Chapter 46
Warehouse District, 1600 Olympic Boulevard, Suite 126, Los Angeles, California, United States
"Barry Fer, the Chief of Police, is definitely behind this bank robbery," Captain Tom Neal said, leaning across the table, tapping the printouts of the city maps and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco that Gen had retrieved. "I've never trusted that man and then overnight he was promoted up three levels at once. I'm telling you, there's something really fishy going on here."
Gen nodded, leaning back in her seat at the makeshift command center that she and the rogue police force had made in the warehouse. Sophia had helped Gen to secure the place and it had been helpful for meeting with the officers. They moved around in the distance, discussing various aspects of the plan while she met with Captain Neal.
The tall man with dark skin and kind eyes commanded a healthy respect from the men and women under his authority. He would no doubt have tested high on a moral aptitude test because he was good and did what was right. And it seemed that his judgment was accurate and something about it told Gen to trust him.
"The Commissioner promoted Barry Fer?" Gen asked, trying to unravel all the strange activity in Los Angeles and find out who exactly was behind the bank robbery. There seemed to be a lot of people playing a dangerous game in the city and Gen wasn't going to stand for it. Rogue Riders kept the peace, not allowing people to take advantage of the system.
"Yes, Charlie Sloan," Captain Neal replied. "And he also came out of nowhere. He was in the LA police force, but not in line for Commissioner. Then poor Peter Stevenson was murdered and that guy replaced him overnight."
"Do you think that Charlie had Peter killed?" Gen asked, thumbing nervously on the table with a ballpoint pen.
"I don't know what to think, honestly," Captain Neal replied, throwing up his hands. "The best officers in the business have been fired. The worst ones appear to be bullying the good citizens of Los Angeles. And the mediocre ones are apparently exacerbating the stereotype that we sit around in our cars, eating donuts and doing nothing."
"Well, I think we have confirmed that there's going to be a bank robbery at the Federal Reserve," Gen offered. "So that's at least something. All of your contacts have confirmed our suspicions?"
He nodded. "Yes, everything adds up. This is the only explanation. Everything points at it happening tomorrow night."
"On the night of the Commissioner's Ball," Gen added.
"Which gives the Chief of Police and Charlie Sloan an alibi," Captain Neal said bitterly. "They've orchestrated this whole thing, getting rid of the officers who wouldn't allow such corrupt actions, employing the evil ones to manage it and then gotten the rest out of the way."
"That's what had led me to investigate this in the first place," Gen stated.
He gave her a proud expression, smiling wide. "I'm so glad you did. You've got instincts to impress, Gen Beaufont. And employing us to stop the corruption and stop this heist, well, it's the first time in a long while that I've been this fired up. You might save this whole damn city if you keep up this vigilante business."
Gen laughed, blushing from the compliment. "I don't know about that. I'm fairly new to all this and just trying to follow my gut."
"Yeah, your accent is different," the Captain said, giving her a confused expression. "I can't pinpoint it. Are you from somewhere in Europe? You said you moved here recently?"
"Something like that," Gen said, knowing that she hadn't mentioned anything about moving or from where. It was better if most didn't know that Gen was a time traveler. She preferred not to have sympathies or worse, for people to doubt her competence due to her newness to this world.
She pointed to the notes they'd been drawing up based on the city maps and blueprints. "So you think this plan will work? That if we put everything into place that we can stop this bank robbery?"
"I think that on paper it can," he answered matter-of-factly. "But my officers only have to handle one portion of it. You've got a lot of moving pieces to manage. Do you think that you can handle them?"
Gen sucked in a breath, wondering if she was in over her head. The answer was without a doubt, yes, but it was too late to turn back now. "I think I might have some help. So yes, I think that if we all work together, we can stop this bank robbery done by those who are meant to protect the city."
Anger flared on Captain Neal's face. "Yes, and instead they are using their power and positions to get richer on the citizens' money."
"That's why good people have to manage crime," Gen stated, thinking of her job as a Rogue Rider.
"I know that Barry Fer is going to use his officers to do his dirty work," Captain Neal stated, hotly. "He thinks that this Commissioner's Ball will make him look innocent."
Gen nodded with conviction. "Which is why we are going to draw him to the scene of the crime. If there's one thing I know about selfish men, they get scared when they think their unearned fortune is about to slip through their hands."
"Good," he replied. "And also, I think the lust for the money will be too much for him to resist. He will want to be there when that bank vault is opened."
"Then we just have to be one step ahead of him," Gen imparted. "When he gets word from his captain that things aren't going to plan, he's going to have no choice but to intervene."
A glint of triumph radiated in Captain Neal's eyes. "Yes, thanks to my time on the bomb squad and reports from my officers, I know that there's only two detonation code generators made for the type of explosive that will open the Federal Reserve vault. It goes to reason that Barry will have one of them and his police captain will have the other."
"It's a gamble, but I think it's worth taking," Gen stated. "We just have to take out his captain."
"Well, if anyone can do it, I think it will be you," he replied.
"Thank you," Gen said, studying the plan again. There was a lot that could go wrong. Also, since they didn't know who to trust, they couldn't alert the Federal Reserve about the robbery. Captain Neal had contacted one individual who he trusted to get keys and codes for the mission, but only they knew and they were counting on them to save the bank.
Gen, the riders and the rogue police officers were operating way below the radar for this job. "All we have to do is break into a high-security bank so that we can catch the thieves trying to rob it. How hard could that be?"
He chuckled. "It's damn near impossible, but I'm going to give it everything I've got."