The Rush Read Free

exhibit started moving toward the nearest
exit. Mia guessed the tour group was on its way toward whatever else was
coolest this month at the Louvre.
    As the tour guide followed the group, herding them forward
like so many sheep, Mia wondered at the woman’s tactics. Didn’t tour guides
normally lead from the front? As the guide passed through the doors of the
exit, she took a moment to pull them closed behind her.
    Mia started to move out of her alcove, but was stopped by
movement from the opposite direction from which the tour group had gone. Two
men entered through the doorway and closed the doors behind them. Mia felt a
shock of recognition. One of the men was the older man that had scanned as
aggressive. The other was wearing an army green coat.
    Something was definitely not right. Mia slunk back as far as
she could into the tiny alcove and watched the men through their reflection in
a rather gaudy Greco-Roman mirror. Mia could see bulges under their arms. The
kind of bulge a concealed weapon might make. Mia shrank back, doing her best
impersonation of being invisible.
    As the three approached the star diamond case, Mia cast her
eyes around looking for an escape route or at least a hiding spot better than
this barely-recessed alcove. Just around the corner was a large temporary
structure containing all sorts of information on the formation of star
diamonds. This was one of the push-the-button-self-tour maze structures found
in so many museums that felt so very out of place at the Louvre. Out of place,
but oh-so-welcome to Mia in this particular moment.
    The only challenge was entering the maze without being seen.
There was twenty-five feet to the entrance, through an area that was very
exposed and of course, brightly lit.
    Hunkered down, waiting for any opportunity to practice her
museum sprinting skills, Mia watched the icy blonde type in some kind of
override code to the star diamond case. The thing opened with a whoosh of
hydraulics. Then all three thieves leaned into the case.
    This was her chance. Mia slid off her loafers and sprinted
for the maze entrance. She slip-skidded across the slick marble floor, but
entered the maze without a sound. Mia would have made her escape cleanly if her
scanner hadn't suddenly gone berserk, vibrating away.
    Mia froze, her heart in her throat, waiting for the
inevitable reaction from the trio.
    And they did not disappoint.
    “Did you hear that?” the blonde hissed.
    “Bloody hell,” the older man said in a clipped British
accent. “That’s the sound I heard with that blasted woman near the Mona Lisa.”
    “The Asian?” the Belgian growled. “She interrupted me while
installing slav cam.”
    “Damn it, didn’t you check the entire floor?” the blonde
demanded. The Brit tried to explain, but the blonde overrode him. “Find her.”
    Mia heard the two men move off, looking for the source of
the noise. The sound must have bounced and echoed, making her location more
difficult to ascertain. Mia picked up her jade scorpion and pressed her lips on
the stinger tail. A lucky break, just when she needed it most.
    She could still get lost in the maze. Once the blonde had
secured all the star diamonds, Mia was sure the thieves would high tail it out
of here. The scanner activated again, vibrating so violently it nearly fell out
of her hands.
    “The star diamonds,” the blonde hissed. Then she raised her
voice. “The Asian has found a way to track star diamonds.”
    Mia froze. That couldn’t be true, could it? Had she someone
stumbled onto a way to find star diamonds? Remotely? The concept wasn’t
unprecedented. The dessert Jell-O was well known for emitting waves very
similar to brain waves. Did the star diamonds do something similar? Is that why
her scanner could pick them up?
    Which would have been great, except for the whole fact that
an international team of thieves now knew about it. And the heavy steps of men
running didn’t help any. There was no way these people were