A short story by O.J. Richards
7 July 2024
© O.J. Richards 2024
The final clicks were always the hardest. A thief needs absolute concentration and zero distractions when breaking into a casino vault. This wasn’t a casual door that opened with a simple key, this was one of the most advanced vault doors in the world, five-foot thick and made of steel.
The thief’s name was Jac Lau - or at least that’s the name Interpol had for him. His background was largely a mystery except that he had a Belgian mother and a father from Hong Kong – also a master thief, apparently.
Despite arrest warrants in most countries, Jac roamed the world freely under various aliases and held many passports. His reputation for thievery was legendary, and he had spent the last twenty-five years successfully breaking into some of the most secure vaults, banks and museums. He always worked alone, and as well as the many millions he stolen he had four Picasso’s, three DaVinci’s and many other iconic artworks. His favourite, however, was the marble Michelangelo sculpture he kept in the lobby of his penthouse half-way up the Burj Khalifa.
But the artwork was a hobby, some fun on the side, but today was business. He was now in a busy spa-town on the Flemish coast where they had recently cut the ribbon for a new seventy-million Euro casino and hotel. Advertised as the world’s hottest new gambling destination, every crook on the planet was licking their lips with anticipation, and Mr. Lau was no different.
The casino boasted an impressive portfolio: Panoramic ‘eye in the sky’ cameras, thermal imaging, biometrics, facial recognition, digital security cards, you name it. The casino was so high-tech to keep safe the vast collection of gold, cash and jewels that lay in its vault 100-feet below ground.
So this evening the heist had begun like most others, with Jac standing at the long, stylish casino bar calmly sipping a pintje of chilled golden ale and assessing activity on the gaming floor. Tonight was a healthy mix of serious gamblers and French tourists, and security was as expected – heavy. He wasn’t worried so much about the technical obstacles of the heist as much as he was the big, scary-looking security guards marching around. Jac counted at least fourteen such officers keeping their beady eyes on everything that moved.
As much as he was trying to concentrate, however, he was slightly distracted by the gorgeous lady sat four seats away from him, seemingly alone, giving him an infectiously flirtatious gaze. He returned a charming wink or two in her direction, but without allowing himself to lose sight of his prize, he sank the remainder of his beer, threw her one last smile and set to work.
He moved away from the bar at the first sign of the evening staff rotation. With new workers coming in and old one’s moving out there were twice as many people on the casino floor and he could easily dive in and make his way to the first set of security doors without being noticed. Despite working alone, he could never commit to a job completely alone. In every heist he would always have people on the inside to pass him fingerprint samples, ID badges, shift rotas, delivery schedules, blueprints, floor plans and photographs. All came at a steep price but covered many times over by the winnings of the robbery.
At the first set of doors, he used a rubber fingerprint sample of a staff member and got through without trouble. He now found himself behind the scenes of the casino and he made his way to a locker room and swiftly changed out of his white tuxedo and into black overall’s that an insider had left for him. A mask and a backpack of tools and gadgets was included also.
From here he delved into the deep belly of the casino. Via months of his reconnaissance work he had a good understanding of the vault system and the security infrastructure protecting it. He spent the next hour using various instruments from his backpack to open locked doors and manipulate security cameras. He also ducked and dived through ventilation shafts and sanitation channels to avoid the many armed guards that would have stood in his way. One little mistake here would be the end of his operation and he would face decades in prison. But he was a professional and he made his way successfully undetected.
Finally, he reached his prize - the vault. The vault door was at the far end of a large circular chamber. The chamber was sterile and futuristic, and the vault door was huge and imposing, built with dark grey steel. Jac had two more tasks to get past the vault: first to unlock the door and then pass a facial recognition test. The recognition test was taken care of as he had a photorealistic latex mask of the casino manager, André Kaplan.
So here he was, working on getting the giant vault door open with only his reputation and personal wealth on the line. The door was complicated, but nothing he hadn’t seen before. He had broken into vaults of this calibre before, but each one had their own unique difficulties. All it needed was absolute concentration and zero distractions, which thankfully he was getting for now, another advantage to working alone.
