A Thief's Treasure

A Thief’s Treasure
By: Elena Miller
Copyright © 2013
All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book

Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter One

I walked into the main room which was filled with a myriad of people talking and joking like they were close friends.
 
It was the grand reveal of the most precious
artifact
that this museum has acquired: a brand-new vase from the Mayan empire which was found in Mexico.
 
It was a very ancient vase and one of the most important pieces yet which caused a ton of guests to flock to the museum that night to see what it was all about.

Of course this barely had anything to do with me.
 
As an intern for the local art university I usually get the bitch work for the museum here in Atlanta.
 
This time as well
 
it was no exception either and I was stuck having to run the customer service area which meant I get to talk to people but I really don’t get to have any interesting conversations with them besides them asking me dummy questions about where the bathrooms are and stuff.
 
I really didn’t get to have any fun learning about some of the people here nor do I get to talk about the vase besides the scheduled time of when it would be revealed.
 
I may get to meet famous artists, but they don’t give two rats fucks about a lowly intern like me.
 
Of course who knows, maybe they’ll think I’m great at answering questions and want me as a PR agent for them.
 
That’s a pie in the sky dream though and probably won’t happen tonight.
 
I’d be luckier meeting the queen of England than getting out of this shitty job as a paid intern.

I grabbed my badge and placed it around my neck, catering to the interrogation that was apparent.
 
I helped a couple of donators who came in early with general information about the area.
 
They were nice to me, but they didn’t really give a shit about what I did in the overall scheme of things and just wanted to get what they needed answered.
 

More people started filing in more frequently at this point, each one very elegantly dressed and giving maybe one shit about me.
 
It sucked, but that’s life I guess.

I continued to cater to everyone’s personal requests about information on the new statue.
 
They ranged from very friendly and easy things that take only a second to answer to pretty much barbed questions that were stated in order to get a reaction out of me and make me feel uncomfortable.
 
Some were almost grumbling that they would prefer to be at a charity concert and were asking when they would be over.
 
I listened to all of them though and answered them satisfactorily and finally the throng of people dissipated.
 
I sighed in relief; I needed a break after all of that

I started to walk into the back room to take a five-minute break while my co-worker Leila handled whatever else came our way.
 
I needed some fresh air and the back room had a small window where I could get some air and calm down.
 
As I walked out though a hand ghosted over my shoulder.
 
Assuming it was my boss and I was probably going to get admonished, I turned around and faced him with a sweet smile.

“Hey
Mr.
Jones.
 
Sorry I was—“

I was immediately cut off by this guy’s visage in front of me.
 
He had gorgeous brown hair and a very tall frame.
 
He adorned a small vest under a white shirt like the other male interns.
 
Around his hips was a pair of fitted black slacks.
 
He had a small bit of stubble ghosting his chin, but other than that he was perfectly clean-shaven.
 
He didn’t look like any of the people at the party due to the way he dressed and he certainly wasn’t an intern.
 
I would have remembered a guy this hot and probably would have tried to flirt with him at least once before getting rejected.
 
This guy was probably interested in blonde bimbos with blue eyes, the exact opposite of my brown hair, small frame with average boobs, and hazel eyes.

“C-can I help you?” I stuttered.

He gave me a small smile and pulled me into the hallway away from the guests.
 
“Yes you can.
 
Is there any way you can tell me where the location of the piece is?
 
I’m a new intern and they wanted me to go check on it in case something had happened to it,” he replied coolly.

He was very hot but there was something amiss about him, like there was something he wasn’t telling me that had something with both me and the vase.
 
I dismissed it though and looked at him directly in the eye.
 
“Well it’s in room 103 but there’s a security lock on it.
 
Do you have the password?” I asked.

He scratched his head for a moment as if trying to rattle his brain for something but I could tell he didn’t have a clue.
 
He gave me a dazzling smile again.
 
“Actually no I forgot to ask and I think I was gone before they realized it.
 
Is there any way you can come with me?”

“Sure.
 
I’ll come with you.
 
Gets me away from this shitty opening at least,” I replied. I hated having to show around interns but my boss was not the world’s smartest or controlling person and usually we had to play babysitter to them for the first few weeks.
 
That’s why this job is a double-edged sword for me; I can get time off very easily and I have done so, but when it comes to new interns coming aboard it’s a nightmare to take care of them and get them grooved in.
 
Even so, I would definitely leave my job for this man any day.

We walked down the hallway to the storeroom which was currently unguarded.
 
On big event days there are already guards on every corner so it would be just a waste of money to keep two of them here.
 
We walked to the door and I pushed in the password on the keypad.
 
After a moment the door opened to let us in.

