Time and Again(74)

“You and Hans will be covering their only exit. They may have you outnumbered, but if they want to sneak quietly out of the building and get away with their artifact, they can’t risk a noisy shootout. He is a smart man and knows it is best we just go our separate ways.”

Professor Brookert said, “Do I get a gun?”

“You ever fired a gun?”

“No, but I know which end the bullet comes out of.”

“In that case…no.”

Mike said, “I am not clear on my role.”

“You will already be at the building with the ‘Eye’. You follow me to where they have Katarina and Patrick. You are my back-up. Keep out of site, they don’t need to know I have an insurance policy.”

Celine was making another pot of coffee, her face showed concern. “It just seems like there are too many moving parts, too many cogs which could break, and cause your perfect little plan to go horribly wrong.”

“I appreciate your vote of confidence.”

There were some light chuckles.

She wasn’t convinced and said, “I am not ready to start looking for another job. If you do get killed, I am taking the petty cash.”

Henry said, “Okay, everyone back here at nine.”

With that, everyone headed out, except Mike. Celine started to clean up the coffee cups, while Mike and Henry went over it one more time.

When they reached the street Hans whispered to Arthur, “I have a new plan. We may make those early retirements after all.”





Chapter Sixty-Four



Hans and Arthur got out onto the street and walked a ways without talking. The morning air was still and the exhaust from the traffic seemed thicker than usual. A taxi splashed a puddle at them, as Arthur lit a cigarette and then motioned towards a restaurant across the street.

Inside it was dark. The lunch crowd hadn’t arrived yet. In fact, they were the only ones there. They could hear the kitchen staff prepping for the day, pots and pans being shuffled about. Hans requested a booth in the back. The waiter took their order and hurried off. Both men were thinking about their next move, or more accurately, Hans was thinking, while Arthur was trying to guess what he might have in mind. The food arrived and Hans started to lay out his plan.

“If we had the ‘Eye’, I could set up a meeting between you and Dr. Schaeffer. You two have never met, correct?”

“It is strange, for as much as I know about him, no we have never met. But I guess that was by design. I may not like the Falcon, but I give her credit for her planning. Yes, I could pose as the original seller, explaining that I was able to recover it, when everything went south.”

“We can figure out the cover story later. Right now I have only one question, can we take it from the Greek man and his men. It could get a little bit messy.”

“Yes, you are right, but you know I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. They will be on guard though, so we are going to need some help. There won’t be an element of surprise.”

Hans cuts his steak as he thinks about how they might pull it off. Arthur starts to name off some guys who they could employ, though he knows Hans is only barely listening. The waiter refills their water glasses, and then takes away the salads. When he is out of ear shot, Hans continues, “I think we will need four extra guys.”

“We don’t know how many men they will have?”

“Yes, we may be out numbered, but we may still be able to get the jump on them.”

“How is that?”

“When Henry gives the all clear, we drive away, as planned. We pull around the corner, pop the professor, then park and head back into the building. They will be worrying about loading the ‘Eye’ up and at least two men will be required to move it. If we use silencers, we may be able to take out a few of them, before they even know what has hit them.”

“You think we should kill the professor? If we do, Henry will know it was us. It’s Henry’s car, so we let the professor drive, then after we are out of sight, ask him to let us out.”

Hans smiled, “That is why we make a good team; you see the simple elegant solution, when I do not.”

“Thank you.”

Hans continues, “So we make our way back to the Greeks, take the ‘Eye’, and set up the sale with Dr. Schaeffer.”

“If we move quickly, we can blow town tomorrow, as wealthy men.”

“We may not get to settle our scores with Schaeffer and Garneau, but I am tired, and ready to put this all behind us.”

Arthur nodded his head. “Yes my friend, I am tired too. A simple life, some wine, maybe a woman, and my greatest worry, is when to roll out of bed in the morning. There is one problem though.”