44. Monaco
Monaco
“Amir. Amir!” Nazim said, holding onto the hard drive. Connected to it was Carl’s laptop sitting on an oak table overlooking the raceway. “Theo is here. Everything is set for tomorrow night. The auction is to go ahead as planned.”
“And the buyers,” Amir replied, still watching the cars in the distance.
“Ravenous! So many offers before the auction has even started. I even received a threat from our old friends in Kuwait,” Nazim said, placing the laptop on the table.
A lanky, tall young man walked into the room bypassing the two men standing guard.
A fully stocked bar, lounge, and the main entrance were behind him.
Wearing a simple raven-black vest with a dark red wine dress shirt beneath it, he exuded elegance.
Amir didn’t like that about him. Amir believed the guy was purposefully out-dressing him. And thus outclassing him.
“Good, but they’ll have to wait like the rest. First, we need to see what’s inside the drive. Wasting their time might prove fatal,” Amir replied. He looked at the man, and his twitching worsened. “Theo. I’m glad to see you could come.”
“Of course, Amir. It’s nice to see you again.
Is this the item you told me about? Where you able to access the device?
” Theo said, brushing his hand across the table.
“Our other products need replenishment. I’ve been moving Vietnamese rifles to our buyer in Tunisia for the past month.
Friends have told me of a large cache of weapons in Brazil ripe for the taking.
And another in Mexico. Our stash houses are running low. ”
“No, I’m done selling cheap knockoffs from Asia across Africa and the Middle East. The Bateleur clan is expanding its business empire into a more profitable area of the black market.
And I need your help to find out what’s inside that,” Amir said as he approached Theo. He tapped the hard drive twice.
“This is what you went to America for?” Theo said.
“Yes. It belongs to an overseas supplier who specializes in advanced weapon systems,” Amir said and turned the laptop on.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Theo replied, squinting his eyes.
“I want you to find out what’s inside,” Amir said and nudged him forward.
“I do not know how any of this works.”
Amir turned to Nazim and said, “You told me he was good with computers.”
“He is! Theo fixed my old computer last year,” Nazim replied.
“See? Nazim believes in you. Go,” Amir said, this time more flatly.
“I used to work in a computer repair shop with special tools, Amir. I would fix them. Not break into top-secret memory devices to access weapon’s technology,” Theo replied.
Amir watched as the computer screen slowly powered on. There was no company logo or jingle. An empty black screen with green letters flashed by. Then, suddenly, the main screen opened back to where it was last. An open folder, and in it, the hard drive.
“Look, it’s there,” Theo quipped. He touched the cursor pad and hovered over the file symbol. “Let’s go inside and see what it is.”
“It looks the same as last time,” Nazim said to Amir as they watched from behind.
“Yes. But will it be different this time?” Amir replied.
Several seconds passed, and nothing seemed to happen. The screen remained on this time.
“Did someone check the hard drive already?” Theo said.
“There was a man. He helped remove the locks they had placed on it, or so he said,” Amir replied.
“Then why didn’t you ask him to check inside?”
“He die-,” Amir said.
“We ran out of time!” Nazim shouted over Amir. “Yes! We had to flee quickly.”
“If you say so,” Theo replied. At that moment, a message popped up on the screen.
An internet connection is required.
“It says the internet is needed,” Theo said.
“Well, connect it to the internet,” Nazim replied.
Theo grumpily walked to the phone jack in the wall by the TV, grabbed an Ethernet cable, and yanked it back to the table, almost tearing it out of the wall. Then he connected it to the laptop and hit Enter.
“What now?” Amir said as he took a deep breath.
Theo moved the cursor over the folder once more and clicked it again. Then, suddenly, the screen went black, and the laptop turned off. But its fans remained on. Spinning faster and faster, overtaking the roar of the engines below.