2. Aleksandras
I park Morty’s beat-up old pickup truck a few houses away from the address Victor gave me. It’s a quiet, tree-lined street in a nice part of town, the kind of place where people walked their dogs and kids rode their bikes without a care in the world. I feel out of place here, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but it’s a feeling I’ve grown used to over the years.
I pull my hoodie up to cover my head and approach the house cautiously, sticking to the shadows cast by the tall oaks lining the sidewalk. It’s a modest, two-story home with a well-kept lawn and flowers in the front garden. Sort of small, though. Not what I expected for the daughter of a lawyer, but I can see why she’d choose this place over the campus dorms. It has a certain charm, a sense of peace that dorms don’t offer.
I scan the exterior, looking for a way in. The windows on the ground floor are all shut tight, but maybe there’s a back door that might be an easier target. Victor said I need to be inconspicuous, so breaking in isn’t an option. Maybe I can pick the lock. I creep around the side, careful to avoid the crunch of gravel underfoot. Just as I’m about to step onto the back porch, I see it.
A small, black device nestled in the corner of the porch roof. A camera. Fuck! I look around and spot another one near the garage...and another on the side of the house. This place is rigged with security cameras, all expertly concealed. Must be a precautionary measure Kenji put in place after Victor’s goons ransacked his office.
I quickly step back into the shadows, pulling my hoodie tighter around my face. Victor hadn’t mentioned anything about cameras. I’d assumed this would be a simple in-and-out job, but this house is more secure than I’d anticipated. There’s no way I can get inside without being seen.
The last time I got busted was because an alarm went off during a jewelry store heist. I planned everything down to the last detail, but that one unexpected spanner in the works landed my ass in jail. I’m not taking a risk like that again.
I need a new plan. Somehow, I have to get her to let me in willingly . How the hell am I going to pull that off? I can’t just cut the electricity off here and pretend to be a repair guy. That will tip Kenji off immediately. I need something more creative than that.
My mind toys with potential ideas as I walk to the front of the house again. I just need to—
“Are you looking for someone, young man?”
My eyes spring up to see an old lady sitting on her porch across the street. She definitely wasn’t there when I got here, so I don’t think she saw me creep around back. My tats are all covered up, but the hoodie is probably pretty suspicious.
It’s more than likely that there are cameras in the front as well, so I need distance to distort my features. I walk across the street before taking the hoodie off my head and fake the most charming smile I can muster. “Good morning, ma’am. Sorry if I startled you. I was just looking for Katelyn. We take...” What did Victor say she’s studying again? “...biochemistry together, and she told me I could come by and...pick up a...textbook.”
That sounds believable, right?
The fact that I know these details sets her at ease. “She didn’t give you a time?”
“No, ma’am...or maybe she did, and I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Well, Katelyn is a very dedicated and diligent student. She spends most of her time studying at the campus library. Most days, she only gets home after six. Shall I tell her you came by?”
Absolutely not . “Nah, that’s alright. I’m heading back to campus now, anyway. I’ll give her a call and meet her at the library to get it.” I nod to signal the end of the conversation. “You have a good day now.”
“You, too.”
My annoyance escalates as I retreat to my truck. I should’ve known this job wasn’t as easy as Victor made it out to be. And just when I think it can’t get worse, a car zooms past, lights flashing, and parks in front of the house. The sticker on the side door tells me it’s a private security company.
I check the watch on my phone. Three minutes. With that kind of response time, even if I broke in, I’d never find the files and get out before they arrived. That’s another spanner in the works.
I watch as two armed men get out of the car. One of them greets the old lady, and she must explain that I was a friend of Katelyn’s because, after a brief chat, they wave and hop back into the car.
I wait for them to drive away before I start the ignition to avoid suspicion. That did not go the way I thought it would.
Okay. Time to regroup. I’ve got nineteen days (well, eighteen now) and one shot. I’m going to go back to Morty’s trailer, come up with a solid plan, and then try again tomorrow.