"Can we talk about the aspects of this plan that I am still uncomfortable with?" Orange asked.
It seemed a little late to bring it up, Genie thought, since they were standing outside of the Alto Towers (and what does it say about us as a nation that a notorious crime family openly puts their name on a skyscraper in the middle of town, she wondered).
"You mean the part where we're disguised as hookers, the part where half the guys up there might recognize us anyway, or the part where that jacket is way too small for you?" she asked.
"They won't recognize us," Jenny said confidently. "Trust me, people see what they expect. They expect hookers. They'll see hookers."
"...and the jacket was all I had," Jenny continued. "Some ex left it behind. It's not my fault Orange is bigger than most guys I've dated."
"I bet he is," Corrie breathed.
"That's not what I meant," Jenny chuckled, smiling.
"Anyway," Orange said, blushing. "What do we do if they recognize us?"
"We run," Genie said simply. With more confidence than she felt, she added, "But Jenny's right. People see what they expect. We stick to the plan."
It wasn't a horrible plan, Genie thought. At least, she hoped it wasn't.
Of course, it had been Jenny who had proposed they sneak into the gathering of crime bosses disguised as hookers. Orange hadn't been happy with that part from the start. Actually, Jenny had proposed that she sneak in, alone. Genie had the feeling she had been trying to redeem herself after the near disaster of her meeting with George T.
Genie had suggested that she should be the one to go in instead. That was until Corrie had pointed out that she was the only one where knew exactly where the hidden safe was. More importantly, she was the only one who understood the formula to figure out the combination. The obviously terrified woman had volunteered to be the one to go. Genie thought that might have been one of the bravest things she'd ever seen.
In the end, they'd all agreed to go in together or not at all. Once they'd settled that, they worked on fleshing out the rest of the plan. It wasn't a horrible plan.
We've got this, Genie thought and offered a silent prayer that she was right.
"Hi, handsome," Jenny positively bubbled in a high-pitched, giggly voice that sounded nothing like her own. "Terry sent us... Terry Stone. You... like... know Terry, right. He said to tell you that we're... like... the entertainment."
"Damn," the goon guarding the penthouse door chuckled. "Terry always sends over the best girls."
"Oh, you're... like... so sweet," Hooker-Jenny beamed, giving him a little bounce that threatened to pop her out of her top.
This poor guy never stood a chance, Genie thought.
The inside of the spacious penthouse apartment looked just like Corrie had described it. Genie was impressed. Most people didn't pay that much attention to their surroundings.
Glancing quickly around, they spotted another Alto goon standing guard over what Corrie had said was the entrance to the dining room where the meeting of the criminal Families was likely getting started. For a moment Genie wondered what she might overhear in that room, but she reminded herself that the Alto's ledger held far more secrets. Stick to the plan, she thought.
Orange split off and confidently walked up to the goon.
"Hey, Terry Stone sent me over with some girls for the party," Orange said in his best Bro voice.
"Have 'em take a seat on the couches over there, watch some TV," the goon nodded. "The bosses gonna be talkin' for a while."
"Can do," Orange nodded. "The girls are just gonna go freshen up a bit first. Hey, you catch the game last night?"
Was it just luck that Marco's office, with the hidden safe containing the Alto's ledger, was in the opposite direction from the meeting? Was it Miranda's wyrd-fate thing that a bathroom for them to "freshen up" in was right next to it?
Stick to the plan, Genie breathed.
While Orange distracted the guard, talking about last night's game, the three of them headed for the office.
"You're sure you can get us in if it's locked, right?" Jenny whispered.
"Yes," Genie lied. She wasn't sure, but she knew she had to be. This was going to work. It had to. "Mariah showed me how to pick locks."
"You know, we have to take down the Altos just so I can hang out with Mariah more," Jenny mused.
"I still can't believe you guys know Miranda and Mariah too," Corrie whispered. "They're like famous."
"Hey, I'm famous," Jenny hissed.
"Eyes on the prize, ladies," Genie said. "We just need to... oh SHIT!"
"Don't look, don't look, don't look," Genie whispered, half turning to face the bathroom door.
