12) Back to business
"What sort of favour?" Max asked, as the doors opened to their floor.
Logan walked straight along their corridor to their room, not wishing to discuss his plans out in the open. Logan quickly opened the door and ushered Max inside.
"Josef has found the address of Trimboli's head office. He is at home at the moment and this is a perfect opportunity to get into his office and figure out exactly what he is up to" Logan said, placing the key to their room on a small table beside the door.
"In other words, I need to get in and have a poke around?"
"Actually, that sums it up pretty well. Please Max?"
"Hey, why else am I here? Just let me change" Max replied as she headed towards the bedroom. Ideas of Max undressing flicked through Logan's head. Wise up Cale, he told himself.
******
Twenty minutes later Max and Logan were walking through the lobby again. Max had her coat and scarf on over her cat suit so as to cover it up; Logan was carrying a bag which contained, amongst other things, his laptop.
As they stepped out onto the street, Logan began to explain the plan. "The office is a twenty minute walk from here. I don't want to use a cab and risk exposure for a few early minutes. His office takes up the whole top floor. Security is minimal - Trimboli depends on his reputation to keep people away. But the guys he does have are apparently ruthless, so watchout. You need to get onto his computer and down load some of his files. Here" he said, handing her a set of coms, which she quickly put in place. Logan did the same thing with his own set. "We can stay in touch this way. You need to get in and get out as quickly as possible before anyone even realises someone has entered the building. If Trimboli is unaware that someone is looking into his business, he more likely he is to screw up in the future. Are you okay?" Logan finally asked, looking at Max's face.
She gave him a weak smile in return. "I'm cool. It's just another job, right?"
******
"Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear Logan"
"Good. From the look of these plans I managed to get hold of, there are two skylights"
"Kay, I'll check them out"
Max crept quietly across the roof of the building. Her cat-like footsteps made little noise against the coarse surface and she clung to the shadows, so as to avoid being seen by any hidden cameras. She quickly scanned the roof space and quickly spotted the two skylights - one was in the northeast corner, the other directly in the middle of the north facing side.
"Right, I've spotted them"
"Max, be careful"
"Who are you? My mother?"
"No, but who else is going to tell you if I don't?"
"You know what? I'm a big girl and I've done plenty of jobs like this without you yapping in my ear about safety, alright?"
Max listened, waiting for Logan's response.
"So what, you're not talking to me now? Fine then" Max replied, her frustration evident in her voice.
Suddenly, Logan let out a suppressed laugh.
"Logan Cale! You are laughing at me? Do you want me to do this for you or what?"
"Sorry Max, but it is so easy to get you riled up about your whole 'Independent Woman' thing" Logan replied, trying to compose himself.
"Shut up Rolla Boy" Max replied under her breath as she approached the first skylight. A frown crossed Max's face as she peered in through the first skylight. She began to creep towards the other one.
"News flash - I'm not Rolla Boy any more Max"
"You will be again soon if you don't keep quiet" Max replied, her frustration creeping into her voice as she peered in through the second skylight. "Ugh, Logan. There is a small problem"
"What?"
"There are sensor beams across both of the skylights. I can pick them up slightly. There isn't enough room for me to squeeze through"
"Shit. Can you see any other way of getting in?"
"Hold on" Max quickly scanned the roof space. Not finding anything promising, she crept over towards the edge. She looked over and smiled. "Oh Logan."
"Mm."
"Guess what?"
"Max, stop playing games"
"Just guess"
"Just tell me!"
"The guy doesn't lock his windows"
"What?"
"He must think because his office is on the top floor he doesn't need window locks" Max shook her head. "So naïve!" Max reached into her bag and pulled out a rope a clamp. She attached the clamp to an exhaust outlet on the room, threw the rope over the side and began to slowly lower herself down. She quickly slid the window open and swung inside.
"Okay I'm in" she whispered.
"Right. What room are you in?"
Max looked around. "Looks like a boardroom"
"Damn! You're on the wrong side of the building Max. You are going to have to get over to the other side without being spotted"
"Not a problem. In that case, we better stop chatting unless we need to. The last thing I need is you talking in my ear while I'm trying to be invisible"
"Okay, I can take a hint. Oh, and Max?"
"You say it you're so dead" Max replied with a smile as she slowly turned the handle and snuck out into the hallway.
Logan had said that Max should expect the office to be rather like his apartment. But Logan didn't realise exactly how accurate he was. There were no permanent walls. Rather, screens blocked in rooms. The deep red floorboards were tightly bound, allowing no creaks to give away Max's position. She crept through the office slowly, looking through not-quite- closed doors to find rooms of all uses. Some were just used to storage, some for computer equipment and others even appeared to be guest bedrooms. But it wasn't the amount of rooms that amazed Max - it was the neatness. There was nothing out of place in any of the rooms. Yet everything had an air about it as if it had been used within the past 24 hours. The office, with its warm floor boards, expensive furniture and screens, made the office seem open and welcoming; similar to the homely yet stylish air Logan's apartment had.
