![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Company
Time: June 4, 2009 (wee hours).
Place: Blackline training facility.
Last Event: Distraction by Anabel and infiltration by Vinnie and Zhang.
While Anabel continues to play dumb as a distraction, Vinnie and Zhang observe the guards in the garage from their hidden position atop a pile of cargo. It doesn't take long for the latter two to deduce that the only way to break into the office is to divert the watchmen's attention for long enough that Vinnie can disable the keypad on the door between the two buildings. So with Zhang watching the guards and telling Vinnie when to move, Vinnie creeps over to an isolated electrical outlet behind the stacked freight, arranges a little electrical fire, and sneaks back out of sight.
In a few minutes, the place smells of smoke, ozone, and melting insulation. The guards react by checking out the source of the smoke, running off to fetch the fire extinguisher and flip breakers, and then returning to deal with the fire. While they're busy with that, Vinnie stalks over to the door and disables the keypad. Then he and Zhang slip into the office, close the door behind them, and reactivate the lock.
Meanwhile, in the restroom not far away, Anabel gets a text message from JB, who is monitoring Zhang and Vinnie's radio chatter: "Keep up the distraction." Anabel thinks for a moment, and then eats some lipstick and drinks lots of water. When she's feeling bloated and a bit ill, she lurches out into the reception area and vomits all over the place, making sure to include her escort's boots. The guard calmly calls for Ed – the same man who's out looking at Anabel's car – because Ed's also a medic.
Toward the back of the building, Vinnie and Zhang find themselves in a dark hallway that runs across the entire width of the small structure. There are four doors off their part of it, a lit corridor off to their left, and then two more doors beyond that. Around the corner, down the lit passage, they can hear Anabel's performance. They immediately go to work, realizing that with guards looking after an electrical fire, a crazy woman, and a broken-down car, there will be no better time to act.
Vinnie picks the locks on the office doors, and then he and Zhang steal into each room. Zhang searches for anything of importance, while Vinnie plants bugs. There's little sitting around that appears to be immediately incriminating, although Zhang finds a few framed photos of men in military uniforms – probably informal unit portraits – and takes snaps of these with the camera on his expensive Company smart phone. The most compelling target in each office is the desktop computer, but this proves to be password-protected and neither Agent wants to tamper with it.
Once the offices are bugged and photographed, Zhang and Vinnie return to the corridor and lock up behind themselves. Then Zhang calls in to JB and asks for a further distraction to cover their exfiltration. JB calls the "sick" Anabel on her phone. Anabel plays up that it's her no-good boyfriend, breaking up with her over the phone. JB tells Anabel to ham it up one last time so that Vinnie and Zhang can get out. He tells her a code word to insert into her shrieking when it looks safe to move.
Anabel rises to the challenge, going into hysterics over her scumbag ex, running to the restroom to be sick again, and generally carrying on. While she's being as distracting as possible, Vinnie and Zhang dart down the lit passage to the reception area and, hugging the walls, reach the front door. JB watches the area outside the door, and when he says it's clear, Zhang and Vinnie slip through and into the shadows by the front wall. A moment later, JB tells them to dash for Anabel's car – which Ed has abandoned by now, thanks to Anabel's performance. They do, and are soon hidden under the junk in the back.
When JB is sure that Vinnie and Zhang are clear, he calls Anabel again. This time she fakes that maybe her boyfriend hasn't broken up with her. She tells the guard that her illness has to do with the source of the friction between her and her guy – specifically, pregnancy – and that she'll be okay. They believe her, and escort her to the car. Nobody notices Vinnie and Zhang in the back, fortunately. And of course Anabel can get the car started, since she's the one who tampered with the ignition in the first place . . .
Anabel drives off with Zhang and Vinnie hidden in the back. Once they're a good distance away, they pull over and hike back to Wen and JB's position. The Agents hastily scoop up their gear, and Wen does her best to remove evidence that they were ever there. Then they hustle back to the car. They're back on the highway just before dawn.
Before leaving the area, though, it's necessary to splice the receiver for the listening devices into the telephone network within the bug's transmission radius. Vinnie pulls over to the first cell tower and Zhang quickly makes his way up. He calls Chaturvedi and has the handler put him through to one of the Company's listeners. The technician talks Zhang through the process, and soon the Company has electronic ears inside Blackline, available by dialing a convenient phone number.
When that's done, Chaturvedi orders the squad back to New York. They head to the motel, clean up, and get ready to roll. Zhang and Wen take the crummy car ahead of the group. Anabel, JB, and Vinnie follow in the truck. By nightfall, Wen and Zhang have sold off the rust bucket at a junkyard outside New York City, and Vinnie has swung around to pick them up.