Chapter 4
The Present... A Trash Dumpster
"Rambo, I'm in," I broadcast to my partner while reveling in the cooler air flowing from the room I'd just spent two very hot days and nights tunneling into.
The WHOOP! and YEE-HAW! I got in response was deafening through my earpiece. "Settle down, Rambo. I've got a lot of stuff to get inside. Let me know if a guard stands up even to scratch his ass!"
"Will do, Sugar Tits. You are two hours ahead of schedule. Both guards are listening to the pre-game show. You should have forty minutes before one makes another round."
"Great! I've got boxes to move. I'm out."
The first box I pushed inside had a radio repeater I set up near the hole in the wall so I wouldn't lose contact with Rambo. It was harder than I thought it would be sliding box after box through the tunnel. I was filled with adrenaline though from having accomplished the feat of just getting this far! A once hopeless endeavor was beginning to look less hopeless. One thing at a time! Keep your eye on the prize. One thing at a time!, I kept repeating to myself as I slid another box through the tunnel.
Two Months Past... A Small, Rented Office One Block From Target
"Well," I asked Rambo.
Rambo kicked his chair away from the desk his computer was sitting on. "I'm good, but I'm not a magician, Sugar Tits! The plans of the building's security system aren't here! What is here are the records of the company ordering a complete server not connected to any outside source to be installed. Imagine that? A fucking security company that takes security seriously."
Damn! I couldn't go ahead until I knew the security layout inside the damned building. One thing at a time, I silently repeated to myself as I thought. "What would you need to get access to that internal server, Rambo?"
"I can put together a little gizmo that, if plugged into a port of any computer terminal that is connected to the server... Range will be short..." Rambo continued to muse out loud. "Speed will be shit but I can work with that... Okay! Get my gizmo connected and give me a night parked within fifty yards of it and I'll get you everything you need!"
I nodded, leaning back in my chair. "Okay. You call it a night. Tomorrow, start putting together what you'll need. I'll figure out a way to get it connected."
Rambo didn't argue. Probably had a date waiting at the nearest gay bar. Though it was more probable it was a date with gay porn and his right hand. A shiver went up my spine. Imagining Rambo in any kind of sexual act was the stuff of nightmares! I shivered again to erase the image that flashed through my brain.
Rambo and I were very different persons. I was female and he was almost a male. I was human and he could pass as human on a good day. But when it came to theft, our differences meshed together pretty well. We had a clear separation of responsibility when it came to jobs. Rambo was tech and lookout. I was planning and execution.
Lighting a cigarette, I began looking over the files Rambo had hacked. It took me all of three hours before I had a plan. The next morning, I began collecting what I'd need while Rambo gut his gizmo together.
Lobby Of A Security Company... One Month, Three Weeks, Three Days Ago
I got interested in disguises at an early age. As a kid I wanted to just be invisible and what better way to become invisible than to be someone else? Reruns of Mission: Impossible fueled my resolve. Some guy starts peeling off a mask and, Holy Crap! It was Leonard Nimoy under there the whole time! I wanted to be able to do that.
The trick about disguises is to know, You can only fool one observer at a time! You can fool humans. Make-up, implants in chin and cheeks, wigs, glasses... But a camera hooked up to a computer with a facial recognition program won't be fooled. Nose, distance between the irises of your eyes, even the shape of your ears, A hundred things would need to be changed.
Disguise yourself in a way that will fool a computer program and even an idiot will take one look and know you're wearing a disguise. So, you can fool one or the other. Human or computer. Rarely both. Today would be one of the rare times both would be fooled.
I knew I'd be under observation of a camera as soon as I drove into the company's lot. I was in a van with the decal of the company I'd be representing in place on the sides. I already had my facial disguise in place. A hat with the company logo on the front pulled low over my forehead. Baggy coveralls with foam strips added to make me appear a hundred pounds heavier and a gas mask over my nose and mouth. I had thick workman gloves on my hands and a disgusting mole on my neck to draw people's eyes to it and not my face. I adjusted the eye protector goggles over my eyes and lugging the heavy sprayer, I entered the building. With my hair bunched up under a wig of greasy, shoulder-length hair, I doubted anyone would know with certainty if I was male or female when I left.
