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Chapter -9- The Heist

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September 5, 1:10am PDT 1913 Rotunda Building, Natural History Museum Los Angeles, California ...

** Fox Parker placed his index finger** against his right ear and whispered, "Almost there." Suspended by his ankles, Fox continued to lower on the cable. "Nine feet to go, Paz." He glanced down at an enormous statue beneath.

The sculpture of the three muses held a large orange ball above their heads. Fox stared down at it from above. "Don't drop me on that big ass disco ball, please. I don't think the three muses would be very happy."

His descent slowed. Fox lowered several more feet. "Okay, Paz. I'm good. You can join me now."

A buzzing sound reverberated off the inside of the domed museum. It sounded like a long, drawn out zipper.

Topaz Parker slid down the line, feet first, and came to a stop once her soles met her brother's heels.

Fox looked upward, along his torso, peering at his sister, above. "Are you having fun yet?"

She scoffed to disguise her secret smile.

In unison they leaned to the west, and then swayed to the east.

After a moment of swinging back and forth, Fox reached out and caught the railing of the top floor.

Topaz stepped over him and dropped to the tiled floor. She turned about and took her brother's wrists. "Come on."

Fox climbed up over the railing.

Topaz unfastened the cable from his ankles and tethered it to the metallic rail, which overlooked the hollow center of the large building.

Fox stood up and peered over the side to the ground floor, beneath them. "Not a fan of the donut building with layers. Not a fan of the rotunda entrance, either. The statue of the three muses is kind of neat, though." He turned back to his sister. "You good?"

Topaz adjusted the Velcro fastening of her left glove with a nod. "Yeah, Fox." She cut her eyes away, unable to hide her smile from her twin. "I forgot how much fun it is to work together."

"See? I told you this was going to be a blast."

She lifted her left wrist and touched the screen of her cellphone, secured horizontally to her forearm. Her capacitive-fingered gloves danced across the screen, sliding a blue Bluetooth icon to the left.

Both twins' Bluetooth earpieces offered a hiss of static. The channel changed over, becoming clear in both their ears.

Topaz could hear breathing over the line. "Daddy, we're in. What do you see on your side?" She waved at a security camera above her.

A warm voice came over the line. "I see you, sweetheart. The firewall breach will last about thirty minutes. Maybe forty-five if we're lucky but let's lowball it for safety sake. Head into the hallway ahead of you. You'll make a left when you see the sign that says, 'Closed wing - exhibit coming soon.' You're looking for a gold tablet with an effigy similar to constellations. It's thin; about eight inches long by six inches wide."

Fox put his finger back to his ear and pushed his earpiece inward. "What's it do, dad?"

"Well, kids, it's a map."

"Should we just take a picture of it?" Topaz asked.

Over the line, their father cleared his throat. "No. I photographed it with a 3D scanner last week. The printed model didn't work. We need the real thing."

Fox and Topaz turned back to back, keeping their eyes open for any sign of danger.

Topaz asked, "How does this thing work, then?"

"A device similar to the Antikythera mechanism, and nearly as old, will be able to read that plate using the groves in the surface. It becomes a map. Bring it back and remember the secondary objectives. Do you have the hair and partial print?"

Topaz answered before her brother, saying, "I have both, daddy." She turned to the metal railing and took out a compact mirror. She opened the small plastic compact and removed a piece of scotch tape with a fingerprint on the adhesive side.

Fox swiveled his head, keeping an eye out while his sister worked.

Topaz pressed the tape to the metal rail. She removed the tape and put it back into the compact. "Okay. Stand by." Topaz turned to her brother and asked, "Ready?"

"Ladies first," he said.

The twins headed into the hallway and made their way past the cordoned area.

Construction and scaffolding lined the walls. At the end of the hall, the room opened up into a large section. Several displays were already set up with artifacts and trinkets housed within.

The twins approached a glass case with a gold plate inside.

Topaz reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a business card case. Topaz nodded to her brother and withdrew a single hair within the container.

Fox knelt beside the base of the display case and opened a maintenance hatch on the left side. He unsecured a small toolkit fastened to his chest, opened the lid, and used the tools to strip one of the wires inside the display base. "Just a second. Almost got it." He tinkered for another moment. Fox looked up with a grin. "Okay, Paz."

She opened the display, removed the gold plate and placed the hair halfway into the case. Topaz closed the display so that it purposely caught the hair in the latch.

"You don't feel bad about framing someone else for this heist, do you, Paz?"

"Hell no. Ed Martinez deserves jail time. I just wish we could frame him for something that puts him away for longer." She pocketed the plate, zipped the pocket shut, and touched her earpiece with her palm. "Daddy, we're ready. Starting our extraction." She turned to her brother and added, "Let Martinez take credit for this heist. My ego can handle it."

"So long as we're having fun, right?"

Topaz replied with a genuine smile. "Reminds me of the old days. We made a good team, Fox."

He closed the maintenance hatch on the empty display case's base. Fox packed his toolkit and stood up. "Paz, I hope you'll reconsider coming home."

"We've talked about this."

"You mean wanting to play house with..."

"Time and place," she scolded softly. "We're on a job, Fox." She glanced at the burn-phone screen secured to her wrist to make sure it was off.

"He won't hear us."

"Why do you feel the need to talk about this now, Fox?"

"I miss you." Fox secured his small toolkit to his chest, clipping each corner to his utility outfit. "We make a good team. It's just ... weird with you out of the house."

"I just need to live on my own. Every time I'm in that house, I still remember when I was a teen. It's just..." Topaz sighed. "Everything was so complicated. I'm doing really well right now. I need this for myself. Come here."

