Star walked down the bustling streets of New Orleans.  The Louisiana summer heat born down on her with an oppressive mugginess, and she couldn't wait to get into some place cooler.  She found herself in the Big Easy often.  Partly because she worked at a little hardware store here, but mostly because of the handsome man she was dating.  Aiden ran the hardware store she worked at which was a front for a speakeasy club in the back.  Aiden's Club was where she performed.  She had even done a few duets with her best friend Lana, which was always fun.  She sauntered into the store and looked around before striding back towards the shelf where the heavy-duty rope was.  She rounded the corner and bumped into Lana, who dropped her shovel.  She laughed and bent over, picking it up and handing it back to her friend.

"Hey do you know if Aiden has any more rubber boots in the back?"  Lana asked, rubbing her forehead. "The shelf is empty."

Aiden walked out from behind the corner.  "What are you ladies up to?"  Lana fudged something about "gardening" but Star motioned for the door that read "Employees Only."  They followed her and she closed the door behind them.  Making sure there was no one in the club, she pulled out a rumpled piece of paper.  On it was an advertisement for the New York Metropolitan Museum about a rather large and mysterious diamond that they had discovered in Ireland.  It was described as an elaborately cut, 22.4 carat; eight pointed star shaped diamond, flawless in color and inclusions.  A photographer had discovered it, accidentally, as he had gone to take pictures of a recent plane wreck. 

Star gave a wry smile and said with a twinkle in her eye "I want to steal it."  She didn't give any more information than that but it was enough to pique Aiden's and Lana's curiosity.  They waited patiently for Star to explain herself.  She looked at their confused faces and blurted out "I think it might be connected to my family somehow and I want to see it for myself."  She caught her breath and stuffed the flyer back in her purse.  She poured herself a shot of tequila, tossed it back, and started towards the door. 

"WAIT!"  Lana and Aiden said.  She turned and Aiden frowned.  "You would steal a priceless diamond that may or may not be connected with your family and NOT invite me?"  He poured himself a shot and another for Lana.  He gulped it down and looked at Starshine.  "Well, I'm in but we need a plan."  He motioned for the back room and the girls followed.  After what seemed like hours, at least 5 bottles of tequila and bourbon, and a mountain of crumpled paper, they had finally drawn up a heist plan that even New Orleans Godfather, Death knight, would be proud of.  Star took one last drink of tequila and was reminded of another blonde who enjoyed her tequila.  She thought about the diamond and what she wanted it for.  It wasn't for monetary gain, it wasn't because she really needed another diamond, she wanted it purely for the thought that it might be the diamond that her great grandfather lost.  It was a stretch because the diamond was somewhat of a joke in the family.  Her father, Patrick and her uncle Marc had often joked about the diamond.  They had said that if it really existed, they wouldn't be living in such squalor, roaming around the country like nomads.  Her great grandpa had gone insane and was put in a sanitarium when she was three.  He had died there, raving to his last day.  His last words before he died had been a Robert Frost poem.  She shook her head and went back to the plans.  They were going to drive to the Big Apple instead of flying.  And they had a few more kinks to work out.

The next morning dawned bright and clear.  The girls finished packing the hunter green Ford roadster and took the ragtop down.  They took turns driving and finally drove into New York the next day.  Aiden pulled up outside of one of the safe houses he knew of that happened to be the basement of a well-known ice cream shop.  Both women were sleeping so he picked Lana up first and took her inside.  He drew back the covers of the bed and placed her down before returning to the car for Star.  After the girls were situated, he drove out to a small shop that was still open.  He got fruit, bread, and coffee before coming back and settling in for the night on the couch. 