Luna Elderberry strode purposefully out of the office, the gold buttons on her pristine white dress gleaming in the hall lights. Her hand-made Amorosan leather stilettos clicked against the penthouse's hardwood floors, steady and relentless as Death herself.
If she sees me, we're sunk, Genie thought, pretending very hard that she was invisible. Pretending that she was just a hooker, one of the evening's entertainment for powerful and dangerous men, so far beneath the notice of the wealthy Luna Elderberry that she didn't even merit contempt.
"Quick, before it closes," Jenny hissed.
Mindful of the guard Orange was hopefully still distracting, they quick-marched through the office door as it swung slowly shut behind Luna.
"We made it," Genie said with a shuddering, near-hysterical grin. She'd never been happier to be the object of her mother's indifference. "She didn't recognize us."
"Who was that?" Corrie asked, clearly responding to how shaken Genie obviously was.
"Genie's mom," Jenny said. "Big time banker, money launderer and all around evil bitch... but she got us into the office."
"OK," Corrie breathed. "OK, we're in the office."
"Yup," Jenny smiled. "Now we just grab the ledger and walk right back out. It's all you, Corrie."
"All me," Corrie nodded. "All down to me." Panic edged her voice as her eyes started to turn wild. "Everything depends on me."
"Corrie," Jenny said, taking her by the shoulders and looking deep into her panicked eyes. "We're with you. We believe in you. You're a genius. You've got this."
"I've got this?" Corrie's voice shook.
"You've got this," Genie smiled.
"We've got this," Jenny said firmly.
"We've got this," Corrie said with a shuddering breath. "It's just math. Math's easy."
With another deep breath, Corrie stepped behind the office's big desk and pushed aside a painting on the wall to reveal the hidden safe behind it.
"OK, just give me a minute think this through," she said, concentrating.
"You've got this," Jenny said. Quietly, she added to Genie, "You know, I'm not bad at math. I mean, I can balance my checkbook. My mom even taught me a little double-entry bookkeeping... she keeps the books for dad's hardware store... but I couldn't make heads or tails of Corrie's formula. Could you?"
"I took Algebra for Football Players as my math requirement," Genie whispered. "You balance your checkbook?"
"Got it," Corrie said after a few minutes.
With an upbeat nod, she stepped forward and punched a code into the safe's keypad. Without any fanfare, the safe clicked and swung open. Smiling, Corrie reached inside and pulled out a dark, leather bound book.
"I thought it would more... impressive... somehow," Jenny mused.
"The Alto Families' ledger," Genie smiled. "Every dirty deal. Every bribed official. Every secret... or enough to send the whole lousy bunch of them to jail for a long time. Probably enough pull down the other Families too."
"OK, I'm impressed," Jenny nodded. "Let's get out 'a here."
"Hey, those girls gonna be much longer?" the Alto's guard asked.
Orange had taken a position in front of the bathroom door, playing what he imagined was the part of the dutiful bodyguard for a trio of hookers. Unfortunately, the guard hadn't been willing to spend the whole time talking sports. The guy seemed pretty serious about his job.
"Phft, women, right?" Orange ventured.
"Well, tell 'em... hey!" The guard lurched back, eyes hard.
Glancing behind him, Orange saw the office door swinging open, the ladies coming out.
"What the Hell!? You're not allowed back there!" The guard barked.
Luck, it seemed, had finally abandoned them.
"Get them out of here!" Genie snapped.
"Genie?" Orange blinked.
"Go, I've got this," Genie said, fists raised, squaring off against the guard. "Stick to the plan."
Stick to the plan, Orange thought. I hate this part of the plan... the part where, if they got caught, their best fighter would distract the guard while they made a break for it.
Still, as Corrie rushed past him toward the apartment door, he had to admit Genie had really taken to those kung fu moves Mariah had showed her. The guard didn't know what he was in for.
After the whole business with Ms. H and Johnny Pretty, Mariah has insisted on showing her friends a few self-defense moves. At first, Genie hadn't thought it was really her thing. She'd discovered she was wrong about that, discovered she actually enjoyed it.
In the end Mariah had shown her more than just a few moves... and she'd picked up more on her own. Even in the damn, tight little skirt, she could handle herself.
I've got this, she thought.
"That is quite enough of that," Mr. Grey said coldly.