I eyed the receptionist behind the desk. Get past the receptionist and your job is 90% done. Everyone else in the building will assume you belong where you're at if you've been given entrance by her. Eighteen or nineteen, nice face, terrific body... Probably a relation to someone who works here and can't type worth a damn. With a face and body like that? If she had even a few office skills she could have scored a better job somewhere. I'd like to score with that body, I thought, then shoved the thought aside. Damn, I needed to get laid! I don't have sex while on a job. It's a distraction I don't need.
Besides, the added incentive to finish the job so I can have sex increases my mental focus and creativity.
Plunking the sprayer on the reception counter, I drawled through the mask, "Here to kill bugs. Told that your plants have mites."
This company paid a service to keep their indoor plants alive and to keep their grass mowed. I didn't know shit about plants but they'd offered me a way in.
"Oh, yes! Someone from your company called an hour ago. Said you were coming." Actually, I'd been the one to call. "I've told everyone you'd be here. Would you like some coffee? We have donuts, too."
"Nah. I'm okay. You told everyone to stay out'a the room for ten minutes after I spray?" I picked up the sprayer, ready to go kill bugs when she stood up.
"Yes. Everyone knows. I think they're looking forward to another morning coffee break. Are you sure you don't want a donut? I can go with you," Perky said, stepping away from her chair. "Show you where all the plants are."
"Nah," I drawled as she straightened her clothes and turned her back towards me to push her chair to line up with the desk. "Nah, I got the list. You just stay here." While I was telling Perky to stay, mentally I was thinking Yeah, baby! as my eyes traveled up slender legs to a shapely ass outlined in her tight skirt.
"But I can introduce you around..."
"I don't think plants and bugs care who I am. Besides, I don't have a mask for you," I improvised.
I backed away from the reception desk. I was ready to order Perky to, Sit! Stay! Good receptionist!, and toss her a donut for obeying. Thankfully, she shrugged and sat back down. I hate perky people but my hands were itching to grab that ass! Away from the annoyingly perky receptionist I softly reported, "I'm in, Rambo."
"Fantastic, Sugar Tits," came the reply over my earpiece. "Look for an office that has two computer terminals and we're in business."
I found what I was looking for in the eighth office I entered that had plants. The guy behind the desk was already picking up his coffee cup and wondering if there were any donuts left as I entered. What the fuck was up with donuts in this place?
As soon as I was alone, I closed the door and pulled the first computer terminal that was under a table away from the wall. If this wasn't the correct one I'd go to the other terminal. I took out Rambo's gadget from my pocket and plugged it into a port on the back. "It's in, Rambo. Check it!"
I had to wait several nerve-wracking seconds before, "You lucked out, Sugar Tits. I'm in!"
Pushing the terminal back against the wall, I ran my hand over the carpet to wipe away any signs that the nape had been disturbed. After spraying the plants in the office, I left. Ten more office plants got hosed down with the stinky but harmless gunk in the sprayer before I was back at the reception desk nodding goodbye. Perky gave me a finger wave and a perky, "Bye-eee."
Please! If I ever give a person a Bye-eee? Just fucking kill me!
Rambo was in the back of the van out of sight. After I closed the door he said, "The speed is a little better than I thought it would be. I'll park on the street tonight and have everything we need by morning."
"Fucking great," I replied, driving out of the parking lot while lighting a cigarette to piss Rambo off with my secondhand smoke. "I think we deserve a treat! Let's get donuts."
