Nicholas had killed Vass, punishing him for his role, and Vass’s death had also kept me working for the Rebels and had given Corbisher a warning against any further attempts at insubordination. To judge from the sickly look on Corbisher’s face, the lesson had been learned.
It had been cold and brutal and cruel…and brilliantly done.
I already knew that Nicholas Connor was a dangerous man, and he had just proven it once again.
The last anthrophage finished licking up Vass’s blood and left.
“Now,” said Nicholas, taking his seat at the head of the table, “since that bit of unpleasantness is resolved, let us turn our attention to more urgent business.”
“What, right now?” I said. “You just shot a man, and you want to plan the operation now?”
“I executed an insubordinate who threatened the Revolution with his reckless actions,” said Nicholas, calm as ever. “And as I’ve said, Miss Stoker, this is war. War waits for no man.”
“Fine.” I dug out the phone from my purse and slapped it onto the table. “Watch the movie. Make some popcorn, if you want. I’m going to go change and be right back.”
Nicholas frowned. “Why?”
“Because I’m cold,” I said, which was true. I also felt a little ridiculous in a bright pink sweatshirt.
“Very well,” said Nicholas. “I suppose it would seem strange to plan a bank robbery while wearing a FITNESS GIRL 4 LIFE sweatshirt.”
I gave him the middle finger and left the conference room.
I did want to change, yes. I also wanted to search my room for cameras again, and to check my bag for any tracking devices or bombs. Ten days had been more than enough time for Nicholas to have my stuff searched.
I also wanted to calm down. I hadn’t liked Vass, but we had mostly gotten along, and to see him murdered in cold blood in front of me had still been shocking. I needed to keep my wits about me when dealing with Nicholas, and spending ten minutes or so searching my room for cameras would help me calm down.
I didn’t find any cameras in my room. My stuff had been searched, obviously, but Nicholas wouldn’t have been able to break into my phone, and I didn’t find any tracking devices or bombs. I then Cloaked and changed from the sweatshirt and yoga pants to my usual outfit of gray sweater, black jeans, black running shoes, and black pea coat. I suppose if I concentrated I didn’t need all the layers to stay warm, but it was still cold in the warehouse.
I tucked my main phone and the little .25 revolver into my pockets and returned to the conference room.
Nicholas had plugged the phone from my purse into a projector, and the video of my trip into the Bank’s vaults played on the wall.
“I must say,” said Lorenz, “that you’re a terrible cinematographer.”
Murdo had seated himself at the other end of the table opposite from Nicholas. I sat next to him.
“Really, if you had been working on any of my productions, I would have made the director fire you on the spot,” said Lorenz. “Though if you had slept with me, of course, I would have let you be…say, an extra, in one of the background shots. Maybe a waitress in a bikini during a restaurant scene. I think…”
“For God’s sake, you preening jackass,” said Hailey. “This is serious. Do you ever shut up?”
“Oh, I know why he doesn’t like us,” I said. Hailey looked at me in surprise. “He’s only ever slept with women when he could force or coerce them, and we have too much magic for him to coerce. He can only run his mouth because he’s not going to get to run anything else.”
Hailey laughed, and then scowled, likely annoyed to find herself agreeing with me. Lorenz glared at her, opened his mouth, glanced at Nicholas, and then closed it. He was smart enough to realize that getting into a fight with Hailey would inevitably lead to a conflict with Nicholas.
And Nicholas had just blown off the top of Vass’s head.
An old proverb popped into my head. How did it go? Kill the chicken to scare the monkey? Something like that.
Whoever had thought that proverb up had been on to something.
“If you’re quite done amusing yourselves,” said Nicholas with some asperity, “focus on the task at hand, please.”
We sat in silence as he watched the video and then restarted it again. Lorenz did have a point. I wasn’t a very good cinematographer, but to be fair, the camera had been tiny, and it had been dangling from my left ear. Nevertheless, the software on the phone had been good, and it had done a decent job of stabilizing the picture. Nicholas scribbled furiously on a legal pad as the video played. I knew him well enough to realize that he already had a plan and was working out the details.
