"He couldn't have planned it better."
 
That had been his thought as he slowly turned the handle, no resistance. The night was cool. Pitch black. Cloudy. No moon. That had not been accidental... and now he was in. The door opened effortlessly on the old worn hinges, he gently shut it behind him.
 
In no time he was up the stairs. He didn't need lights for he had memorized the number of steps it would take him to get from the back door, all the way to the room at the left hand side of the stairs. He knew that a flashlight would draw far too much attention. Sixteen... seventeen...
 
It was a month ago that he had first seen his prize. The ironic thing was that what had become an obsession, his most coveted want, he hadn't even noticed until he had overheard another agent's client bring it up...
 
She had said that, "there was a lot of interest in the piece, and quite a few offers to purchase, but that the owners had no intention of ever letting it go," She had chuckled and her client had too but then getting serious,  "Honestly it's just too sentimental for them to part with. No price could be offered... and wow have their been offers! But it's a good thing too," and this part she had added was what had actually caught his attention and made him turn his gaze, "because it's just incredible and I couldn't imagine not getting to see it every day." 
 
Twenty two, twenty three, twenty four; he was up the last step and then he turned to the left. He could see the electric yellow glow of a tired street light streaming in through the window of the room down the hall. 
 
He didn't even need the light and yet by both instinct and excitement he continued... thirty five, thirty six, and HIS.
 
It was in his hands. He stared admiringly but not too long just a glance now and then it was his forever. He smirked and then it was under his jacket, safely tucked and back down the stairs he went. He noticed he was breathing heavier... nerves, adrenaline... and maybe just a bit of arrogance... it was his. 
 
Again he slipped through the back door. The same one he had come in less than two minutes before. The one he had unlocked earlier in the evening when he had used the guise of wanting to use the restroom before "a long drive home and would it be too much trouble?"
 
The manager, Ted was his name, had agreed it wouldn't be. And so while Ted had waited up front, he made sure to unlock the back door while the manager waited at the front. Ted had already locked up the back, and now he toyed with his keys, whistling under his breath, shuffling his feet. The sun was setting and the clouds were already thick. He buttoned his coat and then the man came back, they exchanged pleasantries, Ted locked up the front door and left. 
 
The man left too.
 
But he hadn't gone far. Not like he had said he was going to. That hadn't been his first non truth of the evening either. He had lied even earlier than that when he came in to purchase with cash, another piece. It was small, of non importance, but it had gotten him an in. And he had used both that in and Ted... and Ted was none the wiser. 
 
His purchase had been haphazardly, absentmindedly tossed in his trunk just a short time ago. His real prize though? That now lay nestled between his chest and the downy black puffer jacket he wore. 
 
As he slipped through the door, he expertly locked it behind him just as he had discreetly watched Ted do earlier that evening. The night was dark. The new moon; the reason he came back today... was absent in the cloudy sky. The wind picked up. Dried leaves were tossed and scattered about the parking lot. The only other noise, the sound of his soles on the cold black pavement and then both they, and he were gone. 
 
"The Heist"