章節 22: CHAPTER 22
Tom spoke to Leo about the detailed plan he had made and was ready to put it into motion, but he needed a few more things which the client would need to provide for the success of this operation.
After feeding him the details, Leo asked Tom to meet him at one of he's safe houses so he could explain with the blueprints and give him a better understanding about Tom's plan. That evening Tom met up with him at an inconspicuous building which amused Tom, because it seemed like Leo was hiding in plain sight.
He wondered how many of he's safe houses were in plain sight but out of reach from the police because they would never suspect a criminal to hide out in the open, especially not one with as many felonies as Leo must have committed already. He guessed that was how he was able to keep moving around with ease, without the fear of being caught. A police officer would not expect a criminal to move in a public place where officers are on the streets keeping watch of things.
He had explained the way they needed to move according to timing and building layouts. Leo called the client and told him about a plan being completed and ready to be executed but they were missing a vital something which would be needed to infiltrate the estate without detection or raising an alarm.
The client did not believe what Leo was saying because it was almost impossible to cook up a plan for an operation like that within that short period of time, so he asked to speak with the mastermind who was behind it all.
At first Leo resisted but the client said otherwise, so he asked the client to wait a few minutes so he inform the mastermind about him wanting to speak with him directly.
"So what does he call himself or how do I refer to him?" Asked the client.
"We call him Ghost."
"Ghost?" He asked in a mildly surprised tone. "Is he some kind of meta freak? Looks like every itty-bitty thug is getting a code name nowadays."
"That is because no one knows his face and he walks In plain sight and without having any criminal records." Leo remarked before hanging up the call so he could talk with Tom.
"The client wants to speak with you directly. He want you to explain the plan yourself and to assure him that you actually know what you are doing." Leo tried explaining to him why the client wanted to speak with him when he already had everything and the negotiations under control.
"Okay then, what do I call this client?" Tom asked, wondering how to refer to a Mafia boss.
" He's name is Mr. Santiago, but I would warn you not to call that name so carelessly and especially not in a public place." He warned Tom so he does not step out of line or get himself into trouble.
Tom knew better than to step out of line with a Mafia boss who basically controls a criminal network.
Leo's phone rang once again and he knew it was the client calling to speak with the so called mastermind, so he handed it over to Tom.
He picked up the call and listened carefully in anticipation of knowing what a Mafia boss actually sounded like.
"Hello Ghost."
A low deep voice gruffed out from the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Mr. Santiago, I just finished analyzing the information provided to me." Tom said, fiddling with the pen he used in scribbling down some notes during his intensive calculation session and preview with Leo.
"That was way faster than I anticipated." The Mafia boss said with a hint of surprise in his tone. It was understandable as what he gave the man named Ghost was something that needed hours from an expert strategist to uncover, and yet he received his feedback call a few minutes shy of five hours. He was impressed.
"Normally I don't go perversing anything or suddenly changing the terms of my contracts after a deal had been made, but due to my recent findings while studying the information sent to me as regarding the job at hand, I realized that the risk involved in this operation isn't worth the amount I'm being paid for it." Tom exclaimed.
"Umm, do you mind enlightening me?" he asked Tom.
"I don't mind, it's what I am being paid for. The mansion located at the middle of the estate is surrounded with armed guards who are ordered to shoot any intruder on sight. The guards are located at designated spots where it'll be basically impossible to sneak into the mansion without getting caught and killed on sight, so I came to a more suitable solution which is to get into the mansion through the minefields. It's a location that's supposed to be a trap hidden within a trap for intruders, so the only security there are two cameras which are just used to check on the field once a while. In order for us to successfully infiltrate the estate and achieve our objective without raising an alarm, we'll have to use an approach that they'll never expect in a million years." Tom continued with his explanation.
"And what might that be?" Asked Mr. Santiago as he clocked up a brow in curiosity.
"We'll infiltrate the estate through the minefields, using their own traps to our advantage and providing us with an unsupervised road which we'll use to get in and out of the estate without being detected."
"That's a feat that'll be impossible to perpetrate, how will you handle the mines?" Asked Mr. Santiago in a quiescent state.
"A land mine can be triggered by a number of things including pressure, movement, sound, magnetism and vibration. The mines that are planted in the mansion's yard could be detonated remotely, meaning all we need is a device that can shut down technology at a very small range or controlled scale."
"Is shutting down the mines actually as easy as that?"
"Yes it is, but there is a time limit."
"Seriously?" Asked Mr. Santiago as Tom kept giving him information that are completely outside the box but had him at the edge of his seat.
"Yes it is."
