Chapter One: The Girl With No Name

Isla POV

“And this final piece,” Mark said, gesturing to the large painting. “Crafted with some of the finest materials available. Exceptional work.”

Soft laughter rose from the guests around him.

I stayed in the crowd, watching him from a safe distance. He hadn’t looked at me once all night.

Good. The wig, the dress, and the weeks studying Diane Calloway’s life had worked.

A waiter stopped beside me with a silver tray of champagne. “Mrs. Calloway. Would you like something to drink?”

I put on Diane’s warm smile. “No, thank you. I’ve had enough already.”

He nodded and moved on. I let out a slow breath. My clutch pressed against my side. Under the compact mirror was the envelope Diane had hired me to steal from Mark’s office twenty minutes earlier.

Now I just had to leave with it.

I walked toward the bar the way Diane would… unhurried. Near the dessert table, a small group of women stood talking over tiny pastries. I joined them and reached for a lemon tart.

“The lemon tart is really good,” I said, lifting one with a fork.

“Isn’t it?” the woman in the emerald dress replied. “You should try the raspberry one too, Diane.”

“I will.” I smiled as though we had known each other for years. “Everything looks amazing tonight.”

Another woman swirled the wine in her glass. “That’s Mark for you. He never does anything halfway when he hosts.”

They all laughed. She wasn’t wrong. From everything I had learned, Mark Hethmont loved perfection almost as much as he loved being admired, especially at an exhibition on his own estate.

The conversation drifted to the auction and the city’s elite. I smiled with them while quietly counting the seconds until I could walk away.

Then a voice crackled over a nearby radio.

“Check the second floor.” A security guard pressed a hand to the earpiece hidden under his hair.

I lowered my fork before anyone could notice how tightly my fingers had closed around it. The chatter around me blurred.

Another guard answered. “Let’s search everywhere. They couldn’t have gotten far.”

They had found out.

I set my plate aside and slipped deeper into the crowd, moving toward the band on the far side of the room. Across the ballroom, another guard cut between groups of guests, scanning faces.

I kept my head still, weaving between people like I was just enjoying the party. The guards moved faster now. So did the pounding in my ears.

The terrace doors appeared ahead. I stepped outside into the cool night air without looking back.

Two minutes. I just needed two minutes to reach the car.

I crossed the terrace as though I was admiring the view, then slipped down the side staircase toward the service entrance.

Footsteps quickened across the stone behind me.

“Mrs. Calloway?”

Every instinct urged me to turn around. I didn’t. I kept walking, then faster, until the side street came into view.

Naomi’s car was waiting at the curb, engine running already. I pulled open the passenger door and slid inside. She pulled away before I even closed it.

“You’re early,” Naomi said, checking the rearview mirror. “Which means one of two things. Either everything went perfectly or someone’s chasing you.”

“A little bit of both.” I pulled off the wig and ran my fingers through my dark waves before stuffing it into the bag between us. “Just drive normal. Do not speed.”

Naomi grinned. “I’m always normal.”

I snorted.

“Seriously,” she said, flicking on the indicator. “Did you get it?”

I tapped the clutch on my lap. “Right here.”

She let out a low whistle. “Isla Virelli, you beautiful criminal.” She gave a short laugh. “Sorry… I mean, Mrs. Calloway.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please.”

“I almost forgot who I was picking up.” She joked.

“Good. That means everyone else did too.”

Naomi tossed a folded jacket into my lap. “Here. Cover the dress before someone sees you.”

I shrugged it on. The fabric was still warm from the heater.

“Still, you pulled it off,” she said, wearing a smile.

“I had to.” I leaned back against the seat. “One of the guards nearly caught me coming out of Mark’s office. I had to walk straight back into the ballroom, smiling and talking to people like nothing happened.”

Her smile faded. “You’re kidding.”

I shook my head. “For a second, I thought it was over.”

She let out a slow breath. “Well… at least you made it out.”

“Barely.”

Naomi glanced at me before returning her eyes to the road. “One day,” she muttered, “you’re going to stop taking years off my life.”

I smiled. “I’ll try.”

“Liar.”

A quiet laugh slipped out between us.

___________________________________

We drove in silence for a while. City lights moved past the windows. Rain started lightly, then fell harder against the windshield.

Naomi broke the silence. “You know what this money means, right? We could finally take a break. A real one.”

“We say that after every job.”

“I mean it this time.” She smiled, but I could hear the tiredness underneath. “Maybe this time we actually do it. You and me. No more jobs for a while.”

“We’ll see. Right now we just need to get home safe.”

Neither of us spoke after that. The wipers moved in a steady rhythm.

I checked the side mirror. A pair of headlights caught my attention. A black SUV sat two cars behind us. We turned. It turned too.

“Naomi!”

She glanced at me.

“Take the next right.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

Without another question, she turned. A few seconds later the SUV turned with us.

Naomi checked the mirror again. “…Isla.”

“I know.”

“That’s the same car.” Her hands tightened on the wheel.

“I’ve been watching it since we left the gala.”

The rain came down harder, blurring the road. Naomi pressed the accelerator. The SUV matched our speed.

“Isla…” Her voice was tense now. “What do we do?”

My hands had gone cold in my lap. I didn’t look away from the mirror.

“Whatever you do,” I whispered, “don’t drive home.”