Chapter 1 – The Safecracker

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Long past midnight on an unseasonably warm February night, Jakub Danowicz hunkered down in the shadows behind an expensive, North Brooklyn townhouse, picking the lock to the cellar door.

He was well practiced, and the lock came loose with ease. “Done,” he whispered, and he and fellow teenager Barney Kozlow crept down the stairs and into the cellar.

Barney gripped the back of Jakub’s shirt, depending on him to guide them through the near pitch dark, up toward the house proper. “This place better have some real loot,” he grumbled. “It’s been a shit night.”

“Hannah says the owner is a banker,” Jakub said in Polish. He found the stairway leading up and was careful not to reach for the lights as they ascended to the main floor. “Away for a funeral. We shouldn’t have any trouble getting enough to pay for the liquor.”

“C’mon, Jakub, you know my Polish isn’t that good.”

Jakub sighed and switched back to English. “It will be fine,” he said. As they reached the floor, he motioned for Barney to head toward the back. “Search bedrooms for jewelry.”

They split up, each making their way through the residence in search of everything of notable value. Jakub took the silver candlesticks from the mantle, silver dining ware from the kitchen. He even found a wad of cash in a tobacco tin by the armchair. More enticing was a locked display cabinet in the hall, showing off what looked to be several valuable antiques, including a revolver with intricate engravings. The lock took a bit more time, but Jakub had it open soon enough, and the gun disappeared into his sack.

Last was the study. Jakub nudged the door open, and his first glimpse inside had his heart racing.

All he could see was a rounded top of polished, dark metal, but it was enough for him to recognize it immediately: a safe. And not just any safe, a top of the line Steel Gremlin, crafted by Hallorran itself, king of the industry. A closer look and he spotted a pair of combination locks in the door, each with its own handle mechanism. He had only ever seen one in sketches before, packaged with tall tales from convicts regaling drunks with their glory days. The homeowner hadn’t even bothered to hide the damn thing, such was its reputation. Though Jakub was not the type easily swayed by imagination, the thought of whatever might lay inside put his mind’s eye to the test.

“Put everything back,” he said.

Barney had just emerged from the master bedroom with a sack full of jewelry, and he glared at Jakub from under the brim of his hat, appalled. “What?”

Jakub pushed the door open wider so that Barney could see for himself. The look of surprise and intrigue that crossed his face was vindicating. “Put everything back,” Jakub said again, his heavy eyebrows drawing in seriously. “The Rutgers will be away again next week. We can ask your father to send Hauser to crack a safe.”

Barney sighed, hefting his sack as if already regretting the loss of his score. “They can’t suspect we were already here,” he agreed. Grumbling, he turned back into the bedroom.

Jakub moved swiftly back through the house, replacing the candlesticks, the cash, the revolver. He and Barney exited the home through the cellar they had entered through, and from there they hurried three blocks to where Hannah was waiting with the car. She eyed the younger boys with disapproval. “Those sacks don’t look full.”

“I’ll explain while we go,” said Jakub as they climbed into the back seats. With only their sparse take from earlier in the evening, they headed back toward the gang’s home turf in Williamsburg.

“What do you think is in it?” Barney asked along the way, but Jakub didn’t answer. He knew better than to invite disappointment.

***

Kasper Kozlow lowered his newspaper to fix Jakub with a stern look. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”

Jakub stood up straighter. He may have been young but he wasn’t one of Kozlow’s fresh recruits, eager to cower beneath the boss’ disapproving eye. He’d earned the right to have courage. Even if he did feel a pang of apprehension, it never reached his face. “Sir?”

“Hauser was put away last week,” said Kozlow, dropping his paper to the desk. “Coppers picked him up from a street fight, realized he already had a warrant for that botched heist last fall. They’ll make an example of him this time.”

Jakub’s heart sank. “Is there no one else that can crack a Gremlin?” he asked.

“You know there isn’t. Not on this coast, anyway.” Kozlow scratched irritably at his beard. “You should have taken the lot and moved on. Whose call was that, Barney’s? Christ.”

“Mine, sir.”

