Page 136 of Brushed By Moonlight

Roux stared. “You’re saying, give Gordon’s client a different painting? Not the one he asked for?”

Mina nodded.

“What if he doesn’t want it?” Roux asked.

Mina scoffed. “How could anyone not want a Monet?”

I glanced at the gloomy painting. Well, me, for one.

Bene rubbed his chin. “It could work…unless they figure out it’s a forgery.”

“That’s the beauty of this situation.” Mina chuckled. “That would be Dobrov’s fault, not yours. You were simply following orders.”

“Except we were told to get that painting.” Roux pointed to the Van Gogh.

“Painting? What painting?” Bene quipped. “Oh, you mean the one lost in the fire when we were bravely rescuing a much more valuable Monet?”

“Exactly.” Mina grinned.

“All this so you can keep the Van Gogh?” Henrik asked.

Mina shook her head vehemently. “No. Well, yes, but only for a couple of months. Long enough that no one will connect it to what happened here. Then I’ll use my dad’s contacts to make an anonymous donation to a museum that will make the Van Gogh available to everyone.”

Henrik stared. “You’re saying you would give it away?”

Mina nodded.

“How very noble.” Henrik’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

Mina shook her head. “Not trying to be noble. Just trying to do the right thing.”

Months ago, I might have scoffed at the sentiment. Now, I etched her words into my mind.

Roux cut in, getting back to the point. “If you can figure out the Monet is fake, Gordon’s client could too. What then?”

Mina shrugged. “Again, not your fault, but Dobrov’s — and it implies the Van Gogh was a fake too. No one will be able to disprove that, because Dobrov never let an expert appraise either work.”

Roux thought it over, then shook his head. “Too many unpredictables.”

True. But, hell. That applied to everything in our line of work. And if we pulled this off… Just a few more months doing Gordon’s bidding, and I would be a free man.

“I’m in,” I said firmly.

Mina’s eyes bathed me in warmth.

Henrik sighed. “I’m in.”

“I’m in,” Bene said, then elbowed Henrik. “Pass the salt.”

Roux ran both hands through his hair, making it spike. A good alternative to tearing it out, which he seemed close to.

“You’re serious?”

Bene, Henrik, Mina, and I all nodded.

Roux gritted his teeth, then sighed and picked up his phone.

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