"Damn it!" Liz shouted as the alarms went off. Cameron let her go, and she
dropped the fifteen feet to the floor below. Janna unhooked the microphone
wrapped around her ear, and stretched, blowing out a breath of frustration.
Cam moved across the beam and hit the manual cut off, silencing the horn's
warbling. He jumped down, landing next to his sister.
"You hit the beam again," Janna said, checking the diagram on her computer screen. She tapped the tripped location. "Three times. This north entry thing is not working guys."
Liz grimaced. "No kidding." She grabbed a towel and wiped some of the sweat off of her. They had been working for three weeks straight on how to do this job. So far, it wasn't looking good at all.
"It's going better than the west entry," Cameron remarked, taking a big gulp of water from a bottle. He gagged and glanced at the label, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "What's with you two and this Perrier stuff?"
"It for the cultured," Janna replied, catching the bottle that was tossed at her. She opened it and took a sip.
"Some culture," Cameron teased. "It tastes like crap and you, my dear cousin, suck it out of the bottle instead of a glass." Janna threw the bottle back at him, but she decided to neglect putting the cap back on first.
"Watch it!" Liz squealed as some of the water splashed onto her as well. "It is going to be harder to do a dry run soaking wet you know." The other two laughed. After the absolute disaster of trying a north entrance, and the problems with an east and west entrance, a laugh was well needed.
"There's got to be a way," Janna sighed. "There's always a way, right?"
"Right!" the twins chorused as they looked up at the mock up of the target.
In the last few years it had become rather stylish in Europe for the wealthy to buy large buildings that looked lousy on the outside, and then do them up on the inside. Old warehouses and manufacturing plants were among the top of the lists. Liz had found the place that they were in when her English boyfriend had taken her to the French Riviera. She got mad that he was flirting with different women. He told her to get used to it. She told him to fuck off. He slapped her. Said ladies didn't use that kind of language. She broke seven of his bones, and then went for a walk. It was a long walk, and she had found the warehouse.
It had two levels. The first had an extremely high ceiling and was a lot of open space. The second was where they lived. What had sold them on the place was that there was a separate entrance for the second floor. They could actually have people over without them traipsing through the staging area. Most of the rich kids that were buying places like this only had the cash to fix up one floor properly, so not allowing someone to look over the whole place wasn't considered ill-mannered.
The staging area was the most important element of the place. They constructed mock-ups of the buildings that they were going to be breaking into. It went up quick with just pipe works and a few flat areas to use. It was never the same as the real thing, but it was better than going in blind. Janna had the blueprints on the table and had directed the construction of the di LiCossa mansion. She had the artistic eye to translate what was on paper to what they had. They had added as much of the security as they knew of, and were trying to get around it. It wasn't going as well as hoped. As a matter of fact, it wasn't going at all.
"We're going to have to do the south entry," Cameron said glumly. The necklace was on the north side of the building, but that was the most heavily guarded. Janna was pretty sure she would be able to undo the security around the necklace, but the kicker was that they were going to have to do a video link because the final part of the security was internal access only. Janna knew she could instruct whoever was making the grab, but there was the whole radio issue.
"Well, we could always do a single, with a diversion ready," Liz suggested. This was shaping up to be the most difficult grab they had done so far. It was by far the most frustrating, but with the money they were going to make, it was going to be worth it. She looked around the building. If the police ever raided the place, they would be toast. If all of the electronics and building plans weren't enough to paint a big sign over them, then the picture of the three of them with a Mayan shield and spear and mask would put them over the top. That was from their first grab, and they had kept it hanging on the wall for motivation. That sale had given the three of them an adrenaline high they never forgot. When it got bad, like it was now, they would remember that feeling, and work harder.
"I don't like that," Janna said. "Since Cameron and I would be in contact to do the last bit of security, you would be out in the cold."
Liz shrugged. "If I was on the south side, it would look like I was just breaking in if an alarm is tripped. Everyone would come to me, and give you guys another minute. Besides, it's not like I'm ever out of communication with Cam." Janna frowned slightly. She knew that they had that ability, but it did have limits. She preferred to trust what she could see and understand.