“Ah. Well.” Kozlow pulled a face and the grabbed his paper back up. “Now you know. Go back as soon as Rutger is out of the house and lift what you can. We can’t be short at this month’s pickup or those barrels will be up our assholes, understand?”

“Of course,” said Jakub, turning to leave. He didn’t quite make it to the door before Kozlow called after him.

“Hold up, Jakub.” Kozlow stared at his paper for a long moment, intensely thoughtful, and then nodded to himself as if having come to a decision. “There may be someone else. Don’t make another move on the house until I say so.”

“Yes, sir.” Keeping his curiosity to himself, Jakub left.

A New York City sunrise. Jakub dropped onto the stoop and watched morning cut through the haze of factory smoke. Already cars were blaring in the distance, heavy machinery churning with a steady clunk clunk clunk. If he strained his ears, he could hear a few gunshots and even a bird. The wind was chill and sharp, and every breath off his cigarette tasted like oil. For four years he’d woken up the same way: sunlight through skyscrapers after a night of sneaking and pillaging for the means to commit even greater crimes. The city hollered and sang all day and night, resounding with industry and jazz, the Great War long forgotten. Everything was steel and brass and booze. Some days he couldn’t remember what home smelled like.

He had planned to spend his morning with Barney going over their take, divvying up the jewelry and other goods to be hustled at various pawn shops and private collectors. Instead he leaned against his knees, trying not to wonder what was behind all those metal locks.

“Jakub?”

Jakub flinched; he couldn’t remember a time when someone had managed to sneak up on him. He glanced up and found a man leaning against the entrance handrail, watching him with a smile.

It wasn’t anyone Jakub recognized—and he would have recognized him, had they ever met. The stranger was tall and broad-shouldered, a few years older than himself at least. His jaw was finely chiseled and his honey-colored hair swept back, a pair of fancy, wire-rimmed spectacles perched on his nose. The cut of his suitcoat and the glint of good humor in his eye didn’t match anyone Jakub would have expected to meet, huddled on the stoop of a small time would-be mobster.

Jakub chewed on the end of his cigarette. “Who’s asking?”

The man grinned. “Cheshire Bloom.”

Jakub scrutinized him carefully, but there was nothing in the man’s accent or bearing that helped him much. And he was familiar with a very wide variety of accents and bearings. “What kind of name is ‘Cheshire’?”

“It’s my name,” he replied smartly.

“I mean,” Jakub tried again impatiently, “where are you from? Are you English?”

“I’m Albanese.” He smirked like he was telling a joke, but Jakub could only stare back blankly. Seeing his humor wasted, Cheshire heaved a sigh. “You are Jakub, right? The boss says we’re going to be partners.”

Jakub sat up straighter, his first thought that Boss Kozlow was punishing him for abandoning their take after all. His second thought was, “You are safecracker?”

Cheshire grinned wider, and despite his better sense, Jakub found himself excited by the prospect. “Well, I haven’t tried it yet,” Cheshire said, and Jakub’s heart crumbled. “But I’m sure I can figure it out.”

Jakub vowed to never get his hopes up again. “Safecracking is not something you can figure out. It needs knowledge and practice.”

Cheshire’s eyebrow arched. “Do you have a safe I can practice on?”

“What? No, we—” Jakub sighed, taking the cigarette out of his mouth so he could rub his face. “No one has Gremlin. And if we did, only Hauser could teach you, but he is locked up.” He snorted. “And even if he was not, I would ask him to teach me before you.”

Cheshire rested his chin against his forearms. “Does it have to be quiet?”

“Do you not hear me? You can’t just blast open a Steel Gremlin, either, they come from Hallorran Corp. They’re like tanks.”

Cheshire shrugged, infuriating. “I mean, you don’t know until you try.”

Frustration started to get the better of Jakub, which in itself was an unusual and very unwelcome feeling for him. “Did Boss Kozlow really send you back here?”

“Yes, he really did.” Cheshire chuckled, looking far too amused for Jakub’s liking. “Look, Jakub. Take me with you when you make the hit. If I can get it open, great! If not, I’m an extra pair of arms to haul the rest of the take. Get me?”

