Conrad’s Rolls-Royce pulled up.

Jack slapped Arthur on the back. “Arthur, I think I should offer you a job. You can do no wrong, buddy.”

“Yes, I can.

“Oh, Arthur, don’t be so modest,” Regan teased.

“I have a confession to make.”

“No!” Wally moaned. “Please don’t!”

Uh-oh, Rod thought. I’m afraid I know what’s coming.

“I can’t live with myself if I don’t come right out with it.”

“With what?” Regan asked.

“I was the one in your apartment tonight.”

Regan blinked. “You?”

“It’s true. I was the one who locked you out on the roof. Wally discovered a hidden safe in your new apartment. We just wanted to see if there was anything in it that you wouldn’t have missed anyway because you didn’t know about it. That’s all I was doing there. Wally said it was the contractor’s ultimate fantasy to find hidden treasures at a renovation site. Well, it’s been a nightmare for me!”

“What?” Conrad bellowed. “A hidden safe? Where?”

“In the front closet.”

“Daddy!” Alexis squealed. “I bet you Lorraine had it installed. And I bet that’s where she was headed when we saw her on the street!”

“Why would she be going there now?” Regan asked.

“It was just tonight that I broke the news to her that I sold the loft. She’s been in England for three months.”

“And we never changed the keys,” Jack blurted.

They all jumped in their cars and raced down to Tribeca.

55

L orraine and Clay had entered the building with her key, which thankfully still worked. They snuck up the stairs to the apartment. When her second key opened the door to the apartment, her knees went weak.

“Here we go,” she whispered as they stepped inside.

Carefully and quietly, they crossed the room to the closet. As Clay held the flashlight, Lorraine squatted down, removed the false wall, and entered the code to the safe—0101, for her January first birthday. The safe beeped, and she turned the key.

As she pulled open the door, Clay was trying to decide which area of town he’d look in for a new apartment.

For the second time in an hour, Regan and Jack were racing up a stairwell. At the door to their new apartment Jack turned the key and flicked on the lights.

A gasp was heard from the closet, and the door was quickly yanked shut.

Jack rolled his eyes and hurried over. He pulled on the door. “Come out with your hands up!” he ordered.

The door slowly opened. Lorraine Lily and her cohort were standing there in shock.

“She’s here!” Alexis cried gleefully as she pulled out her cell phone and began to record the proceedings. “Becky, is this awesome or what? My mother is going to love this! Especially the sight of those awful shoes!”

“Those shoes are shocking,” Becky agreed.

“Out!” Jack ordered.

“The stuff in the safe is mine!” Lorraine screamed. “I came back to get what belongs to me!”