The room was dark sans a small light in the corner illuminating it.
 
The vase was in the corner, seemingly unguarded but about fifteen heat sensors were around it.
 
I hit a couple more buttons on the wall and the heat-sensitive guards started to come down.
 
The man and I walked up to the vase, admiring it.

“This is beautiful,” he voiced.

“Yep.
 
We keep it in here because it’s very hard to get past everything unless you have someone to open the door and get you through the heat guards.
 
We’re going to put it out under a trap-door located under here and it will come through that once we officially unveil it,” I explained.

“Very nice.
 
Say could you do me a favour and smell this?
 
I know that sounds weird as hell but I found it earlier and I’ve been trying to figure out what it smells like.
 
I think it might’ve been one of the other interns but could you help me out?” he asked.
 
He thrust the cloth in my direction before I could answer.
 

I took a whiff of it, my nostrils doing a grimace.
 
It was one of the strongest perfumes I’ve ever smelled and it was far from palatable.
 
It smelled kind of like Leila’s scarf and I was going to tell him so but for some reason my body got extremely tied.

“I think this is Leila’s but I don’t—“before I could voice what else I had to say I passed out and fell to the floor.

Chapter Two

I started to regain consciousness after the random knockout.
 
Looked around I started to assess where I was.
 
I saw a lot of people looking at me with a horrified look on their face, obviously not happy with what was going on.
 
Their looks on their faces sent me into even more confusion though; why was everyone looking at me like this.

I tried to get out of my restraints but to no avail.
 
I was bound by my arms and my legs felt like they weighed over a hundred pounds.
 
I tried to move but due to the heaviness of my body it was almost unbearable.
 
My vision was starting to clear and I could make out what was happening, but I could barely hear more than the male’s voice next to me which sounded oddly familiar.

“So ladies and gentleman I hope you have a great night.
 
I know I will be and I’ll be taking this beautiful statue with me along with this sexy little cutie as well,” the voice said confidently.
 
I felt a hand around my waist, grasping it tightly.
 
I tried to move around as an attempt to get out of his vice grip, but he had me tightly around him.
 
I felt something move me to a higher location.
 
We got up to a higher area and I could feel my body being carried by this mysterious assailant like a sack of potatoes.
 
I was barely conscious still and unable to move, but I knew something was very wrong.
 
I could hear people screaming my name and demanding me to get away from this guy.
 
I couldn’t however, and even though I wanted to something was telling me inexplicably to stay.

We were soon out of the art museum and on the room.
 
We started to move from rooftop to rooftop, each landing making my teeth rattle on impact.
 
The guards seemed to follow effortlessly behind us though as if they had done this many times before.

“We’re going to the sewers miss.
 
I hope you don’t hate me for not taking you to a better place for a meet up but I think saving our asses is more important at the moment,” he yelled.

I was in a whirlwind; was he talking to me?
 
Before I could figure it out though we had scaled along an edge of a building, the thumps of his legs hitting the wall vibrating my body.
 
He had the vase secured in one arm and me over his shoulder, which was impressive considering I weighed over 120 pounds.
 
When we got to the ground he continued to run me to a manhole that was strangely open.
 
He hoisted me higher onto his shoulders for stability and climbed down the ladder.
 
Before his entire body was inside he covered the manhole cover to hide us from the outside world.

When we got to the bottom we stopped for a moment.
 
He bent down to untie my feet, allowing me to move at least half my body again.
 
I was starting to regain full awareness as well, and when I realized who my kidnapper was my eyes widened in utter shock.

“What the hell is going on?” I breathed.

He smiled, putting the vase down for a second to move next to me.
 
“You’re safe now.
 
Do as I say and you’ll be fine and we’ll both live,” he instructed.

“But--“

“Listen sweetie, if you’re quiet you’ll make it out of here alive.
 
We’re right by the sewer entrance into the museum and if they hear us they will come after not only me but you as well.
 
I don’t want you to get hurt,” he demanded.

I knew he was being serious so I shut up right then and there and continued to walk with him.
 
We travelled about a mile under the ground, turning various corners and different twists in the myriad of tunnels under the city.
 
It smelled a little bit, but my confusion and fear masked the most of it and replacing it with the apprehension I started to feel.
 
We finally got to a small walkway, and after a minute we walked up and reached a small trapdoor.
 
Opening the door, we entered a massive house which had a small couple at the table talking.
 
They heard the noise and stopped their conversations, turning to my kidnapper with sweet smiles.

“Welcome back,” one of the proprietors stated.
 
She was very pretty with flaxen-blonde hair and pretty green eyes.
 
She looked nothing like my kidnapper and I was a little wary about her.
 
She might be competition for all I know.