The next morning Lana woke up and rolled over.  "Where the HELL am I?"  She thought before remembering their mission.  She realized they must be in a safe house and got out of bed.  She looked over at Star who was snoring softly, and then walked past Aiden who was much louder.  She grabbed the coffee pot and filled it with water and coffee and set it on the stove.  She grabbed a grape and popped it in her mouth before she grabbed the bread to make toast.  A few minutes later Star woke up to the smell of the coffee and stretched.  She yawned and got out of bed, realizing she was still fully clothed.  She hoped there was a shower handy and shuffled towards the kitchen.  As she passed the couch she leaned over and gave Aiden a soft kiss and then grabbed a cup off the counter for some coffee.  She took a sip and nearly choked on the bitter brew.  It was dark black and littered with grounds.  She put the cup down and grabbed a piece of toast.  It was only slightly burnt so she ate it with resignation.  Aiden felt the kiss and smiled before rolling over and opening his eyes.  He got up and picked up an apple from the bowl before pulling out the plans and rolling them out.  "Girls ready to do some casing?"  He said, taking a bite of the apple.

After breakfast they got ready.  Lana and Star were arrayed in their finest day dresses and Aiden was wearing a brown suit.  They left the safe house and drove to the museum.  They split up to cover the museum better and agreed to meet up later outside for lunch.  Lana strolled around the museum, getting a feel for the guards and scoping out exit points.  Most of the security staff would be no problem except for one fast runner type that was just starting his shift.  He had a suspicious look about him and Lana thought he might cause problems.  While Lana cased the guards Aiden checked out the back exits, direct routs to the vault, and possible entry points including whether the skylight could be used or not.  Star was on a more focused mission.  She went directly to the room where the diamond was.  The diamond was seated on a pedestal in the center of one of the exhibit rooms.  Next to it was a blue velvet box with a cream satin lining.  Star's heart leapt when she saw faint initials in gold leaf on the box I.P.J.  They were the same as her grandfathers.  The only information on the diamond was that it had been recovered within the past few months and they were still putting it under tests to determine where it came from or if there was any identification as to the finder or jeweler that cut it. 

Star's stomach growled and she looked at her watch.  She needed to get back to the front to meet up with Lana and Aiden in a few minutes.  She took one last look at the diamond and then left the room.  She met them on the steps of the museum and they left towards The Red Car Wire.  Once inside they ordered sandwiches and took them out to the patio to eat.  Star noticed someone looking at them and was shocked to see Godfather Thomas Rourke peering at them over his customary mirrored sunglasses.  He tipped his head and went back to his cigar and intense discussion with Godmother Aurora about something.  She turned her attention back to Lana when she pulled out her notes and spread them out on the table.  They each did the same and compared them on a blueprint of the museum.  Star took a bite of her pickle and a sip of her tequila sunrise and stared at the different dots that represented the guards, the vault, and the exit points.  They determined that the back entrance would be the best way to go, as it was the closest to the underground vault.  After paying for their meals, they left to go back to the safe house.  They wanted to get ready for the heist that night and had to change clothes. 

Starshine was feeling nervous.  She put her hand to her stomach as if to quell the ache that had formed there.  She knew that if they failed she was not only putting herself in jeopardy but her friends as well.  She knew the danger that surrounded this mission, especially in her own city.  And for what, the off chance that this was the diamond her great granddad had discovered.  She twisted her hands and paced back and forth changing her minds a dozen times before the door opened and Lana came in.

Lana could see the Star's nervousness and went to her. Starshine, don't worry about this heist. Things are going to work out. I have never been so prepared as I am now, we have all the details covered and nothing can go wrong...not really believing it but wanted to put her friend at ease. She went to the fridge, poured two lemonades and handed one to Star who was pacing back and forth. She had a lot at stake here. Not only the consequences were enormous but also Star had something personal at stake here.  She had told them about the initials on the box and was not almost certain that this was her great grandfathers diamond.  What a rush it would be to bring it back in her family. Lana brushed Star's shoulder before going to the bedroom to get ready. She rarely wore pants, but for tonight, she made an exception. She cringed as the fabric brushed against her bare legs and threw on a black turtleneck, socks and boots. She holstered her gun at her waist, thinking how strange if felt there.  She tied her hair back and took off her jewelry, satisfied that she was ready for the big night. 

