Working a Raleigh opera guild fundraiser, Lucca Marino circulates among donors while planning to harvest credit card data using a skimmer she attached to a checkout machine. After the auction, her instincts warn her something is off. When she tries to quietly remove the skimmer, manager Mr. Sullivan confronts her with two officers.

Lucca feigns innocence as Officers Williams and Ford question organizers who discovered the device. Mr. Sullivan demands charges, and a cleaner exposes Lucca’s hidden laptop and modem. Officer Ford bags the evidence; Officer Williams cuffs Lucca and leads her outside to be transported.

In the parking lot, Detective Sanders arrives, takes custody of Lucca and her equipment, then hands her a phone and releases her with instructions to call. At home, Lucca reaches “Mr. Smith,” who reveals he has tracked her from Greensboro to Raleigh, references her mother’s death, says he already recovered an item she once stole, and offers money and protection in exchange for her talents, directing her to a Monday meeting.

On Monday, Lucca goes to AAA Investigations and Bail Bonds, where recruiter Matt Rowen returns her laptop and outlines the work: infiltrate situations and discreetly obtain targets for the organization. Weighing a safer, supported criminal path against going straight, Lucca commits to the job.