Paris Love Match

Chapter 25





Piers watched the small square drift in the murky water. It was only visible by its effect on the rain splashing on the water. Whatever it was, it was thoroughly sodden and the weight of adsorbed water was keeping it just below the surface.

He untied a plastic rope from one side of the safety netting and scoured the building site for something to float. He found a large plastic carrier bag advertising the Printemps chain of shops, hooked the rope through the handles, inflated the bag, and knotted it.

With a few minutes perseverance he floated the bag to the square and dragged the object back to the lake’s edge. He pulled a filthy briefcase from the water and cradled it in his hands as a dirty slurry drained out. The sides flexed and the last thing he needed was for it to break open and to have to retrieve the contents from the muddy ground.

He looked around the site. The Portakabin was locked and the only other structures were the two giant cranes in the far corner. They had huge concrete bases that served as foundations to stabilize the giant machines. He looked up and saw the operator’s cabin at the top of the crane and kicked himself for being so stupid.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, entered the web address for the Waterloo site, and chose the “Engineering login” button. A password later and he saw a list of the cranes Waterloo had operational all around the world. The cranes unique ID was stenciled in large letters on the tower. Moments later he had control of the fifty-ton monster. All it took was one button press to bring the operator’s cabin down to ground level.

The cabin wasn’t large, but it was dry. Piers rested the case on a small fold-down table. The locks were secure, but he pried the weakened sides apart easily. Mud oozed out and he tilted the case to pour it away from him. A thick plastic bag took up all the space inside. He lifted it up. It was heavy and seam-welded at each end. Wiping it with his hand, he could see the inside was dry.

And the inside was filled with diamonds.