Thief (2 page)

Reactions, slowed from the series of shocks he’d just encountered returned to super-charged life. His mind, once again alert, he knew exactly what the goons would see. More importantly, he knew exactly what they’d do. A vision of bright red blood covering her white silk shift invaded his mind and filled him with horror.

“Ohh God!”

Adrenaline burned through him like never before, and he launched himself directly up from the floor at the angel, glowing serenely above him. Barely having made it to his feet he threw himself at her with every ounce of power he could find. A flat diving lunge that gathered her waist in his arms and carried her safely away from the open window, just as a hail of bullets ripped through the air were she’d just been floating.

It wasn’t a soft or an easy landing, and his shoulder took a hammering against the hard floor, breaking their fall, but at least they were alive, or as he suddenly realised, he was. Terrified at the thought of what he might find he frantically probed every inch of her for any sign of injury, and then breathed again, a sigh of relief. She wasn’t even scratched, though he suspected she might have a few bruises from their landing. She’d taken the impact as well as him on the hard cold floor. Still he didn’t feel bad about it. A bruised backside was infinitely preferable to a bullet and they were still whizzing by above their heads, while the concrete wall shielded them.

Stinging pains across his back made themselves known to him, and he realized he’d been shot, at least one bullet having grazed his shoulder blades. It hurt but it didn’t feel bad enough to worry him. Especially not when he knew the thugs would be coming to finish the job soon, very soon. While their friends kept firing at the window, keeping them pinned down, more would be on their way with guns. Mikel’s normal cool and calculating mind, finally released by the adrenaline rush, returned to burning hot life in an instant.

Immediately he reached for the little radio control unit on his belt, pushing the first few buttons. Buttons he should have pushed ages ago but hadn’t, lost as he was in her spell. Still there was no time to beat himself up about things that couldn’t be changed.

A series of small popping sounds told him they’d worked, and a sense of relief washed over him. They were safe – at least for a few minutes. The first explosion resulted from the other end of the wire being released from the wall via a tiny explosive charge. That meant they couldn’t be followed, assuming that anyone else would crawl across a wire thirty stories up. Even angry criminals had their limits. The other explosions indicated that the smoke, percussion and tear gas grenades he’d left behind had detonated, filling the room with blindness, chaos and confusion. But only for a few brief moments. It would be enough to stop the goons from shooting at them, though he could still hear the sounds of gunfire coming from across the way as they shot randomly into their own apartment. Still, he knew that their friends would be on their way.

“We have to go. Now!”

He shouted the words at the winged woman lying prone underneath him, having somehow briefly forgotten her in his sudden burning need for action. “They’ll be here very soon”.

And they would. Even now he knew, they’d be staggering out of the room, coughing and spluttering, but still shouting to more of their fellow thugs who’d soon start running for the high speed elevators to the ground, and then across the street to this building. He could see them in his mind as clearly as her face in front of his eyes.

“Damn!” He cursed himself. He should have had far more time. He’d counted on at least half an hour between rounds by the guards. Ten minutes across, open the safe, remove the diamonds and cash, leave the evidence and scoot back. Which meant he’d spent at least twenty minutes staring up at the angel like a stunned mooncalf. How he asked himself, could he have just lain there, staring? But there was no time to berate himself about it. They had to leave, fast.

Without a moment’s hesitation he leapt to his feet, and then was startled to find he was still holding the angel in his arms. For some reason his arms hadn’t been willing to release her. That too was a lie. He knew the reason. But there was no time to worry about that. No time for anything at all but the need to flee.

Panicking a little, he tried to explain the urgency to her, but choked when he saw the look in her eyes, trust. She had no idea what was going on, or why they had to leave. She was too innocent for that. Nor did he have the time to explain. But somehow he saw in her eyes that she had no fear, simply because she trusted him to do the right thing. With a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach he understood she had placed herself totally in his care.

It was a responsibility that rocked him down to his toenails. No one should do that. Not to him. One minute he was a thief, the next he was totally responsible for the life of an innocent. And he knew there was no way he could ever let her down and live with himself. Easier to commit suicide. Better too, far better. Her safety was a crushing responsibility but there was no way to avoid it. He simply had to save her or die trying.

Desperate and with absolutely no time to explain his actions, Mikel carried her to the door like a baby, briefly startled at how absurdly light she was. Surely part of it must have been the raw adrenaline coursing through his veins, - but not all. Yet that too was something to wonder about later. For now he simply had to flee, and so did she. If she objected to his man handling of her he never heard it in his mad rush. Nor would he have listened.

The locked door instantly swung open at his touch and he sprinted down the corridor to the elevators while the rest of his preparations came to mind. Time  to cover his tracks and a add a little misdirection. Actually a lot of misdirection.

He punched several more of the buttons on his belt’s controller unit, setting an incendiary and several acid smoke devices off in the apartment they’d just vacated. Despite the sudden wallop of noise that seemed to echo through the floor under his feet as they exploded, it was safer than most would expect. The walls of the apartment had been reinforced and then covered with an asbestos cladding just for this purpose, and the sprinklers would activate in time. All it would do would be to remove all traces of him from the room. Fingerprints, body fluids and even the blood he’d just lost would be cooked beyond recognition before the sprinklers on their delayed timers started up and washed the residue away. Of course he was probably still loosing blood as he ran down the corridors. Enough to be spotted, traced? There was no way of knowing and no time to worry about it.

