16. Tessa
Tessa
Tessa’s heart was pounding a mile a minute.
Never before in her life had she ever done anything illegal.
Questionably illegal.
She’d never been part of a heist. Part of a team.
So when Greer told her where to stand, that’s where she stood. Her feet, rooted to the spot, began to ache as she focused all of her attention on the doorway he’d just slipped past. She could hear the TV clearly now that the whole gallery was quiet, devoid of any other guests.
When she heard a toilet flush, her adrenaline started to pump as she waited patiently for Greer to emerge from the security room.
HURRY UP!!!
But when the neighboring wooden door off to the side, which she thought was a closet, flung open, she knew they were in trouble. Holding her breath and praying she wouldn’t be spotted, she watched the guard, still buttoning up his pants, saunter back in the direction of the security room.
Greer had disappeared from sight, but she knew he was still in there. And having been in that room herself no more than a few minutes prior, she knew there was only one exit.
The one the guard was walking through.
What was she going to do?
Tessa forced herself into a calm she did not feel present in her body or her soul at the moment. She wanted to run for that office, pull the guard back, distract him.
Wait, that was it!
She needed a distraction.
But… what?
Darting her eyes around the room in a fury, she desperately tried to find something that would make the guard stop. Pause.
Leave!
A phone call, maybe?
She reached for her phone but knew he’d hear her inside the gallery if he answered, where it was so quiet now. Besides, who knew if the phone rang right into the office and would pull him further into the place she wanted him to be gone from?
Resting her eyes on a copper bust along the wall she stood next to, she wondered if it might have been wired for security.
Every museum she’d been to had some sort of security placed around exhibits.
The Mona Lisa, for example, was in a lead-lined glass case, allowing for folks to take photographs and not damage it, while at the same time keeping it protected at all times from anyone who might want to walk off with it.
And if she placed her bets right…
Taking a couple of quiet steps and pulling herself even further out of range of the camera in the upper corner, she placed her hands on the cool metal, centering herself, and counting backward in her mind. Greer needed her. Now.
Three, two, one…
She hoisted the bust off the podium it sat, bracing herself for a shrill alarm indicating it had been disturbed.
Only nothing sounded.
Popping her eyes back open, she looked down at the completely bare stand, realizing that there was absolutely nothing preventing a guest from walking off with the heavy museum piece.
Feeling her arms strain, she took a moment to quietly place the bust back in its spot on the stand once more.
Eyeballing the guard whose back was still to her, he seemed to take a pause, mesmerized by the television screen on the far wall. The one he couldn’t take his eyes off of when they went in there to get the necklace.
And just like then, he stood motionless, a zombie. But she knew it wouldn’t last forever. The longer that man stood blocking Greer’s escape, the more likely they would get caught.
Think!
Wondering if there might be something bigger, more valuable that might be wired, she traced her eyes around the room.
Larger-than-life paintings hung from overhead wires while vases, busts, and other small statues stood around the perimeter.
She knew she could knock one over, smashing it and ruining it.
She could always send a check later to cover the damages.
Not that her face being on camera doing it wouldn’t get her brought up on charges.
Plus, who knew the amount of effort the artist put into their work!
Hearing the guard shuffle his feet, she watched with horror as he put one foot in front of the other, slowly walking back into the security room. She knew she had to act fast.
Continuing her search around the room, she saw the sign for the emergency exit. It was a steel door, all lit up with an EXIT sign above. However, it was the large printed warning on it that caught her attention.
EMERGENCY EXIT
ALARM WILL SOUND IF OPENED
A final glance at the guard, and Tessa watched him disappear entirely into the small room Greer was in. Before she had time to think, her body sprang into action, walking at a quick clip across the room, trying to keep her footsteps quiet as she made her way to the door.
She couldn’t believe she was going to do this.
Pressing down on the long arm of the door, she felt it disengage from the jam as it opened, letting in just a crack of sunlight and warm air. She paused.
No alarm!
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Tessa muttered, not really sure she even needed to be quiet any longer. She moved from her spot, which was in full view of the camera, and now she was opening up an emergency exit with an alarm that wasn’t alarming.
