Fiction - No Doubt
In June 2000, thirty million Euros were stolen from a storage facility in the south of France shortly before the currency was issued. It was never in the news, the government still doesn’t know, but you can read about it in my recently completed mystery/suspense novel, NO DOUBT.
THE BURGLAR WHO PAINTED LIKE MONDRIAN meets DIGITAL FORTRESS in this feminine twist on Lawrence Block's gentleman thief Bernie Rhodenbarr. Savvy, refined and confident, the heroine is not your typical thief. She has scruples and when she wants out, her former partner in crime stalks her across Canada in an electrifying chase to the death.
The idea for NO DOUBT germinated in a business meeting about the creation of the Euro, when I discovered it took three years to print and mint the new currency. The best time to steal something is before it is worth anything. My years of experience in finance, systems and art give me an insider’s perspective on this tale of counterfeiting, finance, art forgery and computer hacking.
Synopsis - No Doubt
The Pacific Coast of Canada provides the ideal hiding place for Mallory Scott. It is remote, beautiful and safe until Christophe, a killer and her former partner in crime, shatters her peaceful new life. Her perfect crime is unraveling, fast.
Mallory was born into a family of thieves, operating successfully in Europe for three generations. Her family is planning a heist of 30 million Euros before the official release of the currency. Billions of Euros are being printed and stored in temporary warehouse facilities throughout Europe. Fresh from college, Mallory is introduced into the family business for the job but six months into her training, her parents die in a car crash. She is left only with comprehensive instructions for executing the heist.
Mallory goes to France and convinces two of her father’s long-time cohorts, Christophe and Gustavo, to assist her. She infiltrates the Banque de France quality-control team and implements a plan to rob three warehouses. The last warehouse poses the greatest challenge because it is managed by Roger Coltman, an anal-retentive Brit, and patrolled by Giles, a particularly sharp security guard. Her partners advocate skipping the final warehouse, but Mallory insists they proceed to ensure the missing currency will be undetectable. She uses her feminine wiles to distract Giles, feeding his budding infatuation with her.
The heist is perfectly executed, but Christophe develops a dangerous obsession with Mallory. When Giles surprises Mallory in her home, Christophe breaks in and kills him. To protect herself, she helps Christophe dispose of the body although she is sickened by the murder. Christophe is arrested for stealing a small amount of the new currency and Mallory flees to Canada.
Mallory starts a new life on the coast of British Columbia with the help of Rusty, an old friend of her father’s. She encounters an old flame, Todd, and marries him. Christophe, now out of prison, finds her, and she knows she must kill him or go on the run. She learns that Joe Templin, an ex-MI5 agent, is following Christophe. She knows that Christophe will not hesitate to kill Todd. Mallory confesses her past to Todd and convinces him to run with her. They hop in a boxcar on a train through the Canadian Rockies. Christophe follows and confronts them, but unprepared for the spiral tunnels without an oxygen mask, he dies.
Feeling safe, Todd and Mallory return home, but Joe Templin confronts her, demanding that she return two thirds of the Euros taken. Unable to find any clues to where Christophe hid his share, they travel to France. Roger Coltman, Templin’s employer, steals her portion of the take. Todd and Mallory miss a daily check-in deadline with Templin and return home to find Rusty stricken with carbon monoxide poisoning. Templin is the only suspect.
Mallory confesses her predicament to Rusty, and he reveals she is actually his granddaughter. Together they outwit Templin and feed his body to the orcas in the nearby straits. When the pressure is off, she finds Christophe’s share of the money and deposits it in a Swiss bank account.