"If getaway was on the south side, then north would be ignored," Cam mused. "Not a problem for me if we do the pickup right." That had been the problem with the north entrance. There wasn't enough time to get in and do what needed to be done. But if there were a distraction to the south, then maybe it would work. He wasn't worried about putting his sister in jeopardy. After all, the second she needed him, he would know. There was precious little that could stand up against two of their kind that was determined to escape.
Janna shrugged. "Can't hurt to try. That's what practice is for anyways." She reset her equipment as the twins took up their new positions. She had designed a program that allowed them to estimate the time it would take for security to move in on their positions. In truth, it looked a little like a video game. To Janna, it was. This was all a big video game to her in a lot of ways. The only difference was that you only got one life to complete the game.
They knew the date they wanted to make the lift. There were several members of a full time security staff around the family, but it was going to be lessened in a few weeks. There was always a full time guard at the gatehouse, and at least one or two men walking the fence around the estate itself. They weren't a problem. The problem would be inside security. The Conte's mother was still living and she and her daughter still living at home had a full time personal bodyguard. It was thought that there might be at least two more full time security personnel. The Conte himself didn't have a bodyguard, but he was supposed to be proficient with different weapons. On the plus side, the mother and sister were supposed to go skiing like they did every winter, and that was going to remove two civilians and two guards. Four less people there reduced the odds of something going wrong.
Simultaneously the twins swung into action, Janna guiding Cam through the security guarding the necklace on one side while Liz broke into the other. Janna glanced at the time and shook her head. "Four seconds," she said, annoyed once again at her own lack of efficiency. The lock on the necklace changed codes every time it was activated, and a "key" was required to be able to decipher what the next code would be. There were only about four billion possibilities. Getting the key, which was like a remote control garage door opener, would be impossible since there was no way to know exactly where it was in the mansion. They were going to have to do this the hard way.
When Janna called out that they were out of time, Liz casually reached up and tripped the alarm. Janna hit an activate button, and that got the digital guards heading for the other end of the building. Liz slid out of the "window" and waited. Twenty seconds later, Cam had the necklace. Liz jumped to the floor and headed to the safe zone before the first guard could get to her. Seconds later, her brother joined her. They grinned, and glanced over at Janna. She was grinning too. They had the necklace. They were in the safe zone. And people wondered why they were the best in the biz.
"You hit the beam again," Janna said, checking the diagram on her computer screen. She tapped the tripped location. "Three times. This north entry thing is not working guys."
Liz grimaced. "No kidding." She grabbed a towel and wiped some of the sweat off of her. They had been working for three weeks straight on how to do this job. So far, it wasn't looking good at all.
"It's going better than the west entry," Cameron remarked, taking a big gulp of water from a bottle. He gagged and glanced at the label, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "What's with you two and this Perrier stuff?"
"It for the cultured," Janna replied, catching the bottle that was tossed at her. She opened it and took a sip.
"Some culture," Cameron teased. "It tastes like crap and you, my dear cousin, suck it out of the bottle instead of a glass." Janna threw the bottle back at him, but she decided to neglect putting the cap back on first.
"Watch it!" Liz squealed as some of the water splashed onto her as well. "It is going to be harder to do a dry run soaking wet you know." The other two laughed. After the absolute disaster of trying a north entrance, and the problems with an east and west entrance, a laugh was well needed.
"There's got to be a way," Janna sighed. "There's always a way, right?"
"Right!" the twins chorused as they looked up at the mock up of the target.
In the last few years it had become rather stylish in Europe for the wealthy to buy large buildings that looked lousy on the outside, and then do them up on the inside. Old warehouses and manufacturing plants were among the top of the lists. Liz had found the place that they were in when her English boyfriend had taken her to the French Riviera. She got mad that he was flirting with different women. He told her to get used to it. She told him to fuck off. He slapped her. Said ladies didn't use that kind of language. She broke seven of his bones, and then went for a walk. It was a long walk, and she had found the warehouse.
It had two levels. The first had an extremely high ceiling and was a lot of open space. The second was where they lived. What had sold them on the place was that there was a separate entrance for the second floor. They could actually have people over without them traipsing through the staging area. Most of the rich kids that were buying places like this only had the cash to fix up one floor properly, so not allowing someone to look over the whole place wasn't considered ill-mannered.
