How I Rob Banks

Chapter 23What We Do in the Shadows

My job takes me to some incredible locations. Due to a fear of heights I didn't set foot onto a plane until I was 40, but since then, I have been flown around the world by clients to over 20 countries, put up in luxury five-star hotels, and had the pleasure of waiting things out beside turquoise seas while sipping non-alcoholic cocktails as the sand warms my feet.

But that is more the exception than the rule. People often think that my work is non-stop fun, and while that can be true in some circumstances, there is a lot of paperwork to be done! I get requests all the time from colleagues or strangers asking if I can take them along on jobs. Maybe they want the thrill of it, or maybe they want to get a job doing what I do. I almost always have to say no due to client sensitivity, but now and then I have been able to bring some colleagues along on an assessment.

On one particular recon mission, I brought a colleague along. It was the dead of night in a big city. We parked nearby and crept around the perimeter of the building. The flash exterior of the entrance was just for show; the boring grey brickwork on the other sides of the building was much more appealing to me.

We took about an hour to walk the entire perimeter, making sure we were not picked up by CCTV and that we did not look suspicious to anyone who could see us. After a quick recon mission, my colleague assumed we were done and was already getting sore feet. We had just started. ...