The Royal Heist

There were people below, there were people behind. And the earth fell beneath me….

If only everything had gone as planned....

A few hours earlier:

After several years of hunting, Mr. Novak had finally managed to get his hands on the, long believed to be lost, treasure: The royal necklace of the Windsor’s.

And today, was its grand showcase.

Being a lover of gold myself, I could not let some fancy billionaire, to have such an antique piece, all to his self now, could I? So, I made sure I would be invited to the party as well… Ahem... even if it was as a butler….

 So at 4:30 p.m., Mr. Novak entered the grand hall, which was decorated lavishly, on account of the grand evening. His elegant walk contained a charm of a business man. He stopped right next to the showpiece that was placed on a raised platform, and which currently was covered in a purple sheet of cloth.

"Welcome, my fellow friends. Thank you for being here. To be a part of such a brilliant occasion...” Mr. Novak, spoke with an air of authority. Unfortunately, my interest was on the centerpiece, rather than his words. So, as they say, patience is the key to success, in my case, gold, I waited.

"Forgive me, if I don’t permit you to ask me, how I got my dirty hands on such a precious gem. But however, I will permit you…… to see it …."

The curtain from the platform was raised…. And there it was... molded in dark gold, holding the three most precious gems in the center: diamond in the middle, with emerald on one side and ruby on the other, as its partners. The grand necklace was standing on a white colored neck stand, which was attached to the raised stage. The entire showpiece was encased in a glass case, giving the neck piece a shimmering effect.  The sight was magnificent…completely transfixing.

"Sight for sore eyes, isn't she?” Mr. Novak was satisfied with the crowd’s reaction.

“Now, we would all like to know a little history about this necklace, eh? As, everybody assembled here knows, this beauty here, once belonged to the family of The Windsor's. It was worn by the then Queen, Mrs. Catherine Windsor, during their rule in the 1820's. Believed to be lost or should I say stolen, by an unfaithful servant, only to be lost in a few decades again”

Just then one of the guests called out for a drink. I waddled through the crowd to reach him, hardly listening to Mr. Novak's speech. It was time.

"Italy... Geneva... Even London.... This piece has traveled the world. The last rumor was....."

He went on, showing the pictures on a projector. While, everybody was busy, looking at the slides, I silently took a picture of the necklace from my phone.

"No cellphones during work" one of my colleagues whispered, while passing.

"Girlfriend...” I replied with a sly grin.

I put my phone back and noiselessly walked past the showpiece, and out of the hall, into the kitchen. I grabbed my bag, got out through the backdoor, round the backyard to the front gate.

This is where my plan ended. I had completely no idea, how to get past these elite security killer machines. My plan was simple; grab the necklace and escape, although the escape part was still on a blueprint.

“Where are you going?” one of them stopped and asked me.

“Home. My shift just got over”. The security looked at me as though his eyes could scan right through my skull. He grunted and ran the detectors over me and then over my bag.

Damn it!!!

The sensor beeped loudly. He asked me to empty my bag. I tried to tell, it was just my lunch box… but, who was I trying to fool. He snatched my bag to open it.

Suddenly, the alarm from the house went off.

"It’s gone... The necklace's been taken…It’s gone… Search the house… Search everybody…” Mr. Novak’s voice was heard over the receiver.

That was my cue. I grabbed my bag and jumped off the huge artistic gate, and into the street. I ran, not really concentrating where the road led, but just hoping that I wouldn't hit any dead ends.

Huge monstrous vehicles flung out of the house to chase me, while I was only on foot? Bloody unfair!! So I grabbed a scooter, and took off the side road. The jeeps followed.

The scooter carried me a few meters towards the Lionel Bridge, before it ran empty. Wow... Such is my luck. I dropped the vehicle and started running again.

Just near to the bridge, a boy parked his cycle, to buy an ice cream. A luxury, I couldn't afford right now. I grabbed his cycle and peddled off through the bridge into the other part of the city.

With the bad guys (Well, they are!!), still behind me, I rode through the streets of the city, into a park, across the Stalwart Theater and into the old city. This is where my luck, decided to take a tour again.

Five minutes into the old city, I ran into a dead end. I took a right turn and then another, and met a dead end again. The monstrous vehicles never left my side. I can’t remember the last time, somebody being so loyal to me.

Filled with old heritage houses, the street that I decided to enter, had led me to a complete dead end. No right, No left, just an old, worn out building in front.

I abandoned the cycle, and went in through the only path, fate had provided me with: Straight into the house. My goal: reach the terrace. I didn't want to know what would happen after.

So, here I was. On top of an old rusted building. Completely out of breath, and the weight of my treasure, weighing on my shoulders.

My father had often told me, that when the earth falls beneath you, you remember to jump. Between certain death by the killer guards and a certain death due to a maniac stunt, I chose the stunt.

I jumped off the ridge, hardly imagining I could make it to the other end. But I did. I managed to jump off the roof to the next building. But, I had also managed to lose my bag on the way. The bag had stripped itself along the straps and had fallen down the street below, right in front of an aged man. He looked at me, unsure, if I was even human.

"Sir, would you please throw the bag up? Please... it's my bag. At your feet, Please pass it up"

The man just stared. One of the guards’ reached the edge, and pointing his gun at me, shouted to the old man, to pass the bag to him instead.

I desperately, wanted the old man to trust me. But it looked like; he could not put one and one together.

Oh! For Pete’s sake!!...

Between my sweet life and my precious cargo, I had to choose. I looked at the man, who was still confused, and then at the guard. I had no time for this. So, before the guard could decide on shooting me, I waved him a goodbye, rolled on my back and ran. I had run only a few steps when I heard a gunshot. The bullet hit the ridge, missing me by inches. Without looking back, I jumped off the roof, to the street below, towards my den.

It was late in the night, when I broke into Mr. Novak's house again, silently. Luckily, I had managed to dodge all of Mr. Novak's guards. I walked towards the hall, to the pedestal that had held the necklace this morning. The neck stand lay bare. No glass enclosure... No lights… no necklace... I sighed. What a shame!

I took out a pen from my pocket and brought it close to the stool. Nothing happened. No alarm sounds…. Nothing... Just a silent dark hall…. Just the way I wanted...

Smiling at my fate, I happily bent down, pulled out a knife and opened the small compartment door just below the raised platform that I had carved early this morning. Inside, in the dark, lying silently over the original stand was the necklace. Even in this darkened hall, it glittered, like a bright sun on the darkest night.

I carefully removed it from its stand, took it out and placed it in a box, which I had purchased just for such a beauty. Carefully, I shut the box, and put it inside my backpack.

Now, it was time to get out. I placed the door back in its place, walked back into the kitchen and then into to the backyard. But this time, I decided to jump off the back wall rather than getting out the front. The last exit wasn’t much fun…

I was out. I was free. And miraculously, I had both my spoil and my life. Was it all worth it?... Well…it was worth a bag of nuts and bolts…

If only everything had gone as planned? Well... It did...