“They’ll be leaving any time now,” I said. “Then we go.”
Night came quickly. The air was heavy with the smell of rain. A salesman left the showroom and drove away. Moments later the lightate
“Okay,” I said, exhaling a nervous breath. “I’ll go in through the employee entrance. When I signal, the three of you follow. Move quick and low, and keep the guns in your jackets.”
Malone tried to smile, then shook my hand.
Wayne said to Tony, “You ready, man?”
“Yeah,” Tony said, and they tapped fists. “Let’s get paid.”
TWENTY-NINE
I walked to the curb with my knapsack slung across my back. A car approached, and I turned my face in the direction it was heading, letting it pass. When the car disappeared around a curve, I ran quickly across the street, through the Nutty Nathan’s parking lot to the double glass doors of the employee entrance.
I felt my hand shaking a bit as I put the key in the lock. The key began to turn but then stopped. I pulled back slightly on the door and put pressure on the key. It caught and turned.
A high-pitched note sounded as I entered. I pressed the numbers one, two, four, and three in sequence on the keypad of the alarm box. The red light above the keys turned to green and the sound stopped.
I pulled a penlight from my pocket, pointed it at the van, and flashed it twice. A car drove by on the road and then another. I stepped back into the darkness of the stairwell.
The three of them were running across the road as the second set of taillights passed. Malone was in front, the others close behind. As they passed through the light of the parking lot, their features became more distinct. Malone’s face seemed to be stretched back. Wayne and Tony were expressionless.
I pushed the door open enough for them to slide in. Though it was a short sprint across the lot, Malone was fighting for breath. Wayne coolly unzipped his jacket and drew the Colt. Tony’s weapon hung over his shoulder by a strap. I relocked the door and motioned them up the stairs with my thumb. We passed under Nathan’s caricature on the way. At the top of the stairs I halted them with my palm.
Though the florescents were off, the office was drawing light from the crime bulbs out in the lot. Some of the terminals had been left on, their amber screens displaying blinking cursors. The office was nearly unrecognizable in its stillness and in the faint yellow glow.
I crouched down and moved along the wall towards my old cubicle. The others were behind me. When I reached my desk, I sat on the floor near my chair and put my knapsack beside me. Malone sat close by.
“Relax,” I said unconvincingly. “Five minutes.”
Tony and Wayne were whispering behind the divider that separated Fisher’s cubicle from mine. There was also the low, unidentifiable hate
The alarm company phoned ten minutes later. I gave the woman my employee ID number and explained that I would be working for a couple more hours. She thanked me and hung up. Though I had been gone more than a week, our personnel director had not called the alarm company to have my name stricken from the list. I had counted on her inefficiency.
“All right,” I said, “let’s go.”
We were back against the wall and retracing our steps. At Marsha’s desk I made a right, the others following. I turned the knob on the third door to the left, opened it, and stepped in.
Except for a block of light that fell in from a large rectangular window on the eastern wall, the room was black. The window looked out into the warehouse. Next to the window was a door, which led to the stairwell landing, which led to the door of the loft. At the bottom of the stairs another door opened to the warehouse itself.
I tugged on Tony’s windbreaker and pulled him closer. I pointed out to the loft and then to the second row of stock that rose up to meet it from the warehouse below.
“Tony, when I let you into the loft, get over to the railing and drop down onto the boxes in that row. You’ve got a long way to crawl to get to the back of the warehouse, but you’ve got time, understand?”
“Yeah,” he said, staring out the window with his mouth open. “When?”
“They should be here soon.”
“What then?” Wayne said.
“There’s an office downstairs with glass walls. We’ll go down the stairwell, out the door to the warehouse, then get into that office-as far back into it as we can. When they’re all together in the back, we make our move.” I pointed to the break in the middle row. “That’s where you cut in, Wayne.”
“Ain’t no thing,” he said, and looked at Tony.
After fifteen minutes a sound came up from below, far away but heavy. We stepped back from the light of the window. One drop of cool sweat rolled down my back.
A figure emerged from below the loft and walked slowly towards the left aisle. The loose-limbed Jamaican was wearing his knit cap and vest. The grip of a pistol stuck up above his rearmost beltloop. He was followed by the tall albino with the single braid. The albino was cradling a shotgun that had a pistollike grip.
“Check that shit out,” Wayne mumbled.
“Mossberg,” Tony said. “Twelve gauge.” For the first time there was a hint of apprehension on his young face.
“When it goes down,” Malone said, his eyes straight ahead, “I’ll be coverin’ that yellow motherfucker. Everybody got that?” The others nodded.
“I go now?” Tony asked.
“No,” I said. “There’s two more, be along soon.”
As I said that, two others followed from beneath the loft. The first man was the one who smashed my face. Both wore heavy jackets that stopped at the waist. I could not see if they were armed.
“Wayne,” I said, before they left our sight. “The man in front has killed before. When you step out, you cover him.”
“They all look like they done some killin’, chief,” Wayne said.
“Maybe so,” I said. “But I’m sure about him. Let’s go, while they’re in the back.”
They followed me to the door in the left corner of the room. We moved out to the stairwell landing. The steel below our feet gave off a soft echo. My key unlocked the next door. I opened it a few inches and looked out at the loft and the warehouse. I jerked my head to Tony in the direction of the railing.
Tony tightened his gunstrap. The MAC hung snugly against his back. He looked back at Wayne, tucked in his head, and was out the door.
He moved quickly across the loft. He climbed over the railing above the second row of stock. He stepped off about two feet to a console carton below. The carton moved under his weight. Then it stopped moving and he was on his stomach, crawling towards the back of the warehouse.
I eased the door closed and pointed down the stairs. The rain had begun, and muffled the vibration of the steps as we descended. I reached for the knob, and turned it slowly until there was a small click. I cracked open the door and looked out.
I heard faraway voices and the rain. I slid out the door and moved along the wall to Dane’s office door. The knob turned in my hand. I left the door ajar as I moved into the darkness.
Malone and Wayne followed me in. Wayne closed the door behind him. They found me in the rear of the office, sitting on the floor with my back to the wall. They sat near me. I felt clammy and wet. I pulled the gun from my knapsack and tossed the knapsack aside.
A motor kicked in. The sound of it grew louder. A spinning shaft of yellow light approached with the sound. I held the Browning tightly between my legs. Then the sound diminished and the light faded.
“Forklift,” I said quietly and saw Malone nod.
There were more voices. I crouched up on the balls of my feet. Two tallish, thin men I didn’t recognize were standing with the albino thirty yards from the office. They would be the buyers. One of them wore his dreadlocks long and out, and carried a briefcase in his right hand. He kept his other hand in his jacket pocket. So did his