Fox moved closer.

She double-checked her zippered pocket. Topaz reached over and checked the fastenings on her brother's small toolkit. She reached up and fixed the right side of his collar. "These one-piece suits really didn't need collars. Kinda' dumb if you ask me."

Fox grinned. "Yeah."

She brought her hand back to her ear and pressed in on the Bluetooth earpiece. The line went live. "Daddy?"

"I'm here."

"Okay, sorry. Just double-checking everything. We're coming out now."

"I hear you, Pumpkin. You guys are fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. I'm impressed over here."

"Thanks." She released the talkback button on the earpiece and glanced at her phone screen. "Okay, it's muted again."

"Topaz, you can't keep dwelling on what happened all those years ago."

Topaz offered a sad sort of smile and patted Fox's cheek. "I'm not saying that house has all bad memories. You're still my hero for rescuing me. But I was fifteen years old."

"Topaz, we're twenty-four, now."

"Exactly, Fox! How many people our age still live at home with their parents? I'm happy to be out on my own. I might even join Aunt Nicky."

Fox blinked. "Aunt Nicky is a Federal Agent. Why would you want to do that?"

"Her offer to join the DEA is extended to you, too."

They began walking back up the hallway together. "Paz, I've spent my whole life training to follow in the family footsteps. We're thieves, not drug cops. Dad's too old to do this stuff anymore. He needs us."

"He's not too old. I don't know why he lost his edge lately, but it has nothing to do with age."

Fox sighed. "Why would you want a day job chasing psychotic substance abusers? Let's face it, you'll never need a paycheck - and don't you dare tell me it's because you want to stop violent crime."

"Fox ... I haven't made a decision yet."

"Just tell me why you're considering it."

Topaz frowned. "I just like the thought of having a normal life. A normal job."

"So come home and be a normal family. I miss you."

"Fox, what is normal about stealing artifacts for the Government, or stealing stolen crap from lesser thieves to prove some sort of stupid point...? I'm not sure I want to be Robin Hood, okay?"

"Paz, please..."

"If I do decide to be Robin Hood, I want to make that choice for myself - I don't want to be told what to do with my life by our father."

"What about our heritage?"

"Yeah, yeah I know." Topaz rubbed her forehead with a sigh of frustration. She stepped over the decorative cordon rope. Together, alongside her twin, they back to the main section where the line was still anchored to the rail. "Do you ever think about that drama, from when we were kids?"

"I should have hunted that creep down," he said softly. "Yeah," he murmured. "I do. Like you said, it was nine years ago, but it was still unforgivable. I felt compelled to protect you because I love you. You finish my sentences, for Chri'sake."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm emotionally broken," said Topaz. She unfastened the line from the rail and knelt beside her brother. She attached the harness to his ankles and nodded. "You're ready."

"Thanks." He gave a tug on the line.

"Look, for what it's worth, I appreciate that you took care of me." She offered Fox an expression somewhere between a smile of appreciation and a grimace.

"Topaz..."

She shook her head. "I've come to terms with it. I've come to terms with how I acted like an emotionally confused person. I've even come to terms with that stupid thing I did when I got drunk on our eighteenth birthday."

"It's been nine years, and you're only just now able to talk about it? This is something that you've been bottling a long time."

"Yeah, I have."

"And for the record, Paz, that night, when we were eighteen - it didn't bother me."

She scoffed. "It wasn't my most crowning moment." Her voice lowered. "But I'm not ashamed of my actions."

"It's fine. I mean it."

Topaz shrugged. "You handled my stupidity very maturely. I'm the basket case lesbian rape victim."

"Paz!"

She held her hands up. "Look, living on my own has been therapeutic. Now. Let's talk about this later. You ready?"

"Paz, I don't judge you, and you're not a basket case. I think you act one way when I'm around and another way when you're without me."

Topaz grimaced.

With his sister's help, Fox climbed up onto the rail. He held onto it, dangling his legs out over the side. He jerked his feet down, giving a firm tug on the line to test it. "Okay, go on up."

Topaz hopped up onto the railing. She stepped on his legs and clipped herself to the cable. "Fox, look ... you're right. I feel safe when you're around. When we're together, I open up to strangers and smile ... but _only _when you're nearby."

"And when I'm not?"

She shrugged. "Without you I act untrusting, and I act cynical, and I'm a totally different person. I know I'm screwed up in the head."

"How do you figure?"

She gave a tug on the line, testing it the way he did earlier. "I've treated you like a security blanket. I took advantage of you just because I felt safe knowing you were around."

"Paz, I knew you went through a traumatic experience. I knew you felt safe when I went on dates with you. I didn't mind changing my plans so you could go to the movies with a girlfriend."

"Yeah, Fox, but you're not supposed to be some bodyguard that goes on dates with me. I need to get over what happened to me. I need to learn how to act normal without you. That is why I moved out."

"You know what I don't understand?" Fox released the railing and the two swung out into the center of the large museum.

"No, what?"

Fox's voice became strained from having the blood rush to his head. "Paz, you could beat the crap out of just about anyone now that you've had training. You're even better than I am. You don't need me to protect you anymore. We're not teenagers."

"I know," she replied with a sigh. Topaz hoisted herself up the cable. "Fox, it's psychological. My personality relaxes when you're around. But I can't just ask you to drop your whole life and hang out with me all the time."

Fox sighed. His voice was strained from hanging by the cable. "Why not just ask me? I'd say yes."

"We're not teenagers anymore. Okay, give me a minute." She increased the pace of her ascension until reaching a second cable, halfway up.

She clipped a hook on the cable to a harness on her one-piece suit.

"You got it, Paz?"

