The Heist

Chapter 12 (@geocait)

As we move towards the living room, the source of the commotion becomes obvious: The chair we had tied Tim to is toppled over and broken. Pieces of duct tape litter the floor towards the back entrance like breadcrumbs.

"Fuck..." I say while Jake turns around to face me. "We have to get out of here, immediately!"

I nod. "Can you grab a few provisions while I pack a change of clothes?" Judging from the look on his face, Jake is about to argue that there is time to pack anything. "It'll be just a minute. There is durable food and bottled water in the pantry. And some camping gear that might be useful. Have a look." I gesture towards a door in the corner of my kitchen.

Then I rush into my bedroom. Years of last minute business trips have prepared me for this moment. Within a few minutes I have everything I need in a duffle including a bag with all bathroom necesities, that I always have ready to go. Before I leave the room I stuff my laptop and tablet, both currently turned off, into the duffle, as well as a few items from my nightstand and the trusty first-aid kit.

Getting back to the living room I notice that Jake is still rummaging through the panrty, stuffing things into one of my old backpacks. I use the time to take out my phone and shoot a text to my work bestie Debbie. No words, just three emojis: Two trees and a bomb. Questionmark. The response follows just seconds later. Thumbs up.

Debbies husband, now ex, had the bad habit of being overly curious about her private conversations and a bad temper over their contents. So we developed our own little code over the years. I had just asked her to borrow her vacation home, a remote cottage about an hour away in the woods.

Jake comes over, carrying the backpack. "What is going on?" While grabbing my keys and locking the back door again, I say: "I know where we can go. Not quite as good as our remote island but at least it also has wifi."

We leave the house through the front door. Jake walks out first, carefully observing the surroundings. I point towards my car and we swiftly cross the lawn towards it. We get in, me behind the wheel and Jake on the passengers seat.

A few minutes of silent driving go by. We are both tense and constantly check the traffic behind us if there is anyone following us. But as we reach the highway, we both relax a little.

We should probably talk about our situation and make a plan. But we are also both exhausted and I need to concentrate on my driving. I can sense that Jake tries hard to not doze off. I move my hand from the gear shift to his knee, which makes him flinch. But he immediately settles back into his seat. "Hey, try to close your eyes for a while. I've got this. We'll arrive in about an hour."

"I'd prefer to know where we're going", he responds. Rolling my eyes, I say: "I'll draw you a map."

Despite his efforts, he is out within five minutes.

********************

The last few hundreds of meters to the house take us over a forest path. It is a rough ride and rattles Jake awake. "Good morning, sunshine", I chirp. "Sorry about that." I park the car around the small wooden house so it won't be immediately visible if someone happens to pass by.

We get out of the car and Jake grabs our bags. "So, where are we?", he asks. "This is my friends week-end getaway, " I explain. "The next town is about 20 minutes that way" I gesture towards what I think is East. "There is not much to show here. We came via the only access road. Around the back of the house there is a path that leads to the lake. There are a few boats. No motors." I lead the way towards the door. "There is no key but a number pad." I show him the code and we enter. The cottage is clearly not bigger on the inside. There is just one room. The main space is occupied by a cozy living room with fireplace and an open kitchen. The only other door leads to a tiny but fully equipped bathroom. A ladder leads to a platform with a bed just under the roof.

I kick off my shoes and collapse onto the couch. Jake immediately joins me. "We need to talk strategy," he states. I nod and shift my weight to lean against his shoulder.

A thought crosses my mind: "How did they get to us this quick? Do you think they have an informant in the FBI?" I look up and meet his gaze. There is an expression in his eyes I can't quite read. "Good thought", he sighs. "This is definitively a possibility that also crossed my mind."

"I find the entire behaviour of these ... 'Agents' " - I put the last word in air quotes - "really strange. First they recruit us to do their dirty work. Then, no follow up, no detailed information. And don't get me started on what happened to your eye last night..." He looks away. Okay, still no elaboration, I think.

After a moment of silence, Jake speaks up again. "Let's discuss what we know so far." I nod, and smile. This feels familiar. "Yep. I'll make us some coffee in the meantime." While I get up and grab some capsules that fit into the fancy coffee maker, Jake starts to summarize: "We are tasked to retrieve evidence from the private residence of Master."

"One question"; I interrupt. "What's up with this Master business?" "Oh, well. This is an old habit, I think", Jake responds. He seems a bit flustered. "Master is Marks screen name." "I see. Go on."

"The nature or exact location of said evidence is unknown to us so far." "I guess we will know it when we see it." I place two cups of coffee on the table in fron of the couch and reclaim my spot beside Jake.

"I remember Agent Michaels saying that we need to infiltrate the 'residence'." More airquotes. "This sounded to me like we are not looking for any digital files. What do you think, Jake?" "Maybe the data is on an air-gapped system, which would mean..." "...that we likely won't be able to get to it by hacking it from the outside", I finish his sentence. This time I can read the expression in his eyes like an open book: Surprise mixed with pride. I flash him a grin and a wink over my coffee mug.

"So. What now?", I ask.