Luckily, the layout of the building was very simple. No major surprises. The vents would be a tight squeeze, but I could manage it. And then, at least I would have a paper trail of Massimo's money. Someone was funding him. The question was, who? Who had the juice to get me burned?
Massimo had money from his father, but without the Ledger, his funds were limited. More in the millions than the billions range. If Massimo was making a play to beef himself up in the Syndicate, he would need a lot more than that.
Noah chatted with me amiably as we toured. He very helpfully showed me where all the cameras were. As we went down to the vault, he pointed out key features. "I know we have some lens balls, but I promise you, we have state-of-the-art security. In the evenings, when we don't need access to the vault, you see those lines right there? That's where the lasers are. And as you can see, in there is our temperature control monitor. It's very simple. If there's a person there, the temperature increases. And then, of course, there's the vault itself, with 64-bit encryption. Your money and your information are safe here."
As he led me to the marble banquette where depositors could open their boxes in private, I nodded and forced my brain to ask a list of questions that I had come prepared with. About how many people banked here. Capacity. Privacy. I was more than grateful that I was able to focus on more than one thing at a time.
I had an inch-thick tabular canister designed by Matthias Weller from Blake Security, a firm in New York. I'd already prepped to turn it on at 6:00 p.m. When the bank closed and it would begin lowering the temperature. So when I waltzed in here, straight into the vault, the room would be far colder than usual already. My body temperature wouldn't set anything off.
I was laying out the plan. All I had to do tonight was execute.
"Well, Mr. Pratt, I am thrilled to have been able to get this meeting done today. Thank you for the tour of the bank."
"Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again."
And as I let myself be escorted out, I chuckled under my breath. "Oh, I will be back, but you won't be seeing me."
31
Drake
I parked several blocks from the bank, having already scoured the area for gaps in CCTV. Staying low, I stuck to the shadows in the alley. I was a block from the bank when I realized I had a tail.
Motherfucker.
I could be wrong, but it was unlikely. That feeling, the one I'd gotten accustomed to in all the years of fieldwork, had been dogging me for about half a block now. Like feeling eyes on me somewhere along the way.
No, I was certainly being followed. Fuck. Had I gone wrong somewhere? Had I exposed Daphne at some point?
I took a left into an alley, scurrying up on top of a garbage bin and up a fire escape, pressing my body into the shadows. And then I waited, not daring to breathe lest it disturbed the mist of the rain around me. I didn't see anyone. My shadow was clever. They were very, very good.
Or you're fucking paranoid and there's no one there.
No, I knew someone was there.
I had an alternate route. It wasn't ideal because it put me at the back of the bank, and scaling that side of the building would be a pain in the arse. Plus, if I crossed that street, the whole block of CCTVs was on, and I'd have to go over the buildings.
No, I wanted this route, but I would take that one if I had to use it.
I went up and over the fire escape, going down on the opposite side of the building, crossing the street and making another sharp left as I headed back to the bank. No one was following me now. That much I knew. And as I made a right toward the bank, in the shadows behind the building where the employees parked, I heard the click of a gun, and I knew without a doubt exactly who had been tailing me.
"Who the fuck told you I was down here?"
Gabe Webb shrugged. I turned swiftly, blocking the gun and disarming him. With a sharp grin, he procured another gun, and suddenly, we were both standing there pointing guns at each other. "What the fuck?"
"I was hoping to tranq you before you did anything truly stupid."
I shook my head. "You're not stopping me, mate. Reginald told you my plan? That old man does worry about everything I've been doing lately."
Gabe shook his head. "No. But how is the old geezer anyway?"
"If it wasn't him, who was it?"
Gabe just chuckled low. "You think I'm an Ops Director for the Rogues for no bloody reason? After the round of questions you were asking the other day, I had Rook work his magic with search histories and phone logs. You used your phone once to call Liam. Imagine my surprise to learn you weren’t, in fact, in Spain. Then of course there was your little visit here last week. You were caught on CCTV. You weren't even hiding."
I shrugged. "Should I have been?"
"Is that a real question? A series of checks and I could tell exactly what you were doing. Imagine what Massimo would do if he found you."
"I wanted him to know."
Gabe's brow furrowed. "So you’re really trying to draw him out?"
"I'm trying to draw him out with something hopefully more important to him than her."
Gabe stepped back, understanding dawning, "His money."
"Exactly. So, are we going to shoot each other in the bollocks, or are you going to let me go in there and do what I came to do?"
Gabe shrugged. "My wife is partial to my nuts. She will be irritated if you shoot them off."
There was a slight shuffle behind me, and I pulled my other gun out, pointing in the direction of the shadows.
A feminine voice with a slight hint of a South African accent clued me in to who had joined Gabe on his task. "Tsk-tsk, Drake Webster. Next time, I won't be in such a hurry to save your life. You owe me."
I shook my head. "I should have known it was the dynamic duo. You take your wife on fucking missions, Webb?"
Gabe chuckled. "Have you met Tabatha? She's almost as deadly as Saff, and there's no leaving her behind. It's like she's got a bloody cowbell tied around me. Every time I try to escape, there she is, waiting on me."
Tabatha stepped into the light and grinned. "Exactly. Like I said, you die, I die. We might as well go together."
He shook his head. "It makes it impossible to protect you."
She wrapped her long red ponytail into a tight bun after she tucked her gun away. "Are you two going to have a chat all night, or are we breaking into a bank?"
"The dynamic duo didn't come with backup?"
Gabe nodded his head. "Rook is in the van."
Tabatha handed me a small comm unit. "Stick that in your ear, pretty boy."
I winked at her. "I'm glad to see you're not ready to rearrange my face yet."
"The night is young," she quipped as she started to pull her backpack off and remove her climbing gear. "P.S., nice trick with the fire escape. That little parkour action was very impressive."
I shrugged. "You're not a bad tail. I didn't see you."
"You didn't?"
"No. Just had a feeling."
She beamed. "You are slippery."
"And you are stealthy."
Gabe rolled his eyes. "If you two are done with the mutual admiration, can we get on with robbing this bank or what?"