A Janitor's Closet... The Present
It was hard getting the last box through the concrete tunnel. I was exhausted. My adrenaline rush had long since worn off. With one last push, the box slid to the center of the room and I collapsed on top of it. I was done in. I felt light-headed and spots swam in front of my eyes. Five or six days of fasting combined with two days of living in a sauna... My body was running on empty. I rolled off the box to lie on the cool concrete. I couldn't lift my arms to wipe the sweat off my face and salt stung my eyes. Then the world faded out in a haze of grey...
Chapter 5
Some Years Before... West Of The Mississippi
Mother had a new boyfriend and I had a new uncle the Summer I was seventeen or sixteen, or maybe I was eighteen. Not knowing exactly how old I was? It's a real bitch sometimes when I think about it! Uncle Ted was different from most of the other losers Mother had hooked up with. For one thing, he had a good job. Made real money as a mechanic. Food appeared in our trailer's kitchen. Mother even cooked a little. I couldn't figure out why Uncle Ted hung around with a loser like Mother.
I found out the night Mother was in a bad mood and began ranting that I was a whore trying to 'steal her man'. She'd caught Uncle Ted looking at my ass once too often. The thought that I wanted Uncle Ted made me laugh. I guess it was my laughing at her that pushed her over the edge. She attacked. Mother was wasted on booze and I'm not sure which of us was more surprised when I pushed her away and down. That was the first time I realized that I was bigger and stronger than she was! For the first time in a long time I took a good look at Mother. Alcohol and drugs had left her a hollowed out wreck. Thin with weak, stringy muscles... Why had I been so afraid of her for so long?
Though I was stronger, I remained wary. I always locked the bathroom door so I wouldn't be surprised on the toilet or in the shower. Over the next couple of days I took a long look at my life and decided I either got out of the shit I was living in or I'd end up like Mother. Burnt out on life and hollowed out by drugs before I was thirty. The thought of being anything like Mother gave me the incentive to plan!
It took me days to plan and months to implement my escape.
I needed money... It was the need to put together a nice pile of cash that kept me from just walking away and keep going. Mother had called me a whore and I was determined to be a very profitable whore! I let Uncle Ted take my virginity the same week I pushed Mother down. I was younger, prettier and with practice, I became a better, more enthusiastic lover than Mother. With Uncle Ted on my side and bouncing on my belly most nights, I had additional security against Mother. Besides, I needed money, not my virginity. I couldn't steal enough to fund what I needed and I had only one thing to sell. Me.
A week after I seduced Uncle Ted, we were cuddled on the couch when I switched the TV channel. Just surfing the channels, of course. I found the TV show I knew came on at this time about a British call girl. I acted as if I'd never seen it before and wondered out loud what it would be like to screw men for money. As we continued to cuddle and talk, by the end of the show Uncle Ted had a hard on fantasizing about watching me with another man. By the end of the month Uncle Ted brought home a 'friend' and I got money for taking him to my room. I was a whore just like Mother had labeled me. But I was a whore with a plan!
By the time vacation was over I was the town's whore. But I was splitting the money I earned with Uncle Ted. Yes, the cash in the coffee can I kept buried in my secret place in the woods grew, but I needed more. So, since I was already the town whore, I just expanded business and used my knowledge to become the school's whore. Word got around quickly that I'd do things depending on how much money I was offered. A hand job on the bus. Letting a boy feel me up, boobs or between my legs or both. Blow jobs. To come in my mouth cost more, of course. For a much higher price, I'd go home to a boy's house after school for an hour.
I stopped my thieving to concentrate on earning money by whoring. The money I earned went into the coffee can I kept at my hidey-hole in the woods. Of course, I could leave anytime I wanted. But I stayed and whored for most of the semester because I knew I'd need the money. What use would it be to run away only to end up living in a cardboard box while turning tricks on a street corner?
As I earned the money I'd need, I also got the next thing on my list. I wanted nothing from my past to follow me. I needed a new identity...
