A Stainless Steel Cat (19 page)

Royce nodded and smiled. "Let's go. It's about that time." It was nearly 2 in the morning, and that was when bored, underpaid security guards on graveyard shift were at their sleepiest.

They got in the car and drove, pulling into an alleyway behind BioGen fifteen minutes later.

"Ok, I'll send you the text when I'm in place." Royce leaned over and kissed her, then pulled his mask and goggles on as he stepped out of the vehicle. He sprinted silently to the closest balcony, and threw the grappling hook as high as he could. It caught on the fifth floor balcony, and held firm as he tested the rope.

Tam watched as he pulled himself up hand over hand, her pussy getting wet at his display of upper body strength. He disappeared over the balcony, and the rope went up after him, just in case a perimeter search was conducted. Tam started her car and drove around to the adjacent parking lot on the other side of the wall from BioGen, and opened her laptop.

She received his text as she gained entry into their system. 'In Position' It read.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and she used her mouse pad in order to highlight certain areas. She inserted the WORM into their servers, and watched as her bank account started filling with money from the corporate accounts. She then disabled the security on the doors and windows, and sent Royce the text 'All Clear' back to him.

Royce smiled under his mask. It had taken less than five minutes for her to hack the system, and he moved to the door. He tried it, and sure enough, it was still unlocked from the day before. Nobody came into the office unless there was an alarm, and Prescott had been too blinded by dollar signs and the anticipation of Monday to pay close attention.

He slipped in silently and made a beeline for the painting with the safe behind it. He nodded in appreciation at the model with the keypad. A step up from the standard combination tumbler, but not by much. He had a reading on Prescott, and all of Prescott's information. Since it was a numerical keypad, he tried the most obvious combinations first. Birthday? No go. Last four of his Social Security Number? Negative. Whole SSN? Nope. His eyes fell on the picture on Mr. Prescott's desk. His wife and daughter were smiling out of the picture that had obviously been taken at a local park.

Royce smiled and tried Mrs. Prescott's birthday. Bingo. The tumblers clicked, and he pulled the handle open. He grinned as he pulled stack after stack of large bills out of the safe, stuffing the cash into his backpack. He didn't find any files on Diet Ease, so he sent a text to Tam. 'No DE files in safe. Chk srvr.'

He received the reply immediately. 'kk'.

As he hefted his backpack, the lights came on and he turned to see a security guard doing his rounds. The guard had a shocked look on his face, but was already reaching for his gun.

Royce reacted, slipping a shuriken from his belt buckle and flipping it at the guard, hitting the man's right hand. Royce vaulted the desk and his feet landed in the guard's chest, knocking the man backwards with the wind knocked out of him. He pulled the throwing blade from the guard's hand and dashed out the balcony door and threw the rope over the side as he vaulted over it himself. He grabbed the rope and slid down quickly, feeling the burn of the nylon through his gloves.

When he landed, he gave the rope a practiced flick of his wrist to detach the grapple from the railing. He caught the grappling hook as he looked up and saw the security guard on his walkie-talkie. The man was shouting into his handset and Royce gave him a low bow before running from the alleyway and vaulting another wall close by. He sprinted for the shadows, and disappeared.

He fished out his cell and texted Tam. 'Clear. Got the cash. Need pickup other side of block.' He then texted her his location, and listened for her car. He removed his mask and windbreaker, shoving them into his backpack before she pulled up to the sidewalk. As soon as her car stopped, he ran forward at a dead sprint, tossing his backpack in the backseat as he slid into the vehicle.

As soon as he was inside, he closed the door and leaned over, taking her face in his hands and kissing her with a passion that broke the ceiling. His mouth claimed hers as his tongue dominated hers in her mouth.

"Wow!" She gasped as he broke the kiss. Her eyes were glazed for a moment before she shook her head slightly, noticing his boyish grin. "Damn, Baby!" She chuckled. "Something to look forward to when we get home."

So saying, she reached down and stroked his erection through his pants, then threw the car into gear and drove off quickly. They took a different route home, and once they arrived, went back in with their goods.

