look, and you can show me the pool again.”
“Okay,” Jen said at once. She grabbed Gwen’s hand and led her away, walking so fast she felt like her arm might slip out of its socket. She threw one last glance at Annie, who raised her thumb.
Outside again, the sun had reached its zenith, making the concrete around the pool feel like a stove top, even through the soles of her sandals. Jen immediately shucked off her shorts, slipped off her flip-flops, and raced toward the pool, diving in a surprisingly graceful arc at the last second. She came up a moment later, splashing and grinning wildly.
“That was great,” Gwen said, clapping.
Jen swam over to the edge near her, still smiling. “I’ve been practicing all summer. I want to get on the swim team next year.”
“Well, you will, for sure.”
“I want to be in the Olympics when I’m older.”
Gwen nodded, trying to seem sage and interested. “That’s a really great goal. Takes a lot of work, I bet.”
“And how. That’s why I practice every day, even when it’s cold out.”
“That’s a good plan.”
“I was gone all weekend at my grandma’s, so I have to get caught up. I’m going to swim for two hours today to make up for it.”
Gwen again made herself appear suitably impressed, then watched for a little while as if interested. Eventually, when she could see that the girl was absorbed in her task, she took the opportunity to remove the ladder. They might get away with this, at least in the short term, so they didn’t need to alert anyone sooner than necessary. The gardener would be over eventually this week, and he would certainly call someone if he saw a ladder out here. It was much harder to wrestle it back to the shed on her own, but she managed to hang it into the hooks where she’d found it, closing and locking the door on her way out.
By this time, Jen had climbed out and was watching her from a cross-legged position on the ground by the pool. Gwen gave her a quick smile, again trying to look reassuring and innocent. Some of that earlier suspicion showed again in the girl’s eyes, and Gwen could have kicked herself for being so stupid. By bringing attention to the ladder, she’d reminded the girl of how they’d met.
“You were really going to climb in the window up there?” Jen asked, pointing.
Gwen nodded. “We had no choice. Susan really needs that file.”
Jen was frowning again, eyes narrowed. “So how do I know you’re not cat burglars?”
Gwen made herself laugh. “Do I look like a burglar to you?” She indicated her outfit. She and Annie were still wearing their tourist getups of shorts and sandals.
Jen shook her head. “No—you don’t. But I guess I still don’t know what you’re doing here.”
“We told you already.”
Jen nodded. “Exactly. You told me. Why should I believe you?”
“I also told you we could call Susan and check.”
Jen frowned. “Yes. And then you distracted me, didn’t you?”
Gwen’s pulse rate picked up. She didn’t want to threaten this girl in any way, but it was starting to seem like that might be the only choice. She was running out of ideas. Suddenly, she thought of something and smiled.
“Okay. You got us. We’re international cat burglars.”
The girl’s eyes lit up. “What? No way. You’re fooling me.”
Gwen shook her head. “Nope. Honestly. We came here to break in and steal secret files. They’re worth lots of money.”
The girl jumped up to her feet. “Are you serious?”
Gwen held up a hand. “Swear to God—we’re here to steal files.”
“But you know Susan and Bill’s names!”
“That’s because we cased the joint—checked it out ahead of time. Seriously—watch the news tonight. You’ll probably see us on there. We’re wanted by the police and the FBI.”
As she’d expected, clearly none of this story frightened Jen. Instead, she seemed excited.
“Wow! How cool!” Then her face fell. “But wait. I don’t want you to steal from Bill and Susan. They’re my friends.”
“But that’s just it, Jen. We’re not stealing from them. We’re stealing from banks, and those are insured. We need some account numbers they have. They won’t lose any money.”
“For real?”
“For real.”
Jen still seemed a little dubious, and Gwen laughed. “All right, answer me this. Why would I tell you anything, only to lie to you about this? We’re not going to take anything that belongs to them. I promise.”
The girl was frowning again, and Gwen decided to risk one more thing. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet. “Okay. I’ll make you a deal.”
Jen said nothing for a long time, her lips tight. Finally, as if she couldn’t help her curiosity, she asked, “What kind of deal?”
Gwen slipped out two hundred-dollar bills and held them out for Jen to see. “If I’m lying, you get to keep these. If not, I’ll come get one of them from you in exactly two weeks.” She rubbed the bills together when the girl didn’t reach for them. “That’s a lot of money for me to give away if I’m full of crap.”
Slowly, as if expecting the bills to disappear, Jen took them from her gingerly. She examined the money and then smiled so widely, Gwen thought her face would crack in half.
“Wow, jeez! I’ve never even seen a hundred before. I get to keep one of these, either way?”
“That’s right—a hundred of that is yours. The other hundred is mine in two weeks, so don’t spend it!”
“Unless you’re lying.”
Gwen laughed. “Exactly. Unless I’m lying. Then you can do whatever you want with it. Deal?” She held out a hand.