"Yeah." She touched the screen on her left forearm again.

An electric winch whirred to life, lifting Topaz to the rotunda. She pulled herself up through the open panel. She switched cables on the electric winch.

Topaz pressed the 'start' button on her phone screen again. She switched on a second electric motor, hoisting her brother up.

Fox pulled himself up through the maintenance access panel. He sat on the frame around the hatch, feet dangling down into the rotunda.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get all weird back there. I don't even know what the hell that was."

Fox bundled the climbing cord around his elbow. He pivoted around, so that his legs were on the outside of the dome. Fox offered her a soft smile. "Paz, if you ever need someone to talk to ... y'know ... call me more often. We're more than just family. People could never understand what we have. We're twins for God's sake." Fox scooted forward. He slid down the exterior of the rotunda.

Topaz finished breaking down the portable winch. She pondered his words but kept her eyes on him, watching closely as he made his descent.

Fox's feet met a block of sculpted concrete. He leaned back against the slope of the dome.

Topaz put the glass panel back into place. She stuffed the small electric motor into her gear pack. She shouldered the bag and attached a horizontal chest strap, which linked the two shoulder straps. The plastic buckle clicked into place over her stomach. "Fox, do you hear yourself?"

"Do you hear _your_self?" he called back up to her.

"I'm still angry for not being able to handle my past." Topaz pursed her lips together, disgusted with herself.

"That didn't bother me," Fox replied. "Paz, you felt safer with me around and I respect that."

"No," she snapped. "Fox, can't you see how screwed up I am? Jesus Christ, Fox. Seriously."

"Okay, look, Paz ... you were traumatized as a teenager. Maybe I'm understanding, or maybe I just don't 'get it,' but I've never complained about playing 'bodyguard' when you went on dates."

Topaz slid down the side of the rotunda, joining her brother against the concrete block corner. She turned to him and smirked. "You're right, you don't get it."

"So explain it to me. Help me understand how I..."

"I wasn't being fair to you," she interrupted. "Fox, I need to learn how to have a normal relationship without having a safety blanket nearby."

He sighed with a nod.

"You're right, I'm very confident with my training in self-defense." She leaned back against the slope of the rotunda, feeling her gear back sandwiched between the dome and her back. "You're right; I'm better than you - no offense."

"But?"

She grinned at him, loving how well he knew her. "But ... I still get weird _with people when you're not around. I have that ridiculous social ... _thing. I treat others poorly and act totally defensive and untrusting when you're not around. And I need to be on my own if I ever want to beat this."

"I think we should beat it together."

She sighed. "I need to get away from my security blanket - you, Fox. I need to take off my training wheels, or I'll never learn how to ride without help."

"I ... I understand. I do. Just..." He turned to face her with an endearing look in his eyes. "Just call me more often. I miss you. I know that sounds totally lame, but we're twins, Paz. You're my other half."

Topaz swallowed down a tinge of emotion in her throat.

Fox shrugged and glanced away. "Okay. I'll stop being soppy and clingy. You'll get over this crap from your past. I believe in you."

She offered her twin a smile. Topaz leaned to kiss the side of his face.

Fox inadvertently turned to the left, causing his lips to brush against hers. Both paused. Their eyes met.

The twins drew back from one another. Both cleared their throats and chuckled nervously in unison.

Topaz shook her head. "Awkward."

"It wasn't that bad." He licked his lips, slowly. "Maybe a little awkward."

She chuckled inwardly. "I'm gay _any_how."

"I know," he murmured in a hushed tone. Fox grinned and added, "The kiss was fabulously gay."

"It was an accident," she added with a firm nod. She wanted to laugh at his joke but repressed it and repeated, "An accident."

"An accident," he confirmed.

Topaz looked away and licked her lips, slowly. She cleared her throat. "Now, you remember the extraction plan?"

Fox nodded and glanced at his watch. "We still have two more minutes before the security computer cycles and reboots. What, uh, what're your plans after this?" He unfurled rappelling lines down the side of the building.

"After I drop off my gear with daddy, I'm going to Michelle's place to make her breakfast in bed. We've had three fights this week and I want to try and make things right."

"Are they not right?"

Topaz felt the tightness return at the base of her throat. She reached for one of the two lines and connected them to a lip on the concrete block at their feet.

"Paz?"

She shrugged in reply. "If we break up, I'm going to stay single for a while ... but I want to try and make things work between us. I don't like the idea of giving up on my relationship. After all, it's my fault."

"How so?"

She lowered her gaze to the rappelling lines. "I act distrusting. Like I was telling you earlier, I need to learn how to tap into my old personality and be relaxed with her."

"Did you ever tell Michelle about your past?"

"Hell no."

"You just ... come as you are with your relationships?"

"If a relationship becomes a forever-thing, then they'll get the truth." Topaz sighed. "That's why Meryl left me."

"How do you mean?"

Topaz shrugged and gave another tug on her rappelling line. "When you weren't around, I acted like a total bitch to her."

"I liked Meryl," Fox mused. "She always complimented you."

Topaz looked down again. "Yeah."

Fox frowned. "It was a little awkward, though, when she asked to have a threeway. I'd certainly not want to lose my virginity to a girl I'm not even dating, let alone in a one-night-stand, let alone with a girl dating my sister."

"Yeah, I was a little weird'ed out when she asked about that. But, uh, she was really drunk that night, Fox. Christ, that was like two or three years ago."

"Yeah, over two years."

Topaz nudged Fox with her elbow. "Meryl and I broke up ten months ago. I've not heard from her since she moved to New York. Also, Michelle is much better about putting up with my mood swings. Time?"