The teacher who taught computer science at our high school was also the advisor to our school's newspaper. I stole a camera from a house and began taking pictures at high school events. The teacher showed me how to transfer pics from the camera to newsprint. I showed him how happy I could make him in the darkroom. We made a deal. I wanted a fake identity. He wanted to stay happy. I gave him a lot of happy times in the darkroom. Halfway through my last semester of structured education, I had a birth certificate and a Social Security Card under a different name and he'd shown me how he'd done it. With those in hand, he drove me to a town where I wasn't known. I took and passed a driving test and I had a driver's license under the same fake name. SS card, birth certificate and driver's license went into the coffee can with my money.
Legally? I was now an eighteen-year-old girl who'd, unfortunately, died at birth. It wasn't a good identity -sure as hell wouldn't stand up to a police probe- but it would be good enough to get a job with wherever I ended up.
Just before Christmas Vacation began, I knew it was time to leave. I would have liked to earn a bit more money but my hand was forced. A cheerleader had caught me giving her boyfriend a blowjob in a deserted classroom. For damned sure the bitch would make such a stink that Mother would be called. Uncle Ted would find out I was turning tricks at school and would want his cut of the money.
The next morning I packed as many clothes and as much of my stolen jewelry I could into my bookbag along with my fake IDs and money. I'd made a deal the afternoon before with a classmate. For a ride out to a trucker's stop on the interstate, I'd give him a freebie in the backseat of his car. About the time the bell was ringing to start the first class of the day at school, I was pulling my panties and jeans up.
In the short time I'd whored, I'd caught a STD at some point. I had all the signs I'd read about. I didn't tell anyone though. Walking towards the trucks lined up in the huge parking lot, I hoped I'd given Uncle Ted a STD to pass along to Mother. I hoped I'd given everybody I'd fucked the clap.
I needed to disappear... I'd planned on how to disappear. Half an hour after walking onto the truck stop lot, I was cruising down the interstate in the cab of an eighteen-wheeler while giving the trucker a blowjob. For two weeks, I went from truck to truck/trucker to trucker. My path crisscrossed the country until I was certain no one could ever follow it. Only then did I begin taking rides that went towards my last destination.
I needed somewhere I could fit in... This part had been the easiest thing to plan. I won't name the city, let's just say I soon had the keys to a small efficiency apartment that was close to the university. After all, a college town is filled with young, single girls. I simply blended into the crowd.
Locking my door, I yelled out in glee! This small apartment was MINE! I could lock the door and tell the world to fuck off! No more Uncles. No more men paying me to spread my legs. I was in Heaven!
Chapter 6... The Present
I opened my eyes. I couldn't ignore the incessant buzz in my ear any longer. It was Rambo. He was frantic.
"Calm down, Rambo," I said.
"Where the fuck have you been, Sugar Tits? You haven't been answering me! I've been calling you for five minutes."
Fantastic! I'd only hazed out for a few minutes, not passed out for hours at least. "The earpiece came loose while I was pushing boxes and I hadn't noticed," I told Rambo. No way would I admit I'd passed out. Rambo would never let me live it down!
"Time check, Rambo."
"Fifteen minutes until a guard is scheduled to do a walk-through. You wanna try for this one?"
"Damn straight! Give me a five-minute count to five then one-minute counts." It would be close but if I hustled I knew I could make the deadline.
"10-4."
I found the first box I needed. It held protein bars I'd packed for when I was in. I needed something solid in my stomach. The honey in the bar gave me a sugar rush as I crammed one into my mouth to chew on while I got ready. Things went quickly because I'd packed and color-coded each box. First out was a stretchy gymnasts unitard that covered me from ankles to wrists. My skin crawled as I pulled it on over my filthy body. A large workman's coverall was next on. Foam was added to the inside to make me look like a 200-pound man. In the same box were size thirteen boots. They were padded on the inside to fit my smaller, feminine feet. If any footprints were going to be left, they would lend credence to a man doing this job. With the bottoms treated to prevent squeaks on the linoleum, I'd be able to move quietly.