Max slowly worked her way through the corridors. She encountered no one and this unnerved Max slightly - she was looking forward to taking out the guards first thing, but the thought of someone sneaking up on her made Max feel uncomfortable and she hated feeling that way.
"Logan, I'm in the far corridor. Which one is his office?" Max whispered
"Actually, all the doors lead into one big room, according to the plans" Logan replied and Max could hear the soft clicking of Logan's laptop in the background.
Max slipped into the office and quickly scanned the room. She couldn't spot any cameras, nor could her heightened hearing pick up the buzzing which all listening bugs gave off. She spotted Trimboli's large desk at the far end and made her way towards it. The wooden table was heavy and large, with a similar dark colour to the floorboards. To the left-hand side, a large plasma computer monitor sat, with a small rectangular hard drive. The rest of the table was bare and Max wondered why Trimboli's office was so empty of personal items. She switched on the computer and waited for the computer to load.
"Right, the computer is up and running. What now?"
"Are there any files on the desktop?"
"Nope, there is only some word processing programs. oh Logan! Trimboli likes to play Minesweeper" Max quickly opened the program with a couple of clicks of the mouse. "Wow, he cleared expert level in under two minutes" Max exclaimed.
"I don't need to check you are wearing your gloves, do I Max?"
"No Mom"
"Can you please just check what his recent documents were?"
Max clicked around again. "Em. party invites.an environmental impact report for Sicily Villas. I don't know about this one thought, I can't translate it"
"Don't open it, just save it to the disk I gave you"
Max quickly pulled out the disk and began to copy the file.
"Hey, there is one here labelled 'Contelli'. That's Elizabeth and Steven!" Max whispered as she clicked to copy that one as well. She saved a couple of other files before shutting the computer down.
"Right, I'm on my way Logan"
Max began to sneak through the office once again as she heard voices coming from one of the rooms. Max was about to turn back and find another way before she picked up a distinguishable South African accent.
"Boss, are you sure about this?"
"Positive, I've had similar processes before. This will be the icing on the cake" Max heard Trimboli reply. Trimboli? You are supposed to have gone home!
"We don't know how your body will react with this treatment. Our electro- implant technology has shorted out before"
"Just shut up and do it"
Max froze as she heard Trimboli groan and, quickly shaking her head, she quickly breezed down the corridor as quickly as she could. She made it to the conference room and made her way onto the roof.
"Max are you there?"
"Reds, Logan. The Reds are here!"
******^^^^^^******^^^^^^******
"What sort of favour?" Max asked, as the doors opened to their floor.
Logan walked straight along their corridor to their room, not wishing to discuss his plans out in the open. Logan quickly opened the door and ushered Max inside.
"Josef has found the address of Trimboli's head office. He is at home at the moment and this is a perfect opportunity to get into his office and figure out exactly what he is up to" Logan said, placing the key to their room on a small table beside the door.
"In other words, I need to get in and have a poke around?"
"Actually, that sums it up pretty well. Please Max?"
"Hey, why else am I here? Just let me change" Max replied as she headed towards the bedroom. Ideas of Max undressing flicked through Logan's head. Wise up Cale, he told himself.
******
Twenty minutes later Max and Logan were walking through the lobby again. Max had her coat and scarf on over her cat suit so as to cover it up; Logan was carrying a bag which contained, amongst other things, his laptop.
As they stepped out onto the street, Logan began to explain the plan. "The office is a twenty minute walk from here. I don't want to use a cab and risk exposure for a few early minutes. His office takes up the whole top floor. Security is minimal - Trimboli depends on his reputation to keep people away. But the guys he does have are apparently ruthless, so watchout. You need to get onto his computer and down load some of his files. Here" he said, handing her a set of coms, which she quickly put in place. Logan did the same thing with his own set. "We can stay in touch this way. You need to get in and get out as quickly as possible before anyone even realises someone has entered the building. If Trimboli is unaware that someone is looking into his business, he more likely he is to screw up in the future. Are you okay?" Logan finally asked, looking at Max's face.
She gave him a weak smile in return. "I'm cool. It's just another job, right?"
******
"Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear Logan"
"Good. From the look of these plans I managed to get hold of, there are two skylights"
"Kay, I'll check them out"
Max crept quietly across the roof of the building. Her cat-like footsteps made little noise against the coarse surface and she clung to the shadows, so as to avoid being seen by any hidden cameras. She quickly scanned the roof space and quickly spotted the two skylights - one was in the northeast corner, the other directly in the middle of the north facing side.
"Right, I've spotted them"
"Max, be careful"
"Who are you? My mother?"
"No, but who else is going to tell you if I don't?"
"You know what? I'm a big girl and I've done plenty of jobs like this without you yapping in my ear about safety, alright?"
Max listened, waiting for Logan's response.
"So what, you're not talking to me now? Fine then" Max replied, her frustration evident in her voice.
Suddenly, Logan let out a suppressed laugh.
