Red Notice (2021 Thurber) Oneshots

Saving for Idiots

The first time Nolan has to save the Bishops.

~

Nolan Booth was good at a lot of things: escaping (he was still waiting on that Shawshank jacket), being a thief, hilarious without trying too hard, effortlessly handsome, and brilliant beyond his years.

God, he could go on for hours about his amazingness.

There was, however, one thing that Nolan couldn't and typically would scoff at, and by now you know that's human interactions/attachments.

So, yes, big whoop.

Now, here he was on Saturday morning, going over his plan to save the Bishops. Yes, bet you never saw that coming, huh? He hadn't either, you know. They'd slipped up last night after Sarah had gotten him the item, ending up captured. The last thing he'd heard in his comm was Hartley yelling at him to get their stolen prize to safety. The prize– a drop of Proserpina's beauty. Yes, that wasn't a real thing, but someone was willing to pay them for it: 150 million dollars. That was fifty million each after they split it. So in some ways, it was worth it.

It was weird, planning to save them here in the place they'd rented, alone. He'd never had to save them before, either; it was typically the other way around. More like Booth escaped from his cell or wherever and ended up meeting them midway. Whatever.

Though he had given serious thought to letting them rot there, finally giving them what they deserved for all those months ago with the eggs. Okay, so maybe he was a little sore about that still. Anyway, because he was someone with a somewhat decent moral code, he decided he'd save them. Besides, the opportunity to hold this over their heads for a long time was sweet.

So, here's the thing: Nolan was all about escaping—he'd never actually rescued someone and then escaped; weird for him. Ninety percent of his escape plan was formed in his head as he went. For once, though, he wasn't going to be acting on total impulse/improv—he'd gotten an estimate of what he needed to do. It wasn't as easy as they made it look in the movies. He'd almost ended up looking for a pamphlet or a book or something to give him an estimate.

He'd also decided with himself that if this all went well, he'd make a book called Saving for Idiots.

He tapped his fingers against the mahogany table as he stared at his computer. It was beeping lightly, illuminating the spot where Hartley and Sarah were. After many phone calls, some tracking, tracing, hacking, and a couple of glasses of wine, Nolan had gotten the Bishops' location. Turns out, the criminal underworld can get worse because they were being held at an art auction, and get this: real people were being used as art. Ewww... there was also the fact that they were all still alive.

God, this world got more twisted by the minute.

Luckily, from what Nolan had hacked into more on their website- why they had a website, Booth would never know– Sarah and Hartley weren't being auctioned off.

But they were being kept in a room near to where everyone would be viewing the art before the auction began. Booth had scored an invite and thanked the higher powers up there that he was good enough to get one and it was a masquerade. How...quaint. No matter, Nolan had this in the bag. He smiled as he walked away to his room, hoping to catch an hour of sleep to work off the alcohol and be clear-headed by the time the party came around.

His eyes fluttered shut, welcoming the darkness.

~

He parked the sleek black car that he and the Bishops had obtained a couple of days ago. Stepping out of it, he adjusted his mask over his nose before examining his carefully put-together outfit.