"Ten minutes."
From a second box, I pulled out a compressed gas-operated dart pistol. The type zookeepers use to tranquilize animals. Next out were two small bottles. One bottle had red liquid, the other had blue liquid. This concoction Rambo put together was quick-acting but had to be mixed less than thirty minutes before use or it turned to shit. Two darts and a syringe... With the syringe, I carefully added the correct amounts of blue and red to each dart and plugged up the backs. Inserting one syringe into the pistol, I put a gas canister in the butt. I quickly pressed a button to pierce the canister and I was ready to rock and roll.
"Five minutes."
I put a rubber cap on the tip of the dart I wasn't using and put it in the small breast pocket I'd sewn onto the coverall. Next out was a hat/wig/latex mask combination.
"Four minutes."
Putting on the disguise, it took a bit to adjust the latex around my eyes. I tucked the excess latex under the collar and zipped the zipper all the way up.
"Three minutes."
Latex gloves were the last thing I put on before I picked up the pistol and stood by the door. I took a deep breath and tied to calm my thoughts. I needed to get in the zone. "Rambo," I said softly. "I'm in position and ready."
"10-4. Stay calm. Stay calm," Rambo repeated though I could hear the tension in his voice. I think he was talking to himself more than to me. "Just like we practiced, Sugar Tits. And just in time. Looks like it's Frack's turn to do the round. He's standing up... He has the clock... Both are watching the game. Second inning... Two on, one out..."
Frick and Frack were big Yankee fans. They always brought a small TV to watch the Yankees play. One reason I'd chosen this weekend to break in. I tried to slow my breathing more as Rambo droned on giving me a verbal description of what he was seeing on his CCTV screen a block away. This next part was entirely left to chance. That made me nervous. It depended on the person left behind to be absorbed, watching the game instead of the small, closed-circuit TV screens at the kiosk. One small screen showed the hallway outside the door I was crouched at. Once I opened the door, I had to travel 20 yards down that hallway before I'd be out of sight of the camera.
"...strike two... Frack is backing away. Turning... They're talking to each other... Frick is watching him walk away... GO! GO! GO!"
I was out the door before the third GO! I had twenty yards to cover. I did a fast walk and then I was crouched down against the wall under the camera. Rambo didn't yell an alarm and I didn't hear any shouts from the front of the building. I figured I was safe and leveled the pistol at a point where I estimated the guard's fleshy side would be if he came around the corner. I didn't want to bury the dart's tip into a hip bone or rib.
I could hear footsteps. Now it depended on whether the guard would take the elevator to an upper floor to begin his round or if he'd... I'm not sure who was more surprised, me or Frack when he came around the corner. I couldn't help my soft, surprised Eep! as I squeezed the trigger. It was pure luck the dart missed the large, circular time clock hanging by a strap off his shoulder and went into his flesh.
Both Frack and I had been surprised. But I was at least expecting this. I'd practiced this and Frack hadn't. Putting the pistol down, I was up out of my crouch with a gloved hand over Frack's mouth. I pinched his nostrils closed before his surprise wore off. I clung to him like a lamprey while surprised, muffled noises made it past my gloved hand. We wrestled for a few moments and Frack was still trying to draw in enough breath to yell when his eyes went unfocused, and he went limp in my arms. I lowered him as silently as I could to the floor. Settling Frack's head gently onto the linoleum floor, I stilled into a crouch and listened. The only sound I heard was the muted voice of the sport's announcer coming through from the TV.
My breathing was rapid under the mask. Loud in my ears. Covered by so much heat retaining foam, I was burning up and sweating! I couldn't have been happier! Tapping the earpiece three times was the signal that I wanted a situation report when I didn't want to speak. I did that and listened to Rambo while trying to calm down again.
"I assume Frack is down?"
I tapped the earpiece once for Yes.
