The Art Thief's Guide To Freedom

1: Prologue: Step One: How to Get a One Way Ticket to Prison

"On August 21, 1911, Vincenzo Perrugia, an employee of the Louvre in Paris, stole perhaps the most famous painting in the world, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The theft created an international stir, and when the thief was caught two years later as he attempted to sell the painting to an Italian museum, he was treated as a national hero in Italy. He only served six months in jail."

~Major Dan, Historical Headlines, 21, August 2014

~**~~**~

For most, the intense silence was unsettling. Each creak and crack in the darkness worrisome. Who knew what lay out there, ready to devour anything that crossed its path. That exact reason was why humans invented fire. To scare away whatever lived out there. 

But for Nico Stravos, the dark was an old friend. A companion, really.

She reckoned she spent more time in the pitch black than in the golden sunlight. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

Especially at that very moment.

Dust spores crawled up her nose as she lowered herself into the room. The room that coincidentally belonged to the Museo Del Prado, Madrid's pride and joy.

It also happened to be the home of Las Meninas. The oil painting was over 350 years old and beyond priceless. It was recognized as one of the greatest works in Western history. One that Nico was just itching to get her hands on.

Her gloved hands.

She wasn't a barbarian.

Just a thief.

The rope pulled taut as she lowered herself down, inch by inch. Normally, she would have just repelled down onto the floor, but the weight-sensitive tiles made that impossible. Either way, free climbing gave her an upper body workout and avoided touching the floor at the same time.

The painting stood on a pedestal in the middle of the room. It was the only art piece in the entire section, encased in a temperature-sensitive glass case. Sensors were embedded into the glass itself, meaning with any small fluctuation in temperature, even 0.1 degrees, an alarm would sound.

The Museo Del Prado had gone to extensive efforts to protect Las Meninas from thieves. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Nico Stravos wasn't most thieves.

Hanging upside, her legs were knotted around the rope, supporting her body weight. If the thievery gig ever got tiresome, she'd definitely have a shot at the Cirque Del Sol. She retrieved a temperature probe from her bag and carefully, as to not hit the glass, she measured the temperature.

Luckily, the inside of the glass was maintained at an equilibrium temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. The outside of the glass was 26.8 degrees. A little chilly for Nico, but she'd make due.

She talked into her earpiece, relaying the information to Pablo Ramirez, her partner.

She had met Pablo during a heist in St. Petersburg four years ago. He had been after the Ninth Wave by Ivan Aivazovsky, the same as Nico. They had competed for weeks, casing the Russian museum, following employees, and paying off the curators to look the other way. He had nearly outsmarted her though. 

Nearly. 

But when another thief swooped in at the last moment and stole the painting out from under their noses, they decided to join forces.

And now they were performing their highest stakes theft. It had been Pablo's idea, actually. Nico had thought it was too risky but after assuring her that the reward was greater, she had relented.