"Twenty-five seconds," he said, adding, "I've never seen you have a mood swing and I've known you my whole life."

Topaz smirked. "I only have them when you're not around, which is the whole point of this conversation."

"Hey, who is that?"

Topaz blinked. "Huh?"

Fox pointed to three men in black suits down on the street. "Those guys who just got out of the van, over there. They'll see us."

"Fox, we only have one minute while the security servers reboot and reinstate the firewall. Whether they see us or not, we have to go down or we lose our window. Time?"

"Get ready. Set..." Fox passed her one of the two black lines that trailed down the side of the large museum building. "Now." He wrapped the line around his waist, took hold with both hands and ran straight down the side of the building.

Topaz ran alongside of him.

Seconds later they hit the ground. The twins turned around together and jerked the cable up and to the left.

The clamps dropped away from roof.

They worked together to stow the lines, they sprinted to the fence together, and they helped one another over the concrete wall. Q

Topaz turned to her brother, took both coiled lines, and put them into his backpack. "Okay. Did those guys from the van see us?"

Fox glanced up. He nodded to his sister with a frown. "Not only did they see us, they're coming over here."

"Wait, what?" She zipped his pack up, came alongside of him and frowned. Topaz brought her hand to her earpiece and touched the button. "Daddy, are you still able to see through the security cameras?"

"No, hon. I'm not in the system anymore. Did you guys get out okay?"

"Yes, daddy, but we have three guys in black gear walking towards us. They may have seen us leaving the museum. Their van is parked on Exposition Boulevard and ... Jesus, they have guns."

"Can you get into the Rose Garden Park? You can take cover there."

"No, daddy, they've got us blocked."

"I'm on my way," said their father over the line.

Topaz released the button on the earpiece and turned to her brother. "How's your Krav Maga?"

"I still practice my self-defense lessons, Paz. But let's try talking our way out of this."

"Dammit," she groused. Topaz zeroed in on one of the approaching men. Her eyes narrowed. "He's pulling his gun from his holster. I hope our father has a plan."

"He trained us for this sort of thing," Fox replied in a calm voice. "Just relax and..."

"Hey!" shouted one of the three men. "Which one of you brats has the gold thing? Hand it over and no one gets shot."

"Whoa, hold up," Fox said, lifting his hands outwards slowly. "I'm unarmed. We both are. What's going on?"

The leader of the mercenary trio pointed his gun at Fox Parker and said, "I know you two were hired to break in and steal that gold plate thing. Well, I was hired to steal it from you two. So hand it over or else I'll kill you both and search your corpses." The gunman put his pistol against Fox's forehead.

Parker lowered his hands to his sides, still calm. "Okay, that's cool. You got us; you win."

"Where is it?!"

Fox remained relaxed. "We haven't finished the job. The museum didn't have the gold thing on display yet," he lied. "You obviously need us to get it for you. So why don't we work out a deal, okay? The artifact must be in a vault. There's no reason we can't just combine forces. Money - that's a language you speak right? How much cash you want to help us do the job? I'm sure I can pay you more than your other employer, and having extra hands and eyes would help a lot."

The gunman scoffed. "Nice try, kid. But money isn't all that's involved, here. I'm going to have to call my employer and see what he wants us to do with you two. First thing's first, get those hands up, boy."

Fox exchanged a glance with his sister.

She replied with a purposeful, drawn out blink of her eyes to acknowledge his plan.

Fox started to lift his hands. Once his hands were in motion, he brought them upwards, past his shoulders, slowly at first.

Topaz tensed up, ready for anything.

"Up, up, I said get them up kid! Faster!"

Fox changed speed. His hands lifted fast. Everything happened at the blink of an eye.

The young Parker quickly snatched the barrel of the man's weapon. Fox pushed forward, causing the slide to ease back on the gun. All in one solid motion, he redirected the pistol by pulling it downwards.

Once he had control of the handgun, Fox brought his knee up into the mercenary's groin. Parker brought his other hand behind the gun and flipped it, as if turning it over on a table.

The sudden move caused the mercenary's index finger to break in the trigger guard.

The man cried out.

Fox controlled the weapon back over, dislodging it from the man's crooked, broken finger. It all happened so quickly that Fox had disarmed the mercenary and took control of the situation faster than anyone else could react.

Fox stepped back, cocked the weapon and pointed it at the first and third soldier. "Okay, back up guys. We don't have time for these games." He glanced over at his sister.

The second mercenary moved into position behind her and placed his left arm around her neck from behind. Using her as a hostage, the man brought his pistol against the side of her head. "You shoot my guys, kid, and I'll waste your partner."

Fox grimaced. "Don't you dare." His words were directed to his sister, not the gunman.

The mercenary replied, "I'll do whatever I want, kid."

"Why did you do that?" Fox said with a sigh. Again, his words were directed towards Topaz.

However, the mercenary assumed the words were meant for him. "Because I'm not leaving here without that gold plate."

Topaz brought her hands up to the attacker's left forearm, ready for anything. "Okay, you got me," she told him. "You've got your gun to my head. You win. Just keep yourself calm. Don't accidentally pull the trigger. We can all still walk away and go home tonight."

"Shut up, bitch," he hissed against the backside of her head. "I will splatter your brains all over the place, so don't test me."

Topaz kept her hands at rest on the attacker's forearm. She relaxed her body for a moment, almost sagging into her attacker.

"Stand up straight, you stupid twat."

Fox lined up a shot with the man hiding behind his sister. "You _really_should apologize for that remark."

"How about this," said the gunman. "You put the gun down or I kill her." He ground the gun against Topaz's head, adding, "I told you to stand up straight, you dumb cunt."

