“You don’t have to be. I will.” She shoved the paper in his face. “This is what she’s willing to pay.”
He blinked as the number came into focus. Then he stepped back. “Which woman was this?”
“Her name is London. She was the woman who came in alone.”
Figures.“The one who showed up dressed inappropriately and who giggled at the name of the equipment.” He stared down at his sister. “Giggled.”
“She handled herself well tonight. Everything about her paperweight went smoothly. It’s a win-win. This kind of money will help you meet your goals faster.”
“No one pays that kind of money to use a studio. It’s something shady.” His thoughts went back to Wilson and his ornaments and then the phone call. People suddenly wanting to pay him a lot of money left him unsettled.
“It is not. She showed me what she wants to make, and while it’s more complicated than a paperweight, it’s not outrageous. It’s a gift for her mom.”
“It doesn’t add up.”
His sister crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “So, as long as I get payment upfront, and I’m here babysitting her the whole time, it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t add up. We get paid handsomely for our time.”
“I don’t need to be tripping over a newbie when I have my own commissioned pieces to get done before the holidays.”
“She already agreed to come in after close. It’ll be just me and her.”
“I don’t like to be told when I can and can’t work.”
“We’ll work around your schedule. Once we have a plan, I’ll let you know. That way, you can avoid her.” She huffed. “Anything else?”
“You have all the answers, don’t you?”
“I’m good like that.”
“Fine. Keep her out of my way, and do what you want.”
“Yay!” She jumped up and clapped. “Make sure you let me know what days and times I need to avoid. London is going to call me tomorrow to set things up.”
He grumbled. Part of the reason he loved having his own business was that he didn’t have to answer to anyone. He could start his workday at eight at night if he wanted. But he could do this for Bronte. A week or two of scheduling his work time so he could avoid a woman who clearly had trouble written all over her. He could handle it.
And as Bronte pointed out, that was a lot of money for a babysitting gig.
ChapterFour
The following night, London had been surprised to get a call from Audrey asking her to come back to the apartment to talk about the job. She sat on the couch as Nikki and Audrey explained how they planned to get into Harry Ross’s office to lift the Leach painting.
“Nikki is getting the uniform so she can follow the crew in,” Audrey said.
“Aren’t they going to know you’re not one of them?” London asked as she looked at the photos Audrey had taken of the crew the previous night.
“I’m going to follow, not blend,” Nikki said. “I’m going to go in after they’ve already hit the elevator. Running late, gonna be in trouble, yadda-yadda.”
“And that’s where you come in,” Audrey said, looking at London.
“Me? You mean other than driving the van?” She tried not to sound too excited at the prospect.
“Yeah, you. We might need extra help getting Nikki in,” Audrey said. “No matter what, I need to watch cameras. I’ve found that more often than not, we need extra bodies to pull off getting in when there are other people around.”
“Hey. I didn’t need help getting into Ingram’s house,” Nikki argued.
Audrey scoffed. “But you needed help getting out.”
“Did not.”