2013.04.22 - Honor Among Thieves

Normally, Risque was a 'for hire' kind of thief. However, occasionally, whispers of a specific piece of this or that got back to her. The black market is good for things like that. She had been burning through a fair bit of cash lately so the fact that this piece would easily go for over seventy-five thousand when sold to the right buyer... Yeah. It caught her attention.

The Hispanic woman, dressed in all black leather sans where her abdomen is bare, has snuck into the penthouse while the man was out. He's known on the streets to deal coke to young teenagers. She felt no remorse about lightening his pockets. She stands, hunched over the desk with a long, round cylinder on her back as she ever so carefully works at removing the canvas from its framing so it can be replaced with a good but 'cheap' knock off.

Ricardo habitually targets marks that are a detriment to society, in one way or another. And like Risque he's heard this specific dealer has a penchant for art. expensive art.

One advantage of being a shapeshifter is ease of casing. When you can literally become a fly on the wall its easy to get things like pin codes for alarms. So looking like his mark he just waltzes past the building security up to the door, opens it with the key he had made from a wax mold, punches in the alarm code, and heads towards the studio only to find Risque already there. "Erhem! That, I believe, is mine."

Risque's head lifts from where she's bent over the desk. A brow arches as she looks over the man before she smirks. "Really, babe? From where I'm standing, it seems to be mine."

She straightens a little. "I suppose we're going to have a bit of a problem here, aren't we?" She never moves away from the art but the knife she was using as a tool is carefully laid off to the side t show she means no harm.

Ricardo, still looking like the mark, leans against the door frame of the study's entry and looks Risque up and down. "Well, I guess that would depend on what your intentions are. From where I stand it looks like you're trying to steal some paintings. Are you trying to steal some paintings?" As he waits for an answer he arches an eyebrow and smile with only one corner of his lips, making it more a smirk than anything else.

There's a soft chuckle from Risque as she straightens a little more. "Observant, aren't you?" One hip cocks off to the side and her hand comes down to rest on it. "Si. That's precisely what I'm doing. Now, this can go down two ways. You can sit down and shut up while I deal with this and call the cops after I leave at which point... Well... They'd likely discover your side business..." Her loose hand begins to glow a soft purple. "Or I can shut you up and you'll come to hours after I'm already gone. Take your pick."

Ricardo chuckles as he pushes off the door frame and starts nonchalantly walking towards the open window in the back wall of the room. "My side business /is/ the painting. You're pretty good. The alarm system here is top notch." He leans down to examine the work on the window's sensor and nods knowingly... Or at least in a way that looks knowing, his particular skills tend to make it unnecessary for him to deal with things like disabling alarm systems. Turning back to look at Risque again he grins, "Tell you what? How about I counter offer with giving you 10% of what I get for the painting, just so your effort here today doesn't end up being a complete waste?" Someone paying attention might notice that there's what looks like a detailed color tattoo of a saber tooth tiger on the back of his left hand, which he's now examining, keeping an eye on Risque only with his peripheral vision.

Risque's body turns as she watches him cross the room. "I'm one of the best." Her brow arches and her eyes narrow. "Who are you?" Both arms now cross over her chest. She's watching him far more closely than she was a moment ago since he's obviously -not- the owner of the painting as he appeared to be.

His counter offer is considered for a moment before she smirks. "Mm. I think not. I have damn good connections that will pay very well for this." Her fingers tap against the opposite arm a moment. "I'll offer this though... I have an idea of you particular abilities... I'll sell it, you can even come along if you wish, and then I'll split it with you. Fifty-fifty." Ricardo flicks his eyes up to look at Risque directly for a moment. Chuckling he asks, "Perceptive, ain't cha? How about we say 80/20? Take into consideration that you're going to have to fence it. I see you have a replica there. With the replica buying me time /I/ can sell the painting to a legitimate dealer which'll get me a lot more money than you'll ever get from a fence..." He stops to think for a moment as he catch on to something he's just said and adds, "Actually, you did bring the replica, which I didn't think of. 70/30, just for that."

Oh she likes this one. Normally, she'd be annoyed. "It's my job to be perceptive," she counters before her head tilts for a moment. "This money goes towards clearing a friend... 65/35 and you've got yourself a deal." Because he's right and Risque knows it. A legit sale would earn more than what she'd get on the black market.

Ricardo thinks about it for a moment then nods. "Since its for charity your got a deal." Pulling his wallet out of his back pocket he flips it open. After moment of focusing on what's inside his wallet his body kind of melts, looking like a golden, human-sized amoeba for a second before reforming back into the real Ricardo. As soon as the shift is done he pulls out a business card from the wallet and stuffs it back into his pocket. The card, black with silver writing that simply states 'Ricardo Gracia - Art Appraisals and Procurement' followed by a phone number, is offered to Risque along with a hand to shake. "Is tomorrow good for you to visit some galleries?"

For a moment, Risque stares at him. "Much better look for you, handsome." She reaches out a hand to take the card as well as shake his hand. "For now.. You can call me Risque." She smirks. "You can also help me finish this," is said with a wink.

Ricardo checks his watch and nods, "Well, thank you. And we have to step it up too. We've spent too much time chatting. The mark's due back in about ten minutes." Moving over to the desk he holds up the frame so Risque can work on getting the painting out of it.

There's a hiss from Risque as she turns and goes back to work. Not a word is spoken and her movements are deft. It take approximately 6.73 minutes before the paintings are completely switched out and the dupe framed for hanging. "Telekinetic. I can get us out the way I got in. Hang that while I clean up and fix the window alarm." It'll have to reset once she closes the window. Ricardo takes the replica and rehangs it, aligning it to the slightly brighter colored patch of wall it had been covering. "Just tell me as soon as you're ready and I'll reset the alarm. Now the question is, who's carrying the painting?"

The painting is carefully rolled and put into the tube. Risque hesitates a moment, not normally one to trust others, then hand the tube over. "Don't screw me over on this. It'll end badly..." And then she takes a deep breath. "Go ahead and reset it. It'll reengage once the window is shut." On his cue, she'll lift them both up and out through the window before shutting it and lifting them to the roof.

Ricardo takes the tube and slings it across his back. Going over to the keypad he reengages the alarm then runs over to the window, slips out and closes it, letting Risque lower them down to the ground. "I firmly subscribe to the idea of honor among thieves. In this business if you don't keep your word you're out of the business, one way or another. How about we meet at Galeria Deso at 1:00PM and we'll get this taken care of then?"

Once they land, Risque sways slightly and her eyes flutter slightly. "Hmm?" That took a little more out of her than she was expecting. "Oh. Yes, of course. Tomorrow at 1:00. That's just fine. It was a pleasure working with you."

Ricardo grins, "Maybe we can do this again sometime." Then he tugs on the bottom of his suit's jacket to adjust the hang properly and heads out towards the road at a brisk walk.