Read Urban Outlaws for Free Online

was a number one shaped like a sword.
    ‘Wait a minute.’ Jack couldn’t disguise the large measure of dubiousness in his voice. ‘You’re saying that’s Proteus?’
    ‘That’s exactly what I’m saying,’ Obi said with an equally large measure of defiance.
    He typed swift commands into the keyboard in front of him and images flashed up on the screens. They all contained the same sword logo.
    Obi did a fast commentary as the images went past. ‘Proteus – first talked about six months ago on the Cerberus forums. Next, two weeks later and word of components being ordered.’ He pointed at copies of scanned receipts. ‘Gyro then managed to get a picture of this.’ Obi clicked the trackerball and a blueprint popped up. It was part of a design for a cooling system. In the top right-hand corner was the sword logo with the word PROTEUS written underneath. Obi let out a breath and looked at them. ‘Well?’
    Charlie shook her head. ‘I don’t even know where to begin.’
    ‘What?’
    She pointed at the blueprint. ‘If they really had a quantum computer, it would fill a room, need all sorts of – well, more than that.’
    ‘Lasers,’ Slink said. ‘That stuff always has lasers.’
    ‘Whatever,’ Charlie said. ‘Look, Obi, my point is two men would not be carrying a quantum computer in a crate. That’s nuts.’
    Obi sighed. ‘Why does no one get it?’ He glanced between them. ‘Don’t you think it’s weird?’
    ‘I think it’s weird,’ Wren said. They looked at her. She blushed. ‘Just saying.’
    ‘And they changed the lock, remember?’ Obi said.
    Charlie frowned. ‘So what?’
    ‘No,’ Jack said in sudden realisation. ‘Obi’s right.’ He hadn’t yet had time to work out what that really meant. He had to hand it to Obi for putting it all together.
    Slink leant against the back of the sofa and yawned. ‘Can you explain it to the rest of us?’
    ‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘there was also a security guard where there wasn’t one before.’
    ‘And,’ Charlie said, catching on, ‘he had a gun.’
    Jack nodded. ‘Exactly. Which means they were protecting something. Something big.’
    ‘So,’ Charlie glanced at the screens, ‘whatever that is –’
    ‘Proteus,’ Obi said under his breath.
    Charlie scowled at him. ‘Whatever was in that crate, it must be important. And those guys don’t look legit.’
    ‘Especially if they have guns,’ Wren said.
    Charlie looked at Jack and her eyes mirrored his excitement. ‘What do you think?’
    Jack smiled and a renewed surge of hope and determination flowed through him.
    If those men were protecting something, that meant it was valuable. If it was valuable, Jack and the others might be able to sell it, or at the very least stop whatever bad things they were up to.
    ‘I’ve no idea what’s in that crate,’ Jack said, ‘but I want to find out.’ The smile turned into a huge grin. ‘Let’s see what toys they’ve got.’
    •   •   •
    By eight o’clock the next night, the group’s initial enthusiasm had long since worn off. All apart from Obi’s, of course – he was beside himself with excitement that they were going to check it out because he was still convinced he was right.
    With any job, the first thing they did was tap into the nearby surveillance cameras and monitor the comings and goings. Obi had that all set up from the previous night, so he didn’t have much to do apart from watch. So far, nothing had happened.
    Jack wondered if their recent excursion had frightened off whoever from whatever it was they were doing.
    He pondered this while he was in the kitchen making dinner. Today’s delicacy was ham and sweetcorn pizza with a side order of cheesy puffs, followed by chocolate chip ice cream with liberal amounts of sprinkles.
    Obi kept glancing over and smacking his lips.
    ‘That’s yours.’ Jack pointed to a bowl of salad.
    Obi screwed up his nose. ‘I’m not eating any more of that rubbish.’
    ‘You promised her