The final clicks were always the hardest but the door eventually unlocked, and Jac could now hear the internal cogs clanging and banging as the giant door unlocked itself. That sigh of relief when a vault unlocks was always the greatest part of any robbery. But before he could open the door properly, the last remaining obstacle was the facial recognition camera. From his backpack he retrieved the latex mask. It was a work of art and would make Ethan Hunt envious. He stretched the mask over his head and spent several minutes adjusting it perfectly around his face. He smoothed out the seams around his neck, eyes and mouth and flexed his jaw. He now looked unmistakably like Mr. Kaplan and every aspect of the mask was perfect and flawless, He even had eye lenses with projections of Kaplan’s Iris’s, and so he leant over and stared into the big camera lens. There began a few whirring sounds as the scanner ran across his face and before long a big red notice appeared on the screen – DENIED.
What?!
Jac hastily put his face in front of the camera again – DENIED. He readjusted his position - DENIED. He smoothed out more areas of the mask and readjusted his eye lenses, but again - DENIED.
This was just unbelievable. Never in all his career had he got this wrong, and any facial recognition mask he had produced was done with the greatest care and attention. The photographic scans of Kaplan’s face were pixel-perfect, and the colouring and detail of the skin were without fault. What was happening? Jac knew he was the best, and every other thief in the world knew he was the best, but now he stood wondering if they had they finally developed technology that could beat him? No, he thought it was impossible as he was always well informed on the latest developments in the security industry, and he was always ahead of the technology.
Further attempts were fruitless and Jac was now forced to consider retreating. Like any good thief, he had an exit plan but only had a few moments to put it into action as surely a DENIED entry to the main vault would have triggered an alarm somewhere. So, after scrunching up his face a few times in absolute despair he stuffed everything into his backpack and turned back the way he had come.
But then, as he was rushing back to the previous security door it burst open and dozens of armed guards ran in, all with laser scopes pointed at his chest.
“Freeze!” The voices cried and very quickly Jac had his hands in the air. Jac couldn’t believe this, he knew he must have been sold-out by one of his informants. The mark of a great thief was their ability to evade capture, so this was now a disaster!
From the sea of armed guards crowding the chamber a man pushed his way through and faced Jac, it was none other than Mr. Kaplan himself.
“Mr. Lau, I must say this is most disappointing.” Kaplan began.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t come for your vault?” Jac replied.
“No, Idiot! I’m disappointed that you didn’t break into it.”
Jac was suddenly confused, “What?” he said.
Kaplan grabbed Jac by the arm and led him back to the vault door; the guards kept their weapons raised and shuffled close behind.
“I was really hoping you would be able to break into our vault.” Kaplan said.
“Why? I can’t get in.”
“Neither can we!” Kaplan cried.
“Why? This casino has the most sophisticated security in the world?” Jac said.
“And that’s we can’t get in!” Kaplan replied, “It’s too complicated and nothing works! Our digital chips keep breaking. Our security cameras keep disconnecting. Fingerprint security keeps malfunctioning. And now, the million-dollar facial recognition doesn’t bloody work! I am the only one authorised to enter the vault and the damn thing doesn’t recognise my own face! It’s a disaster and we are locked out of our own vault. We have lost access of millions of dollars!”
Jac looked at him sympathetically, “You have too much technology,” he said.
“I don’t want too much technology; I just want a key! Just one simple key to open the damn door so I can get our money!”
Jac nodded in agreement “That would help me a lot, too.”
“A seventy-million dollars and nothing works!”
“I’m sorry.” Jac said as he gave Kaplan a gentle pat on the shoulder.
“No, I’m sorry. I would love you to stay and help with the door. But unfortunately, I must have you arrested now.”
“I understand.” Jac said.
“You will get a long sentence, I fear.”
“I’ll break out within a year, don’t worry,” Jac assured him, to which Kaplan nodded with brotherly approval.
Behind them, the armed guards again stepped aside and someone new entered the chamber. It was the gorgeous lady at the bar that Jac had been flirting with. She was still in her makeup and wearing her long, red Maxi dress whilst sporting a pair of handcuffs. She announced herself as Interpol and Jac rolled his eyes as she clicked the cuffs around his wrists.
“Well, I hope you get the door open.” Jac said to Kaplan.
“Thank you. When you are out, give me a call,” Kaplan said as he slyly slipped a business card into Jac’s fingers. As the gorgeous Interpol agent prepared to lead him away, there was a moment of solidarity between Jac and Kaplan, a new friendship had been made, and both men stood at the foot of the giant steel door wondering how best to break in.
The End.
Comments