Aiden sat in silence because it was his way of focusing. He slid on black pants with black suspenders. He slipped a black shirt over his head and tucked it in his pants. He laced up is black combat boots and shook the pant legs over the boots. Pulling on his gun harness, he looked into the mirror and gave himself a nod of approval. He loaded his two colt .45's in the holsters under his armpits. Walking over to the gun locker he pulled out a black belt with shotgun shells in the specially designed slots. He pulled out two thigh holsters for sawed of shotguns; side stepped to his right and opened the next gun locker. He took two shotguns and tucked them into the holsters before picking up two more guns, tommy guns to be exact, and put them in the holsters on his back.  It took a few tries to get it right but soon he was able to pull them out and place them back in with ease. He swung the tommy guns up and held them on his shoulder.  Everything was perfect. If anything went wrong he would have the firepower to take out a small army, which is what they might be going up against tonight. He added two more holsters; one at each ankle for a small revolver, which would be his last resort weapons. He stepped to the right one more time and pulled out his big black trench coat and threw it around his shoulders. He checked himself one more time, making sure no guns were showing over the coat. He picked up a stocking cap from the locker and slid it over his face, which covered everything except his eyes and mouth. He rolled up the stocking cap so his face showed. Walking towards the door, Aiden knocked to make sure the women were done changing. They told him to come in and he entered. He looked at the girls and gave a nod and asked if they were ready.

Star walked out of the bathroom.  She was wearing a tight black knit top that revealed everything, though it was covering her from neck to waist.  She was also wearing a pair of black cotton pants, black leather shoes, and her leather holster, which housed her browning 9-mm. pistol and extra clips.  She smoothed her short hair back and jammed on her favorite black golf cap before pointing her finger at Duke and saying "pew pew pew."  They emerged from the safe house a little while after the sun set.  The sky was a brilliant purple with scarlet clouds and the brightest stars were beginning to glimmer in the evening sky.  Bolstered by their plan, and the fact that Star would finally be able to find out if this was the gem her grandfather talked about to his dying day, she walked with a spring in her step towards the green roadster.  Their driver was already in the seat, waiting for them.

"To the New York Metropolitan Museum" Star said gruffly, trying to hide her enthusiasm.  

They pulled around near the back, trying to figure out where they would enter.  As they idled past slowly, Star saw a cleaning man put out a bag of garbage.  As he went back inside, the door caught on the bag and didn't shut all the way.  The driver stopped and they all climbed out, inching their way up the darkened street towards the door.  They were about to enter when the door swung open and a tall reedy guard stepped out for a smoke.  It was the man Lana had seen earlier, and she saw by his I.D. tag that he was the guard for the vault.

Lana didn't waste time. Quickly moving towards him, she turned sideways, balancing on her right leg as she kicked the guard in the stomach with her left leg. He let out a loud groan as he bent forward, she kicked him again under the chin which sent him flying on his back as blood spattered all over his shirt. Lana approached him, raised her foot and stomped into his neck, which sent him unconscious. She opened the small bag of supplies she had brought, searched for what she needed and roped his hands and feet. Taking a handkerchief from her pocket, she gagged the guard, rolled him into a corner and threw the garbage bag over him. She looked back at her friends...Ok, lets go!

Aiden pulled out his .45 and a silencer and screwed it on the front of his gun. He opened the door and swept the hallway with his eye. Aiden motioned for the girls to go in and he followed behind and covered the rear. It took them a good twenty minutes to get to the vault at the slow pace they were using to avoid detection. Along the way they knocked out several guards and stuffed them in random places out of sight. Once they reached the vault room they hid behind several crates while trying to figure out what to do with the two guards covering the vault door. They agreed to all jump up at once and point their guns at the guards, and so they did. The guards gave up quickly and were soon bound and gagged. Both were interrogated for the combination and after another 10 minutes they gave up what they knew of the combination.  Starshine twisted the dial and was rewarded with a click. She turned the handle and opened the door. The girls walked into the walk in vault while Aiden guarded the door. He pulled out his other .45 and screwed a silencer on it too. He pointed the guns towards the only door to the room. Suddenly an Alarm started to sound. Aided looked into the vault and saw the girls running towards him. The must have been a weight sensor on the Diamond that they didn't know about. Aiden holstered his pistols and pulled out his sawed off shotguns. They ran towards the door, but were met with armed guards

