The Cube Heist (BWWM Interracial Romance and Crime) Read Free Page B

approaching. Lisa offered to go get their lunch sandwiches. She pulled her cap low and took off to the deli. She pushed open the glass door and walked in. The counter was manned by four employees, each decked out in a crisp white apron. The back of the counter shared a wall with the bank.
    Lisa ordered their sandwiches and coffee and left. They ate their lunch in an uncomfortable silence. After lunch, Lisa slipped out again, this time to take a look inside the leather store. Approaching the entrance Lisa deduced that it would not make a good target. The huge, thick door manning the entrance appeared to be laced with alarms and though disabling the alarm was possible, it would take too much time.
    She didn’t bother to enter; instead she found her way to the back alley to the service entrance of the deli. Sure enough, the padlock hanging on the back door of the deli was just as flimsy as the front one. Lisa guessed that no one would bother to break into a deli to steal food, and they were bound to have emptied their cash registers every night.
    There wasn’t much activity at the back. The bank was sealed at the back with an impenetrable wall and she only gave it a cursory glance. She knew the security at the back was even tighter than at the front.
    “Say we infiltrate the bank through the deli, how long would it take to drill the wall?” Lisa asked.
    Harper switched on the laptop he always had and showed Lisa an image of a wall.
    “I think it’s been fortified inside the bank so it could take a couple of hours.” Harper said. “Tonight I’m thinking we watch the back. That’s probably where we’ll access the deli from.”
    “I’m thinking there must be cleaning staff?” Lisa said.
    “Yeah, me too and they probably come in at night. The deli closes around nine o’clock.” Harper said.
    This information reminded Lisa that she’d fallen asleep the night before. She could have kicked herself. Tonight she was determined to remain professional. The last thing she wanted was for Harper to think that working with her was a mistake.
    When night came, Harper drove the car to the back and looked for an unobtrusive unlit spot. At nine, they observed the deli workers leaving for home. At ten, two women alighted from a van marked as a cleaning van. As soon as they got off, the van drove off. They had their own key to the deli. Two hours later they emerged and as they were locking up, the cleaning van appeared. They went in and the van drove off, its wheels skidding on the road.
    “Looks like if we decide to go with the deli, it has to be from twelve, right?” Lisa said.
    Harper nodded. He looked thoughtful.
    “It doesn’t give us much time, if we start at 12?” Harper said. “Drilling quietly can take up to two hours depending on the thickness of the wall.”
    “Accessing the vault and the security system…” Lisa added.
    “May take another three hours or more.” Harper finished.
    They sat in thoughtful silence.
    “The deli is just one option; let’s weigh others first and then we’ll see from there.” Harper said.
    Lisa’s eyes were on the bank building.
    “That cube must be really secured if it’s that special?”
    Harper looked at her quizzically. “Weren’t you told?”
    “Told what?”
    “It’s not at the bank yet. It’ll be brought approximately two weeks and five days from now. That’s when we strike.”
    Lisa fell back into her seat. Shit. That presented a whole set of worries. What if it wasn’t kept in the vault? What if they designed another safe place for it? Worse still, what if the plans changed and the location changed? All this work would be for nothing.
    “You know there’s not much we can do if the plans change.” Harper said.
    Was the man a mind reader? Her brain changed gears fast and she wondered how the boss had neglected to tell her such an important piece of info? They could even grab the cube before it reached the bank, and she told Harper so.
    He shook his