"Logan Cale! You are laughing at me? Do you want me to do this for you or what?"
"Sorry Max, but it is so easy to get you riled up about your whole 'Independent Woman' thing" Logan replied, trying to compose himself.
"Shut up Rolla Boy" Max replied under her breath as she approached the first skylight. A frown crossed Max's face as she peered in through the first skylight. She began to creep towards the other one.
"News flash - I'm not Rolla Boy any more Max"
"You will be again soon if you don't keep quiet" Max replied, her frustration creeping into her voice as she peered in through the second skylight. "Ugh, Logan. There is a small problem"
"What?"
"There are sensor beams across both of the skylights. I can pick them up slightly. There isn't enough room for me to squeeze through"
"Shit. Can you see any other way of getting in?"
"Hold on" Max quickly scanned the roof space. Not finding anything promising, she crept over towards the edge. She looked over and smiled. "Oh Logan."
"Mm."
"Guess what?"
"Max, stop playing games"
"Just guess"
"Just tell me!"
"The guy doesn't lock his windows"
"What?"
"He must think because his office is on the top floor he doesn't need window locks" Max shook her head. "So naïve!" Max reached into her bag and pulled out a rope a clamp. She attached the clamp to an exhaust outlet on the room, threw the rope over the side and began to slowly lower herself down. She quickly slid the window open and swung inside.
"Okay I'm in" she whispered.
"Right. What room are you in?"
Max looked around. "Looks like a boardroom"
"Damn! You're on the wrong side of the building Max. You are going to have to get over to the other side without being spotted"
"Not a problem. In that case, we better stop chatting unless we need to. The last thing I need is you talking in my ear while I'm trying to be invisible"
"Okay, I can take a hint. Oh, and Max?"
"You say it you're so dead" Max replied with a smile as she slowly turned the handle and snuck out into the hallway.
Logan had said that Max should expect the office to be rather like his apartment. But Logan didn't realise exactly how accurate he was. There were no permanent walls. Rather, screens blocked in rooms. The deep red floorboards were tightly bound, allowing no creaks to give away Max's position. She crept through the office slowly, looking through not-quite- closed doors to find rooms of all uses. Some were just used to storage, some for computer equipment and others even appeared to be guest bedrooms. But it wasn't the amount of rooms that amazed Max - it was the neatness. There was nothing out of place in any of the rooms. Yet everything had an air about it as if it had been used within the past 24 hours. The office, with its warm floor boards, expensive furniture and screens, made the office seem open and welcoming; similar to the homely yet stylish air Logan's apartment had.
Max slowly worked her way through the corridors. She encountered no one and this unnerved Max slightly - she was looking forward to taking out the guards first thing, but the thought of someone sneaking up on her made Max feel uncomfortable and she hated feeling that way.
"Logan, I'm in the far corridor. Which one is his office?" Max whispered
"Actually, all the doors lead into one big room, according to the plans" Logan replied and Max could hear the soft clicking of Logan's laptop in the background.
Max slipped into the office and quickly scanned the room. She couldn't spot any cameras, nor could her heightened hearing pick up the buzzing which all listening bugs gave off. She spotted Trimboli's large desk at the far end and made her way towards it. The wooden table was heavy and large, with a similar dark colour to the floorboards. To the left-hand side, a large plasma computer monitor sat, with a small rectangular hard drive. The rest of the table was bare and Max wondered why Trimboli's office was so empty of personal items. She switched on the computer and waited for the computer to load.
"Right, the computer is up and running. What now?"
"Are there any files on the desktop?"
"Nope, there is only some word processing programs. oh Logan! Trimboli likes to play Minesweeper" Max quickly opened the program with a couple of clicks of the mouse. "Wow, he cleared expert level in under two minutes" Max exclaimed.
"I don't need to check you are wearing your gloves, do I Max?"
"No Mom"
"Can you please just check what his recent documents were?"
Max clicked around again. "Em. party invites.an environmental impact report for Sicily Villas. I don't know about this one thought, I can't translate it"
"Don't open it, just save it to the disk I gave you"
Max quickly pulled out the disk and began to copy the file.
"Hey, there is one here labelled 'Contelli'. That's Elizabeth and Steven!" Max whispered as she clicked to copy that one as well. She saved a couple of other files before shutting the computer down.
"Right, I'm on my way Logan"
Max began to sneak through the office once again as she heard voices coming from one of the rooms. Max was about to turn back and find another way before she picked up a distinguishable South African accent.
"Boss, are you sure about this?"
"Positive, I've had similar processes before. This will be the icing on the cake" Max heard Trimboli reply. Trimboli? You are supposed to have gone home!
"We don't know how your body will react with this treatment. Our electro- implant technology has shorted out before"
"Just shut up and do it"
Max froze as she heard Trimboli groan and, quickly shaking her head, she quickly breezed down the corridor as quickly as she could. She made it to the conference room and made her way onto the roof.
"Max are you there?"
"Reds, Logan. The Reds are here!"
******^^^^^^******^^^^^^******