Starshine stopped short when the barrel of a shotgun was thrust up under her chin.  "Shit!" She mumbled, clutching the velvet box that held the diamond to her chest.  She skirted around the gun and bumped into Aiden, and whispered in his ear.  He nodded imperceptibly and turned.  The guards followed his movement and Star grabbed one of the shotguns and pulled the trigger, blasting a chunk of stone from the wall.  The dust didn't even have time to clear before Lana, Star and Aiden took off down the corridor.  Shots echoed off the walls as they were being shot at almost as much as they were shooting at the guards.  They managed to make it out of the long hallway and into the main part of the museum where the gunfire was limited out of respect for the displays. They rounded the last corner to the back door that was still propped open.  As they approached, the guard that Lana had knocked out earlier jumped out from the shadows with two more burly and well-armed guards.  They were surrounded.  With guns at the ready, Starshine opened the case and took out the heavy diamond, threatening to throw it.  The act was just enough distraction and they barreled through the trio of guards, out the door and down the stairs to the car.  Star stuffed the gem back in the case just as shots rang out again.  Star felt a white hot pain as she got to the car door and wrenched it open.  She tumbled into the back seat as Lana piled in on top of her and Aiden, clutching his arm, jumped in through the front window.  The car sped off, while they exhausted their ammunition, finally losing the men chasing them and speeding into an underground tunnel that led back to the safe house.  Star heard Lana moan and looked over.  Lana's hand was covering her face, which was awash with scarlet.  The door opened and Aiden picked Lana up.  He grunted with the effort and Star saw that a bullet had also grazed his arm.  He carried Lana in as the driver came around to help Star out of the car.  She clutched the velvet box and went inside, collapsing on the bed and passing out.

Lana tapped Aiden's shoulder as they got into the safe house...It's all right, Aiden. You can put me down...she removed her hand from her face as he put her down, much to his relief, and her heart accelerated as she saw the amount of blood dripping from it. Shit! Shit! Shit! Not the face...she thought as she wildly paced back and forth looking for a damn mirror. She stomped to Aiden, who was on the phone calling for the family doctor...Where is a fucking mirror?...she growled. He took a step back, surprised by her anger and pointed at the bedroom. She raced to the bedroom, slamming the door opened and went to look at herself in the filthy glass. Fuck! She took her forearm and swilled it on the glass so she could see exactly what was done to her. She knew who it was too, it was that asshole she had roped and threw in the corner. She remembered him well, raising his gun, and then everything went blank. His face was in her brain, and it would take just a few small bribes to find that son of a bitch. Toto would have fun with him, she was sure of it. Her face was covered in blood and she couldn't see where it came from. Pulling up her sweater, she started wiping her face, the blood thinning out with every stroke when she noticed a bullet graze on her chin..."Oh my god, its just a graze" she thought hopefully. Leaning close to the mirror, she calmed down a bit when she realized that there was no major damage done. At best, she would have a scar that she could hide with makeup. She jumped as she heard a moan. Too preoccupied with her own drama, she had not noticed Starshine unconscious on the bed...AIDEN!!...She yelled as she saw that her friend was in a bad way.

Aiden watched Star and Lana stumble off to the bedroom. He pulled off his shirt and tore it. Aiden wrapped the torn shirt around his bullet wound. He sure wished that the doctor would hurry up to make sure the bullet wasn't still in his arm. He pulled the .45's out of his holsters and set them on the desk next to the gun lockers. He unloaded the clip and ejected the shell in the chamber. He started to take apart is weapons to clean them when her heard one of the girls scream his name. Aiden reached down to his 5 shooter on his ankle, grabbed it, and ran towards the bedroom. Cracking the door open, making sure the room was clear before he walked all the way in, he only saw Lana standing there. He looked at her quizzically and she pointed towards Star. After he stared for a moment Aiden realized that she wasn't moving.  He shook her but she didn't respond and he saw she had lost a lot of blood.  He raced fro the phone and called for the family doctor to come as quickly as possible.  He arrived 10 minutes later with his kit in hand and was led into the bedroom.

"Doc is she going to be okay?"  He asked nervously.

