Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy

The Return: Interlude: Brother, Brother

"Our respect had once been mutual. But that was before the envy." ― Shelby Mahurin

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Josiah Martin exited the security room of TTT and straightened his tie. Casually, he made his way to the staircase that led to the first floor of the corporation's central office in Stamford, Connecticut.

He was in no hurry and nodded genially to the corporate elites who greeted him. He glared daggers at their backs after they passed by. They were only friendly because they thought he was protecting them and their interests. If they had any idea who he was, they would not have been so kind.

His name was not Josiah Martin.

He was not a security guard.

Josiah Martin was the name of the man who had been hired as the new security officer at TTT. The man who wore his clothes had intercepted him a week before his job began.

Josiah Martin had never stepped foot in TTT.

But Edward Hunter had.

Eddie straightened Josiah's name badge and kept walking, giving off the impression he was making his rounds. Routinely, he stopped to check points of physical and cyber weaknesses as though he cared about fortifying such things. On the second floor, he stopped at the security desk and spoke solemnly with the guard on duty. After a few minutes, Eddie convinced him to leave.

To say he was simply a con artist would have been an insult. He was a con artist extraordinaire. During his many excursions in jail, his favorite past time had been picking apart episodes of Leverage and running a website detailing everything the team did wrong. He could do those jobs right. But without the hero rhetoric the show was obsessed over.

In that regard, he was very pleased with himself because he'd infiltrated this high security company without much effort, considering how rusty his skills had gotten over the last three years.

It was just sixth months ago he got out of prison in New Jersey for the fourth time.

Fortuitous circumstances led him to his current con while he was on the run from his parole board. A sniveling little man had contacted him with a job offer he originally had little interest in. Money did nothing for him if he had to lie low. It wasn't until the man offered more than just money that he became interested. The man, Yancy, also offered a clear record and a name.

A name he hadn't heard in years.

Shawn Hunter.

His baby brother.

Oh, how he despised that name.

Eddie cleared his head of unpleasant memories and focused on his job. There was very little to do except to get what he came for. The con had been put into place eight weeks ago and he was well liked, excellent at his job, and trusted.

Trust.

The downfall of the weak.

It was ridiculously easy to walk into the secured personal data room of TTT. Of course, he'd set safeguards in place with the CCTV cameras circulating cleverly edited footage rather than the typical recycled video. That was the only thing necessary really. The hard part of the job had been gaining access to the building and trust.

This was the easy part.

Eddie continued down the hallway and up a series of private stairs until he reached a secluded area of the building not found on any blueprints or map.