The Cube Heist (BWWM Interracial Romance and Crime) (6 page)

Anderson hovered near Harris’s office waiting to be called in. Finally the door yanked open and Harris bellowed, “Anderson, get in.”

His stomach muscles clenched at the thought of asking favors from Harris. It was a reasonable request, but depending on the mood you found Harris in, it could go either way.

“Shoot, what brings you here?” Harris asked.

“I want an inside look at the bank, the vault and a rundown of their security system.” Anderson said.

Harris sighed. “Anderson, can’t you just let it be. All bank vaults are secure; otherwise, we would not be taking the cube there.”

Anderson kept quiet, a tactic of his that usually worked so well. This time was no different. After two minutes of silence, Harris threw his hands up.

“Alright,” he said. “Only because I know you’re a thorough man and I won’t hear the last of it.”

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“Get me Diamond bank.” Harris said to the switchboard.

Moments later he was connected and Anderson smiled when he heard the change in the boss’s tone. Harris could turn on the charm when he wanted. He was speaking to one of the bank managers releasing his full charm. Finally he uttered thanks and disconnected the call.

He wagged a finger at Anderson.

“You owe me.” He said. “They say this request is unusual and unnecessary, they know what they’re doing and they’re right. We don’t need to be poking our noses in their business. Our job is to have the cube get to the bank safely. After that, how they do it is up to them. We guard the bank perimeter. When our team takes possession of the cube in the morning, our job is done.”

“Thank you boss, I’ll feel better prepared when I know the layout of the bank.” Anderson said.

“Did you say layout?” Harris said. “Anderson, this is not a museum tour. You’ll be satisfied with what you’re shown. You’re not to go there demanding the blue print of the building, got it?”

“Yes boss.” Anderson said with a grin, and then he got up to leave.

He found Jackson flirting with the new receptionist, a blond with huge fluttering eyes. Clark as always was listening rather than joining the conversation.

“I hate to interrupt such an important gathering.” Anderson said.

They made their way to the bank, parking as far away from the entrance as possible. They didn’t go straight into the bank; instead, Anderson led them to the back entrance. There was not much movement and Anderson was happy to note that the bank was completely sealed from behind. He only gave a passing glance to the leather goods back door and the deli. The door of the leather goods shops was closed and the deli’s was open. They seemed pretty heavy doors, though Anderson wasn’t worried that potential criminals would use either entrance to gain entry to the bank. It would be too much work and time was of essence which there was very little.

The only good thing about this plan of having the cube in the bank was how little time there would be for anybody to plan and carry out an attack.

“How’s the baby coming along?” Jackson asked.

“Good, this last week is going to be crazy.” Anderson said. “The doctor said the contractions can start anytime now.”

At that, Anderson reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He checked if he had missed any call from Mary and made sure it had network. The one thing that Mary would never forgive him was if he missed the birth of their first child.

“I wouldn’t want to be you.” Jackson said and laughed wildly.

Anderson winked, “Me neither, but don’t tell that to Mary. She doesn’t understand the pressure I’m under.”

“Women don’t. They figure at the end of the day, you should leave your job behind and pick up where you left off.” Jackson said.

“It doesn’t work like that.” Anderson said. “I wish it did. Like this job. It’s giving me sleepless nights.”

“Me too” Clark said.

Anderson’s worries doubled. If Clark was having sleepless nights too, then there was a problem there. Clark was the calmest of the three of them. Nothing rattled him.

“What’s worrying you?” Anderson said.

“The fact that we’re leaving something so important and valuable to be secured by a bank, what do they know about security?”

“Boys, this may come as a surprise, but they do know quite a lot. They secure the most valuable of all human possessions—money.”

“Chill” Jackson said, his tone bored.

They made their way back to the front seat and to the entrance of the bank. They passed by the two armed guards and found themselves in the banking hall. There were seven tellers in all, and the queues were already long. A regular day at the bank. A man in a dark suit and a walkie-talkie approached them. Anderson scanned a tag hanging on his chest. He was the head of security and his name was Jones.

“You’re the guys from the bureau?” He asked.

Anderson and his team nodded and introduced themselves.

“What was it you wanted to see?” Jones asked his tone professional but not exactly friendly.

“The vault would be a good start.” Anderson said.

Jones led them away from the banking hall to a heavy door at the corner of the room. He opened it using a security code and held the door for them to enter.

“What’s the police response time when an alarm goes off?” Anderson asked.

“Three minutes.” Jones said without breaking a step.

“How many exits are there?” Clark said, speaking for the first time.

“Two, the main entrance where you came through and a fire exit at the back, which is very secure and never used.”

“How many employees work at night?” Anderson asked.

“None.” Jones said. “The cleaning staff are employed by the bank as full time staff so there are no outsiders who can access the bank.”

They walked along a short hallway and then turned left. The door to the vault room was accessed using voice recognition. The vault door was twenty ton, bomb proof and the lock intricate. Looking at it, Anderson knew that their cube would be safe here.

Jones took them through all the security measures of the room, a tinge of pride evident in his voice. He had every reason to be proud, Anderson thought, their security was top notch. When they left the bank, it was with a light step for Anderson. His light mood didn’t last long. His phone bleeped from his pocket and when he saw Mary’s number, his blood went cold.

“Mary, is everything OK?” Anderson said.

“I’m having a lot of cramp like pains.” Mary said from the other end.

“Hold tight, I’m coming to get you.” Anderson said.

Turning to his team, he said, “Its Mary, I need to take her to hospital. The baby might be coming.”