"Fantastic! Frick is still watching the game. No reaction from him. No alarms. You're golden for the next step."
I tapped the earpiece again to acknowledge and loaded the second dart into the pistol. Adjusting my mask, I took a deep breath and walked as silently as I could around the corner. Frick had his back to me. After weeks of worry, this part was so easy I wanted to laugh. His full attention was on the game and my approach was covered by the sounds of a cheering crowd. I practically had the barrel of the pistol pressed against Frick's neck before he even knew I was behind him. A neck shot is a bullseye for the tranquilizer dart. The narcotic had almost no travel time before reaching the brain. Frick was still turning his chair to face me when he went limp.
Pulling the dart from Frick's neck, I forced myself to walk until I was out of sight from the large windows fronting the street. This building had large windows and the foyer was visible to anyone passing by. Running might attract attention from a pedestrian. I knelt beside Frack and collected that dart. Rambo's report was triumphant in my ear. "No alarms. No one on the street to see anything. You are still about two hours ahead of schedule and all systems are go!"
I acknowledged Rambo's report but didn't stop to celebrate. This tranquilizer shit was fast-acting, but it didn't last long. In the janitor's closet, I collected what I'd need. I went back to kneel beside Frack. He got the first treatment. Hands and feet bound with zip-ties like the ones the police used on criminals. An IV bag suspended from the wall with duct tape and a much-practiced connection between a vein and the IV bag filled with a narcotic that would keep Frack out for hours on a slow drip.
Walking through the lobby in front of the large windows, I saw a couple of pedestrians walking on the sidewalk outside. They never even gave me a glance. Hidden behind the kiosk, I zippy-tied Frick's hands and feet to his chair. IV bag taped to the screen of the TV... Another quick vein stick and a slow drip started... Frick was just starting to regain consciousness when the IV drip sent him back to Sleepy Kitty Land.
Next out of my coverall's pocket was a small can of black spray paint. Soon the lens of every camera on the first floor was blacked out. The cameras in the elevators and on the third floor got the same treatment. I would never go to the second or fourth floor so I left those cameras alone. I wasn't worried that an alarm at the security company would sound. Everything these cameras recorded went straight to a computer. Nothing was monitored on a live feed. No one would see these images until I was far, far away. At least that was my plan!
Back at the closet, I stripped off my mask and gulped cool air as I shed the hot coveralls. There was a large sink in the closet. Splashing cold water on my face, I informed Rambo of all I'd accomplished so far. All I got back was a jubilant yippee, the sound of crunching potato chips, and a long slurp of a cold cola I'd kill for right now! God, he's such a bastard, I thought for the ten millionth time...
Not allowing myself more of a rest, I unloaded the gas canister from the pistol and after wiping everything free of prints, the canister, pistol, unused chemicals and darts were tossed through the tunnel into the dumpster. HAH! I bet you were thinking I'd forgotten that I'd loaded the canister before putting on my gloves. I bet you thought I'd be leaving behind fingerprints! Silly, silly you!
I was so glad for the dolly I found in the closet. I'd planned on having to carry these boxes. The dolly made everything go much quicker and easier. Pulling on a stretchy cap to prevent leaving any hair behind, I began hauling boxes. I sighed in relief as I left the last load in the third-floor room I'd selected from the blueprints Rambo had downloaded from the security company. Pushing a desk over, I stood on top of it to strip off the false ceiling tiles that hid the concrete partition between the third floor's ceiling and the fourth floor's floor. The very thick, reinforced concrete ceiling/floor. Measuring by eye, I pushed the desk out of the way from the area I'd be setting up my equipment. Looking up at the concrete above me I couldn't stop grinning. Ten feet above me, resting on eight inches of iron re-bar reinforced concrete which in turn rested on large steel I-beams was a vault. A very, very large vault.
Some people think that three feet of poured concrete, a state-of-the-art security system, two armed guards, and eight inches of reinforced concrete can keep me out...
Silly, silly people!
