By the time I got back to the barge I was sweating, despite the chill in the early spring air. Felix noticed. "Are you okay? You look flushed."
"Yes," I reassured him. "The bus was just crowded. There was some tour group or something. Too many people in too small a space, and the driver had the heater on full."
"Okay," Felix replied, dismissing it. I sat down in my favorite chair, a leather armchair that reclined a fair amount and had an ottoman in front of it, relaxing. I needed to let my nerves settle, I'd need all of them later that night. I even pondered taking a nap to make sure I wasn't sleep deprived at the time of the actual action. Jordan, who was trying her best to be supportive, was staying in the bedroom.
"Is she going to come out?" I asked. "We still have a full day to wait before we even begin."
"I think she is more worried about it than we are," Felix replied. He looked down at the counter space between his hands and took a deep breath. He wanted to tell me something important, I could tell. “This is a first for her. Francois, I wanted to talk with you about that."
"What about?" I asked. I laid my head back and closed my eyes, crossing my fingers over my stomach. Regardless of if Felix had something on his mind or not, I wanted to just relax.
"This is my last job too," Felix said after a moment. "I can't do this any longer. Not with Jordan at home waiting for us."
"Really?" I asked. I lifted my head up and opened my eyes, bringing my hands behind my head.
Felix thought about his answer for a second then shook his head. "I don't have it in me anymore. I don't want this. I guess you could say I'm losing my edge. I can get through tonight, but after that . . . I'm done."
I chuckled. This was better than I'd have ever hoped. "What will the world be like without the Hardy brothers working together to steal what cannot be stolen?"
Felix laughed. "Probably a lot less stressful for insurance companies, that’s for sure. Francois, I know that you want to continue, to stand out on your own. I'm willing to support that, you know."
"I know," I replied, touched while at the same time knowing what was going to happen to him, and I had to make it a point to keep my nerve. There was no turning back now. "Felix, regardless of what happens, I know you will be the man who helps me find success."
Felix came over and knelt down next to me, clapping me on the shoulder. "Thank you, Francois. Now, let's go reassure Jordan that she doesn't have to hide from us in order for us to be ready."
* * *
That night, long after the sun went down and the bells in the local churches struck eleven, Felix and I changed for the job. We were to approach the building from the river side, taking advantage of the typical Paris evening mist to mask our approach on the building. Still, it was beneficial for us to wear dark colors, so we put on midnight blue pants and tops, with light masks that could be rolled up to look like caps if we needed them to.
We'd considered many options for entry, from using the sewers to literally parachuting onto the roof. We discarded them one by one for various reasons, with most of them being gotten rid of because they were just impractical considering the time constraints we had to deal with. In the end, we decided to go by a more traditional route, going through a hole we cut in the glass side of the building.
"You in?" Felix asked as I shimmied through the hole on the second floor, hoping that our computer worm was working. It was supposed to loop the security feed so that the guards inside the building wouldn't know what we were up to. It was also supposed to have corrupted the alarm systems as well, telling the system that everything was fine regardless of what the individual sensors reported. If Alex's worm had worked according to his promises, the guards at the front desk would think everything was just fine and dandy.
"Yeah," I whispered back. "Come in."
Felix followed me, barely squeezing his wider shoulders through the hole in the glass. Sliding through, he rolled his right arm before getting to his knees. "Time check?"
"Eight minutes to the next patrol," I said, referencing the timer on my arm. I’d strapped a custom programmed smartphone to my forearm, which not only held a timer but also maps and other information we might need. Felix used to have one, but in tackling Jordan in Los Angeles, he cracked the screen and destroyed it. We hadn't had time to get a new one yet. "Let's go."