"Once upon a time, we didn't have to worry about infared alarms," Johanna muttered, cursing under her breath.
"Yeah, well, once upon a time we weren't so buried in debt that the guys at the dock want us to start paying in fingers and toes," Jack hissed back. The pair had broken into their fair share of buildings before, but Bean Stock Industries had some serious security. Jack pulled a spray can of thick condensed water from his black back pack and began spraying the air in front of them. The thick fog spread quickly and revealed a crisscross of thick, yellowish beams in the hallway ahead.
"Should we turn back?" Johanna looked at him with concern, big brown eyes wide with concern.
"We can't," Jack said with a sad shake of his head. "They'll hunt us down. They'll hurt mom. We need the money."
"You're right," Johanna said, setting her jaw in determination. "Man, I wonder why the crime bosses on the waterfront could possibly want a computer from a multi-billion dollar company."
"Honestly, I don't even want to know," Jack said with a sigh. He checked his digital watch. "We've got twenty minutes. Follow me, and stay close."
The siblings began to wind their way past the laser-lights, lithe and cat-like in their movements. The Anderson twins were good at their craft, that was for sure. Years of resorting to all kinds of thievery to pay for their mother's chemo treatments had allowed them to develop a rather... unique skillset.
"Jack, look out!"
Jack stopped abruptly, a laser half an inch from his nose. He let out a long, slow breath and ducked gracefully out of the way, cursing himself. It was his fault they were in this situation, anyway. If he hadn't tried to sell their last score himself, they wouldn't have ended up with a suitcase full of fake cash and a price on their heads from the mafia. This was their one and only shot at redemtion. He couldn't live with himself if anything happened to Johanna or their mother. Technically, he wouldn't have to; the mafia enforcers would make sure of that.
Johanna cleared the last wire and wiped the sweat off her brow. "Guess it's my time to shine, huh?"
"Think you can get it?"
"Please, Jack; don't insult me," she said with a smirk. She fished a little electronic pad out of her back pack and plugged the diodes into the electronic lock. Jack watched his timepiece anxiously as she clicked away at the little keyboard. Thirty-three seconds later, the lock beeped and the door opened with a hiss. Jack smiled at his sister, once again eternally grateful to have her on his side.
"Wait out here," Jack said, peering past the door and into the penthouse office ahead. The far wall was made entirely of glass; he could see miles of the twinkling city below them. "I'll be just a moment."
He padded into the room on the balls of his feet, spraying ahead with his canned fog to check for lasers. Gregory Iant, the CEO of Bean Stock Industries, must have had absolute faith in his hallway security, for Jack found no evidence of any alarms in the modern, luxurious suite. He pulled the diagram from his pocket once again. There was a glass case in the corner, just like his blueprint said there would be, but the item inside appeared to be missing. Something about the air in the office was thick and tense, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
"Looking for something?"
The lights flicked on and Jack spun around, coming face to face with none other than Mr. Iant himself. The CEO was older than jack had expected, and bigger, too. He stood almost six and a half feet tall and was built like a professional football player.
"Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Anderson," Iant said with a low chuckle. Jack reached for the little semi-auto he kept tucked in the waistband holster. Iant clicked his tongue disapprovingly and revealed his own piece, a priceless-looking custom M1911. Jack slowly put his hands above his head, mind racing.
"I'm going to assume you're here for this, aren't you?" In his other hand, Iant held a golden sphere about the size of a coconut. Jack wet his lips and nodded curtly; There was no point in trying to lie. He hoped he could keep the CEO distracted enough to come up with an escape plan.
"I had a feeling Russoni and his boys downtown would be coming for this any day now," Iant continued with a chuckle. "I'll admit, I'm a little surprised they sent a street urchin like yourself to take care of the job. I'll be charging a fee I find acceptable for such fumbling idiocy; that fee shall be your life."
"Please, I had no choice," I said, voice cracking a little. Iant just laughed, high and cold.
"Save me the sob story, kid." He cocked his head at me, a bastard's smirk etched on his handsome features. "Do you even have any idea what it is you're stealing, here?"
"Some sort of computer, I think," Jack stammered. Iant laughed again, dropping his gun hand to his side.
"A computer? Kid, this is the most powerful hacking device in the world! The owner of my little Golden Egg here is practically the most powerful man on the planet.
"Precisely." Jack said, throwing myself to the side. A deafening bang echoed through the office as Iant's head exploded outward, splattering the window. His body dropped silently to reveal Johanna holstering her Glock 19. Jack picked up the Golden Egg and turned it over in his hands.
"Finally." He said softly, hands shaking slightly. "We're invincible."
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