The trio sprinted to their car. Anderson cursed the decision to park so far from the bank. They jumped into the car and Jackson took off. He drove like a mad man, hooting at every driver who crossed his path. They made it in less than fifteen minutes, and before the car screeched to a halt, Anderson was already out. He ran to the entrance, fumbled with the front door key and finally got it in.

“Mary!” Anderson called racing through all the rooms downstairs, before running up the stairs. She was sprawled out on their bed, writhing in pain.
“Mary I’m here.” Anderson said.

She was a petite woman, barely over 5 feet. He gathered her in her arms and carried her down the stairs and into the waiting car. They took off again, nobody speaking in the car. After several minutes, the pain seemed to abate and like someone with a split personality, Mary sat up greeted Clark and Jackson at the front. The pains came again just as they were entering the hospital and then just as fast, they disappeared.

“We’ll grab a cab back; you guys go on to the bureau.” Anderson said, helping Mary out of the car.

Mary was examined and to Anderson’s disappointment the contractions turned out to be false alarms.

“Labor is imminent, but not today.” The doctor said, a kindly middle aged Indian.

“I don’t know if I can go through that again. It felt so real.” Mary said, also disappointed.

“Most likely the next time it happens, it’ll be the real thing.” The doctor said. “Was it painful or uncomfortable?”

Mary thought about it. “I’m not really sure. Sometimes they were.”

“When it’s labor, believe me, you’ll know. The pain will increase with time, not decrease. OK?”

They both nodded. Anderson took his wife back home, and using the same cab he was dropped in the office. His cell phone went off again just before he entered the bureau. He listened intently and then disconnected the call.

His face had paled. He went in and located his partners in the open plan office. They saw him approaching and looked astonished to see him back that soon.

“It was a false alarm.” He said before they could ask.

He sat on the desk and sighed.

“Boys I just got a call. It looks bad. Apparently word is out on the streets that something big is going down at Diamond bank. They know. The mob knows. They are planning a raid.”

Jackson clicked his mouth. Clark’s shoulders fell.

“Obviously they know what’s in the cube?” Clark said.

Anderson nodded. “The night of June the second will be very long.” he said.”Exactly one week from now.”

“I have to see Harris.” Anderson said and crossed the room to Harris’s office.

He knocked and a voice bellowed for him to enter. Harris waved at him to sit down which Anderson did. He wondered how Harris would react to the news. So much for believing that the mob would not know. Harris had a habit of underestimating those criminals, Anderson thought. Perhaps after this, he would finally believe Anderson and lobby to increase funding for fighting organized crime in the city.

Harris finished his call. He had aged in the five years he had been in this office. Anderson could see wrinkles around his eyes and face which had not been there before. He wore a harassed look all the time. Anderson did not envy him; neither did he have any ambition to run this office.

“What is it Anderson? Today is not a good day, so make it fast.”

Every day was a bad day for Harris, but Anderson resisted pointing that out to him. What he was about to tell him would make it ten times worse.

“I just got word from my sources. They know. The mob know about the cube and they are planning a raid on the night it’ll be at the bank.”

“Oh shit! Goddamit!” Harris let out a stream of expletives. “How did it get out, we’ve been so quiet and careful.”

“Does it have to come to the bank?” Anderson asked.

“Yes. Politics.” Harris said and sighed.

For a moment Anderson felt sorry for his boss. He seemed to have aged by ten years. Anderson had survived the last few weeks by not thinking deeply about the repercussions of the cube being in the wrong hands. With a shiver, Anderson acknowledged if the cube got into the wrong hands it would be a very strong bargaining chip. Even worse, the mob could decide to sell it to the highest bidder. That meant years and years of research gone down the drain.

The cube had to stay safe.

“We’ll do everything in our power to ensure the cube is safe.” Anderson said.

“Of course they know what is in there?” Harris said.

“Yeah, they know.”

“Can you imagine the power they’d have if they got a hold of it?” Harris said.

“And the damage they would do?” Anderson said, feeling his blood start to boil. “It’s a potential disaster, yet those fools have no idea. To them it’s a bargaining chip.”

“It’s a strong bargaining chip. Jesus, if they had it, we’d do anything for them just to get it back.”

“If opened in an uncontrolled environment the explosion could destroy several blocks.” Anderson said softly.

Harris paled. He hadn’t considered what damage inexperienced hands could cause with the cube. He covered his face with his hands. He reached for the phone.

Anderson listened to the call. Harris was talking to his bosses to let them know of the new development. Harris assured whomever he was speaking to that everything was in control. They could handle having the cube in the bank overnight. The fact was, they could secure the cube. More so if they were allowed into the bank overnight. That was the only way Anderson could guarantee the safety of the cube.

“Do you think they can let us into the bank overnight, to guard the cube?” Anderson asked Harris when he finished speaking on the phone.

“I’ll try and convince those egocentric folk over at the bank. They seem to think that we’re too big for our boots.” Harris said. “The headquarters people don’t see what the fuss is all about. Sure it’s bad that word had leaked, but they feel confident we can handle it. And so do I. Anderson, I trust you a hundred percent to ensure this goes well. If it doesn’t, we’ll have this hanging over our heads like a shadow, for as long as we’re in the bureau.”

Anderson’s biggest problem was not his future reputation. People forgot fast. There were new scandals every day. And even if they didn’t forget, he could live with that. With the mob involved, the chances of losing the cube were very high. A simple operation of securing a box overnight, gone wrong, could lead to the loss of an important technology.