The Heist (8 page)

“
Huv ye loast
yer fucking marbles, Commander?” Shuggie stood in his boxer shorts,
staring at him with an incredulous look on his face. Xavier opened
his eyes, staring in confusion at him, then glancing at the pillow
that was partially over his face.

“
Why the fuck
were ye licking yer pillow?”

“
More to the
point, what the fuck are you doing in my room?” Xavier threw the
pillow behind his head and used the back of his hand to wipe the
drool that had somehow been on his chin.  

“
Ye woke me
up, wi’ yer moans and strange noises. Ah thought at first ye were
being attacked!”

It was then
that Shuggie noticed, approximately two and three quarters of a
second before Xavier did, that his Commander was sporting a two man
tent under his sheets.  That was Shuggie’s cue to get the hell
out of there.

“
Just get tae
sleep fucksakes. Ye were loud enough tae wake the undead!” It was
difficult to tell who was more embarrassed, but from where Shuggie
was standing, he reckoned it was definitely him.

Xavier
blinked, then scrubbed his face with a hand as he lay in the dark,
half dazed and trying to figure out what the fuck had just
happened. He must have been dreaming of the female who tried
to run him off the road the day before — Friera. Yes, Friera, the
little pocket rocket.  And whilst he was dreaming, he must
have been talking in his sleep, which had woke Shuggie from his
death sleep. None of that explained why his mouth tasted of
pillow and why his cock was giving a full salute. Eyeballing the
time on his cell, he groaned and closed his eyes.  His cock
would have to take care of itself, he was just too damn tired to
move.

Plus, he thought with an
evil grin forming on his lips, if he fell asleep quick enough, he
might just be able to retrieve the last of that dream…

The thief
activated the last of the disposable cell phones. The culmination
of all the heists was nearing. Although the thief always worked
alone, it was necessary to have contacts to gather information and
be an extra set of eyes and ears. Using disposable cell phones
made it easier to have untraceable numbers, thus ensuring there was
no direct link to track.  And since this was the biggest job
to date, contact was necessary to ensure the meticulous plans
weren’t foiled. It just wasn’t about the goods that were being
taken, this was about control and the downfall of the Belcastro
Empire. Besides that it was necessary to keep an eye on the
authorities. Suspicions were already being raised regarding the
crates that were currently at border control that housed the loot
from all of the Mexican heists.

“
Fuckers are
getting wise. Lucky for me, the Belcastros are my last hit. Just
make sure that the goods I’m shipping to you are unpacked, checked
over against the itinerary I’ve e-mailed you then distribute as
arranged. The art dealers and jewellers are waiting and as soon as
they receive the crates payment will be made. The weapons are en
route to the warehouse. You may be useful to me now, but you don’t
fucking touch them until I set foot on home soil, are we
understood? Good, now fuck off and start getting ready — control is
about to be mine and soon I will have an army to build!”

The call was
abruptly ended as the cell phone was crushed in the palm of the
gloved hand. The last of the stolen flash drives were downloaded
onto the memory of the laptop and then were destroyed the same way
as the cell…crushed. Backups were taken in the form of new flash
drives that were then concealed on the thief’s person.

The
information was like winning the Lotto! Every crew member’s details
— birth certificates, home addresses, and bank details to their
ranking in the crew was documented. One flash drive also listed
where the warehouses were located, as well as a catalogue of the
illegal contents held within. The docks were the main thoroughfare
for the entire Belcastro operation.

With a smug
grin, the thief made numerous checks that all was in order and then
closed the laptop down. It was time for some shut eye. Every ounce
of energy for the heist of his existence to date would be needed.
 This day would be a defining moment, and there was no room
for surprises or failure.

Not today.

Both men sat in silence
over the breakfast table.  

A very uncomfortable
silence.

Xavier looked
up from his plate of eggs, sausage and bacon to see Shuggie tearing
into his third bag of blood.  Mopping up the last morsels on
his plate with some bread, he could feel his friend’s eyes boring
into him.

“
If you have
something to say to me, spit it out like a cheap whore, yeah?” In
truth, Xavier knew exactly what was pissing Shuggie off, and didn’t
particularly want to hear it.

“
Ah think yer working too hard, Commander. Actually...”
Shuggie put down the drained bag and wiped his mouth with a napkin,
“
...we
think yer working too hard, ahn the stress is beginning tae
show.”

“
We
?”
Xavier sat back in his chair and looked over at Shuggie. “Who the
fuck are ‘we’?” he said, giving him a pointed look.

Shuggie
shifted uneasily in his seat before replying. “Ah, well, ye see the
thing is that you’ve no been quite yersel lately, so ah took it
upon ma’sel tae speak tae the Doc oan yer behalf.”

Banging his
fists on the table, Xavier leaned forward, growling, “What fucking
right did you have to do that?” The look he gave was murderous, and
Shuggie remained in place his demeanour calm. He had been
anticipating this reaction.

“
Calm doon
Commander, ah hud jist mentioned tae her that ye seemed a bit
aff.”

This did nothing to
temper Xavier’s mood, in fact he was increasingly darkening as he
listened to Shuggie’s explanation.

“
I’m going to spell this out for the hard of thinking,” he
glared at Shuggie. “There is
fuck
all wrong with me. I do
not
suffer from stress,
and if I find out you are gossiping about me behind my back again I
will put my fist down your throat and punch you a new one, we clear
Lieutenant?”

Undeterred by
Xavier’s threats, Shuggie continued, “Ye huv become obsessed with
that Friera wummin.” Oh god was
that
a worry — that old decrepit
harridan who lived in the main town. “So much so that ye are
shouting fur her in yer damn sleep!” He was on the verge of
enquiring whether the next stage was necrophilia as Friera looked
like she already had one foot in the grave!

