Chapter 1
Friday
The alley was dark and filled with shadows, among other things. Two Dumpsters overflowed with week old trash that could only be described as foul. Two green eyes flashed by as a stray cat was spooked and darted out onto the streets. The apartments that towered over the alley were completely dark. Small pools of light were cast onto the street by flickering lamps spaced evenly down the street. The sounds of the bustling city of Los Angeles came from downtown, along with a faint glow. A garbage truck drove by giving the perfect cover for the five figures that sprinted out from behind the rotting alley waste. As the truck slowed they each dropped to the ground, rolled on their stomachs, and grabbed the bottom of the garbage truck. The truck began to move again with each of them secretly hitching a ride.
The truck made a few more stops where the group would rest for a few brief seconds. After only moments of relaxation they were off again to their destination. When the truck halted at a stop light downtown the figures rolled out from the underbelly and dashed across the remaining part of the street.
“Man, we need to find a less smelly way to travel!” one of the shorter figures hissed.
“Oh quit whining,” a distinctly female voice hissed back.
“Both of you be quiet,” a male voice, that seemed to belong to the leader, commanded.
The figures ducked into another alley a block away from the stoplight. Each of them, besides the 'leader' and the first female voice, retrieved a backpack from one of the shadowy corners in the alley. A few minutes later the figures, who were previously dressed in normal street clothes, reunited at the base of a fire escape, now wearing almost identical, all-black suits. The ‘leader’ went second; allowing a female with brown hair pulled into a tight pony tail to scope out the roof top first. She took a rifle off of her back and scanned the roof top through the scope. When she signaled that it was all clear the rest of the team followed. They stood on the edge of a roof top that overlooked the city. The leader rolled up his sleeve to reveal a screen on his right forearm. It seemed like a tablet but it followed the slight curve of his arm. A slight glow off of the screen illuminated his face revealing some features. He had lightly bronzed skin and features that seemed to balance each other out. No one feature, his nose for example, seemed too big that it overshadowed the rest of his face. His suit had a hood, while the others didn’t, but he didn’t have his hood up. He tapped the screen a few times and a slightly blue hologram of the city expanded from the tablet.
“This is where we are,” he whispered as he tapped the hologram. A red dot appeared where his finger had been. “If we move swiftly we should be able to make it to the warehouse before twelve thirty. We will have to split up so Sam and Nick you will take this route,” He traced a line across the roof tops of several buildings and the red dot left a green trail as it followed the path of his finger. “Reid and Moriah you will go this direction,” the red dot had returned to its original spot but now left an orange trail as he traced the new route. “And I will go like this,” he traced a final route that glowed yellow on the hologram. “Rendezvous at this point,” a blue dot appeared. The other four nodded and took off in their respective groups and on their respective routes. The leader was now alone as he took one last look at the hologram before sliding his sleeve back down and killing the light on the panel. He pulled his hood up. He looked over the city his flashed signature smirk. He thought about all the times that he had run with this group before.
Ethan was on the FBI’s most wanted list, well the whole team was. He and his team had been running heists for years. With each success his conscience had weakened until it was as frail as a flickering candle flame. At first it was small stuff but soon it escalated to big things like what was planned for tonight. The team was a well oiled machine. They got in and out each time faster than the last. They didn’t let any wall or security system or guard stand in their way. They moved with a swift efficiency that no American Government could ever match.