Topaz tensed her right arm. In one smooth motion, she snatched the barrel of the pistol, and pointed it forward.

The attacker, nervous and excited, squeezed the trigger.

The redirected gun discharged with a deafening crack. The bullet hit the third mercenary in his left eye.

Topaz brought her left hand over to her right shoulder, took the weapon in both hands, and bent at the waist. She forced the gun forward while jutting her backside towards the attacker, which hyper-extended his arms.

With a grunt, Topaz continued to double over. She rolled forward, throwing the attacker over her shoulder, still holding his gun.

He landed on his back in front of her.

She put the barrel to the mercenary's head and fired the weapon. Topaz brought the pistol up, facing the man in front of her brother.

The remaining mercenary's eyes widened with fear. "Whoa, wait, wait! Jesus Christ! I was told you two don't kill!"

Fox smirked. "Who's your employer?"

"His name is Aris Falcon! I'll work for you two! We were going to hide you in our van."

Topaz took two menacing steps forward. "To what end?"

The surviving mercenary swallowed, pale faced and wide-eyed. "There's a bomb underneath the van. It's rigged to blow up when Jon Parker opened the rear doors to rescue the two of you. See? I can help you!"

Topaz blinked. "You were going to try and kill my family? Oh hell no." She fired her weapon a third time. The last mercenary dropped to the ground. She turned back to her brother. "Cops will find these guys and see the hair and print we left. They'll think these guys were working for Edward Martinez, and that he killed his team to keep the gold for himself. We should trigger that bomb on the van. The cops'll go after that asshole, Martinez, and we'll be Scott-free."

Fox sighed and threw his pistol on the ground by one of the bodies. "You didn't even flinch when you shot them, Topaz."

She smirked. "What do you want from me, Fox? I just saved this family. It was them or us."

"You shot them without..."

"Yes, I did! And it was a weight off my shoulders, okay?!" She looked away, unable to stand the shocked look in her brother's eyes.

"I've never seen you this callous. Did something happen to you that you haven't told me?"

"Fox, stop."

"No, Topaz. You know what dad always says - only hurt people hurt people."

Topaz looked down at the handgun in her gloved hand. She rubbed gun down against her leg, despite wearing gloves. "We can talk about that later. We did our job, we stole the plate, we framed Martinez and now we know to look out for some ... new asshole that apparently wanted to kill our father. What'd he say the name was? Aris Falcon?"

"Yeah, that was the name," Fox replied. "It's the second time I've heard the name in the past week." He squinted at a pair of incoming headlights in the distance. Fox perked, hearing a voice over his earpiece.

"Kids, I'm here. Where're the attackers?"

Topaz put her finger to her right ear. "We took'em down, daddy. They said they planned on killing all three of us for some joker named Aris Falcon. There's a van across the street rigged to explode. You were supposed to rescue us from it, and cause it to detonate. Let's blow it up and get the hell out of here. I'm officially tired of Los Angeles."

"Falcon, huh?" said Jon Parker over the line. "That's new news... Okay, I'll pop the trunk. One of you get a grenade out of the back and toss it over at the van then get in."

"I've got it," Paz said to Fox. "Get in, I'll finish the job."

Jon Parker's Bentley rolled to a stop by the twins.

Fox hopped in the back seat.

Topaz went to the trunk, which popped up when she neared it. She reached in, opened a panel that lead to the spare tire, and pulled a grenade from a metal prong that held several in place.

She closed the trunk and approached the van. She opened the side-rolling door, which powered batteries to the bomb, beneath the vehicle. A red LED illuminated the ground by her feet.

Topaz withdrew her makeup compact, took out the piece of tape with Edward Martinez's finger print. She ejected the magazine and placed half the print on the top bullet. She chambered the round and tossed the gun into the van.

Topaz closed the rolling van door. She heard a beep under the van, arming the bomb.

She returned to the Bentley, came around to the front door of the car and hopped in.

Jon drove by the van. "I saw what you did. Making it look like Edward shot those men. Clever, but if we blow the van, it might get rid of the print."

"If we don't blow the van, it would kill someone who doesn't deserve it. This way it looks like Martinez was trying to destroy evidence."

The Bentley rolled by the van slowly.

Topaz leaned out the door. She pulled the pin and tossed the grenade beneath the nearby van.

Jon Parker eased into the accelerator, hard enough to pull away quickly, but without peeling out.

Topaz's passenger door shut itself from the wind drag. She dropped the pin into the cup holder and pulled the lap belt over herself.

The Bentley turned at the next intersection just as the grenade went off. The detonation triggered the bomb beneath the van, causing a double explosion.

Jon cleared his throat and said, "Okay, strip out of the sneaking suits and your gear."

Fox leaned over Topaz's right shoulder and whispered, "Yours will have GSR, especially on the sleeves. I'll launder it for you."

Topaz began unfastening the one-piece suit. "Daddy, why did you have collars attached to these things?"

Jon chuckled as he turned left at the next intersection. "So if you wore a vest or something else overtop, it would look like a collared shirt under the vest. If you need to wear your gear and disguise it with normal clothes, you can do it more easily."

Topaz nodded.

Jon gave his daughter's left knee a gentle pat. "Okay, hand your gear to Fox." His eyes lifted to the rearview mirror. "Fox, pull down the armrest back there. There's a little door that opens - it leads to the trunk. Push everything into the back and put the armrest back up."

Topaz continued to pull off the gear suit and her backpack. She took out the gold plate and handed it to her father. She finished disrobing from the sneaking suit. She passed her pack and suit back to her brother.

Fox balled it up so that the gun shot residue wouldn't transfer to the rest of the trunk upholstery.