"What was stolen?" Prescott asked his Security Chief. He was not a happy man. His safe had been raided, and he cursed silently, thinking about what had happened. The fact that he'd been called in on Sunday also grated on his nerves.

"The cash from your safe and some files from the servers, sir." Chief Green said. "Sir, he stole the files on Diet Ease."

Prescott's eyes went wide. They'd just been burgled by the Steel Cat, and he knew where those files would end up.

Prescott slumped down on his desk, his head in his hands. "We need to fix this." He said. He sat back and looked up at Green. "Get me every scrap of video we have from the outside cameras."

"Yes, sir." Green nodded once, then left.

Half an hour later, he was watching the security footage that his security team had analyzed. In the few minutes before the cameras went out, he saw the car pull into the alleyway, and even though he couldn't see the passenger's face, he saw the face of the driver and the license plate number. He smiled even as he saw the Steel Cat get out of the car, and chuckled even as the camera went dead.

"Green, I want an address to go along with that license plate." Prescott got a self-satisfied smile on his face.

"Yes, sir." Green turned and left his office.

Prescott then called his Legal Team, letting them know the situation with the Diet Ease files, and told them to implement Damage Control.

Tam and Royce watched the News that evening, and Royce cursed under his breath. The News reporter had just cut to a press conference with Liam Prescott, and the slimy bastard was already on the offensive.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we were hacked last night. The hacker planted false reports in our server system about Diet Ease, probably in a last ditch effort to slander this company's good name. Also, the Steel Cat is involved, as he assaulted one of my security team. Now, we have notified the police, and they will keep us apprised of the situation. Thank you."

The questions from reporters started, and Tam muted the sound. "Shit!" She exclaimed.

"I agree. Dammit, we should have sent the thumb drive last night!" Royce put his head in his hands. They'd gotten away with millions, according to Tam, who had syphoned off some of the corporate accounts into her Cayman bank.

"I wish we had, Baby." Tam said, and he turned and held her close.

"Not your fault. I should have been thinking clearly." He replied, sensing that she was blaming herself.

"On the bright side, we got away with millions." Tam shrugged.

"Yes, we did. I'm still taking that flash drive to the cops, though." Royce declared.

"Yeah, but if their IT people don't know what to look for, it could still be passed off as a forgery." Tam replied, shaking her head with a nervous look on her face.

"The FBI, then? They have a good tech team, right?" He asked.

Tam couldn't even believe she was considering this... "Ray Hammond." She said finally. "Mr. Wolfe's IT specialist. I told you about him before. If anyone can make sure those files get where they need to go, it's him. He bragged to Cammie once that he had friends in the FBI and CIA."

"Do you think he'll help us?" Royce asked.

Tam shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I know that if this goes bad, our cover is blown in a big way." She shook her head. It was a risky move, to be sure.

"So we send it anonymously." Royce said. "I can overnight it by FedEx or UPS."

"Too risky." Tam shook her head. "BioGen has eyes everywhere, from what I've heard."

The loud knocking on the door surprised them both. Tam got up and went to look through the peephole. "Shit!" She said quietly. "Suits, looks like BioGen security!"

"How'd they find us?" Royce tried to think. He hit his forehead and groaned. "Dammit, I should have thought about them having hidden cameras set up along the outside of the building!"

"Then what do we do?" She asked. Hindsight being 20/20, they should have just pulled into the adjacent parking lot before Royce went in.

"Not much I can do. If they traced your license plate, you'll have to get the door. If they saw me, tell them I forced you to take me there." Royce said, thinking quickly. It was plausible that she could have been carjacked by The Steel Cat. It wouldn't help his image, but he would have to figure something out. He hid all the evidence, and then hid in the hallway.

Tam took a deep breath and answered the door. "Yes? May I help you?" She asked innocently.

"Miss Tamara Jenkins?" Green asked, knowing full well who she was.

"Yes? What's this about?" She asked, blocking them from entering her apartment.

"It's about he break in at BioGen last night, ma'am. Can we come in?" Green said, being polite.

"No. My boyfriend is talking to the cops now, and we're waiting on them to get here. I was carjacked last night by some guy in a ski mask, and forced to take him to BioGen. If you want, you can wait out there for them, but I'm not letting ANYONE into my apartment until they get here!" Tam took a stand and folded her arms.

