Chapter 3

The City of Wheels

Tony looked up from his reading to see Mr. Black talking to the pilots. Mr. Black noticed Tony looking up from the reading and headed over to him. Tony set the papers down and walked towards him. Before the words even entered his mouth Mr. Black answered Tony's question.

"We're about 10 minutes out, you chose to stop at a good time. We'll be landing shortly. I have a car waiting for us when we land it'll take us around the city. I have scheduled a meeting with Brian at the Palm Club at 9 P.M. Now, we'll be in town for today and tonight so we'll have hotel rooms so if you'd like to stay in the hotel that is acceptable. I do have business to attend to here so you can feel free to do what you'd like." Mr. Black said as he put his hand on Tony's shoulder.

Tony nodded and Mr. Black headed back to the cockpit. Tony sat back down and collected his things and put them back in the envelope. He sat down in the chair and stared out the window at the clouds and the city below. The plane began to rock as it began its decent towards the Airport in which they're landing. Tony looked at the cockpit and saw Mr. Black close the door as he entered and sat down.

Tony looked around at the empty cabin it felt eerie and strange. He looked out the window, he could see the tall skyscrapers in the distance reaching out into the sky. The city was a sprawling metropolis. Skyscrapers stretched for miles in every direction, this city was huge. The plane went around the city twice before beginning its final decent towards the airport.

"Attention all passengers ha-ha, We'll be landing shortly and thank you for flying Black airlines." Mr. black said over the loud speaker.

Tony relaxed a little bit and buckled up and just stared out of the window. The airport got closer and closer and then the plane shuttered as the wheels made contact with the tarmac. Tony shook with the plane as the wheels hit then the shaking stopped and the plane slowed to a stop. Tony unbuckled and walked to the hatch.

Mr. Black emerged from the cockpit just as Tony reached the door. Tony smiled and opened the door of the plane. The bright sun shined into the cockpit. Tony put his arm up in front of his face to shield it from the sun. He walked down the steps and set foot on the concrete tarmac and looked out at the city. Mr. Black followed him down the steps but did not stop to stare at the city, instead he walked straight to the Jaguar Xj8 that was waiting for them in the hanger.

Tony followed him to the car and opened the rear door for him to sit down. Mr. Black nodded as Tony shut the door and walked around to the other side of the car. He opened the door and sat down in the seat behind the driver. The car started up and drove out of the airport and headed to the city. The car sped down the road leading into the city, Tony looked out the window as the scenery blurred past them.

The car entered the downtown area of the city. The city was very crowded, people were walking around everywhere. There were cars everywhere it seemed as if traffic was at a standstill. Tony looked out across a park towards the river that bordered the city. He could see boats going up and down the river with people enjoying the beautiful weather. The car began to move again and his view of the river faded behind the large business that lined Jefferson Avenue along the river.

The car pulled into a large upscale hotel drive in the heart of downtown. The men got out of the car and headed into the hotel. The atrium was huge, 3 stories tall with a large glass roof at the top. The glass roof allowed a large amount of light to shine into the lobby. Tony followed Mr. Black up to the front desk to check into their rooms. Mr. black began to talk to the young lady behind the counter but Tony did not bother to listen, instead he began to search the lobby, looking for anything suspicious.

"Tony, here's your key to your room. It's room 923. I wont be able to see you again until dinner but don't forget to look around the city and if you need a driver they will be waiting down in the parking garage just notify them first and they'll bring a car around for you. Take care." Mr. Black said as he headed out of the lobby and back towards the car.

Tony took his key and headed to the elevator. The elevators were in a recessed corner of the lobby well away from public view. The ornate marble around the elevators was very elegant and Tony didn't understand why they would want it hidden. The elevator arrived and Tony stepped in along with a few other guests. He pushed the "9" button and stood quietly in the back of the elevator. His floor was the 2nd stop, right behind an old oriental couple that kept shouting in the elevator.

Tony exited quickly and headed down the halls toward his room. His room was on the side of the hotel facing the river. He opened the door and walked into the room, the room was like any other hotel room, tiny 2 beds, a desk and a tiny reading chair. He walked over to the windows and opened the curtains and looked out at the river. He shut the curtains and walked over to the bed, he laid down on it and stared at the ceiling.

"What's this guy up to? Pulling a heist at the federal treasury, how the hell does he expect to pull this off? This is insane, even if he does have a contact inside, this is suicide. He's crazy, I don't know what he wants out of this. Why does he have to call himself 'Mr. Black', can't he use his real name, I don't know anything about this guy. This is feeling weird, I'm not liking this." Tony said to himself as he stared at the ceiling.

Tony got up off the bed and headed towards the bathroom; he opened the door and headed over to the sink. He turned the water on and collected the water in his cupped hands then splashed the water against his face. He looked up into the mirror, his fragile face looked too old to be continuing in things like this. He dried his face off with one of the hand towels then headed out of the room and into the lobby.

He entered the lobby and headed to the concierge desk. The short man behind the desk looked up at Tony with a curious look in his eye. He flashed a smile as he stood up to shake his hand. Tony shook the mans outstretched hand and sat down in the chair in front of the desk.

"Hi, can I help you sir?" the man said with a lisp in his voice.

"Yes, I would like a car to be brought around immediately. I'd like to go cruise the city you know. I want something nice, something luxurious but fancy and fast. An eye catcher you could say. Do you happen to have a Mercedes SL 55 AMG possibly that I could take out?"

"Hold on sir, let me check our database," The man said with the same lisp in his voice, "Yes we do, in black, would you like me to bring it around for you?"

"Yes that'd be great thank you." Tony said as he stood up and walked to the main entrance to the lobby.

Tony waited outside the lobby for the car. Within 5 minutes the car pulled around the corner and pulled up right in front of him. He walked to the driver door and got in. He shifted into drive and drove out of the lot. He sped down the road taking in all the sights.

He drove up and down the road for hours, stopping to take in all the sights of the city and its workings. Finally he looked down at the clock. 7:50 it read, Tony's head shot back in surprise. He sped along the road looking for the restaurant; finally he spotted it and pulled up to the valet toll.

He got out of the car and tossed the young boy the keys. He shot the man a quick smile as he walked into the restaurant. He walked right past the people waiting to be seated and walked over to where Mr. Black was sitting. The man he was with looked just as he did in the intel photos. He was a tall build man, scruffy hair and a white t-shirt on that looked too small for him. Tony smiled at the man and sat down right next to him at the table.

"Brian, this is my associate whom you will be reporting to in the field, Mr. Tony Oprita. Tony will oversee your driving and direct you while out on the job. We have 2 more men we will be recruiting for the mission. The pay for everyone is now 10 million. I hope you can see that this is a fairly reasonable amount of money. I hope your cooperation goes very graciously and there are no set backs in this. Are you in?" Mr. Black said coolly staring into Brian's eyes.

"Yes, I'm in. Whatever driving you need me to do, I'll do it. But I'm going to need a good car."

Before he could finish, Mr. Black took over, "Yes, we will discuss all this when we are all assembled together. Now please, enjoy your dinner gentlemen, it's on me tonight." He said as he signaled for the waitress to come and take their orders.