"Whatever you need in order to increase the success rate of this mission, all you need to do is ask." Said Mr. Santiago.
"But if you dare go back on your word or betray me, I promise you will regret it dearly and your death would not be quick or painless." He said to Tom, threatening him to assure his full cooperation.
"I totally understand. All I need is an EMP that operates within a small range or controlled scale, not anything military so you should be able to get a small enough one in the black market, so I can shut down the mines temporarily and infiltrate the mansion without any complications." Tom shrugging off the threat because he knew better than to fuck with the motherfucking mafia.
"Consider it done, I will make the necessary arrangements and get you that EMP and any other equipment you might need on the day of the operation." Replied Mr. Santiago. "And I just made a payment of $150,000 to your crypto account."
"Why? The job hasn't even been accomplished yet." Tom asked, surprised that the man would actually pay in full before he even gave him the entire info, and the job wasn't even done yet.
"That's just a way of showing you that the Santiago family takes care of their own and appreciates talents like yours.
The analysis you did accompanied with the detailed feedback, would take experts days to achieve but you accomplished such feat within 2 hours and did so with an impressive level of accuracy."
"I appreciate the compliments but it's me doing my job, which I am very good at and way more skilled than most experts. So it's like you stating the obvious."
He gave his reply to Mr. Santiago with a tone of confidence in his voice.
"The Santiago family will be really lucky to have you with us. How would you like to be a member of the Santiago family and work for us and only us, you'll be paid and well compensated for your valuable skills.
As you have seen, money isn't an issue to us, whatever might be your price, we are willing to pay."
Mr. Santiago had a mischievous smirk on his face as he thought Tom would be enticed by money and agree to work only for Santiago.
"No thanks, I enjoy being a free agent. I don't care if a person is good or evil. I'll take a job from anybody, providing the job is worth my while. After all, I'm a contractor but I wouldn't want to be indebted to the Santiago family. So if I get a job that targets the Santiago family, I'll give you an heads up but it's a one time thing and then we are even."
His reply leaves Mr. Santiago shocked. He wasn't expecting Tom to refuse such a rare and enticing offer, it'll be a shame to not have such talent by his side and under his control only.
A beeping sound came from the phone as the call came to an end.
…
'Well that was quite nerve-wracking.' Tom mused as he put down the phone, exhaling deep breaths of air that he held throughout the duration of the call. He sure as hell did sound confident, but that was just it, he sounded confident but his heart was running a marathon.
This was progressing too fast for him to sit down and process everything that had been happening since he left the hospital a few months back, as Leo just sat there staring at him and amused with the way Tom had spoken to their client.
章節 23: CHAPTER 23
"Why did you decline the offer that was handed over to you by Mr. Santiago?" Leo asked Tom in genuine curiosity.
"Like I said to him, I'm a contractor and don't want to be bound to a certain person but I would like to build a network of my own." Tom replied as he had started to see a clearer path of the great thrill he could experience if he did jobs for different sets of personnels, supervillains included.
This put a stomp on Leo's plans he had thought of keeping Tom all to himself, but Tom wasn't having it and intended to build a name for himself in the criminal underground. It was new information to him and it might prove difficult to keep Tom under his control.
He pondered on this thought for a while as Tom idled away in his own thoughts, just sitting on a couch and staring into a blank space like he was lost in thoughts. But he was glad he was the only one who knew his real face and capabilities, also the only one who could get to him directly, the only one with first hand access to him and would expect an immediate response when he reached out.
One thing Leo wasn't aware of was Tom's powers, no one had any knowledge of it as he never told a soul about it.
While he sank into the couch and stared at a blank space, he was actually running a simulation in his head on how the operation should be carried out and also going through the timing of each surveillance camera once more. He tried thinking of countermeasures in case there was a flop or unprecedented development.
He needed this job to be perfect, to be an easy in and out mission. The men just had to infiltrate the estate, sneak into the mansion and get output without being spotted or raising an alarm. He intended to watch the operation and give direct commands through the comms, to help the operation move smoothly.
"Hey Leo, does the mafia operate over here at Central City?" Tom asked Leo a sudden question outta nowhere.
Leo took a sip out of his glass of Tennessee whiskey as he turned to Tom, wondering why he would ask a question inquiring about the mafia's operations.
"Yes they do, but they operate so quietly and coordinated they barely get noticed. I heard there was a power war currently going on within the mafia families, stretching out to major cities like Gotham, Star City, Metropolis, all in the midst of their power struggle. I'm sure that this operation might be linked to the internal affairs going on within the mafias network. He must be hoping to gain some kind of advantage over the other by stealing one of their family's most prized possessions." He took another sip of whiskey after stating the facts but he knew not everything was as it seemed so he stopped there and refused to go further.