Green was taken off guard by that. It was plausible...

Royce pulled his cellphone out and held it up to his ear, talking just loudly enough for them to make out sounds at the door. Tam was good, a natural grafter. The problem was that it was spur of the moment improvisation, and if the security goons saw through that, all bets were off. Hopefully, he could add credibility to her masquerade. He walked out with the phone to his ear, giving the men a good look at him. They would be less likely to try anything if they saw him there too, he reasoned.

Green didn't recognize the young man, but he heard the low tones of his voice as he talked into the cellphone at his ear. He decided to err on the side of caution. "Thank you for your time, ma'am. We'll let you and the police handle this end." He smiled, then sent his men back to the car, walking after them.

Tam closed the door when they were gone, letting out a huge sigh of relief. "Damn, that was close!" She chuckled with the rush of endorphins into her system.

"It was quick thinking, Baby Girl." Royce grinned. "And as far as the flash drive goes, I have an idea. Mr. Wolfe did offer me a job. Remember? I can take the flash drive to this Ray Hammond myself."

"What will you tell them?" Tam asked.

"The files are encrypted, right?"

"Yeah, I always encrypt files on my drives. I haven't put the decryption file in there yet." She grinned, getting where he was coming from.

"Good. I can say I found it, and that I needed someone good with encryption. Ray has a rep, from what you said. He should jump at the chance." Royce smirked and winked at her.

"Yes, he should." Tam confirmed, nodding her head and smirking back.

"Good. Stay here, and I'll be back in a bit." He leaned forward, kissed her, then grabbed his helmet and the flash drive and headed out the door. There was no sign of the BioGen security goons, so he got onto his Ducati and rode for Mr. Wolfe's estate.

Prescott looked at Green. "Are you kidding me?" He asked. "Nobody is that fucking stupid!" He shouted in Green's face.

"Sir, her story was plausible, and if we're wrong, we'd be kidnapping an innocent woman!" Green shouted back.

Prescott had watched the DVD footage over and over. He couldn't see her face that well, since it was very dark, so he couldn't see her facial expression. Then something clicked in his head. "Green, what did her boyfriend look like?"

"About 6 foot, medium build, dark brown hair and gray eyes." Green shrugged, and Prescott laughed mirthlessly.

"Get back over there and bring them both to me now!" He said with a smirk on his face. 'They almost got away with it.' He thought, laughing to himself.

Royce pulled up the drive to Mr. Wolfe's estate. He walked in, and was surprised to find Cammie there talking with a man who could only have been a soldier. A real soldier, not what the street soldiers Wolfe employed.

She looked up and smiled at him as he walked in. "Hey, Royce! I want you to meet a friend of mine."

"Hey, Cammie." Royce smiled back as he walked over to them. He could spare a moment, and Cammie looked happier than normal.

The man stood along with Cammie as Royce walked up. "Royce, this is Captain Justin Wolfe, US Army. He served with Juan over in Afghanistan. Justin, this is Royce, Tam's boyfriend that I told you about."

"Good to meet you, sir." Royce smiled and shook the taller man's hand.

"You too, Royce." Justin replied in a deep voice, smiling. He had to be Anthony Wolfe's son.

"I hate to be rude, but I need to talk to Ray Hammond, if possible. It's important." Royce said, holding up the flash drive.

"What's going on?" Mr. Wolfe's now familiar voice said from behind them. They all turned to see him, impeccably dressed as always, walk into the room.

"Mr. Wolfe, I need to speak to your IT man. I have this flash drive that's been encrypted, and I need to see what's on it." Royce explained.

Mr. Wolfe exchanged glances with his son, then raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why is that?"

"Because last night, a guy roared past our place at top speed through the parking lot when Tam and I got back from our date. He was riding a Kawasaki and dropped this, and the cops didn't see it. Tam tried to decrypt it, but wasn't able to find out what's on it." Royce explained, lying through his teeth.

"Hmm. Simple curiosity, then?" Mr. Wolfe smiled in amusement.

"Not quite, sir. I think the guy riding the Kawasaki was The Steel Cat." Royce said.