Free The Cube Heist (BWWM Interracial Romance and Crime) by Nina Hall

looked at her hands. Her fingers were shaking. She clenched them into fists then released and some of the tension left. She only had fifteen minutes to get ready.
    She took off her mask and put it into her small rack sack. She picked out a simple t-shirt and leggings and wore them on top of her suit. She wore the same clothes on top of her suit on all her jobs. They were a size bigger than all her other clothes. She returned to the mirror again. You couldn’t tell she had other clothes underneath the t-shirt and leggings.
    Next she wore black socks and simple black sneakers. She checked her rack sack to see if her tool box was there. It was, and although she had gone through the contents earlier, she decided to check again. Hair pins, a small torch, and many other snippets a normal person would find no use for. Lisa chuckled, imagining her downstairs neighbor, a retired school teacher looking through the contents of her bag.
    When she was ready, she grabbed her bag and went downstairs, preferring to use the stairs rather than the elevator. The white van was pulling up as she closed the door downstairs. Lisa went to the side and slid the door open.
    “Hey boys,” Lisa said as she entered the van.
    “Hi Lisa” Alan said from the driver’s seat.
    She could see the white flash of Harper’s teeth in the darkness. The light from his laptop illuminated the back of the van to reveal a huge padlock on the body of the van. Lisa sat opposite Harper and almost fell off when the van swung onto the road.
    “Easy Alan.” Harper said.
    ‘Sorry guys, it’s how we used to do it at the racing track.” Alan drawled.
    “This ain’t no racing track.” Lisa said. “You’ll kill us before we even get to Corporate Street.”
    The traffic was light at that time of evening and they were in Corporate Street by seven. The darkness by then had settled on the city. They went to the back street and Harper directed Alan on where to park the van. Away from the back camera, but in sight of the Deli so they could see the cleaning van arriving.
    Lisa removed her tights and t-shirt and wore her ski mask over her head. She removed her tool bag from the rack sack and hung it over her shoulder.
    They sat in silence, eyes glued to the deli. As they had anticipated, at nine, four employees of the deli left, closing the padlock behind them. Another hour passed and the cleaning van rolled in. The two women entered the deli and left in exactly two hours. Lisa felt her insides relaxing at the predictable activities of the night. The more everyone stuck to their schedule, the easier it would be for their operation to move smoothly.
    The van drove off and Lisa jumped into action. She moved to where the padlock hang. She removed her small torch from the tool bag and clenched it between her teeth. The padlock was similar to the one on the door of the deli, and other than its size, it was a simple padlock. Using a pair of lock picks, Lisa worked the padlock and in less than thirty seconds it snapped open. Then she locked it again.
    She went back into the van and grabbed a blue metal box that resembled a suitcase.
    Harper began rehearsing the job. “Now we’re inside the deli with our drilling equipment. We dismantle the counter, removing the things on the shelves. Lisa keeps watch by the windows and also gives a hand where necessary while I drill the wall. This should take approximately two hours. Once inside the vault room, I set up my equipment and Lisa prepares to go over the laser beams.”
    Harper handed Lisa her goggles. He switched on his board and the back of the van was illuminated by red lines.
    “How many steps are there Lisa?” Harper said.
    “Ten.” Lisa said.
    “How long does it take you to go over them?”
    “Ten minutes.” Lisa answered.
    They sat in silence and waited for the ten minutes to be over.
    “Now, you are past the laser beams, it’s time to face the door. I’ll give you the combination of the vault door and once it swings