Heists and Vengeance

Twenty-Four

Lana

After five days of resting, Lana finally felt much better. The ache in her side had faded to a dull ache, and she could go about doing daily activities without hissing in pain. She'd tried to stay helpful the whole time though – she didn't want to end up being a burden.

One of the ways she'd done this was by sending scans of the documents she'd found in Carmichael's room to Maia. Even through all this, they'd kept in touch. She hadn't explained what she wanted her friend to do with the papers yet though, she preferred for her friend to read them first, and tell her what she thought. She was now only waiting for a reply.

As if by some omnipotent god had heard her thoughts, her laptop binged, signalling a new email. She set down the book she'd been reading – Skeletons In the Closet, a murder mystery that she'd read and reread roughly twelve times – and grabbed her laptop.

She opened it up to find an email from Maia. The message simply read 'Woah', which was, Lana judged, an appropriate reaction. She immediately started composing a new email in response.

To maia.martinez@thedailybartlett.com

From: lana.turner@email.com

Re: Read these documents ASAP!!!

Hi-

So...you read the documents. And, believe me, that's how I felt after seeing those as well.

Listen – I need you to do me a favor. Can you prepare an article about these documents - but without publishing it yet?

. I'm going to do something....something risky. It's probably better if you don't know the details. If I make it out, I'll email you, and you can just delete the article and the scans. But if I don't...then you publish the article.

Believe me, you'll know if I don't make it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll owe you one.

Lots of love,

Your bestie, Lana

P.S.: Good luck with your never ending struggle against Barry. One day, karma will get to him, I promise you!

Lana sent the email and sighed. What she was doing would potentially put her best friend in danger, but she had no other option. This was their safety net, in case they were unlucky enough to get caught by Carmichael during the heist.

Just as she closed her laptop, she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" she called.

The handle turned, and Erin stepped inside the room, a large smile on her face.

"Come on! We need to go!" she said excitedly.

Lana was confused. "Go where?"

"You're going to a gala on a yacht. Something tells me that you didn't stock up on evening gowns before coming here."

Lana groaned. "No..."

"Yes, Lana. We're going clothes shopping!"

"When was the last time you went shopping for clothes?" Erin asked.

Lana thought for a second – she honestly couldn't quite remember. "I don't know. Around a year ago?"

Erin laughed. "You're just like Brett. He buys new clothes every two years or so – and that's only when I remind him!"

Lana laughed too, and looked around. They were in the bustling city center, surrounded by people from all walks of life. They had just left a jewelry store where Erin had insisted on Lana buying a pair of dangly earrings ('The silver looks amazing on your skin!' she'd said). Before that, they'd gone to buy shoes – black pumps, which Lana secretly really liked (though she wouldn't tell Erin that).