Travis took out a map of the area surrounding the store and handed it to Jackie. “What’s this for?” Jackie asked.
“It a map of the area,” Travis replied and sat down next to Jackie.
“I know that. What you giving this to me for, is what I’m asking.”
“I’ve decided to delegate parts of the operational control of all future jobs to the two of you. You may be able to see or better anticipate issues than I can. But all of the contingency planning that results from that delegation are subject to my review and approval, and I will integrate them into the larger plan.”
“I think that’s a good idea, Travis,” Ronnie said. “What part of the job am I responsible for?”
“You primary responsibility is the safety of the participants. From your cover position, you are in the best place to see and anticipate issues that arise during the operation, like customers attempting to enter and exit the store, police involvement, stuff like that.”
“What do you mean by police involvement? The way I see it, the way you got the job planned, the driver won’t be able to call for assistance. Even if somebody calls the cops during the job, we should still have enough time get away before police response time.”
“True, but suppose a cop car just happens to roll into the parking lot to pick up some fresh donuts or something. In that case, what will you do from your cover position to maintain the safety of the participants and the security of the objective?”
“I understand,” Ronnie said, smiling. Travis thought that giving them, especially Ronnie, a more active roll in the planning stages of the job would not only give Ronnie a much needed boost of confidence, but they would be better able to anticipate issues.
“Now, you both have your assignments. I expect a report of any contingencies in two hours,” Travis announced.
“Two hours! How about we get back to you with our contingency plans in a couple of days? That will give us time to go over the whole job,” Jackie offered.
“No. We haven’t got that kind of time.”
“Why is that?” Ronnie asked. “When you planning on runnin’ this job?”
“Tomorrow morning. We meet here at 7:45 sharp. Any questions?”
Neither Ronnie nor Jackie said a word. They had complete confidence in Travis and trusted his judgment as well as his planning skills.
“Good. Let’s get to it then. Who got some weed?” Travis asked, remembering that Mystique had smoked up all of his.
“I do,” Jackie said.
“Then we’ll reconvene at Jackie’s house in two hours.”
In two hours, they met at Jackie’s house. In the time that Travis gave them, Jackie had worked out three possible escape routes complete with scenarios for why each was the proper course of action. Ronnie was also hard at work. As Travis had asked, Ronnie had planned for customers attempting to enter and exit the store, what to do if anyone came into the field of operation. As for police involvement, his plan was simple. “If a cop car just happens to roll into the parking lot to pick up some fresh donuts or something, we’ll just have to kill the muthafucka.”
Travis wasn’t happy about that option. In all the robberies that they had run, they never killed anybody. But it was something that was inevitable. He could only hope it wouldn’t come to that.
“Is everybody satisfied with the plan?” Travis asked.
“I think we’ve covered all the bases,” Jackie said.
“Like the white boys on Wall Street used to say, I think we’ve got all our ducks in a row,” Ronnie said in his best white boy imitation.
“Good, then we meet here at 7:45 sharp.”
Chapter Nine
On Monday morning, Me’shelle got out of bed at 6:30, put on her spandex workout clothes and hit the treadmill for her usual five-mile run. While she was running, she thought about what Bruce had said to her the day before.
Naturally, she was concerned about her brother, but she was more concerned about Brandy. Bruce could take care of himself; he always had. Brandy, on the other hand, was just child and not accustomed to dealing with the type of people that her father came in contact with. Lost in her thoughts for Brandy’s safety, Me’shelle stumbled and pulled a muscle in her thigh.
She turned off the treadmill and limped to the phone. She planned to say that she would be a little late for work because the injury was causing her to move slowly. Instead, she decided that she desperately needed a mental health day. She called the school and told them that she would be in the next day if she was feeling better. Me’shelle knew she had to do something to get Brandy out of that situation, so she left the possibility open for another day off if she needed to take it.
Me’shelle got her heat wrap and went back to bed. She lay there thinking, ignoring the pain as best she could as she considered her options to save Brandy. After about an hour, the pain in her leg became more intense. She could no longer ignore it. She got up and paddled her way to the medicine cabinet. When Me’shelle grabbed the empty bottle of Motrin, she realized that she had forgotten to get some more when she was at the grocery store.
Slowly and painfully, Me’shelle got her leather coat and prepared to go to the grocery store to get some Motrin to ease her pain.
That same morning at 7:45 sharp, Jackie and Ronnie arrived at Travis’s place in two stolen cars. Jackie drove an old Toyota Tercell, and Ronnie was in a Ford Galaxy 500 that would be used as the escape vehicle. The night before, Jackie had also stolen an Infinity Q45 and parked it on the escape route.
They knocked on the door. Travis came out right away and they proceeded to the grocery store. They arrived at the store and assumed their positions adjacent to the front of the store, waiting for the armored truck to arrive.
“Sound check. Mr. White?”
“Check, one, check two.”
“Acknowledged. Mr. Green?”
“Sound check, one, two.”
“Acknowledged. Time check,” Travis said.
“Eight-thirty,” Jackie replied.
“Eight-thirty, check,” Ronnie said.
“Acknowledged. Weapons check,” Travis said.
“One pump shotgun, two nine millers, check,” Jackie said.
“One AK-47, two nine millimeters checked and ready,” Ronnie said.
“Acknowledged. Equipment check,” Travis said.
At that point, Jackie turned on the C-Guard. “C-Guard engaged,” she said.
Ronnie took out a cell phone and checked the screen for a signal. “Signal at one hundred percent.” He tried to make a call. “Call cannot be completed.”
“Acknowledged. Maintain operational silence,” Travis said and they waited.
At 8:45, the armored truck turned into the lot and parked in front of the store in perfect position. The bagman exited the vehicle and went into the store. Once again, Jackie engaged the jamming device. “C-Guard engaged,” Jackie said.
“Acknowledged,” Travis shot back. From that point, they waited. Minutes seemed to pass like hours as they sat patiently waiting for the bagman to reemerge from the store. Then, all at once, Travis’s heart began to pound as he watched a red Honda Civic pull into the lot and park two cars down from Jackie. He looked on in horror as Me’shelle got out of the car and limped gingerly pasted Jackie’s car.
“Damn she’s fine,” Jackie said.
