CHAPTER 157: A Criminal Act

My heart thuds, fast and loud.

Adriano and Francesca, together with their men, are inside their cars that are parked at a distance from the Central Pavilion. Their watchful gazes are highly-focused on me and Marius as we walk towards the entrance of the building.

“Hazel, I’m not happy you put yourself in this situation instead of just trusting me,” Marius says.

I bite my tongue. Arguing with him won’t make our situation any better.

Marius uses a specialized device to open the front door. Once we’re inside, he holds my hand as we both walk extremely carefully to avoid any motion-and-sound-activated cameras, sensors and alarms.

We studied the floor design layout of this building, which was given to us by Adriano, last night. And that helps since we manage to smoothly get to our target location even though it’s quite dark.

Using the number combination Adriano gave us, we open the huge vault and take out the painting.

There must be someone associated with the Biennale Festival w