Good morning. This morning my eyes popped open a full twenty minutes before my alarm went off. There I was wide awake twenty minutes early. AND I thought to put a pair of socks by the bed last night so no cold feet going to the bathroom. Without a heated toilet seat there was still a chill, but as I think heated toilet seats are kind of weird, I’ll live with just the warm toes. It is a definite step up. Now I just have to remember to place the socks before bed. That will be the trick. But that is for my memory to sort out, for now, we’ll just jump into the morning prompt. Ready? Good, let those timers fly.
You know, I just might take a little time today and figure out exactly what is going on in the city that our second story man finds so spooky. I kind of dig this story.
Tuesday, January 25th: One last job and he was through.
One last job and he was through. He repeated the thought like a mantra. It helped steady his somewhat frayed nerves. He hadn’t planned to do this last job but Big John was not a man someone refused. At least not outright.
Danny had planned to be gone after his last job, but Big John’s request made him agree to one last night in town. The last thing he wanted was to spend his retirement looking over his shoulder and waiting for retribution. Not when he could so easily avoid it.
It was an easy job, in theory. Just in plant the bug and out. It was something he’d done so often he lost count. And the place he was breaking into had lax security. There wasn’t much of a concern. Which is what concerned him.
Knowing he wouldn’t get the chance to refuse, Danny double and triple checked anything and everything. There was nothing hidden that he could find. There were no catches. It looked to be like what it was, simple and straightforward.
It made him twitchy.
Normally something this simple would be given to someone else. Someone with less skills and experience. He knew why it was given to him. At the moment, there was no one else to do the job. With things so unsettled everyone was lying low. It was what prompted his decision to retire. Not that he told anyone he was planning to leave. He arranged things quietly and in fact as soon as he completed this job, he was going to slip out of the city and quietly disappear.
Danny slipped through the window, after making certain it wasn’t wired for security. He studied the floor for pressure points and found no hidden traps. There was nothing he didn’t expect. He slipped into the room and eased his way over to the desk. At this time of night the entire office building was abandoned. Then thought that he could flit through all of the offices undetected fluttered through his mind, but he ignored it. He was here to do a job. He would do it and get out.
At the desk he searched with his eyes. Even though his hands were gloved he didn’t want to risk disturbing something and alerting anyone to the fact that someone had been here. He found a spot, under the desk top. It was far enough back that it wouldn’t be accidentally brushed by a knee and hidden by the shadow of the drawer so it would not be immediately detected if someone dropped a pencil and happened to look up at the desk’s underside.
Danny secured the bug and moved away from the desk. He didn’t stop to congratulate himself as until he left the job was only half done. The building was a silent shell around him as he slid back out of the window and silently dropped down to the lower roof of the building next door. Keeping low he raced across the rooftops.
Normally he would feel elation, but now, he merely felt the clock ticking. Bad things had been afoot in this city for a while now and the bulk of them occurred between one and three in the morning. He risked doing the job early just to avoid being out during that window. He had scant time to spare if he wanted to be safely indoors before that window shut.
Ten til Midnight 