Book Eight, Chapter 8: Estate Auction

After I finished talking to Camden, I needed to find out where my character lived so I could have a good home base. Since I was the guy in charge, AKA the mastermind, it was probably the location where the team would meet up before the heist, so I should know where it was.

I did the trick that we had learned, where you could improvise into having the keys to any car you saw, start it up, and then suddenly the car would be yours. That way, I could look at the registration and see where I lived. Checking my driver’s license would have worked too, but I liked the new way.

Unfortunately, what I found was a hotel receipt. My character, it seemed, was from out of town or at least had been out of town for a while, so the hotel was where I went. It was the type of place that you could pay for a month in advance.

The key card to my room was even in my wallet. It was funny that the first mystery in every storyline was learning basic things about your character.

I had been Off-Screen for a while. Just as I was about to reach the room my character was staying in, a couple of NPCs walked by talking about how Gerald Bellanti’s belongings were being auctioned off later that day.

They were really loud about it, so it was clearly a nudge that I needed to head that direction. But before I did, I wanted to check in with my teammates, so I decided to get use out of my Prop Department Requisition trope.

I wasn’t sure how to use it, but I was Off-Screen, so I could get creative. I simply said I needed to find my contact list, the kind you see in crime shows, which would contain all the different people I knew who could help get the heist done.

I found it pretty easily, written in my own handwriting inside my hotel room’s safe. I easily found the other players’ information in there.

I went to the phone and called up Dina.

That’s how, thirty minutes later, she and I were headed down the road in my new car on the way to check out the auction where all of the items in the house were going to be sold. The house itself would be sold a couple of days later.

After a little bit of discussion on what type of dynamic our characters should have, we eventually went On-Screen and the banter began.

“Tell me this is more than just some house in the suburbs,” Dina said as she put her feet up on my dashboard. “Tell me we’re not just common burglars now.”

I smiled and said, “It’s not just any house, and technically every time we break and enter, we are burgling.”

Dina took in the surroundings like she wasn’t impressed.

“When you climb up the side of a skyscraper to steal something, you don’t call it burgling. It’s a proper heist,” she said.

“Well, if we’re lucky, this will be one of the biggest heists of our careers,” I said. “And it is called burgling when you climb up a skyscraper to steal something. Cat burgling.”

We passed by a nice, average suburban park. It was very pedestrian. People were out playing with frisbees and walking their dogs.

“My God, Riley, turn the car around. I’m not this desperate. I had a good gig back in Albuquerque. It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t home invasion either.”

I laughed.

“Well, just lend me your eyes, help me get a fix on things. It’s right up here,” I said.

We turned down the street where Lark House was located, and as we did, we saw that many cars were parked on the sides of the road leading up to our destination. It was going to be packed inside.

I parked, and we began our walk up the hill toward the house. The first thing we could see for a long while was the wall that was placed around the property.

“So are we going to have to scale that?” Dina asked, looking at the massive bars set into the stone.

“Nope,” I said. “We’ll use the front gate.”

She shook her head in annoyance.

As we began walking up through the gate and were able to get a good look at the house, as the towering red cedar boards framing the outside started to show, Dina asked, “Is this a museum or a residence?”

It really did look like a museum once she mentioned it. In fact, the storyline itself might have been from a museum in its own world, but I would never know.

“If I call it a museum, will you help me rob it?” I asked.

“You could start by telling me what we’re after,” she said. “That might help.”

We walked our way through the garden filled with various vases and potted plants, as well as the remaining statues that didn’t have to be removed for the safety of the guests.

As we did, we were joined by a massive crowd of very well-dressed NPCs who were all smiling and chattering amongst themselves at the experience of getting to see a real-life hitman’s mansion.

As we moved further into the courtyard, the front door opened.

Nicole stepped out.

She was wearing a red blazer and a smile that could only belong to either a real estate agent or a politician.

“Welcome, everyone,” she said. “Thank you for joining us at the Bellanti estate auction. My name is Nicole Van Note, and I’ll be guiding you through Lark House today.”

I made intentional eye contact with Nicole to make sure she knew we were there and to let the audience know that I thought she was important. I had never played with her before, but she had a reputation as more of a leader than a follower. I had to hope that wouldn’t be a problem.

I leaned over and whispered to Dina, “It looks like they’re leaning into the criminal history aspect.”

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“Well, they weren’t going to hide it very easily,” she responded.

She invited everyone in, and since the house was so large, we fit. With so many people in it, it looked more like a Stone Age cathedral, with the slate floors and the towering cedar beams, the glass refracting sunlight.

Nicole grabbed a stack of pamphlets and handed them to one of the NPCs, and they took one and started passing the stack around.

“This home was custom-built, with materials sourced from all over the world,” Nicole said. “The home will be auctioned off the day after next, so it will be gone before you know it. Better make a call to your bankers before it’s too late.”

That got a laugh. I didn’t know enough about rich people to know if it was realistic.

Dina and I were doing the whole blend in with the crowd to case the joint routine.

Our heads were on a light swivel, our eyes meticulously examining everything around us.

“There’s an alarm,” Dina said quietly. “The windows are wired. This looks museum-quality at least. Now show me some guard dogs and call me intrigued. What is so valuable here?”

I smiled but didn’t respond. I was trying to look calm and cool, a George-Clooney-type, even if I didn’t have the looks or charisma. That would make Dina Brad Pitt.

Everything in the house had been examined by some appraiser, and they had left tags on things for the auction.

“Mr. Bellanti had eclectic tastes,” Nicole said. “Many of his personal items will be available for purchase as part of the estate auction. As many of you know, Mr. Bellanti had a… storied history, and many artifacts of that history can be found throughout the house. If you see anything you intend to bid on, keep note of its title and lot number.”

The furnishings and decorations had changed since I was here last before the storyline. What was once a bit modernist with some touch of fishing cabin kitsch now looked like a world traveler lived there, with objects from all over, many of which seemed religious or occult in nature.

I saw iron nails wrapped in twine in a strange pattern, various talismans hanging from the walls, a cracked mirror with a silver frame, as well as strange bundles of minerals and other pagan ingredients scattered among the more valuable objects.