That was good. Between getting shot, the regenerative coma, and my hope of breaking out of the deal between the Forerunner and Morvilind, I had forgotten what a hard target the Royal Bank was.
I hoped Nicholas had a good plan.
We watched the video once more, and then Nicholas shut off the projector.
“Thoughts?” said Nicholas. “Miss Stoker and Morelli. Of all of us, you have the most experience with this kind of operation.”
Morelli let out a long breath. “We face five separate problems. First, entering the bank undetected. Second, bypassing the conventional electronic and mechanical security systems. Third, nullifying the abundant magical defenses Miss Stoker observed. Fourth, entering Vault 19 and opening Deposit Box 547. Fifth and finally, escaping alive and uncaptured with the contents of the deposit box.” He leaned back in his chair. “If we fail at any one of those points, we shall all likely be killed or captured.”
“Or both,” I said. “The capture would probably proceed the execution.”
“Yes, clearly,” said Nicholas. “Do you have anything to contribute, or are you going to state the obvious?”
I sighed. “Look. The Bank’s security is too good. Disable the conventional systems, and you’ll run into the magical defenses. Disable the magical defenses, and you’ll trigger the conventional security systems, and that doesn’t even account for the Elven and human security personnel at the Bank. They won’t be passive. If they notice anything weird, they’ll investigate it, and we’ll have to deal with them as well.”
Nicholas nodded. “Go on.”
“And that means,” I said, “the only opportunity we’ll have is when the Bank’s security is overloaded dealing with another problem. Like if they’re hosting some kind of event, or if a dignitary is visiting the bank, or they’re receiving a big shipment of gold bullion or something.”
A dark thought occurred to me. A massive attack in Washington was exactly the sort of thing that would divert the attention of the Bank’s security. Like, say, if a bomb went off across the street, or if the Archons launched an attack, or if the Knight of Venomhold sent a raid of orcish mercenaries through a rift way. Nicholas was perfectly capable of killing innocent people to achieve his objectives, and dread gripped me as I expected him to start talking about bombs and targets.
“Or, perhaps,” said Nicholas, “a gala banquet?”
I blinked. “What?”
“As you may know, Baron Castomyr of La Crosse was killed last year in a gas explosion,” said Nicholas.
“Yeah,” I said. “Heard something like that.”
“The High Queen has finally gotten around to selecting a replacement,” said Nicholas. “An Elven commoner named Tagmatyr, who happens to be one of Duke Maelaeyar’s retainers. The Duke was sufficiently pleased by his friend’s promotion to the nobility that he is holding a gala banquet to celebrate the new-made Baron Tagmatyr.”
“Which, of course, will be held in the lobby of the Royal Bank,” I said.
“Yes,” said Nicholas.
“Will this be a sufficiently large event?” I said.
Nicholas smiled. “Several of the Dukes of the United States are attending, along with many of their vassals. The High Queen will not since I believe she and the Skythrone are currently in Spain, but the President of the United States and seve
ral state governors will be there, along with various wealthy business owners. Each dignitary will bring their own guests and security personnel.”
“Okay,” I said. “That’s what…a couple thousand Elves and humans all told?”
“Conservatively,” said Nicholas.
“When’s this gala?”
“April 8th.”
“God,” I said. “That gives us just under three weeks to prepare.”
“We’ll be rather busy,” said Nicholas.
Corbisher cleared his throat. “I could likely obtain invitations for us under false identities…”
“No,” said Nicholas, Morelli, Murdo, and me in unison.
Corbisher wilted.
“We can’t attend as guests,” I said. “That would be too risky. Guests have too much scrutiny.”
“Then how else do you suggest we get in?” said Corbisher with some acerbity.
“As service workers,” I said.
