Night had fallen by the time we made it back to the apartment to finish our plans. Thomas, John, and Henry were there already packing anything and everything useful. Alice and I arrived as they were packing up the cots. "Are you moving?" I asked. Alice turned and raised an eyebrow, "we can't have Robert coming back here after what he did to you," she said matter-of-factly. I nodded, thankful that I wouldn't have to see those dark hateful eyes again.
Alice bent down halfway across the floor and pulled out a floorboard where she grabbed a small wooden box. The box glittered as she hurriedly tossed in her earrings from the night before. It appeared to be filled to the brim with various jewelry they had probably stolen on previous runs. Alice tucked the box under her arm, signaled the boys, and the five of us headed back out once again.
We walked about eight or nine blocks before we came to another street full of apartments. This time, however, the apartments were much nicer than where we had just come from. Alice walked up to the third on the right and we went through a beautiful black cast iron gate bent into beautiful Art Nouveau flowers. She pulled a key out of her boot and placed it in the lock. Within minutes we were inside the most beautiful place. It had hardwood floors that gleamed, gorgeous furniture covered in natural designs, and high ceilings sporting grandiose chandeliers.
As I marveled, the other four began setting up camp in the new apartment. Alice beckoned me upstairs and into one of the bedrooms. She opened a closet door to a large space bursting with clothing. We need disguises again she said. After rummaging for a few minutes, she pulled out two cocktail dresses and tossed the silver one at me. "We're going into Louis' disguised as patrons tonight so that they won't stop us at the door," she explained. Then she donned the red dress she had chosen and I pulled mine on. We quickly accessorized and made our way downstairs again.
John, Henry, and Thomas were all changed into night attire once again, and we sat in our circle on the floor to discuss. Alice stated the plan concisely, "we're going to get in as patrons. Grab drinks, dance, mingle, we need to appear as normal as possible while we wait for our chance to get Louis where it really counts. I will give the signal to move in one by one to Louis' office where we will teach him a lesson, and hopefully, find the treasure Robert stole from us." She looked at me and smiled, "we've got a good team here, I'm not worried about our part of the plan. We've just got to make sure Louis cooperates the way we want him to. Let's go get 'em," she proclaimed to the room and we were out the door into the dark streets once again.
We split up as we got closer to the alleyway that led to Louis'. Alice and John went first, masquerading as a wealthy socialite and her page boy. Ten or so minutes passed with Henry, Thomas, and I nonchalantly pretending to not be related to each other. Henry then made his way down the alley and disappeared through the door.
Thomas leaned back against a brick wall and sighed, "I want you to stay safe," he said, his eyes gazing into mine intently. "I won't go anywhere without you," I replied earnestly. He stared down at his feet, then in one quick motion moved forward and put his arms around me in a tight hug. "It's almost over," he breathed more to himself than to me. I pulled back far enough to look up into his face, "it is, isn't it?" I said as tears welled around the edges of my eyes, I too had been sensing that my time was drawing to a close much like it had in England. We squeezed back together into another long hug. Then we broke and headed down the alleyway to almost certain uncertainty.
