The Florentine Deception by Carey Nachenberg

bookshelves and the closet.”
    â€œI knew it! What could you see?”
    â€œNot much. The hall runs parallel to the bookshelves and stops at what I’m guessing are a set of stairs. I couldn’t really see down that far. At the other end of the hall—behind the leftmost bookshelf—there was some type of door. Maybe one of the bookshelves slides out of the way. Even if we can’t open it, we can always drop through the ceiling.”
    I could feel my heart palpitating.
    â€œOh, and I couldn’t remove the floor stone from the basement.”
    â€œI totally forgot about that,” I admitted. “We can dig it up later. I think we’ve got ourselves a treasure hunt.”
    â€œSo you’re going to buy it?” he asked as our waitress arrived with the first three of his six plates.
    â€œAre you kidding? There’s no question.”
    â€œFifty-fifty on any find, right?”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    â€œWell in that case, how quickly can we get the keys?”
    â€œGood question. I’ll have to call Regina.”
    While Steven’s final plates arrived, I punched in Regina’s number on my cell and stepped outside next to a couple of newspaper vending machines on Colorado Boulevard. Regina picked up on the third ring.
    â€œHi Regina. Well, everything looks good.”
    â€œOf course. It’s a great house!”
    A homeless man walked up to the vending machine containing one of the triple-X rags and started cursing at the spread-eagle-legged woman on the front page.
    â€œExcuse me?” Regina prompted.
    â€œSorry, I’m standing outside a restaurant and it’s a bit noisy. Regina, how soon can I get the keys?”
    A pause. “Alex, usually we wait until after escrow before the buyer gets ownership of the house. So, it’ll be a little under a month.”
    â€œIs there any way I can move in earlier? I’d like to move in as soon as possible.”
    â€œI’ll have to talk with the estate trustee.” She paused. “You see, there are legal liabilities with this type of thing.”
    â€œI’d appreciate it if you could chat with them. I’d be happy to pay rent if that helps. I really need to vacate my current house.”
    â€œI’ll call them and get back to you.”
    â€œI’d appreciate it.”
    A minute later I sat back down in the booth. My food still hadn’t arrived. I scanned the room for the waitress.
    â€œI just asked her—it’ll be here in a minute,” Steven said. “So?”
    â€œShe’s going to check with the seller. I’m betting we can get the keys within a few days.”
    My pocket began to vibrate. I snatched the phone and clicked the talk button.
    â€œHi, Regina. What did the seller say?”
    â€œWho’s Regina?”
    â€œOh. Hey, Tom. Sorry about that. Regina’s a real estate broker. I thought you were her.”
    â€œA broker? Are you buying a new place?”
    â€œSomething like that. I’ll fill you in next time we hang. Anyway, what’s up?”
    â€œDude—I just wanted to call and thank you for the tickets. That’s unbelievable. How the hell did you score second-row Lakers season tickets?”
    â€œI know a friend who knows a friend. I’m glad you like them.”
    â€œOne sec, it’s going to be a bit noisy. I just got home.” I heard a garage door lowering in the background and a bunch of keys jangling.
    â€œOne minute,” he continued, “let me unlock …” I heard the door open, then a pause. “Oh shit. What the fuck?”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œHoly shit—our place has been totally ransacked.” A pause. “Gennady?” he yelled. “Gennady?”
    â€œJesus. Are you okay?”
    â€œI’m not sure. They might still be here. Alex, I’ll call you back.”
    The call cut out.
    â€œWas that Tom Chien from your startup?” Steven