Last Minute Plans

The rain came down softly, but still managed to help the darkness cover our entry. The inside man was Clyde. He was planted to gain some information, turned out to be a great idea. It didn’t take long before he found what we were looking for.
“Yea I’ve got the key, and the patrol is slow, this should be cake”, says Clyde
Diving in the night was a breeze for the most part, I only had to dodge the occasional truck and granny drivers. When I got the first call I wasn’t quite sure, how things would work out, me being over twenty minutes away. Orchestrating a move with that much of a delay didn’t seem likely, but Clyde assured me the watch was loose and that with some darkness it should be an easy job, now hearing that he still managing to keep his voice calm and cool decreased my doubts.
I asked, “Are you sure, all we need is a transport?”
“I’ve been thinking it over; we might need a bit of muscle and an eye.” Clyde responds.
I was already half way, we would need someone who was already in the area, and willing to take a chance on a last minute job.
“There are only a few people in your area, I can figure, who’d be willing and able to pull this off on such short notice. One of them I don’t think you’ll like much.” I said
“Just spit it out, we really don’t have time to be picky.” Clyde says, getting a little bit of a shaky voice.
“Peterson will help us for sure, he’s been bored for the last three months.” I say.
“Yea he’s exactly the kind of muscle we can use. He even takes less pay then most, but the eye. That should be an easy one, this job just needs someone, not really a pro.”
“I agree but he’s still got to be ready and willing right now, I’ll call Jakes but, lately he’s had plenty to do, it’s more likely well be stuck with Ace.”
“Ace! We aren’t that desperate. He won’t even make it through the gate without passing out.”
“Don’t be like that, he’s jittery sure, but he’ll do the job, and for less then even Peterson. Can you think of any one else?”
“Hold on… look I’ve got to hang up I hear the patrol coming around, and I’ve got to get some work done, or they’ll get suspicious. Get Ace if you have to, but keep him on a leash or I’ll shut him up.”
“Yea, I’ll do what I can, talk to you in a bit.”
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The plan was simple. We were going to get into some sort of ware house. The inside man would open the gate leading to the warehouse area. The trick was only one car could be in the area within the gates. If anyone glanced and noticed more then one car, or if they didn’t see any, a patrol would surely go to check it out. Once my truck was switched with Clyde’s, Ace would play our eyes and watch for patrols. We’d have Peterson as extra man power to break in, and move what we found, apparently since Clyde asked for muscle he already saw something big he wanted. Then back in the truck and out the gate, the rest would be up to Clyde’s acting skills, it didn’t really concern or worry me.

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As predicted I managed Peterson and Ace. They were in the back seat. Peterson rarely said much of anything, his demeanor was that of a drone, just did what he was told. Unless you forgot him when it came to sharing the earnings, he was the best kind of thief, a far as I was concerned, the honest kind, like me. Ace on the other hand…
“I’ve got to pee, before this goes down” Ace pleads.
“You can’t be serious, you had a good 15 minutes while I was driving to you” I can’t say I was happy.
“For most jobs I get a good 2 weeks! I have a ritual, plus I’m not even supposed to be playing the eye. I’m research and surveillance.”
“What do you think surveillance is?”
“Surveillance with a camera, and a good distance between me and any patrols, I’m not used to actually being in the field.”
“You’ve done it before, we don’t have time to set up the cameras, and if you pee in my car I swear Peterson’s jobs will double.”
Peterson was like a Swiss army knife, as long as it didn’t deal with living people, he could do it. He wasn’t a killer, as far as I know, but he wasn’t above roughing up someone. He could also easily get rid of a body, lots of people claim to be able to, but he can actually make a 250 pound guy completely disappear. Ace weighed around 120 pounds.
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We arrived at the spot, the rain followed me all the way, and planned to stick around as our fifth member.
“Ok, I’m going to call Clyde now, so ace you keep your mouth shut.”
Clyde answers, “Right on time. So who’d you managed to dig up?”
I turned around and glanced at ace and Peterson in the back. Ace shifted in his seat. I was unsure whether he actually had to pee or if it was just his normal shaky self.
The good news was Clyde seemed to have regained his composure.
“Just who I told you I’d get” I said.
“He’d better have improved from the last time, we’re going to have to make a quick entrance and an even faster exit.”
“Ok, so what’s going too happen.”
Ace whispers, “Man I really have to go, can’t I go while you two talk.”
Clyde shouts, “Shut up Ace”
“Yea man come on, I told Clyde you’d be cool. Bite your lip, squeeze your legs, and show some self control.”
“I’m going to kill him!” everyone in the car heard that.
“You stay cool too, we don’t need you adding to Aces nonsense”
“Ok, ok, in a few the Patrol will stroll by soon, I’m going to fly out of the gates and meet up with you all. We’ll have maybe 45 sec to get back in ”
“Sounds simple enough, but don’t you think they’ll see the difference between your silver car and my blue truck?”
“That’s the risk we’ll have to take, but between the rain, distance, darkness, and odd angle, I think it’s unlikely they’ll notice. The thing is, with only like 45 sec we won’t have time to plant Ace in the ditch.”
“Na, I can handle that. We will be ready.”
I shut the phone and glance to the back seat again.
“Ace, your job has changed a little. In like 2-3 minutes, Clyde’s going to come barreling down, we will have a very short time to get in the gates. The way in is not really paved, so with the rain, it’ll be muddy. That’s going to make us drive slowly, so we can avoid making a lot of noise. This leaves very little time to plant you in the ditch.”
“My spot is a ditch!”