Jen shook it. “Deal.”
Annie came out the back door a moment later, smiling. She gave Gwen a long, knowing look and nodded slightly. She’d gotten what she needed.
“So I guess we’re all done here,” Gwen said.
“And you’re sure you’re not going to hurt Bill and Susan?” Jen asked.
Gwen saw Annie react but made herself laugh. “No. Like I said, they’ll be fine. Everything we’ll take belongs to someone else. They’ll be fine.”
Jen stared at her skeptically for a few seconds and then finally nodded, smiling. “Okay. I guess I’ll know either way in two weeks.”
“Exactly.” She squeezed Jen’s shoulder briefly. “You take care of yourself, now, and practice your swimming every day.”
“I will.”
Gwen turned to Annie, holding out her hand. If Jen thought this sign of affection strange, she didn’t let on, only waving at the two of them once before diving into the pool again. Gwen and Annie went out the way they’d come in, this time opening and closing the gate.
“What was that all about?” Annie finally asked.
“It’s fine. I handled it. She’ll figure it out in a couple of weeks, so we have some time. How did it go on your end?”
“Better than I could have dreamed. I started by checking out the papers on the desk and stuff, but then I thought I’d look at the computer, too. It was all on there—hundreds of account numbers, some with a few thousand dollars, a few with a lot more. We lucked out. They didn’t have any kind of security on any of it. They’re incredibly careless.”
“Or arrogant.”
Annie nodded.
“Are the accounts all in the same place?”
“No. They’re all over the place. The big ones are in the Caymans, like I thought. One with four million, one with two, and two with one—all with different names. The rest are all over the states, but much smaller, like ten or twenty thousand.”
“You’re not carrying anything. Did you write it all down somewhere?”
Annie laughed. “I emailed it to myself.”
“Won’t they be able to see that?”
Annie shrugged. “I erased my tracks, but maybe. Though only if they check on that computer.”
“How much time do we have before they start moving the money?”
“I have no idea. None of the transfers were recent, not that I could see, so we could have lots. Still, they might get paranoid, especially once they know we have the bank-account numbers.”
“So assuming they won’t know before then, we have two weeks. If they come back sooner and talk to Jen, they could know at any time.”
“Right. Or they might get hinky and move it now. There’s no way to know.”
They’d reached the car, and Gwen was glad they’d left the windows open. The black leather was scorching on her bare legs, but at least they could sit here without suffocating. She’d been debating something for a couple of days now, and she decided, finally, to ask.
“What do you think of calling Susan?”
Annie’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Why would I do that?”
“To throw her off the scent for a while. Make her think you’re still on her side—that you don’t know anything.”
Annie frowned. “She has to suspect by now.”
“Yes, but she doesn’t know for sure yet, right?”
“I guess.”
Gwen let it rest at that, starting the car and turning it back around the way they’d come. She was fairly certain they wouldn’t pass anyone on this road, but if they did, their faces would be clearly visible on this narrow road with the sunlight directly on them. Even with their sunglasses on again, if Bill or Susan was driving the other way, they’d be sure to recognize Annie.
She didn’t relax again until they were back on the interstate, heading south. Annie had been quiet this entire time, but Gwen didn’t push, letting her mull over her idea. It was true, it might not do any good to call Susan, but it might. Annie had said that Susan wasn’t above killing people, and Gwen wasn’t eager to have some hired killer on their tail on top of everyone else that was chasing them. If they could hoodwink her for a few more days, they might have a chance to get the money first.
“Okay. I’ll do it,” Annie finally said.
“What? Really?”
“Yes. You’re right—it might buy us some more time. If not, it isn’t as if I could make things worse than they already are.”
“What if she tries to get you to come in?”
“I’ll put her off—tell her I’m far away or something, hiding.”
“What if she has caller ID? She’d know where you called from.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
They were quiet, the afternoon sun starting to stretch into the evening, the shadows growing perceptibly longer. Gwen took an exit off the interstate into a secondary highway headed southeast.
“Where are we going?” Annie asked.
“Roswell.”
“What? Why there?”
“Aliens.”
Annie stared at her, not smiling, and Gwen laughed. “Sorry—stupid joke. I have another friend there. It would probably be better to call first, but we can get a hotel tonight, and I can contact her in the morning. She’s done some computer stuff with my company, so she might be able to help us move the money, or know who to ask.”
“Okay.”
They were quiet again. For Gwen, the idea that they might succeed was starting to seem more and more real. Soon, she needed to ask what would happen when this ended. Her chest grew tight and almost hot with nerves. Would Annie have any room for her in her life once she had all that money?
“Gwen?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks again. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
Gwen smiled at her and grabbed her hand. Touching her, that simple contact, made her feel like everything would be okay. Even if they were deluding themselves, things couldn’t be that bad if they had this connection.