Viktor Bakos leaned on the railing and looked out at the city from the balcony of his six million dollar penthouse suite. "Who ARE these people?" He asked his head of security.

I don't need to tell you the name of the head of security because he will be gone in the next paragraph. "I don't know." He admitted to his boss.

"You're fired." Bakos told him.

Viktor Bakos was not a nice guy. He didn't earn his immense wealth by playing nice. He called one of his rougher associates, known as The Snake. It was a very short call. "I need you," was all he said.

~~~

Nick was puzzled. He had spent the last hour with his sister's husband's niece and they were no closer to finding Bakos' hidden cash. "Are you sure that ultrasound will pick up money?" He asked for the second or third time.

"Positive. Gimme a twenty." She stuck the bill in a book and ran the wand over the cover. "Look, see that strip? That shows up like a big fluorescent banner. If there's any cash in these boxes, this will show it. Maybe you got the wrong truck."

Nick rejected that thought. "We still got a bunch of boxes to go. Ya need anything?"

"I'm gonna hafta get this machine back to the clinic in two hours. You bring the boxes to me. That'll help."

They finally set aside two smallish boxes that were showing the distinctive imbedded ribbon. Far less than what he had expected to find. Several other boxes seemed to hold folders. Nick was suspicious. "I gotta get a look at that stuff," he muttered.

"Go to a craft store and get yourself some Undo," she told him. "It's a solvent that will loosen the tape without destroying it. When it evaporates, just smooth the tape back down and no one will ever know it has been opened."

~~~

Bakos read the note and shook his head. "They want a hundred grand and they'll tell me where my stuff is. They have no idea what they got. Amateurs!" He balled up the note and threw it in the general direction of the waste basket.

"So ya gonna pay them?" The Snake asked.

"Yeah. But record every bill. Feed the numbers to our contact at the FBI. When they try to spend the cash, you'll be there."

The Snake went quiet for a moment, savoring the idea of catching up to the crooks. Then he sketched a salute to his boss, said "looks like I got work to do,"  and left.

~~~

"What's gonna stop him from tracking the payoff?" Smiley worried.

"I'm sure he will," Nick replied. "That's why you are gonna be working at the UPS warehouse when the package comes in. Scan in his box with all the others but swap the barcode labels with the ones I'm gonna give you. The cash will come to us and he will track the new box someplace else. I'll send him to New Jersey. He likes shell games so I'm gonna give him one."

Nick shipped five boxes the same size and weight as he had specified to Bakos. All hit the UPS facility on the same day. By the time he was done, Smiley had reassigned tracking numbers on each of them. Four went to diverse addresses all around the city, the diverted ransom money went to an address only Nick knew, and the box with Bakos' tracking number went to New Jersey.

The plan worked perfectly. With the cash safely stowed in his closet, Nick met the team at the diner. "Tomorrow we split it up and I'll tell Bakos where to get his stuff. Gentlemen, well done."

The Snake was fuming as he drove back into the city from Newark. Round one went to the amateurs but sooner or later they would spend the cash and he would be there.

He grinned in anticipation.