Paz fixed the wrinkles in the t-shirt and shorts she wore. She readjusted the lay of the seatbelt. "Even after three gunshots, I didn't see a single security guard or cop. That's a little weird, don't you think?"

"Yeah, Pumpkin. Let's assume those guys did something to keep the authorities away." Jon gave Topaz's knee another gentle pat. "Are you okay?"

"Do I feel guilty for defending myself? The only victims, here, are the families of those three. But the world is better off without people who take cash to kill someone."

"Topaz, are you alright?"

"Just fine," she said. "Stop asking. Let me sleep on it. Ask me again tomorrow." She passed the last of her gear back to her brother.

Jon nodded with a sigh.

Fox took her gear and stuffed it into the trunk put his own. He pushed his hand into the little opening to make sure it was shoved deep into the trunk. He shut the plastic door with a click, put the armrest up, and adjusted his shorts and plain white t-shirt. "Dad, why would this guy, Aris Falcon, want to kill us ... let alone you?"

"Don't worry yourself with all that nonsense. Just a little past drama. Just ... think of it as competition."

"What's the connection?" asked Topaz.

Jon replied with a casual tone. "I knew the guy years ago. He just wanted the plate. You two did really good work tonight. How about ice cream on me?"

Topaz snorted with amusement. "We just robbed a museum; I killed three people and blew up a van. Sure ... ice cream. Why not?"

Jon took another turn. "I'll handle Falcon, so try and relax. The sugar is good for restoring emotions. That's why I snack after a job."

Topaz nodded. She'd heard her father's explanation more times than she could count. "After ice cream, can you drop me off in Haight Ashbury?" She took her Bluetooth earpiece out of her ear and put it into the cup holder next to the little metal pin.

"What's in the Haight?"

Topaz dodged the question. "Are you sure you're going to be okay? I've never known someone to try and kill you."

Jon offered a rare smile at his daughter. He shifted his weight in the driver seat. "Listen, Princess ... I knew Falcon years ago. Killing all of us would have been a matter of convenience because if he stole the plate from you, I'd track him down and steal it back. Don't sweat it. It's not like he'd attack the house or anything - he knows I don't take my stolen objects back to the house."

"Who the hell is he?" she asked.

Jon glanced in the rearview at his son. His eyes returned to the road. "Falcon is nothing more than a competitor thief so far as I'm concerned." Parker stopped at a red light. He looked over the gold plate. The light turned green. Jon handed it back to Topaz. "Put this thing in the glove compartment."

She opened the glove box, shoved in the gold plate and shut it. "Fox was real smooth tonight. He snatched the gun right out of the guy's hand ... not to mention he made quick work of the security system on that display pedestal. That's why we were ahead of schedule. He managed to bypass the trigger switch in a mere minute. We took our time coming out."

Jon grinned at his son in the rearview mirror. "Nice work, Fox. You've really got a knack for technology. Your program worked on my laptop. It backdoor'ed the firewall just like you said it would."

"Insert modest reply." Fox said. "Hashtag appreciation."

Topaz scoffed. She stole a glance back at her brother. "Goof."

"Seriously," Jon told his son. "You're a tech-wizard, Fox. Very impressive." He glanced at his daughter. Jon's eyes returned to the road. "So, who is the boy, Topaz?"

"Pardon?" She furrowed her brows.

"You want me to drop you off at someone's house in the Haight, Pumpkin. We won't even get there until after seven in the morning; must be a special guy that you want to show up on his doorstep that early. What's his name?"

"Oh c'mon, daddy. I'm living on my own, now."

"I just want to know the name of your boyfriend. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much for a father to ask his daughter?"

She sighed.

Silence.

Topaz chuckled with a shake of her head. "Mitchel, daddy. It's Mitchel." She pulled down the sun visor and opened the vanity mirror. Two small lights on either side of the mirror illuminated her face.

Fox leaned between the two backrests of the front seats.

She glanced in the reflection at the silhouette of her brother in the back seat and gave him 'the look' to make sure he'd stay quiet about her lie. "Fox has met him, so stop worrying."

"Yeah..." he replied with a halfhearted tone of acknowledgement. Fox cleared his throat and said, "I still can't believe you took down all three of those guys without batting a lash."

She offered a shrug, closed the vanity mirror cover, and put the sun visor back up. "They were committed to killing us, Fox. I honestly don't think I'd have been able to sleep tonight if I didn't shoot them like that. It's self-defense."

"Mm."

Topaz frowned. "I ... I know I went too far. But you remember that job a year and a half ago? Those guys were hired to steal that money on the same night we pulled the heist ... and then the three of them attacked me because I'm a female..."

Fox winced at the old memory. "You snapped the first guy's neck, took his gun then shot the other two guys, and, afterwards, you were _really_upset about it."

Jon frowned. "It was the first time you'd killed someone, Topaz. You had every right to be upset."

She turned around in the seat and looked back at her brother. "Upset? I freaked out. I froze up and stared at those bodies like a greenhorn. That's when the fourth guy came up behind me, pulled his boot knife..." She turned around in the passenger seat and met the gaze of her brother. "...You shot him and saved my life. That's the second time you've saved my life, Fox."

"Second time?" asked Jon Parker. "Honey, something you haven't told me?"

She glanced at her father and offered an awkward smile. "Figure of speech, daddy. When, uh, when I was fifteen. Fox was there for me when, uh..."

Fox cut in. "It was when she going through an emotional time during her first break up."

Topaz nodded in agreement. "Fox came into my room to tell me that dinner was ready and his timing was impeccable. He was there for me when I was having an emotional breakdown. I just ... I felt like he saved me that day. Not from dying or anything ... I just needed rescuing and Foxie was there for me."

