Neal arranged a map of the entry floor of Carlisle's office building.
"All right, we need to get into Carlisle's office, hack the safe, and return the bustier," he told the assembled. "Mozzie, you will keep an eye on Carlisle."
Neal placed a small pair of binoculars in a corner.
"I'll keep all four on him," Moz replied and placed a golden pig beside the binoculars.
"Now, it's the weekend, so the only people in the building will be security."
"Security will be increased in Carlisle's penthouse," the kid pointed out.
"Luckily, not on the lower floors," Mozzie said. "The telephone junction box is on the second floor."
"And that is where we need to get Scott," Neal said and placed the little baby doll on the spot.
"Do I have to be the baby?"
Neal nodded.
"Standard rule," Mozzie said. "The new man on the team is the baby."
Sara smiled and sent Neal a glance. He shook his head. There was no such rule.
"The alarm system won't be—"
"It's state-of-the-art," Scott interrupted, "but give me a couple of hours. I can write an algorithm that can bypass the signal traps."
"The alarm system won't be a problem," Neal finished his sentence this time.
"How's that?"
"Because we're not gonna set it off. Our obstacles are a guard and a security door that only opens from the inside."
"All the while, you just have to avoid the cameras," Mozzie reminded them.
An hour later, Neal and the kid walked into the flashy entrance, both in dark suits and umbrellas. They walked directly to the alcove with the emergency staircase having its security door, only possible to open from the other side.
Scott opened his umbrella, blocking the security camera. Neal calculated to have less than a minute before the security guard arrived. He took Mozzie's air gun and punched a hole right through the door.
Then he pushed his umbrella through the hole, opened it, and managed to open the door.
Scott smiled. Neal slipped under Scott's umbrella, and Scott slipped inside, closing the door behind him. Neal moved the umbrella away from the camera, and the guard turned up.
"Hey, you can't have that open indoors."
"Oh, I know. It's bad luck. I've been trying to close it. The catch is stuck."
Neal heard that the kid got the piece he punched out of the door in place, mending the door. The guard had all his eyes on him and his umbrella and had not noticed what happened by the door..
"Out."
"I'm supposed to meet a friend here."
"I don't care. Meet him on the street."
Neal got his umbrella closed.
"Uh, did you hear something earlier?" the guard asked, probably meaning the snappy bang caused by the air gun.
"I did. Yeah. Thunder." He walked out on the street, smiling at Sara, who now walked in. She wore a red coat, and under it was the bustier. She would play the role of an expensive prostitute coming for a meeting with Mr. Carlisle. The guard would call up to the penthouse and check but would reach Scott, who by then had hacked the telephone junction box on the second floor. The kid would, of course, as Mr. Carlisle's assistant, tell that she would be sent up.
Scott would then put all the cameras in the office and by their entrance on a loop, and Sara would let him in through the fire escape.
"Then, Scott hacks the safe's keypad again, puts the bustier back, and we're home free," Neal had said at their planning.
Plans usually worked.
Sometimes not.
A hand landed on his shoulder as he waited on the sidewalk.
"Out for a stroll?" Peter asked, taking his umbrella. "Taking in the sights?"
"Peter—"
"Imagine my surprise when I checked your anklet and found out that you were right outside Carlisle's office."
"I can explain."
"Starting with Robin Hoodie. Is he in there?"
So Peter had figured it out. Then Peter was reasonable.
"I think it's better if I don't answer that."
Peter took that information in and sighed.
"Better for you or for me?"
"For Scott." He still wanted Peter's trust and confidence. He was not going to hide the kid from Peter. "Look, I've got a plan, okay? And part of that plan is contingent on you not knowing what it is."
"I'm not the Sheriff of Nottingham."
Neal did not get that. Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham, sure, but the Sheriff was the law…
"Did I miss a conversation?"
"I'm not the bad guy. But Scott can't be allowed to run around like this. He's gonna get somebody hurt, starting with himself. I need to bring him in."
"I know. Give me an hour. After that, I think I can get him to turn himself in to you."
"You think?" Peter did not sound convinced, but Neal knew he would get the kid to listen to him.
"I know." Neal's phone pinged. A text from Sara said, 'I need you up here now.' He sent Peter a glance. "Look, I have to go."
"I'll be waiting right here," Peter said, pointing at the spot at their feet with distinction. "When you come back, you better have him with you."
"Thank you."
Neal did not dare to ask for his umbrella back. He walked into the lobby and glanced at the guard. He was reading his newspaper as before. He walked to the alcove with their entrance door. It was where Scott was exiting and was supposed to be on a loop.
He pushed the circle to the hole, managed to push his arm through, and got the handle. The door opened, and he got his hand out. Still no guard.
He slipped inside, closed the door, and sealed the hole. Then he jogged upstairs. Sara opened the door and let him inside.
"Hi."
"Running out of umbrellas," he said. "What's wrong?"
"Carlisle updated the safe."
She walked ahead and showed him. And there was the kid with a phone and headphones, trying to open the safe.
"Is he serious?" Neal asked.
"Apparently," she sighed.
"I increased the sensitivity of the mike on the phone ten times," Scott told them, quite annoyed.
"You made a stethoscope happen," he told the kid.
"I'm hitting the cylinders. It's not working."
Neal studied the safe. He knew the model.
"That's because it's a six-cylinder safe with two false gates."
"False gates?"
"Yeah, safe-cracking booby traps. You hit one, you have to start all over again. May I?"
"Of course."
Neal leaned onto the safe door.
"All right, I'll go by touch. You go by sound."
"You two make quite the pair," Sara noted. Her phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered. "Uh, we hit a snag, but we're gonna be out soon. Or not so soon… Okay. Thank you, Mozzie."
"What is it?" they both asked.
"Carlisle is on his way here."
Neal sighed. It was not much to do about it. They had to get the door open.
"All right, come on." They continued. "All right, that's the third gate."
"All right, Carlisle's got to have a security monitor around here somewhere," Sara said and started searching.
"That's a gate," the kid said.
"Good ear."
"Are you saying you didn't feel it?"
"I'm saying nice ear."
"He is downstairs," Sara said, finding the monitor.
"Still two gates to go," Scott said.
"We don't have time," Neal realized.
"Wait," Sara said, watching the screen. "Peter's there. He's flashing his badge at Carlisle."
"The fed's buying us time?" the kid asked, perplexed. "Why?"
"Because he's Peter." He continued with the safe, using the time he had just got as a gift. "That's the fifth gate."
"Stop," the kid said the same moment Neal felt it click.
"All right, that's it. That should be the last gate."
"All right. Elevator coming up!" Sara took off her coat making ready to get the bustier off.
"We only have time to try once. It's your go, kid."
Scott took a deep breath and put his hand on the handle.