Jakub eyed him, admitting to himself that at least the man had muscle. If he’d said from the start Kozlow wanted him to haul the entire Gremlin back with them, it would have made for a more believable story. “Fine,” he said. “But this is my job. You follow my lead.”

“Fair enough,” said Cheshire, and he extended his hand.

Jakub hesitated, realizing for the first time that Cheshire was wearing white leather gloves. With a deep breath he finally closed the gap to shake hands. “Saturday,” he said. “We meet here after dark.”

“Sure,” said Cheshire, his grip so firm that Jakub could still feel it cinching around his palm long after they separated.

***

When Saturday arrived, Jakub was dismayed but not surprised when Cheshire arrived wearing a waistcoat and tie.

“What are you wearing?” he asked, apparently with even more disapproval than he’d intended to convey, because Cheshire actually flinched.

“Um…it’s black?” Cheshire replied with a helpless shrug. “We’re breaking in?” There was nothing to do but carry on.

Hannah parked the car down three blocks, and Jakub led Cheshire through the cellar door that he and Barney had used the week before. As soon as they were inside he realized that something was off, and a quick search revealed that much of the jewelry Barney had found unprotected originally was nowhere to be found.

He probably took something after all, and the wife noticed, Jakub thought irritably as they moved to the study. Damn it, Barney.

“All right, here it is,” Jakub said as they stood before the safe. “From what I hear, if you try one handle before both have been solved, it will lock up, making it impossible to open without the company man.”

Cheshire whistled appreciatively as he crouched down. His eyes were wide and fascinated as he dragged his fingertips over the polished metal surface and poked gingerly at the dials. “Other than that it’s like any other safe, though, right?” he asked.

“I…think.” Jakub frowned, reminding himself not to get his hopes up again, however confident his partner suddenly looked. “This isn’t my area.”

“Mine, either,” said Cheshire jovially. He spun the top dial once to the right and then twisted the handle.

Something inside the safe clinked, followed by a clunk, and Jakub held his breath. Then Cheshire tugged, and he realized with a sinking feeling that nothing had disengaged. The hissing sound and three sharp clangs were extra locks fitting into place.

He stared. “You just set off failsafe.”

“Yup,” said Cheshire.

“You didn’t even….” Jakub was too flabbergasted to even be angry. “What was the point of you being here if you weren’t trying?”

“I am trying. I just wanted to hear what I’m up against.” Cheshire moved alongside the safe and waved for him to step back. “You might want to give me some room, here.”

Jakub backed away and was tempted to keep going. Even without the safe the house had plenty of lootable items, and the sooner they were gone, the better. But as he turned to leave, his eye was caught by a flash of light. He looked back just in time to see the door of the safe explode off its hinges in a burst of orange flame. It slammed into the desk with a stunning crash, sending papers and wooden shards flying. Jakub could only stare. And as the smoke cleared, Cheshire let out a whoop. “Aha! I did it!” he cheered, waving the rest of the smoke away. “Did you see that? Didn’t I tell you?”

Jakub looked back and forth between the mangled frame of the safe and its door on the other side of the room. “How did you do that?”

“Well, magic, of—oh, fuck!” Cheshire reached into the safe, cringing as he yanked out a burning envelope.

Jakub hurried back, using his satchel to help extinguish the flames. “It’s okay,” Cheshire said, still half laughing as he began digging more smoking loot from the safe. “It’s fine, most of it is…barely singed. You saw it, didn’t you?”

“I saw it,” said Jakub, still a little dazed. He came quickly back into focus when he realized Cheshire was pulling out the missing jewelry. “How did you do that?” he asked again as he began shoveling everything into his sack. “Did you say ‘magic’?”

Cheshire smirked as he reached back into the safe. “What, you’ve never seen magic before?”

“Not like that ” Jakub had seen parlor tricks. He had known a charming Hungarian boy who could change his hair and eye color at will, an old woman that peddled potions she swore gave people luck. A young girl he was fairly sure wasn’t human lived in a small apartment above the bakery with many cats. But a steel safe blown apart at the seams? He could still smell something in the air that didn’t belong, sharp and almost tangy.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Cheshire was saying as he pulled out a leather pouch. “Complicated, you know? Maybe when we’re…”

He stopped, and when Jakub looked up he realized it was because he’d peeked into the pouch. His hazel eyes were bright with excitement and he grinned like his namesake as he showed the contents to Jakub.