Jon eyed her for a second. His gaze returned to the road. "Fair enough. I know this is the part where I mind my business. I'm glad you two have a history of sticking up for one another. You really do work well as a team. You don't need rehearsals; you don't need to practice for a job..."

"I know what you mean," Topaz whispered.

Jon continued. "It's been eighteen months since you two pulled a heist together, then tonight you geared up and ran the job flawlessly."

"Thanks, Daddy." Topaz's slight smile devolved into a grimace. "But I only helped you tonight because you said it was seriously important. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life right now, so I'd rather go back to my heist hiatus."

Jon glanced in the rearview mirror at his son with a sigh.

Fox shrugged at his father.

Jonathan traced his thumb over the steering wheel, fidgeting. "Topaz, we're a family of highly skilled thieves. We've been doing this for as far back as the family line goes. All four surname branches have worked as elite thieves as far back as we can trace. You know the family stories passed down from our ancestors. We stole for the Pharaohs. We stole back the Spear of Destiny for the Pope a hundred years before the first Crusade. We're the good guys, here, Topaz. And you're part of this family team."

"Daddy ... I just need to feel normal for a while. That's all." She panned her eyes towards the passenger window and looked out into the night sky. "It's a thrill every time I do it. But then, eighteen months ago, I killed three people and locked up. And I was lucky that Fox didn't hesitate to kill that fourth guy or I'd be dead. That freaked me out."

"Do you need to talk to someone about it?"

"No," Topaz said with a firm, abrasive tone. She sighed. Her voice softened. "This is the first job I've done since that night. And, gee, what do ya know? I had to kill three more people."

Fox leaned forward and put his hands on the headrests of the front seats. He leaned up and said, "Paz, you didn't hesitate tonight. You didn't even flinch."

"I've had a year and a half to psyche myself up emotionally for killing someone. That way, if I ever had to do it again ... I wouldn't freak out or lock up. I did what I had to do. I had eighteen months to ready myself for doing it again. Still, maybe this line of work is, well, getting out of line. I don't know."

Fox relaxed. Hearing his sister show regret for pulling the trigger put him at ease. He reached his arms around the seat and hugged her from behind. "You did well. You were fast, accurate and smooth. They didn't even get the chance to react. Plus, you didn't freak out afterwards. It's okay to question what you did. It's healthy."

"He's right," Jon added.

"Yeah." She fidgeted for a moment. Topaz gazed out the window. "Actually, I don't feel remorse this time. I guess I did a good job conditioning myself. Still, I need a little time to process this. Do I really want to lead a life of stealing and defending myself against gunmen? It needs to be my decision, understand?"

Fox leaned back in the leather cushions with a sigh. "I've done several heists between then and tonight. Those are the only two times I've ever had to worry about someone with a weapon directly in my face. It's extremely rare. Hell, usually no one ever even sees me."

"Still. I need time to digest this stuff," she told them both. "Actually, I think it bothers me more that I don't feel anything. I just shot three men and I don't feel anything. Nothing at all. And you know what? THAT bothers me."

Jon reached over and patted his daughter's knee. "Topaz, it's okay to be emotional after shooting someone. That's normal."

"No, daddy, you don't understand ... I'm feeling emotional because killing them doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that I don't feel anything about what I just did. What if I'm turning into a sociopath?"

"Pumpkin, whether you feel something for shooting them or whether you feel something for how you're responding to it ... the fact remains, you're still feeling an emotional response. And that's still something. See? You're still human." He flipped on a blinker and pulled up to the ice cream parlor.

Topaz glared up at an LED lit sign in the window.

Jon looked over at the clock on the top corner of the in-dash navigation screen. He reached for the door handle and said, "I love how everything is twenty-four hours in this city."

She sighed and turned her gaze to the right, glaring out passanger window.

Jon Parker stepped out of the car. He shut the door behind himself and walked into the ice cream parlor.

Quaint little bells jingled against the door glass.

Jon approached a woman at a table in the back and sat down adjacent to her. "Hey, stranger."

The girl looked to be nearly the same age as the twins out in the car.

Jonathan leaned forward and kissed the side of her face. "Job was a success."

"Yeah, I here ya', Jon." The young woman leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "So? Were you right? Did he show up?"

"Yeah. Falcon's people showed just as soon as the kids finished the job. You should be proud of your niece and nephew - they were held at gunpoint and took down all the attackers without breaking a sweat."

"You're putting my niece and nephew in danger, Jon."

"They're doing what they were trained to do, Nicky. Just like you're trained to be a federal investigator, my kids are trained to handle whatever comes their way."

Nichole Parker shook her head and sighed. "How do you know the attackers were working for Falcon?"

"Because Topaz got the information out of a guy at gunpoint. I heard the whole thing over the phone. Falcon told these goons to kill all of us. You'd better catch that prick."

"What I don't understand is why he wants artifacts and why he wants to kill you."

Jon Parker put his hand atop of his little sister's hands and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I used to work with him. Then he became obsessed with some new breakthroughs in science," and some make-believe city under the ocean."

"You said he was called Aris Sokolov back then?"

"Yes. He changed his surname to Falcon in 1999. After that, Falcon dropped off the face of the Earth. Maybe stealing artifacts has something to do with interests he had back then. I don't know. What I don't understand is why he's got the DEA on his ass. You care to share, Nichole?"

Nicky smirked. "I'm chasing him down because he created a brand new drug and he's flooding the streets of San Fran with it. The DEA is operating on the assumption that it's a moneymaking operation to fund his other interests."