Just as
Xavier was about to go napalm on Shuggie, his cell
rang. Pulling it out of his pocket he answered it, but his
eyes were trained the whole time on Shuggie as he imagined ninety
nine different ways of annihilating him right now. He was getting
quite creative with the methods, until his attention was brought
back to the phone call.

“
I’ll be there
in fifteen.”

Ending the call, Xavier
stood up

“
This conversation is
not
fucking over, yeah?” As he
grabbed his weapons and started for the door, he shouted without
looking back, “The Belcastro mansion was targeted this afternoon,
but the alarms scared them off.  You stay here and run over
the CCTV footage to see what shows. I’m going there to shut off the
alarm and find out what the fuck happened.  Keep your comms
open at all times, otherwise I’ll fix it so you have a visit with
the Doc that I can guarantee neither of you will enjoy —
understand?” The last word was punctuated with the door slamming
closed behind him.

“
Well, that
went well, considering’,” Shuggie thought as he got up and headed
downstairs to his workstation.

****

Alicia glanced
at the clock and she gave a lazy smile.  She’d taken a quick
nap when she returned to the hotel as the heat was getting too
intense, but she’d managed to sleep well into the afternoon, 3 p.m.
to be exact.
She was normally a creature
of habit, mornings being her favourite time of day. She always woke
around 6 a.m. giving her enough time to wake properly, enjoy her
cup of earl grey tea and suck her first cherry heaven of the day
without them being rushed. Apart from the lolly, Alicia never ate
breakfast. But here in Mexico? Here she had enjoyed the indulgent
long lies, full breakfasts and intermittent naps that she was
allowing herself to have.

Her evenings had
typically been late ones.  After dining alone, Alicia would
take a long walk, perhaps catch the last of the entertainment that
the hotel provided.  With the heady mix of humidity from the
Mexican heat and her excursions, she was exhausted by the time she
belly flopped onto the king-sized bed in her hotel room.

But today was
the last day of her vacation, so she had ordered brunch in bed so
that she could relax for as long as possible. Alicia had packed her
case last night, leaving only the essentials out for today. As she
checked over her outfit that was laid out over the chair, she
grinned. It was perfecto!

She wanted
nothing to ruin this day for her. Slipping from the sheets, her
pink manicured toes hit the cold tiles and Alicia shivered a little
when warm met cold as she padded through to the shower room.
 Hitting the dial, the shower came to life. She liked the room
to be filled with steam.  It cleared the tubes, and thanks to
her little routine she was pleased to say she’d never suffered as
much as a common cold. As the water pelted from the shower, she
closed the door behind her to keep the steam in as she returned to
the bedroom.

Just then
there was a knock at the door — food had arrived, and just in time
as she was famished!

After taking
her time to enjoy the rich, freshly prepared meal she could feel
the liquid sloshing around in her full belly. But she reminded
herself that this was her relaxing time and it was custom to eat
and drink too much whilst sunning yourself. As she dabbed her mouth
with the cloth napkin, she tipped the service attendant for being
so prompt and providing such a mouth-watering brunch — it had been
delightful — and wished him a pleasant day as he stared at her for
a moment, looked at his hands with the generous tip, panicking that
he was behind schedule and rushed out the door.

Once she had
drank what was left of the pot of tea, she returned back to the
shower room.  By now, the steam was billowing out from the
door. Ahh! Just the way she liked it!

The shower
she took was a long and relaxing one, standing under the spray head
for what felt like eternity.  The jet spray undid all the
knots in her muscles from her lengthy sleep. Her journey home was a
long one, so one so she made sure she took her time.  Check
out was at 2:00 p.m., but her flight home wasn’t until midnight.
 After she left the room she would have a whole lot of time on
her hands with nothing but her own thoughts to fill her
day.

Once the
routine of wash-dry-dress was complete, she slipped her feet into
the eighteen holed pink docs she never left home without, her
babies securely placed into their hiding places before turning her
attention to her hair.  With a quick blast of the dryer
Alicia’s natural brunette waves fell over her shoulders.

Alicia never
bothered with make-up. She could never understand why people wore
it in the first place. Cherry lip-gloss was the only product along
with her moisturizers that touched her skin. Wrapping her black
leather jacket around her waist, she placed her shades on top of
her head, took a final scan about the room to ensure she’d left
nothing behind and she was ready to leave.  Grabbing her case
from the where it was sitting at the door, she made her way to
reception to book out, thankful that the hotel offered a holding
room for luggage until the airport transport arrived later that
evening.

Thanking the
staff for her wonderful experience, Alicia looked at her watch,
slung her passenger bag over her shoulder and walked out of the
resort heading west. She had a day to fill before she flew
home…didn’t she say before this was going to be a day to
remember...?

A change of
tactics never does anyone any harm, especially when the target of
your desire knows you are coming for them.

All bugs
within the Belcastro mansion were still in place. Whoever they had
employed to enhance the security systems couldn’t be that
good.
But then again
, the thief thought concealed within the brush located at the
back of the property,
I’ve never been
caught to date because I
am
that good!

The thief
wasn’t stupid or sloppy in his line of business, knowing exactly
what he was doing.  Timing is everything and as the
Belcastro’s would be expecting an unwanted visitor at nightfall,
this heist would be done during daylight
hours. Professionalism meant the art of tactical surprise and
never leaving any clues behind.

Snr Belcastro
was in his Mansion enjoying an early evening meal alone. This was
going to be easier than initially thought!
The dining room was situated to the back of the property, the
safe and vaults were to the west wing.  No one would hear the
intruder but by the time place had been ransacked over and the
Mafia Don realised what had happened? The thief would be gone,
already on the way to continuing onto stage two of their grand
plan.