A second button ensured that the building’s four lifts had now all stopped coming to the floor, except of course for one. That should really confuse them, and he laughed silently to himself as he thought of their confusion. Every time the thugs punched for the thirtieth floor they’d actually find the twenty-first, although the indicator would say thirty. In effect the thirtieth was now missing along with the thirteenth of most American high rises. In fact all the floors from the twenty second to the thirty ninth were off limits to the lifts. But would the thugs be bright enough to realize? There in lay the danger. Thugs were not noted for their intelligence. But he had that covered as well.

One lift of course he had set to bring them down safely, the one lift that had been out of order for the entire day, much to the annoyance of the other residents of the apartment block, while the repairmen had been kept away. Perhaps they’d forgive him if they knew what he’d just done. If they knew how much good would come of this night’s work. Then again, he suspected, most of the residents would really want nothing more than a cut of the take. He’d learned long ago that greed is a very human trait, maybe the most human. Fortunately if he did his work well, they’d never find out. He always did his work well.

He quickly bundled the angel into the waiting empty lift and pushed the button for the sub basement, a high speed, non-stop express ride. He chuckled under his breath at the thought of them staring at the signs on the ground floor, seeing the lights indicating this lift was permanently half way between the ninth and tenth floors, and then taking the other lifts to everywhere but the correct floor. And all the while he and the angel would just descend silently, straight past their pursuers who’d never know.

Next the residents. It was time to make sure of their safety too. It was all very well making a clean getaway, but leaving others to face the wrath of the gun totting thugs in his place was unacceptable. He prided himself on preparing for this eventuality in every single operation. Thus far no one had ever died in his stead, nor would he ever permit such a
disgrace.

Mikel activated the security systems he’d put in place on every single one of the building’s fifty seven floors. Bluff as much as reality, the warning systems began their screaming, no doubt causing wide spread chaos and panic but keeping people safe. The speakers were now advising every one on every floor that security cameras were operating and to stay in their apartments as gunmen were loose while the police were on their way. Meanwhile a mild sedative was rolling through the halls and stairwells. The lifts themselves were gushing out a much more potent one.

Those few of the gunmen that made it out of the working lifts, would be desperately hiding their weapons and trying to look innocent, until they too collapsed. He laughed quietly at the thought of the gunmen snoozing their way to jail. Pleasant dreams followed up by a miserable wake up call. Everything they deserved and at least the beginning of justice for their victims.

A sudden awareness entered his thoughts and he jumped as he realized he was still holding the angel in his arms. As before his traitorous limbs had again failed to let go. In fact his arms were around her – he didn’t want to think what they held. Hastily Mikel released her and leapt backwards in the lift like a scalded cat, embarrassed, confused, and – something else he didn’t want to admit to himself, ever.

“I ah, that is ah…” His power of speech suddenly seemed to have deserted him even as he rediscovered English, and he looked everywhere but at her. But only for a brief moment, until his highly practiced survival instincts took over once more. Fear was a marvellous teacher, and for once he truly had reason to be afraid. She was in his care. They might be hidden but they were still deep in enemy territory, and perhaps soon to be under fire if they weren’t careful. They weren’t out of the woods yet and there were still things he had to do to make sure they did get clear.

Mikel punched several more buttons on his belt, activating the engine of his Lotus and getting it to drive itself to the lift exit where they’d get out, while also locking down the parking level and turning off the security cameras. No point in leaving themselves open to attack while walking to the car across a darkened parking floor. Another button activated a tape recorder which placed a frantic 911 call to the police, claiming gun shots in the building he’d just robbed. A major police presence arriving on the scene ought to slow up their pursuers, not to mention panic their boss, who had an enormous amount to hide. More than he knew actually.

Another smile crept towards Mikel’s mouth and he quickly suppressed it. Pride was a dangerous emotion. It led to overconfidence. But still he had done well. The best part was still to play. The police, as soon as they’d entered the mobster’s suite would hear more shots, pre-recorded naturally, and break in to the safe room to find oodles of blood everywhere. It was fake blood of course.

Immediately they’d call for forensics and seal the room, which was exactly what he wanted them to do. Because the moment they examined the room they’d find the vast amounts of incriminating evidence about China Meringa, which he’d carefully left for them. Photo’s, bank records, written statements, taped conversations, and even some of his evil white powder. The mob boss shouldn’t have kept it in his safe. Mikel had done everything but join the dots for them. And legally it would stand scrutiny no matter how many lawyers the mob hired. The police were responding to an emergency call, and had probable cause. The evidence they would find was all legitimate and undeniable. Mr. Meringa would be lucky to get out of jail before the next ice age.

A job well done.

He congratulated himself on another job well done even as the lift door finally opened and the Lotus sat there directly in front of them, engine running, doors unlocked. And then with some horror, he realized he might have been just a tad too hasty as he looked anew at the angel and the car. Sure she might only be average height, say five six or so, but those wings extended way over her head to perhaps seven feet, before folding and dropping back almost to the floor in a single graceful span. There was no way she’d fit in the tiny sports car.

Mind spinning like a top in the sudden panic, he quickly found an answer. The only answer. Steal a car. It was the only way. Take somebody else’s own car; something he was loath to do as he didn’t steal from innocent people, and pray nobody found out until much, much later. He wondered if she would understand.