Ontop of Neighbor's Roof (Generational Heist Excerpt II)

Maria, Lewis and Tao laid on the level roof of the graphic art studio adjacent to the square two–store brick structure known as Whales’ Bank. Only the laser pointer in Maria’s hand peaked over the building’s three foot concrete railing. The three dawned black fatigues and black linen masks covered their faces. The linen over their eyes and mouths had been replaced with thinner fabric that allowed them to breathe and see clearly.

They laid there like awkwardly positioned corpses as the laser received a variety of measurements. It wasn’t until the device received two measurements of eleven hundred feet in a row did the blood in Maria’s veins begin to pulsate. She grabbed the modified riffle that lie next to her and aimed it at the motion sensors on the bank’s roof. As the pellets exploded from the riffle they began to disintegrate leaving only a layer of slime to coat the sensor. The slim let the sensors emit their signals but didn’t allow it to detect any disturbances. Maria hit her targets and resumed her position on the roof.

Tao's unease showed as he began to sweat during the unusually cool summer night. The mask concealing his identity was also stopping a puddle from forming where his head lay. His comfort came from his companion’s rhythmic breathing and Maria’s military like precision.

Lewis was so committed to his new direction in life he analyzed the bank’s size and concluded there couldn’t be enough money inside to fund what Todd and Maria had put together, but he knew at that moment what he thought didn’t matter. He appreciated the opportunity he had been given and the only other people he would have traded being with at that moment in life was his uncle and Courtland.

A third accurate measurement prompted Lewis to yank a large metal board with a latch on the end out of one of the six duffle bags they brought along with them. He attached the latch to the edge of the building’s roof then pushed a button at the butt of the board causing it to extend to the bank’s roof.  Maria wielded an empty bag around her shoulder, while Lewis and Tao totted a bag of equipment and an empty bag on their way across. After reaching the top of the bank, Lewis and Tao let the heavy bags drop to the roof then pulled the plank onto the bank’s roof. Maria went into a bag and pulled out a long, thick cord. She secured the cord on to a pier at the top of the roof as Tao and Lewis began working on the skylight. Tao clasped suction cups against the window’s pane leaving enough space for Lewis to dig his blade into the edges of it. After Lewis cleanly cut the pane out of its home, Tao muscled the glass to the ground.

Before the night’s air could mix with the conditioned air, Maria opened fire. She rotated around the opening making sure she hit all her targets. Her knowledge of the sensors’ locations came from a source extremely familiar with the bank’s security. She threw the cord inside, hooked a motorized pulley to it then connected herself to the repelling equipment. She repelled off the roof onto the second floor of the bank. She scurried to the bank manager’s office, pulled a screw driver from her back pocket and began unscrewing the lock from the door. It took the master thief less than a minute to accomplish the basic task. She straight-lined to the computer, shoved a jump drive into one of the USB ports and began downloading files from the jump drive to the computer. Giving Courtland more control than the email he sent earlier in the week had.