Chapter 52
Jake
People had been pissing Jake off all day at base, and he just wanted to go home and pass out on his bed, but Cole was calling, and Cole never called for no reason.
“What?”
“Aw, did I wake the baby?”
“Fuck you, I’m tired.”
Cole let out a bark, which for him was basically a laugh. “Sorry, brother. This line secure?”
“You know it is.”
“Need a safe guy. You still got your family friends?”
I sat up on my bed and rubbed my forehead. “For a team or—”
“No, he needs to do everything.”
“What is this, Cole?”
“Langford got military files, physical files. We need eyes on wherever he stashes his shit at his house or office.”
“I feel like I’m missing a few steps. Since when is Langford connected to the military?”
“Don’t know. Terry just knows he got classified files sent to him. We need someone quiet and fast to go in, find what we need, and get out. Probably’ll need to crack a safe or two.”
Jake sighed. “Yeah, I got someone.” He hated that guy.
“He might see classified info.”
“He’ll keep his mouth shut or you can kill him, I don’t care.”
“Set it up.”
Cole hung up before Jake could say anything else.
He fell back on the bed and groaned loudly.
His family was filled with all kinds of criminals, and he loved most of them despite his job, but cousin Mickey was…
well, that guy was a piece of shit. But he was also the best when it came to burglary and safes.
He just couldn’t be trusted around anyone’s girl.
Jake called his cousin.
“Who’s this?”
“Fuck you, Mickey. I know you have my number.”
“Cuz! How’s it?”
“You still working at that hardware store?”
“Yeah.” Mickey’s tone changed to all business.
“You still got those fancy remotes? The ones that don’t break easy.” Jake’s phone was secure, but he couldn’t take a chance on Mickey’s.
“Yeah, we got a bunch of them. How many you need?”
“Ten. I keep losing them. Hard to find, you know?”
“Sure sure. They make ‘em too small. Where should I deliver?”
“Billy’s diner, lunch time.” Jake winced and nearly gagged at that code and where it came from.
Mickey chuckled. “My favorite place. See you, Cuz.”
Jake hung up and groaned again. It was around eight, and ‘lunch time’ was midnight. Why? Because once upon a time, Mickey was caught fucking the daughter of a rival gang leader at a motel. Her name? Billy. The time? Midnight. How was he caught? With his face between her legs.
Lunch time. Prick.
That particular motel was about thirty minutes away, so Jake texted Cole the address and had him meet there to plan the op.
* * *
Cole and Jake sat silently in the motel room until Mickey barged in.
“So, who’s the rich guy we’re stealing from? Ten grand, right?”
Cole smiled at Jake and cleaned his weapon on the table, listening quietly, as usual.
“Mark Langford. You need to break into his house to find something.”
“And the money?”
“Half now, half tomorrow when you bring us back what we’re looking for.”
Mickey looked from Cole to Jake with wide eyes. “Tomorrow? Fuck that. I gotta scope the place. What kind of security does he have? What kind of safe?”
“Our guy will take care of security and this is the safe model.” Jake unlocked his screen and showed him the image on his phone.
“Yeah, I can do that. So what’s the catch?”
“We need documents. We don’t know if he’s hiding them in his safe, and if he is, where the safe is located. He’s at a major event announcing a new partnership tomorrow night, so you’ll have time to search.”
“What kind of documents?” Mickey’s eyes narrowed, and Cole loaded his weapon, catching his attention.
“The kind you forget seeing.” Cole’s voice was low, and his menacing tone made Mickey shiver and Jake smile.
“Yeah, I got no problem forgetting. What else?”
“You’re not stealing them. You’re not stealing shit. Langford can’t know this happened. You get in, find the documents, get out. We’ll have a camera on you recording what we need. Anything you touch, you put back the way it was.”
“Got it.”
“You got everything you need here?”
“Yeah, you were pretty clear on the phone. My tools are in the bag and I lost the tail, so I’ll stay with you guys until tomorrow night.”
“FBI still on you?”
“Nah, they gave up. Some idiot investigator trying to make a name for himself.”
Jake frowned but trusted Mickey. When it came to a job, he didn’t take chances.
“Fine. Sit down, let’s go over the floor plan and details.”