The staging area was the most important element of the place. They constructed mock-ups of the buildings that they were going to be breaking into. It went up quick with just pipe works and a few flat areas to use. It was never the same as the real thing, but it was better than going in blind. Janna had the blueprints on the table and had directed the construction of the di LiCossa mansion. She had the artistic eye to translate what was on paper to what they had. They had added as much of the security as they knew of, and were trying to get around it. It wasn't going as well as hoped. As a matter of fact, it wasn't going at all.
"We're going to have to do the south entry," Cameron said glumly. The necklace was on the north side of the building, but that was the most heavily guarded. Janna was pretty sure she would be able to undo the security around the necklace, but the kicker was that they were going to have to do a video link because the final part of the security was internal access only. Janna knew she could instruct whoever was making the grab, but there was the whole radio issue.
"Well, we could always do a single, with a diversion ready," Liz suggested. This was shaping up to be the most difficult grab they had done so far. It was by far the most frustrating, but with the money they were going to make, it was going to be worth it. She looked around the building. If the police ever raided the place, they would be toast. If all of the electronics and building plans weren't enough to paint a big sign over them, then the picture of the three of them with a Mayan shield and spear and mask would put them over the top. That was from their first grab, and they had kept it hanging on the wall for motivation. That sale had given the three of them an adrenaline high they never forgot. When it got bad, like it was now, they would remember that feeling, and work harder.
"I don't like that," Janna said. "Since Cameron and I would be in contact to do the last bit of security, you would be out in the cold."
Liz shrugged. "If I was on the south side, it would look like I was just breaking in if an alarm is tripped. Everyone would come to me, and give you guys another minute. Besides, it's not like I'm ever out of communication with Cam." Janna frowned slightly. She knew that they had that ability, but it did have limits. She preferred to trust what she could see and understand.
"If getaway was on the south side, then north would be ignored," Cam mused. "Not a problem for me if we do the pickup right." That had been the problem with the north entrance. There wasn't enough time to get in and do what needed to be done. But if there were a distraction to the south, then maybe it would work. He wasn't worried about putting his sister in jeopardy. After all, the second she needed him, he would know. There was precious little that could stand up against two of their kind that was determined to escape.
Janna shrugged. "Can't hurt to try. That's what practice is for anyways." She reset her equipment as the twins took up their new positions. She had designed a program that allowed them to estimate the time it would take for security to move in on their positions. In truth, it looked a little like a video game. To Janna, it was. This was all a big video game to her in a lot of ways. The only difference was that you only got one life to complete the game.
They knew the date they wanted to make the lift. There were several members of a full time security staff around the family, but it was going to be lessened in a few weeks. There was always a full time guard at the gatehouse, and at least one or two men walking the fence around the estate itself. They weren't a problem. The problem would be inside security. The Conte's mother was still living and she and her daughter still living at home had a full time personal bodyguard. It was thought that there might be at least two more full time security personnel. The Conte himself didn't have a bodyguard, but he was supposed to be proficient with different weapons. On the plus side, the mother and sister were supposed to go skiing like they did every winter, and that was going to remove two civilians and two guards. Four less people there reduced the odds of something going wrong.
Simultaneously the twins swung into action, Janna guiding Cam through the security guarding the necklace on one side while Liz broke into the other. Janna glanced at the time and shook her head. "Four seconds," she said, annoyed once again at her own lack of efficiency. The lock on the necklace changed codes every time it was activated, and a "key" was required to be able to decipher what the next code would be. There were only about four billion possibilities. Getting the key, which was like a remote control garage door opener, would be impossible since there was no way to know exactly where it was in the mansion. They were going to have to do this the hard way.
When Janna called out that they were out of time, Liz casually reached up and tripped the alarm. Janna hit an activate button, and that got the digital guards heading for the other end of the building. Liz slid out of the "window" and waited. Twenty seconds later, Cam had the necklace. Liz jumped to the floor and headed to the safe zone before the first guard could get to her. Seconds later, her brother joined her. They grinned, and glanced over at Janna. She was grinning too. They had the necklace. They were in the safe zone. And people wondered why they were the best in the biz.
