The Inside Job Read Free Page A

Everyone gathered around the desk.
    â€œAll right, boss man,” Clatterbuck said warmly. “What’s our next move?”
    Our
. That was the thing that made life here at The League worth it, even if it wasn’t
easier
. SRS might have been a team, sure, but here? We were an “us.”
    Otter cleared his throat, like Clatterbuck’s enthusiasm grossed him out. “Well. I’ve gone over all the information we’ve collected. And now that we have our own security sorted out, I think it’s time we strike SRS. See if we can knock them down a little further.” He waved to some papers on the desk, like we were supposed to make sense of them. “Now, we can’t best them with manpower or artillery or influence. But what we
can
do is make sure they don’t get any more of these things. Which is why we’re going to hit them where it hurts. We’re taking their money.”
    We collectively blinked at Otter. Finally Beatrix said, “We’re going to rob them?”
    â€œWe’re going to rob their bank account,” Otter corrected. He pointed to a sheet of paper—it was a printout of some fancy-looking building. “This is the Central Bank of Switzerland. It’s where SRS stores their wealth—some in cash, some in digital accounts, and some in gold bars.”
    â€œHow much money are we talking about?” I asked curiously.
    Otter shrugged. “Between all three? Around ninety million. They have smaller accounts in Russia and Thailand, but this is their heart, money-wise. If we try anything else—stopping a mission, say, or interrupting their operations, they’ll just be able to spring right back up so long as this account exists. We’ll be playing spy Whac-A-Mole for the rest of our lives. But I happen to know the fake name they use for their bank accounts: Antonio Halfred.”
    â€œHow do you know that?” Walter asked. “You weren’t in accounting.”
    Otter looked indignant. “I dated an agent in accounting—”
    â€œYou dated Agent Bullwhipple?” Kennedy squealed, though I couldn’t tell if it was in horror or delight. Having once accidentally caught Agent Bullwhipple tweezing her mustache at her desk,
I
was particularly horrified.
    Otter slapped his notebook to calm the chatter that had erupted over the room. “My private dating life is irrelevant! My point is, we know the name. Once we’re in Switzerland, we’ll sort out how to pose as Antonio Halfred and—”
    â€œWe’re going to Switzerland?” Beatrix shouted, and she and Kennedy jumped around in a circle together. Ben and Walter high-fived—
    â€œNot for vacation! We’re going for work!” Otter roared, looking like he wished he’d stayed in bed today.
    â€œHow are we even going to get ninety million dollars back into the country?” I asked. Even though we were a government agency, we operated more or less on our own—the government, after all, didn’t want to admit to 1) having a secret spy agency or 2) the fact that there was a
second
secret spy agency, a bad one, that they couldn’t stop.
    Otter said, “I’m thinking that rather than sneak it back in, we just open our own Swiss bank account. Transfer the money from their account to ours.”
    â€œWe could afford new computers!” I said, getting excited. “And to run the air-conditioning all summer without dimming the lights! We’ll be a real spy agency again!”
    â€œHey!” Clatterbuck said.
    â€œIt’ll be enough that we can bring in some real agents too,” Otter said.
    â€œHey!” Walter said.
    â€œCome on, Walter,” I said. “Let’s be real—it’d be nice to have some actual funding here. Think about how long it took us to set up a decent security system, what with the ancient cameras and all.”
    â€œI was thinking about how we
did
set up a