Starshine woke up to Lana cussing loudly before closing her eyes again.  Her shoulder throbbed with pain where the bullet had ripped through but she was too fatigued to do anything about it.  A while later a Doctor awaked her again while Aiden was having a conniption fit.  

"Doc, is she going to be ok?!?!?"  He repeated while tapping his fingers together.  

Star mumbled "mmokay..." and tried to sit up.  Pain shot through her shoulder again but she managed to get up into a semi-reclining position.  She still had the velvet box clutched in her hand and she held it up to Lana who took the box.  The doctor pulled away the fabric of Star's shirt to examine the wound.  Star grabbed a wad of blanket and shoved it into her mouth just as the Dr. took out a pair of thin tweezers and dug the bullet out of her shoulder.

"Thankfully, no bones are broken" He said, dropping the bullet into a dish and packing the wound with gauze.  Aiden handed Star a bottle of vodka and told her to drink, which she did obediently.  In turn each of them was stitched up and taken care of.  They paid the doctor handsomely for his silence and watched him leave, blindfolded, as a guard took him out.  

"Lets take a look at it" Lana said as she opened the box.  She gasped when she saw the flawless 22.4 carat eight pointed diamond.  Even in the dim light, it cast miniature rainbows across the room.  Aiden picked up the box and reached for the diamond when he saw a small crack in the lining of the box.  He pulled out his pocketknife and opened it, sliding the blade into the crack.  He pried off the small panel and saw a note folded in the box.

Aiden unfolded the note and red through it.  It mentioned a jeweler's loupe and Aiden realized he had seen something like that among his brother's belongings.  He clambered over to a small safe in the wall and opened it.  Rifling through the papers and memorabilia of the Elegido and Intoccabile's corps. He found what he was looking for.  It was a small jewelers loupe with a bluish lens.  It was on a leather cord and had the Jamieson crest engraved on it.  He brought it back to the room where Star was now sitting up on the bed laughing over a joke that Lana had told her.

He handed the loupe to Lana as she picked up the note.  It was written in a thin wobbly scrawl and it read:

"I am Ian Patrick Jamieson.  I found this diamond on my travels through Africa and kept it in its raw form for years.  I am now growing quite aged and have decided to facet the diamond into an eight-point star.  It will be named the Star after the poem written by the poet Robert Frost."

The next part was harder to decipher, as the writing was nearly illegible.  It read:

"The diamond has been finished.  As it happened, It was done a mere month before the birth of my great grandchild.  She was born a week ago so I have decided to dedicate the diamond to her and her family.  I am told her name is Starshine.  With the diamond, I am giving her a specially designed loupe.  With it, the owner will be able to read an inscription, which I have engraved upon the girdle of the gem.  It cannot be seen except with this tool."

Lana passed the loupe on to Starshine, feeling she should be the one to read the words.  She looked over a moment later to see her friend weeping tears of joy as she looked through the lens.  After she had finished she passed the loupe on and each one got to read it.  It was the same poem mentioned in the letter.  Lana got choked up when she read the graceful words.

How countlessly they congregate

O'er our tumultuous snow,

Which flows in shapes as tall as trees

When wintry winds do blow!--

As if with keeness for our fate,

Our faltering few steps on

To white rest, and a place of rest

Invisible at dawn,--

And yet with neither love nor hate,

Those stars like some snow-white

Minerva's snow-white marble eyes

Without the gift of sight.

Dedicated to my great granddaughter Starshine Annelise Jamieson.  Born June 3, 1918.

"My mother used to sing that song to me as a lullaby when I was a child."  Star said, as tears streamed down her beaming face.  Aiden was the last to read it before placing it back in its velvet box.  For a moment they all stared at nothingness before gathering together in a group hug.  "Thank you for helping me find this, my great grandfather would be so proud to know that the Star diamond will from now on, be with its rightful owner."  She lowered her head and smiled, the Jamieson legacy would live on, and Star would always have a fantastic story to tell about it.

wow...it's worth the petty crimes and felonies that I've missed while reading this story.

thanks, my voice is a little hoarse from telling it, I think I'll go get some root beer.

I agree with Cris.

Very nice story.