Page 2 of Game of Love
Thief… yes. I accepted a long time ago that that was what I was.
I’d been many things in my thirty-six years.
Orphan, hacker, manipulator, marine, black operative, agent, killer…
Thief.
That was the word that kept coming back. It was the crux that explained all that I did. Whether my intent was good or bad. No matter what it was I stole.
Thief.
I scanned my perimeters, deciding it was time to make a move. This part had already taken too long. I’d allocated five minutes and that had long since passed.
There were two guys to the left guarding the entrance to the metal stairs. I could get past them easy. It was the guys by the door guarding the chip that were the problem. As in they were right outside the door and the room the chip was in was situated at the end of the corridor. That, and there was nowhere to go after I’d taken the chip except back the way I came.
So, that was it then. The way. The plan.
The rogue plan.
On to it then…
I slipped down the side of the staircase, blending in with the shadows of night. The music that boomed from the streets surrounding the area assisted in swallowing up the sounds around the building. It was like that everywhere in Brazil at this time of year. Carnival season, and the carnival in Rio attracted everybody from all over the world.
The music from carnival could be heard all around. It was perfect for situations like this.
I slinked in the crevice between the stairwell and the corridor, moving past the guards on the other side. Next were the guards I’d already seen. The goal was to get past them, head to the room with the chip and take out the guards securing the room.
Once that was done, I knew the noise would alert the attention of the others.
I could handle that. It was all about timing. Do it the other way around and I’d have more guys on my ass than I cared for. Then that would piss me right the fuck off.
They’d have time to call for backup. More help could mean things could go wrong and I couldn’t afford that.
I needed this gig. It was the money.
Of course it was.
When you lived the way I did and on your own mission of vengeance you needed a lot of money.
Some jobs paid more than others and helped me advance further in my pursuit.
This was like that. Bernard Perabo, my latest client had offered up five hundred G’s to get a chip that contained the passwords to a safe that held two million dollars’ worth of gold bars.
Truth be told, I could steal the chip and keep it for myself, and get the said two million if I could find out the location of the safe. But that wasn’t my style. I had some honor. It was what kept me in business with those I allowed to find me.
I stopped and pressed further into the wall when one of the guards moved closer.
“I’m raising my bet. You won’t be able to resist her. Too hot to handle.” The guy said to his meathead friend who’d been screwing around with Pablo’s wife.
Wes and I had seen it all during our surveillance over the last few days. That was when we were trying to establish where the chip was being held. At the time my client thought Pablo was keeping it at his house. What we did find was an adulterous wife who cheated on her husband with every guard he’d set up to watch her.
“No, I will totally say no.” Came the meathead’s response. “I promised Father Perez I would be good this week.”
I rolled my eyes under the balaclava I wore. These people were such idiots. They worked for a guy like Pablo, screwed his wife on a daily basis, and believed they could redeem themselves with one Our Father and a few Hail Marys.
Fucking ridiculous.
And I’d heard enough.
