"They came at us fast," Luke said with a sigh.
"Well, the market's only so big. Nobody wants an extra person at the table," Mr. Eisen replied. "Even if they can't block you completely, they'll try to slow you down."
"I was ready for this," Luke said. "You don't climb to the top without weathering a storm. This is just some sneaky, behind-the-scenes nonsense."
"I've got a plan for you. Wanna hear it?" Mr. Eisen offered.
"Spill it."
"Nick Simpson's got a ledger," Eisen said. "It's got records of all his shady, under-the-table deals. If we get our hands on it, we can not only put the squeeze on him but also keep those judges in line."
"Something that important? You really think we can get it?" Luke asked skeptically.
"It won't be easy," Eisen admitted. "Nick carries it with him when he's out and locks it in a safe when he's home."
"So what's the plan?"
Eisen handed over a photo. "This is Nick's place in New York."
The photo showed a high-end apartment building in Long Island. Nick's home was a 3,200-square-foot penthouse on the 26th floor.
"All you gotta do is sneak in while he's asleep, crack the safe, and grab the ledger. Problem solved," Eisen said.
"What? You want me to play cat burglar?" Luke was speechless. Eisen's idea was straight out of a comic book—way too wild.
An old guy with a teenager's imagination.
"Stealing? Nah, taking evidence of illegal stuff isn't stealing. It's justice," Eisen countered.
"Even so, I'm not exactly a lock-picking expert," Luke said. "And I doubt a fancy place like that has weak security cameras."
Eisen pointed to the glass exterior of the building. "The internal security's tight, sure, but the outside? Not so much. You could climb up the exterior at night. Compared to the Burj Khalifa, this is a piece of cake for you."
"And how do I open the safe?" Luke asked. "Even if I find a key in his clothes, don't most safes need a code too?"
"Nick's got three mistresses," Eisen explained. "The passwords for their credit cards are 251790, 179025, and 901725. People don't memorize too many numbers, so you can see his codes are all combinations of 25, 17, and 90. The safe's probably something like 902517. Try a few combos, and you'll crack it."
"You even know that?" Luke asked, incredulous.
"Of course," Eisen said. "A little cash goes a long way. You think a guy like Nick, looking like a walrus, gets genuine love and loyalty from his mistresses?"
"So, what do you think? You in?" Eisen asked.
"…"
Luke was at a loss for words. Eisen was usually so level-headed—how was he coming up with something this crazy?
"Come on, admit it—you're not Eisen. You're some imposter!" Luke teased.
"In the real world, nobody but you could pull this off," Eisen said. "You're practically Superman. Don't you think it'd be cool? Like you're a top agent in Mission: Impossible."
Luke shook his head, serious now. "Even if I were up for it, this plan's a non-starter."
"First, free-climbing a building means using chalk powder, which would leave obvious marks on the glass. They could pull fingerprints from that. If word got out I did something like this, my reputation would be toast."
"Second, even if I wore gloves to avoid prints, who's to say Nick doesn't have cameras in his apartment? A mask might hide my face, but my build would still be recognizable on video."
"And finally, even if everything went perfectly, this kind of stunt would make me way too many enemies. If the billionaire crowd found out I was sneaking into homes, they'd feel threatened. People who didn't care about me before would turn against me."
"So, your plan's a no-go," Luke concluded.
Eisen sighed. "You're right. I knew there'd be issues, but the thought of you pulling off a superhero move in real life was too tempting. Guess we're out of luck on the ledger then. I'll think of something else."
"Who says we can't get it?" Luke said.
"Huh?"
"He carries it with him when he's out, right? I'll just ram his car with mine, stage a little fender-bender, and grab the ledger. Done."
"That simple? That's your plan?" Eisen asked, stunned.
"Real-world business wars are straightforward like that," Luke said with a shrug.
Forget all the flashy nonsense. In reality, business battles are more like a CEO throwing punches at a manager or a shareholder swiping the company seal. That's the kind of stuff that actually happens.
Or even weirder moves, like sneaking into a rival's office and pouring boiling water on their "lucky" money tree for some metaphysical sabotage.
It's all about keeping it simple, effective, and easy to pull off.
"You're not worried about stirring up trouble with that?" Eisen asked.
"Trust me, I'll control the impact," Luke said confidently. "I'll hit just hard enough for his airbags to pop out. He'll be dazed from the crash, but nothing serious."
His master-level driving skills, useless on a movie set, were about to shine in the real world.
Luke knew he could time and calibrate the crash perfectly to avoid any irreversible damage.
A minor accident with no real injuries? That's easy to smooth over afterward.
"Even if you're that confident in your driving, a crash with Nick's gonna bring some heat," Eisen pointed out.
"There's barely any cameras on the streets here," Luke said. "I'll bring Bob along. After the crash, I'll hand the car off to him, let him deal with Nick, and I'll walk away clean. I won't even be at the scene."
Even in 2024, American streets don't have many cameras—let alone in 2003.
As long as Luke picked a spot without surveillance, he could stage the crash, grab the ledger, and bounce.
Bob could handle the aftermath, leaving Luke in the clear.
"Sounds like it might actually work," Eisen said, warming to the idea.
"You bet it will. Let's do it," Luke said.
"You shot down my Mission: Impossible real-life stunt, but now you're out here playing Fast and Furious," Eisen said, a little bitter.
Luke just grinned.