Now what? If she let the door go, would it be enough to alert the guard? Make him come out and see what was going on?
What if she were to swing it wide? Extra big? Let it crash hard into the doorjamb?
That might be enough to get him back out there.
Not questioning herself further, Tessa pushed harder against the heavy door, stepping out into the sunshine as she pressed her weight against it. To her joy, the alarm began to ring high-pitched and all throughout the space.
She did it!
And holy cow, the way that guard was now storming toward her, his face etched with rage and turning an unhealthy shade of red as he made his way right for her, for the first time, she was starting to question this whole plan.
“Hey!” he hollered at her, his voice nearly wheezing as he picked up speed. “Hey! You just set off my alarm!”
“Sorry! Can’t help ya!” Tessa hollered, not budging from her spot at the door. She needed this man’s full attention to give Greer time to get out of there, and she didn’t really care how she got it at this point.
But the way the guy was coming at her was disturbing. It wasn’t fast by any means, but he looked angry. Angry enough to do… what? Call the police? Make it so she could never come back?
If Greer hadn’t been successful, she’d have no other chance to get the necklace then!
I need you to promise me, if this goes south, you get out of here, she heard Greer say in her mind.
Tessa hesitated only for a moment, watching the guard get closer, but not wanting to abandon Greer. What kind of girlfriend was she to take off when he needed her most?
Only she realized that they were a team. She was helping him. And she wasn’t expected to do it all.
Because in the end, Greer had her back, too.
“I can fine you for that!” he called after her, as she stepped outside. Though he was so lazy she doubted he’d be willing to draw up the paperwork.
“Don’t know what to tell ya!” she shouted back at him over her shoulder, just before she heard the door slam shut behind her. She was surprised how silent it was outdoors without the echo of a room, and one small man yelling at her.
Turning on her heel, she calmly walked alongside the building, finding herself at the front of the museum once more, and stepping back onto the worn pathway. Following it to the sidewalk, she wasn’t too sure where she was going, only that she knew she had to look convincing on camera.
Until she was around the block and out of the frame.
And that’s when her adrenaline began to crash.
Stopping in place with her hand over her heart, she took in big gulps of air, wondering what on earth she’d just done. Could she be arrested for opening an emergency door? Distracting a security guard? For her boyfriend stealing something that was meant to be hers to start with?
She wasn’t sure, and that was unsettling.
But more than that, she wondered if she’d bought Greer enough time. Was he able to get out? Was he able to get the necklace? Had she done her part well enough to help?
She wasn’t sure. Some Bonnie she was to his Clyde.
Continuing to walk down the street toward the T station, she was almost too nervous to take in the beauty of the fast-approaching evening. The sun lit up the streets like it was an old-fashioned movie. Kids rode bikes and played basketball while cars slowly meandered by.
She wasn’t sure if Greer would remember his initial instruction for her to go to the T station and wait for him, but given that there was no other plan, she hoped he’d remember. She didn’t want to call him, just in case he was hiding under the guard’s desk or in a closet somewhere.
The last thing he’d need was to be given away by a phone ringing in his pocket.
Which meant… she had no choice but to wait.
Walking into the shady tree line toward the station, she found herself drawn to an empty bench along the way.
Everyone around her, people and cars alike, were passing her by, busy on their daily errands and all but ignoring her presence.
It was something she preferred and was one of her favorite things about living in a big city.
But something had changed inside of her.
While she loved Boston, she realized she’d taken this idea of anonymity and pulled it around her like a cloak.
It kept her shielded from trouble, which had been an almost addictive comfort.
It also kept her behind. Held back. She never pushed for what she wanted, and while she’d never expected anything to just land in her lap, she never complained if things passed her over.
It’s also why she never fought hard for love. She never had anyone worth it.
But Greer was.
Feeling her leg bounce uncontrollably, she waited for him.
She wondered where he was and if he was okay.
She honestly didn’t care if he had the necklace and sent a silent prayer upward, professing that she no longer cared if she got the family heirloom back.
That had long fallen off as being the goal of her trip.