Artemis wrapped himself in a robe monogrammed with his captor’s initials. Not only was Spiro reminding him of his presence with the gold letters, but a motion-sensitive, closed-circuit camera was following Artemis around the room.
Artemis focused on the challenging task of breaking into Spiro’s vault and stealing back the C Cube. He had anticipated many of Spiro’s security measures and packed accordingly. However, some were unforeseen and quite ingenious. But Artemis had fairy technology on his side, and Foaly too, he hoped. The centaur had been ordered not to help, but if Holly presented the breakin as a test, Artemis felt sure that the centaur would be unable to resist.
Artemis sat on the bed, casually scratching his neck. The microphone’s latex covering had survived the shower, as Holly had assured him it would. It was comforting to know that he was not alone in his prison.
Because the microphone operated on vibrations, Artemis did not have to speak aloud for his instructions to be transmitted.
“Good evening, friends,” he whispered, his back to the camera. “Everything proceeds according to plan, taking it that Mulch made it back alive. I must warn you to expect a visit from Spiro’s goons. I am certain his personnel have been monitoring the streets. It should lull him into a false sense of security if he believes my people to be wiped out. Mr. Spiro has kindly given me a tour of the facility, and I hope you have recorded everything we need to complete our mission. I believe the local term for this kind of operation is heist. This is what I want you to do.”
Artemis whispered slowly, enunciating each point clearly. It was vital that his team members followed his instructions to the letter. If they did not, the entire plot could explode like an active volcano. And at the moment, he was sitting in the volcano’s crater.
Pex and Chips were in a good mood. On their return to the Needle, not only had Mr. Blunt handed over their five-grand bonus for the Mo Digence job, but he had also given them another assignment. The Needle’s external surveillance cameras had picked up a black van parked opposite the main door. It had been there for over three hours, and a review of the tapes showed the vehicle circling the building for over an hour looking for a space. Mr. Spiro had warned them to look out for suspicious vehicles. And this was certainly suspicious.
“Go down there,” Blunt had ordered from his chair in the security office. “And if there’s anything breathing inside, ask them why they’re breathing outside my building.”
This was the kind of instruction that Pex and Chips understood. No asking questions, no operating complex machinery. Just open the door, scare everything, close the door. Easy. They kidded around in the elevator, punching each other in the shoulder until their upper arms went numb.
“We could make big bucks tonight, partner,” said Pex massaging his biceps to get the circulation going.
“We sure could,” enthused Chips, thinking about all the Barney DVDs he could buy. “This must be worth another bonus. Five grand at least. Altogether that’s . . .”
There followed several moments’ silence while both men counted on their fingers.
“That’s a lot of cash,” said Pex finally.
“A lot of cash,” agreed Chips.
Juliet had her binoculars trained on the Needle’s revolving door. It would have been easier to use the Optix on a fairy helmet, but unfortunately, her head had grown too large in the past couple of years. That wasn’t the only thing to have changed. Juliet had transformed from gangly kid to toned athlete. She wasn’t perfect bodyguard material though; there were still a few wrinkles to be ironed out. Personality wrinkles.
Juliet Butler was a fun-loving creature, she couldn’t help it. She found the idea of standing poker-faced at the shoulder of some opinionated politician appalling. She’d go crazy from boredom. Unless Artemis asked her to stay on professionally. A person could never be bored at Artemis Fowl’s side. But that was not likely to happen. Artemis had assured everyone that this was his last job. After Chicago he was going straight. If there was an after Chicago.
This stakeout business was boring too. Sitting quietly was not in Juliet’s nature. Her hyperactive disposition had caused her to fail more than one class in Madam Ko’s academy. Be at peace with yourself, girl, the Japanese instructor had said. Find that quiet place at your core and inhabit it.
Juliet generally had to stifle a yawn when Madam Ko started on the kung fu wisdom stuff. Butler, on the other hand, had eaten it up. He was forever finding his quiet place and inhabiting it. In fact, he only came out of his quiet place to pulverize whoever was threatening Artemis at the time. Maybe that was why he had his blue diamond tattoo and Juliet didn’t.
Two burly figures emerged from the Needle. They were grinning and punching each other on the shoulder.
“Captain Short, we’re on,” said Juliet into a walkietalkie tuned to Holly’s frequency.
“Understood,” responded Holly from her position above the Spiro Needle. “How many hostiles?”
“Two. Big and dumb.”