Corbisher’s mouth twisted in distaste. “Service workers?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve done this kind of thing before. Parties like this always need an army of workers to support them. You know – caterers, cooks, janitors, valets, drivers, all that. It’s a lot easier to get in as a temp worker than as a guest.”
“Really?” said Corbisher.
“I’ll be blunt, Corbisher,” said Murdo. “It’s a failure of perception. You’re a rich man, and you’ve been a rich man your entire life. People like you don’t pay attention to service workers until you have to. You just don’t. It’s a lot easier to get into someplace unnoticed as a caterer or a janitor than as a guest in a tuxedo.”
“I fear that the lovely Miss Stoker is right, Martin,” said Lorenz. “The easiest way to hide is to remain in plain sight.”
“Fine,” said Corbisher. “I yield to your proletarian sensibilities. We’ll disguise ourselves as caterers and janitors…”
“You won’t,” said Nicholas. “With all respect, Martin, infiltration is not in your skill set.”
“So that solves Morelli’s first problem,” said Corbisher. “What about the next four?”
“A power outage,” said Morelli. “We’ll need to disable both the main power to the bank and its backup generator. That will knock out the lights and the electronic systems, and between my explosives and Mr. Murdo’s elemental blades, we can get into the vault levels and Vault 19 itself.”
“I can cast the elemental blade spell as well,” I said. I wanted to keep that information to myself, but I saw what Morelli was driving at. He wanted Murdo to use his elemental blade to cut through the vault door like a cutting torch, and it would go twice as fast with two blades. “He taught me.”
Lorenz leered. “Of course he did.”
“But we can’t get into the vault if the elementals and the golems kill us first,” I said.
“That is where Hailey and I will come in,” said Nicholas. “Have you ever heard of a spell called the Seal of Binding?”
I shook my head.
“You’re familiar with the Seal of Shadows,” said Nicholas. Corbisher scowled at that. He had tried to use the Seal of Shadows on me, and that had ended with him getting gnawed on by an angry bloodrat. “You’ve already had an unfortunate encounter with the Seal of Unmasking.” He was talking about the attack in Washington, but Lorenz winked at me, no doubt thinking of our encounter in Red Ditch. “The Seal of Binding is designed to disable both summoned creatures and magical constructions. Neither golems nor elementals can enter a Seal of Binding, and any golems and elementals caught within the Seal will be disabled, left frozen and unable to move.”
“So where did you learn this?” I said, though I suspected the answer.
“From the Knight of Venomhold,” said Nicholas, “during our last visit. Both Hailey and I learned the spell from Karst.”
Hailey stared at the table. I guessed that the Knight of Venomhold did not make a kindly teacher.
“While Hailey and I maintain the Seals,” said Nicholas, “you and Murdo will cut an opening in the vault door. Likely one large enough to allow you to enter, because you are the smallest of us.”
“Gosh, thanks.” I rubbed my face, blinking. “We knock the power out, and the Seals keep the magical defenses from killing us all. How do we get away?”
“With a helicopter on the roof of the bank,” said Nicholas. “Several of the dignitaries will arrive via helicopter. We’ll just steal one of theirs.”
“The security on the upper levels is not nearly as robust as on the vault levels and the Bank’s server rooms,” said Morelli. “We’ll be able to bypass it relatively easily.”
“You just shot our helicopter pilot and fed his corpse to anthrophages,” I said. “Might not have thought that one through, Nicky.”
He smiled. “The Revolution has other helicopter pilots, Kat. One will be procured. We’ll use the helicopter to escape the immediate vicinity. Then we’ll land on the other side of the Potomac, abandon the helicopter, and scatter. We’ll then return here before we abandon this base.”
We sat in silence for a moment.
“Let me get this straight,” I said at last. “The plan is to get hired as service workers for the gala. We’ll plant bombs to disable the main power to the Bank and its own backup generators, and in the chaos of the blackout, we’ll go to the Vault levels. I’ll grab the thumb drive you want, and then we’ll run to the rooftop and escape via helicopter.”
