The Manhattan Job (Spider Heist Thrillers Book 3) by Jason Kasper

Author:Jason Kasper [Kasper, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn River Publishing
Published: 2021-05-03T16:00:00+00:00

52

Sterling

Sterling carried a box to the Sprinter van, looking sidelong at Blair and Alec’s rehearsals. The sight cut through the tension and anticipation of the upcoming exchange between Wraith and Jim, bringing a smile to Sterling’s face.

Alec was critiquing Blair’s form with the intensity of an Olympic shot put coach, gesturing wildly as he gave his pointers, then snatching a newspaper from her to demonstrate. At present they were covering handoff of the cargo from one steer to another, a transfer that had to be both seamless and invisible to the outside observer.

Repositioning himself, Alec walked past her, pretending to glance at a half-folded newspaper in one hand while the other swept beneath the opposite arm, dropping the cargo into an open pocket of Blair’s coat. Once she nodded that she understood, Alec handed her the cargo and the newspaper, and they reset their positions for another walking pass.

Sterling deposited the box into the van, feeling reasonably confident in Blair’s ability to perform in her first real-world pickpocketing team effort. She was a quick study in technique, and performed well under pressure so long as no heights were involved. Even then, he couldn’t fault her for one irrational childhood fear, and the odds of this exchange occurring at altitude were slim to none.

He turned and walked to the next box to be loaded, this one inside Marco’s office.

The tech expert was analyzing his screen with the same laserlike focus that he did everything at a computer. Better him than me, Sterling thought. Jim’s first communications and surveillance recordings had been subjects of fascination to the crew; it was a real-time bird’s-eye view into his political campaign. But within an hour, the allure had faded and no one but Marco was interested in the least.

The problem wasn’t with the audio quality or the comprehensiveness of Marco’s hacking efforts—both were superlative. Instead, Sterling, Alec, and Blair had simply found the content far too boring to be of interest. Most of Jim’s communications had been absurdly banal: vague promises to various interest groups in his district, assurances that he’d represent their interests better than his opponent regardless of which side of the party line they stood on. Sterling thought the leering web of deceit fit Jim perfectly—promise everything to everyone, then serve your own self-interests behind the scenes. Jim had come here to accumulate power; he didn’t care about the constituents here any more than he did the principle of integrity that he campaigned atop. And yet here he was, branding himself as some kind of moral crusader returning home after decades of fighting criminals for the FBI.

So it was with an air of irony that he asked Marco, “Anything interesting yet?”

Sterling had already begun lifting the next box when, to his surprise, Marco replied in the affirmative.

Dropping the box, Sterling moved behind Marco’s chair and asked, “What is it? They set up a meeting?”

“Relax,” Marco drawled in his Russian accent. “Nothing so dramatic. But there is this.”

He pulled up a software-generated transcript of a conversation from Jim’s office, then pointed to the first line of dialogue.

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