"You think he needs money?"

"Doesn't every criminal?" Nicky asked, brows arched. "Of course, now that some guy told the twins he was working for Falcon, I finally have a good lead to follow."

Jon frowned and looked away from his sister. "Well, uh, do me a favor and don't tell the DEA what I'm telling you about this stuff."

"Why not? I need evidence against Falcon."

"Topaz shot the guy. She didn't have any choice."

Nichole groaned and brought her hand to her forehead. "That girl shows so much promise, then she goes and kills someone with information? What's gotten into her? She knows better."

"I don't know. She's been pushing away from me."

Nicky tilted her head. "In what way? Girls are usually close to their fathers."

Jon frowned with as shrug. "She's hiding the fact that she's in a relationship with another girl."

"Geeze, really? I never understood the lesbian thing."

Jon shook his head. "I accept it, but I'm not going to bring it up until she's ready to tell me."

"What else is she hiding from you, Jon?"

"She's still hiding the rape from nine years ago. In 2015, I sent her to a therapist, and she convinced the doctor that nothing happened to her."

Nicky sighed. "Why would she bottle that?"

Jon shook his head. "She goes out of her way to bottle everything that happens to her. She refuses to let me help her. If she catches a cold, she tells me she's 'just tired' and to leave her alone. Topaz goes out of her way to keep me out of the loop on things. The only person she opens up to is her brother."

"So why spy on her? Do you think her acting out has anything to do with her mother dying of cancer, maybe?"

Jon shrugged. "I guess. I think I blocked out all the details of that mess. I mean, I can't even remember my wife's face anymore."

"That's because you moved all your photographs to the family island and left them there, Jon."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Because every time I saw her picture, it reminded me that I couldn't save her. But now I can't even remember what she looked like. Is that bad?"

"Like you said, you're probably blocking it out. Obviously it was painful for everyone and each of you handled the loss differently." Nicky frowned.

"What? Why the frown?"

Nichole shook her head. "It's just that ... come to think of it, I can't remember what she looked like, either."

"You're my sister. We probably repress things in a similar fashion. Fox and Topaz can't remember her face either, but they don't know that I overheard them talking about that."

Nicky grimaced. "So, now what?"

"I drive six hours home. By the way, we planted the print and the hair at the museum. Martinez has been properly framed. You're sure his alibi won't hold up for tonight?"

Nicky smirked. "That scumbag is on film doing a drug deal in the parking lot of the Coliseum, across the street, at twelve thirty. Now you've got him at the museum half an hour later. I can finally get that prick off the streets."

"This family looks out for one another," Jon said. "I'm going to get some ice cream for the kids, then we're going to hit the road. It's a long drive back to San Francisco. How's your boyfriend, the cop?"

Nicky grinned. "The cop's name is Reno. And he's good, thanks for asking."

"Yeah. Homicide department - the only cops I like are the ones that leave me alone, and solve murders."

"He liked your football team."

"See? He can't be all that bad," Jon replied with a slight smile. "Seriously, though, he's a good guy. He treats you good. I like'em, badge and all."

Nicky laughed softly and stood up. "I better get down to the museum."

"What's your angle, Nicky?"

"I'm telling my superiors that an anonymous tip came in that Martinez was spotted shooting his team; I'm going to go kick in his door and drag'em out of his condo. Thanks, Jonny."

"Anything for my kid sister. You want to say hi to the kids out in the car?"

Nichole shook her head with a frown. "I can't let anyone else know I'm in the area. It's a long story."

"Oh."

She smirked, adding, "Besides, I'd go off on Topaz if I saw her tonight. She knows better than to get emotional while holding a weapon."

"I'm not sure it was emotion that spurred her into pulling the trigger."

"Well, whatever it is, she killed a witness willing to name Falcon." Nichole huffed in frustration. "Okay, Jon. I've got to move. I'm headed home after we get Martinez." She paused and smiled. "By the way, on the good news front - Reno was promoted and he promised to take me out for the weekend to celebrate. I'm thinking I can have him start the weekend a little early."

"Take care of yourself." Jon stood up and stretched. "Stay out of trouble."

The siblings exchanged a hug.

Nichole sat back down at the table in the corner. "I'll wait until you leave with the kids. If I see them, I'm going to want to slap Topaz upside her head for shooting someone willing to be an informant. Sorry."

"I heard you the first time." Jon relinquished the hug. "We have other connections to Falcon, just so you know."

Nicky tilted her head. "I'm listening."

"Fox infiltrated a group of guys who hit the Granite Lady the other day. They were reporting to my old 'student,' Rick Peterson."

Nicky shuddered. "I hated that guy."

"Mm, I remember. Anyhow, the guy talking to Peterson apparently mentioned 'The Doctor.'"

"Doctor Who?"

"Funny," Jon replied with a smirk. "As I was saying, Fox and I came to the conclusion that Falcon had several other museums hit as well. Not sure why yet, but if Fox's contact can lead us back to Falcon, you'll be the first to know for sure, I promise."

"Okay, that works for me. Thanks, Jonny."

Jonathan turned towards the counter. Instead of ordering, he turned back to his sister and asked, "Have you heard from anyone else in the family? The Parkers, Coopers, Pendletons, anybody?"

Nichole pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Neither have I. Joe Pendleton still has a Facebook page. He updated it this morning. But no one else in the family - everyone disappeared. If you hear from anyone else in the family, let me know."

"I will. Love ya', Jonny."

"You too, Nicky." They shared a kiss on the corner of one another's lips. Jon turned back towards the counter and placed his ice cream order.

Nichole sat back down at the table and waited for her brother to leave.

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