“At least you can pee in there and stop crying. Listen up, the cell phone has Clyde’s number in every speed dial, so just get one going, if you see anything. Oh, and um… we’re not going to stop, so get in the bed of the truck and be ready to jump out, into the ditch.”
“What! Are you crazy?”
“Yea, it’s going to be a little muddy, but it’s the best spot, you’ll have a good view of everything, plenty of room to move around, while staying concealed.”
“That’s all assuming I don’t break my leg getting in!”
“I hope you don’t, we’ll be leaving faster then we came in. So when we come back for you, we aren’t exactly going to… stop.”
He went from shaky to near hysteria.
“I can’t do this.”
“There isn’t time. Get in the bed of the truck. We’ll discuss your extra compensation when we’re out of here.”
“I really can’t do this, it’s beyond me.”
I kind of felt bad for him, but it’s not that far of a fall, and he’d be landing on mud. He didn’t seem to want to get out but Paterson’s glare pushed him into the rain.
My phone vibrated, I quickly answered.
“He’s passing me now. Get to the passengers seat and leave the car running. Diving in here isn’t that easy, and with the rain, we doing need any mistakes.”
“Ok, but keep it steady and slow because…”
“Here I come!” the other side went dead.
I quickly opened the door and ran to look at ace. He lay on his back. He didn’t seem to need a bathroom anymore, it looked more like praying to me.
“Open your eyes, we can’t have you have you miss that ditch, here’s the phone.”
He took it, seemingly to scared, to speak.  Just as well, I guess, we didn’t have time for a pep talk. I ran to the other side and got in the passengers seat. I was beginning to feel a little nervous my self, but a quick glance into Peterson’s bored eyes, helped.
I watched as Clyde drove in splashing and scratching, he came in from in front of us and did a “U” turn to stop behind my truck. He was quick to exit and sprint to the drivers side.
“Easy… where’s ace?” he said as he opened the door and moved into driving position.
“Ok, look Ace is back there, when we near the bridge slow down a bit so he can jump in the ditch.”
“Hahaha, I don’t even think I would’ve made him do that. You’re just mean, but it is the best way. I’ll slow down just a bit.” He smiled at that and we were off.
The way in was more or less straight forward, but I could see how not knowing the area would cause problems. There were pot holes and the path was rather narrow. When we crossed the small bridge Clyde did slow down a bit, and since I didn’t hear a cry in agony I figured Ace was ok. Or maybe I was as mean as Clyde thought, and figured if he was actually hurt, he could sit there till we get an opportunity to pick him up later in the night.
Clyde made an abrupt stop, and flew out the car saying, “Quick follow me.”
We ran to the warehouse. Inside it we found a small forest of junk from old computers, to furniture.
“So how much time do we have?” I asked
“Enough, I wouldn’t worry we just have to leave when the patrol is rounding the corner, the opportunity window is a reoccurring one.”
“K so what we snatching, I think it’d be a good idea to get the big thing ready to go.”
Clyde lead us through the stuff to a large metal frame.
“That”, he said pointing
I looked over to Peterson, “Do you think we can carry that?”
He nodded and walked over to inspect it. I glared around, even though the majority of the stuff was old, I was sure I could find a few “diamonds”. The computers were mostly from a time when everything came in beige, floppies were five and a half inches, and a 28k modem was considered turbocharged.
“It’s safe to take anything that isn’t tagged. Basically the system is cataloged on a computer. Stuff that’s tagged is something they plan on using again. If they didn’t take the time to tag it, or if they just missed it, there isn’t any recorded of it in the system at all. So even if someone noticed it missing, there is no documentation it ever existed. In a time when computers don’t lie, we aren’t exactly stealing.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night. In my head, when you take something for free, that someone else paid for, without their permission, is stealing. Maybe I’m just old fashion.”
“Ok, then steal me a hard drive, if you can find one untagged and worth the trouble of removing it.”
He didn’t have to ask I was already looking through the junk. Each box was cleverly designed in different ways of opening, and closing without any screws. I went through quite a few before settling on a hard drive. I also found an untagged chair. Clyde settled on a few phones, and adapters of sorts. Nothing in the room, but the money from the big prize was good enough to keep Peterson interested.
“Lets move this thing closer to the door. We can then set everything around it and get everything in the truck in two runs.” Clyde suggested.
“That’ll work. I’ve been thinking, I don’t see how we’ll be able to pick up Ace.”
“I was considering that my self, but I can see you already have a plan?”
“Yes, it’s easy. He can just stay there till you get off work. That way you can go as slow as you want without looking suspicious and he can sneak in.”
“You do realize if you leave him there, we’ll never get to use him again, and that cell phone of yours is as good as gone.”
“Between the cash, and my new chair, I can take the loss of Ace.”
Clyde shrugged at that and smiled as he dialed to my cell phone.
“Change of plan, your not going to jump in the truck. You’ll wait there till I leave work. I’ll get you then… look I didn’t come up with it… I’ll be driving and if you do I’ll just run you over, just wait for the car… yes, call me later if you want, I don’t get out till 5 am.” With that Clyde shut his phone, glanced at the time 12: 48. Then said, “He seemed ok with it.”
The rest was easy. Quick sprint back and forth between the warehouse and the truck, and we were ready to go. Clyde flew out of the gate, insuring Ace wouldn’t try anything. He changed cars and I drove off.
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A day later I sat, on my new chair, in front of a computer sending the information to Maggie. She wasn’t much for the game, but her attraction to outdoor sport, gave her an interest in adventures. I couldn’t think of anyone else I cared to enlighten.