It was easy. Too easy. I'd slipped between the closing iron gates just after the Mercedes had left and skittered across the open lawns without incident. Leaving would be over the wall, but why struggle when the owners let you in?
The black skintight suit was warm enough in the night air and I waited in the shadows for the lights to go out. Patience was important in my line of work. As was stealth, and knowing what was valuable. My father had taught me well before his untimely death from cancer.
Now I was out here in the world alone following in his footsteps. Hopefully, I would have made him proud.
I wasn't a bad girl as such. I only targeted people who could afford it. People who would be insured. And I always avoided anything that looked very old. Those were the things likely to have sentimental value, family heirlooms. I had no wish to hurt people more than necessary.
Getting in was just a matter of picking a lock. Alarms were always off when the house was occupied or at the very least zoned. I actively avoided empty ones. There was always something that would trip you up. I'd made that mistake a couple of years ago and only just avoided being caught.
Inside, I looked around the large open living spaces seeing nothing that caught my attention. Then I headed up a wide curving staircase. You got used to moving around in the dark. Being petite helped. It meant room to move. I only needed the occasional flash of my penlight in a space and I could commit its layout to memory.
Big posh houses like this were all the same. Find the bedrooms, check the dressing tables, and lift the paintings.
Safes were my specialty. Always behind expensive pictures or hidden away in desk cabinets. No different here. I found it easily in what appeared to be an upstairs office space. Amazingly the first room I checked. It was tucked behind a large rendition of what looked like spilt paint. Someone somewhere would shout its value and bestow upon the foolish its meaning. But to me it was a splodge, a mess that looked like a well-used artist's palette just hung on the wall.
Carefully setting the canvas on the floor to one side I set to work on the lock. Combination and key. It wasn't sophisticated. The digital amplifier and the set of professional locksmith picks from my small rucksack made quick work of it.
It made a small click as it opened and I aimed the flash inside.
Bingo.
An assortment of paperwork, a bundle of cash, and a fine luxury jewelry box.
The cash I pushed to one side. Probably traceable. The jewelry was different. It could be sold on easily. Diamonds reset, gold melted down, untraceable. I knew people who would give me a good price. This was what I'd come for. I flipped the box open and lifted its contents one by one into my rucksack. The owner wouldn't care. Insurance would cover the loss. I would be out of here in a few minutes and some poor guy or woman would find their safe mysteriously missing some of its contents the next time they looked. It might be tomorrow or in a month.
I froze as the room flooded with light. A jolt of shock flooded through me.
"Shit." I muttered.
"What are you doing?" The male voice was authoritative.
Turning slowly I came face to face with the owner of this house. The wealthy Doctor I'd been intent on relieving of just a little wealth. He was big and powerful.
"Sorry. I was looking for the bathroom."
He stood blocking my only exit. One door in or out. An older, smaller man I might have struggled with and got past. But this one was forty at most. And fit. My tiny frame was no match for him.
"Bathroom?
Really?
Looks to me more like you found what you were looking for. And it isn't the bathroom."
I glanced back at the open safe thinking how I could play for time. He had no idea who I was. I'd been careful, no fingerprints. And I wasn't on a database anywhere.
"This?
I thought...
It might be a... small bathroom.
Very small."
He almost smiled. Maybe I could charm him.
"I think the police can discuss your toilet habits better than me."
Oh shit. He had a cell phone in his hand.
"Wait."
He stopped dialing and looked at me expectantly.
"What?"
I hesitated as my smart mouth deserted me.
"No. I got nothing."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. If he made that call I was screwed. I didn't want to imagine what'd happen to a slip of a thing like me in a Penitentiary.
"Thought not."
He turned his attention to the cell phone again and I went with the only thing I had. I reached up and pulled the hood from my head. Long blonde hair fell cascading down the sides of my face and I gave him my warmest smile.
I knew I was a looker. A pretty face with warm blue eyes that sparkled. There weren't many men that didn't stop at the sight of my face.
This one was no different. He hesitated and I saw his eyes scan me up and down. The tight-fitting catsuit accentuated every curve of my small body. For me, it was about flexibility and ease of movement. But in this moment the way it clung to me was buying time. Now I looked more disarming maybe he'd let me talk my way out.
"How old are you?" He asked incredulously.
I smiled.
"Next you'll be asking my name. And you'll get that I don't want to give you that."
He laughed.
"No. I suppose not. But you look incredibly young to be skulking about like Raffles dressed as Cat-woman."
Who's Raffles? I wondered. But he looked more relaxed. Over the shock of finding a black-clad figure with fingers in his safe. However, he still stood in my only exit.
"So what have you got in the bag? Money?"
"This ol' thing?".
I held the small backpack up and showed him the contents. Wasn't like I could deny it.
"That's my wife's jewelry."
"Oh. I wondered who's it was. Didn't think it suited you."
I smiled again, dropping the bag at his feet.
"Guess it's still your wife's jewelry."
I felt disappointed that tonight wouldn't be payday after all. But right now my priority was not going to jail.
"How about you just let me go and we'll say nothing more of this? Promise I'll never mention it to anyone."
He really did laugh now. But at least the cell phone was at his side again.
"Yeah. That's gonna happen, isn't it.
You break into my house, raid my safe and you think I'm just gonna let you walk out of here?"
"Er... Yeah."
"No way."
I went with pleading.
"Aw come on. You're rich and successful. I'm a kid that's just trying to survive. Now you want to mess my life up by having me locked away?