“That’s right,” said Nicholas.
“And we’ve only got three weeks to get this all ready?” I said.
Nicholas smiled. “We had better get started, hadn’t we?”
Chapter 11: Former Loves
Every single one of us worked eighteen hours a day for the next three weeks.
A couple of times I just skipped sleep entirely.
Nicholas’s plan was a good one. I had pulled off more dangerous jobs with less preparation. His plan would probably work.
Probably.
I don’t like that word.
But the better prepared we were, the better our chances of getting out alive.
And because I was the most experienced thief and the only one who could Cloak, I was involved in every single one of the preparations.
The first step was getting the catering company up and running. As it turned out, Corbisher already owned a catering company that operated in the Washington DC area. However, the company didn’t exist. It was just a shell designed to launder money for the Rebels, and it didn’t have any assets and staff. Worse, the Duke’s staff had already hired caterers.
So, I engaged in a bit of dirty business. I found our rival catering company, broke into their building, and set fire to the kitchen. It wasn’t a bad fire, and I did it in such a way that their insurance ought to cover all the damages, but it forced them to shut down for a month until the fire damage was repaired. That threw Duke Maelaeyar’s staff into a panic, until Corbisher’s company swooped in at the last moment to offer a reasonable product at a discounted price. Desperate, the Duke’s people accepted the bid, and so the Rebels won the contract to feed the gala to celebrate Baron Tagmatyr’s ascension.
I really hoped Swathe didn’t get creative and decide to poison all the food. But perhaps Vass’s death had warned the rest of Nicholas’s crew of the danger of independent action. Fortunately, Corbisher got the job of getting a functioning caterer up and running in under three weeks, and he became even crankier than usual.
After that, I had to help Morelli with the task of disabling the power to the Royal Bank.
The Bank’s main connection turned out to be easy enough. The primary power connections came through four utility tunnels since the Bank drew a lot of electricity to run its HVAC and data center. There was cell phone signal underground, so it was easy enough to rig up four bombs linked to burner cell phones to disable the power lines. We wouldn’t place them until the morning before the gala, lest some unsuspecting utility worker stumble across the devices and disable the
m, or worse, call Homeland Security.
The Bank’s dedicated power generator would prove much harder.
It sat on the roof of the building with the HVAC equipment, conveniently shielded from sight by the elaborate marble cornices and other architectural flourishes. To make things worse, the Bank actually had two generators, each one capable of running the Bank’s systems for twelve hours each. Even better, security cameras covered every inch of the rooftops to deter thieves from making high-altitude entries.
Murdo, Morelli, and I managed to work around that problem. The Bank’s HVAC systems received regular maintenance, and we tracked down the company that did the work. With the aid of forged documents, Morelli and Murdo disguised themselves as HVAC technicians from the company, and they went onto the roof to service the machinery. While they did that or pretended to do that (I doubted that either man knew the first thing about HVAC repair), I Cloaked myself and carefully hid cell phone bombs in both generators. We would have to detonate the generator bombs before the bombs we had placed in the utility lines, to make sure there was no power to the Bank at the critical moment.
I didn’t like it. For one, I was helping to place bombs around the capital city of the United States. I wasn’t a Rebel, but I sure as hell was acting like one. I imagined having to tell that to Russell and watching his face twist with revulsion and horror.
For another…we were leaving a lot of breadcrumbs.
Like, everything was legit on paper, but if someone looked too hard for too long, it would all collapse. Let’s say someone on the Duke’s staff decided to double-check the references of the catering company and noticed some of them did not exist. Maybe this intrepid staffer would do some more checking, grow suspicious, and call Homeland Security. Or maybe the HVAC equipment would break down, and when the Bank’s maintenance staff called the HVAC company, they would realize that the company hadn’t sent technicians to do maintenance. Or, worse, they would find the bombs.
Cloak Games: Hammer Break Page 17