Bearer bonds. Lots of bearer bonds.

A light flickered in the window. Jakub startled, realizing all at once just how much noise an exploding safe made, and how many homes were nearby with residents in them waking up in confusion and panic. “We have to go,” he said, snatching the pouch out of Cheshire’s hands to stow away. “Grab candlesticks on the mantle. I’ll take a revolver from the hall.”

“Okay!” Cheshire was beaming as he took the bag from Jakub to sling over his shoulder. He even grabbed Jakub’s elbow to haul him upright, with so little effort that Jakub got a chill. They rushed out of the study together, and as Jakub reached the hall cabinet, he could have sworn he heard voices out in the street. There wasn’t time to pick the lock again.

“Stand back, I’ve got it,” said Cheshire, and Jakub had only managed to take two steps out of range before the front of the cabinet blew off its hinges and sent photographs on the opposite wall crashing to the ground.

“Stop that!” Jakub scolded even as he reached inside to grab up Rutger’s prized weapon and ammunition. “You are waking the entire neighborhood.”

“I asked you if we had to be quiet,” Cheshire retorted. He grabbed a silver picture frame from among those that had escaped the flying cabinet and tucked it into his bag. “Let’s be quick and it won’t matter.”

They dashed to the cellar. Jakub had no idea what to expect once they were outside and he was tempted to load the revolver. To his surprise, Cheshire took to the lead, moving quickly and effortlessly between the buildings and out of sight of the curious neighbors leaning out their windows. They reached Hannah and the waiting car without having been spotted by anyone.

“See?” Cheshire boasted, full of youthful vigor as they settled in the rear seats. “I told you to give me a chance.”

Jakub was speechless. He gestured for Cheshire to return their sack, which he did, and shook his head as he pawed through their take. Jewelry, cash, silver candlesticks, a rare Civil War collectible weapon, a silver frame, and a thousand dollars in untraceable bearer bonds, coupons attached.

At least the boss wouldn’t have to worry about paying their liquor supplier. For a while. Jakub packed everything away and finally looked to Cheshire. Though he was still reeling from the successful outing, he did his best to sound cross. “You should have said you can make magic.”

“But then I wouldn’t have seen such a great look on your face,” Cheshire replied, grinning. “I think I startled a few of your freckles off.”

He swiped his thumb across Jakub’s cheek. It was so unexpected that Jakub didn’t even manage to recoil. His face went hot, but only because Cheshire’s gloves were still warm from the magic. Certainly only because of that. “That’s not…” Jakub glared at him, uncharacteristically stumbling for words. “…how freckles work.”

Cheshire laughed, and as tempting as it was to put a fist in his flapping jaw, Jakub resisted. “You’re cute,” Cheshire declared, which didn’t help matters any. “I think we’re going to be great partners.”

Jakub frowned, but then again, there was no arguing with results. “Just… give me more warning next time,” he said.

“Yeah, sure.”

“And I want to know more about your magic, what you can use it for. And what experience you have.”

“Sure, sure.” He chuckled to himself some more. “Can we talk over a drink? I sure could use one, and I think we’ve earned it.”

Hannah scoffed from behind the wheel. “You’re too young to drink,” she said.

That gave Jakub pause, and he looked Cheshire over again, trying to reevaluate. “Wait. How old are you?”

“Sixteen,” Cheshire replied without hesitation, and he must have anticipated Jakub’s startled reaction, because he had a fresh grin all lined up. “Don’t believe me, do you? I get that all the time.”

“Sixteen,” Jakub repeated. “Really? Built like that?”

“Why thank you,” said Cheshire, and he winked.

Jakub’s face went hot again, but without anything to

blame it on. “It is illegal for any of us to be drinking,” he said just to change the subject. “But I guess you earned it. So yeah, I say we drink.”

Cheshire cheered, Hannah sighed. Jakub counted the money again, determined not to think about soft leather counting his freckles.