Guy dropped note money for the meal and left the table, his food unfinished on the plates. It was good and filling food, but he left it and Manna behind heading for the exit. Things were moving.
He had said his goodbye to his best friend. It would have been great to have him on the team, especially now. The gang was entering dangerous territory for this score. There was no quick in and out for this job. They had to go in deep cover, become just like them, gain their trust, and make off with a big prize. It would have been great to have a practiced con artist with them to give them an edge but Manna had his own little life. The gang would go it alone. They were ready.
The preparations were set. Electronic files were created and uploaded without incident. On paper they looked like the real deal. They each went through the necessary training to become masters at their roles. They looked like the real deal. A good amount of time, effort, money, and personal favors went into this. They had to sell this con and sell it perfectly or it all would be wasted. Their cover lives started today.
Jailene Ge waited for him at the entrance of the tavern. Although she didn’t quite look it, she was an essential part of his gang. Average height and above average beauty, her skin was a deep blue with red tiger like stripes. Her body was fit and shapely. And though she was well covered, her clothes and demeanor suggested that she was less than respectable. She didn’t deny it.
Jailene noticed that Guy was leaving the tavern alone. “So it’s a no,” she asked teasingly as she caught up to him. Guy kept building up his petty thief friend as a perfect con artist. That was exactly what they needed to help pull of the scam. They could all get plenty of gold if this all worked. However, the money didn’t seem to appeal to Manna, “I can talk to him if you want.”
“No, we go without,” Guy said quickly and absolutely. “He likes to be … safe,” Guy said in a way suggesting that “safe” was an understatement. He opened the door and the cold air hit them like a wall. It was cold but they had a job to do. They walked up the street towards a landing zone.
Jailene shivered and cursed at the wind. “Okay,” she said with a bit of hope, “More for the rest of us.” She did know how to talk to the young males. After three minutes, she would know exactly how to get them to do what she wanted. She had thought of ways to get a strong serious warrior to do the silly teapot dance within her time limit, but that would have to wait. “So how do we know that C… The Chef is going to want what we find in there.”
Reaching the landing zone, Guy stopped and hailed a sky cab with a signal from his handheld. The hailing process was easy enough, but it usually took a few minutes for the sky cab to actually get to them in a city like this. Though a suburb of Glory City, Apple Mint Hills was far from a large city itself. Public transportation was not a priority.
It was easy enough for them to drive to the registration hall with the rest of the gang. They both had their own vehicles but the scam had already started. It would be hard to believe they needed work if they showed up in expensive race level sky cars.
“Everyone wants something that’s in there,” Guy said after he had finished hailing the cab, “We have to make sure that it’s good enough to take before we start.”
“How do we know what’s worth it.”
“That’s easy,” Guy said smiling for a change, “Whatever they protect the most.”