Chapter 14

 

 

Trini stepped inside after taking out the trash and found Mary in the kitchen.

“We’ve assigned all the beds,” Mary said, “and I put the No Vacancy sign on the front door.”

“Listen, I’ve got an idea,” Trini said.

Mary’s ears perked up.

“The show’s on next door and it looks like another big crowd, so I’m thinking Sunshine and Orion will be busy for quite awhile. What do you say we sneak over and take a look in the bus?” She paused and fiddled with the zipper on her hoodie. “Tell me if this is crazy and you don’t want to do it.”

“Heck yeah, I’m all for it.” Mary was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I’d love to find Micah’s missing watch and the other items over there.”

“I know. Even though the rest of your friends don’t think this couple is doing the thieving, I’d just like to be sure.”

They were already on the way outside, where they look a long look around the parking area. Six men dressed in white pants and shirts hung near the front door, smoking and apparently killing time until their turn to appear in the show. The women slipped around the end of the chain link fencing and ducked behind a leafy bougainvillea. No one had noticed.

Keeping low, they stayed behind vehicles in the lot and made their way to the side of the bus. The folding door faced the back of the property, away from the back door of the Temple building.

Trini tried the door latch with no luck. Mary backed up, raising a leg, ready to give the thing a swift kick.

“Wait! We don’t actually want to break it, do we? They’ll know we’ve broken in.”

“They’ll know someone broke in. Can’t really know it was us.”

“What if they have a camera mounted somewhere?” Trini paced a couple of steps away. “Oh god this was a bad idea.”

“I don’t see any cameras. Hang on. I’ve got more tricks,” Mary said, reaching into the pocket of her jacket.

She came out with a keyring and thumbed through, holding up a tiny tool of some kind. Working it at various angles in the lock, she felt something give way, triggering the door release.

“Okay,” she whispered. “We’re in.”

“It’s pitch dark in there. Do we risk a light?”

“Is there normally one on in here when they’re doing the show?”

“Sometimes yes, sometimes no.”

“Let’s turn one on. If anyone walks by it’ll be less suspicious than a flashlight flickering around.”

A switch near the door turned on an overhead light. The women quickly closed the door and made certain all the window curtains were pulled shut.

“Okay, if I were a stolen pocket watch, where would I be?” Trini murmured.

Mary giggled.

“Sorry, it’s a trick I use at home to find missing things. Always works for me there.”

“Here’s a small closet,” Mary said. “I’ll go through it. You take those drawers.”

The closet revealed three white dresses and Orion’s flowing stage clothing in white and purple. None of the outfits had pockets, she discovered with a pat-down.

“I now know how Sunshine appears to glow when she comes down the aisle,” Mary said, holding one of the dresses under the light. “There’s metallic thread woven into the gauzy white material. The spotlights they use in there would bring out the sparkle even more.”

“The drawers are jammed with kitchen tools, a candle lighter, some packets of coffee. One has nothing but paper plates and napkins.”

“What about those?” Mary pointed to some cardboard boxes tucked under the dinette table. She turned back to the closet, straightening the clothing as she’d found it.

“Holy cow!” Trini sputtered. “Look at this.”

She held open the flaps on a box. Inside were neatly banded packets of twenty dollar bills. Mary’s eyes widened. “Whoa. Amber was right—they do bring in a lot of cash.”

Trini removed a few of the stacks then ran her hand down the inside edge of the box. “It seems to be the same, all the way to the bottom. No little trinkets stashed beneath.”

“There’s another box. Check it.” Mary edged past, heading for the queen-sized bed at the back of the bus. Beneath its platform was a sizeable storage space and she pulled out two smaller cardboard boxes and some kind of machine.

“What’s that?” Trini asked, elbow deep in the second box of currency.

“It’s a money counter. I guess when you have this kind of haul, it’s too much work to sit down and count it manually.” Mary shoved the machine back under the bed.

The two small boxes rattled enticingly when Mary shook them, but neither revealed what the women wanted. Instead, one held two pairs of earbuds and some kind of transmitter device. She looked them over and shrugged. The other box contained a banking debit card and two credit cards in the corporate name Moon Temple LLC, and a pair of passports issued to Melissa and Foster Fordyce.

She spread the documents on the floor and snapped a picture with her camera phone, flinching when the flash went off.

“How long have we been in here?” Trini asked, nervously eyeing the door.

“Long enough, I’d say. Do you know what time the show ends?”

Trini shook her head and began repacking the boxes of money.

Mary stepped to the side window and peeked around the edge of the curtain. “Oh no! People are coming out. Hurry!”

She ran back to the bed, shoved the small boxes back in place, and checked to be sure everything looked as she had found it. Another peek out the window showed the burly men in white gathered at the back door. Some kind of security detail for the gurus, she guessed, in addition to being the passers of the collection baskets. She caught a flash of bright purple and saw Orion’s long hair.

“Trini, get up! We have to get out before they see us.”

Trini noticed one loose packet of twenties, snatched it up, and jammed it into the box. The cardboard flaps were not cooperative as she tried to re-tuck them. Mary had the door open a crack and was practically dancing on her toes to get moving. She stepped outside, keeping watch at the front of the bus, ready to provide a diversion, but Trini stumbled out and pulled the door closed.

They dashed toward the back of the bus, opposite to where Orion and Sunshine were approaching. Pressed against the back, they held their breath until the couple’s voices sounded from inside.

“Quick—get around the fence to our own side,” Trini said, ducking for the protective bougainvillea once again.

Inside the homeless shelter, and safely in Trini’s quarters, they finally dared to speak again.

“That was way too close,” Trini said.

Mary let out a pent-up breath. “Yeah.” Although she actually remembered a couple of other close calls and figured at least this was one she could have probably talked her way out of. “How much do you think was in those boxes?” she asked Trini, mostly to take her mind off the folly of the mission.

Trini shrugged. “No idea. I’m glad you snapped pictures. At least we have some proof.”

“I don’t know. Proof of what? Just because they collect all this money in cash, it doesn’t prove they don’t use it for housing for the poor, just as they claim.”

Trini slumped on the sofa. “Right. And we didn’t find any of the stolen items from our people here. Kind of discouraging, really.”

Mary nodded but didn’t say anything. She needed to take the evidence to the rest of the Heist Ladies.