Tom thought to himself that there must be something special about that painting, not everything is as it seemed just like what Leo had told him. Maybe it contained secrets to be guarded within the Mafias, that would explain the layers of security used to guard that mansion and the desperation of their client to get his hands on it.
The day after the meeting with Leo and the conversation with the client, Tom received an email on his laptop which informed him about the provision of what he had requested concerning the operation.
"That was fast. Gotta hand it to the Mafia, they sure are resourceful." Tom talks to no one in particular as he prepares the finishing touches on his plan.
He contacted Leo and told him to inform the client that the operation will take place the next day, he needed to tweak the EMP a little so he could contain the range at which the pulse would be active.
During his free time he had been studying machines and how they work, he found tweaking with machines and objects to be fun especially since he became a fast learner and his intellect kept increasing each time he studied some books or watched videos concerning them.
Tom wasn't so good with machines or devices yet, but he had studied a few books and watched a few videos which gave him the knowledge and understanding on how he could tweak the EMP and control it's range. If the range wasn't contained and the EMP ends up shutting down the cameras it'll definitely raise an alarm and alert the guards, informing them about the presence of the intruders.
Both Tom and Leo had met at one of he's hideouts and the EMP was given to Tom along with some necessary tools. He tweaked the EMP and reduced the proximity of the area it could cover.
"Why are you messing with the device again?" Leo asked inquisitively.
"So when it is activated near the mine field it will temporarily deactivate the mines and give the men safe passage in and out of the estate, it will affect only the mines and nothing beyond that region." He explained as he kept tinkering with the device.
"All done." He said as he closed up the device.
"Seriously? That was fast, I never took you to be a tech-wizard." Leo said to him with an ounce of curiosity in his tone.
"Nah I'm definitely not a tech-wizard. I just do research and study whatever it is I need that knowledge for, and then I can put it into practice.
They attempted testing the EMP to observe how successful Tom was with this project as he programmed it to send an electromagnetic pulse within the safe house and just a meter away around it.
Immediately he turned it on and every electronic device around the safe house suddenly turned off like life was snuffed out of them. They were in total darkness, Tom checked his phone and every electrical appliance around them just to be sure and there wasn't any response. He looked out the window to observe the street lights which were located just across the street and discovered it was still on, he let out a mild chuckle as Leo stared at the street lights in awe of how fast he was able to modify the device to his need.
Tom turned off the EMP and every device including the security cameras Leo had placed around the building immediately received power and switched back on.
"I'm guessing with this you are prepared for the job tomorrow." Leo remarked as he stared at the appliances in awe of how he was able to minimize the range of the EMP without being a tech-wiz.
"Yes I am, tomorrow the operation to steal that painting will commence according to plan." He responded in much anticipation of the mission at hand.
The next morning Tom was dressed in all black, also with a black balaclava covering his white hair and ninety-five percent of his face leaving only the visibility of his eyes. This was his outfit for missions because he needed to conceal he's true identity, after all he was in bed with criminals and one thing he knew was never to trust criminals.
He was given a lift with a helicopter to a base where the men who would be taking on the mission were gathered.
As he got down from the helicopter, a man walked straight up to him.
"You must be Ghost." He said as he stretched out his hand for a introductional handshake.
"Who wants to know?" Tom asked the strange man who was dressed in an all black combat uniform.
He retracted his hand and knew he needed to introduce himself first, it was to be expected from someone who conceals his true identity and does not have a criminal record.
"I'm Hudson, the captain of this group and also a mercenary." He introduced himself then gave a hand gesture to inform the guest to follow him as he continued.
"I will be leading this operation and I was ordered to listen to whatever instruction you gave concerning the mission, as it was said your specialty was an asset much needed for the success of this job." The man said as they walked into a warehouse filled with men who were loading and cleaning their weapons, preparing themselves so as to avoid any flaw.
" Um, a clean weapon is a much reliable one." Tom muttered as he saw how seriously they cleaned their guns, knives and tomahawks.
"Huddle up." Hudson said to the men as he walked to a board which portrayed the blueprints of both the estate, and the mansion.
"Gentlemen, this man right here is known as Ghost. He's going to be overseeing this operation and I want you all to listen to his every instruction. So just listen to what he has to say right now. it would be in your favor to pay attention to him as he briefs us, that's if you want this operation to be smooth sailing for us." Every man who was standing there suddenly turned to Tom, as they gave him their undivided attention.
Tom looked at everyone for a few seconds as the room fell silent, before he proceeded to explain the plan to everyone present.
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