FORT KNOX: THE PERFECT HEIST

CHAPTER 7 :END

                                        A filthy Night

    A kindly pickup truck driver offered to drive us to our vehicles. It's not too far, but far enough to catch our death of cold. We climbed aboard the back of driver's truck and off we sped, thankful of the ride. A minute later we thanked the driver, profusely, slipped him twenty bucks for his trouble, then off he and we drove into the night. 

   The long drive down the flat I44 was boring as hell, then we hit HW36B for half a mile, than hung left onto South-Est Blvd, then, thankfully, two minutes later, my satnav had us turn right into a long driveway. As we approached the premises, the outside lights automatically turned on silvering the long rippling lake beside the building; we'd arrived. That's a God-send, I can tell you. The relief is, well, you know what I mean. Sheila grabbed my hand and walked me round the lake, kissed me under the full moon, then made me promise to give her another child the moment we were alone, then I noticed something hit the water creating a shiver across the moon's reflection

    "What the heck was that?" I asked, thinking it might be a water moccasin.

    "It's my box of pills, silly." We kissed again and walked on.

                                                ******

    Inside, Raza stood waiting with Ben, who'd driven on ahead as couple of minutes before us, and whom happened have had the keys off Mary. We ran to the house from the rain. Inside, the premises were spacious, clean and bright. I would've liked to have taken a peep at the workshops, but Sheila took my arm, then lead me to one of the rooms in which we would all bunk down in for the night. Furniture is okay, but not quite to my liking, but you can't have everything in life. Fifteen beds from J C Gallery were set against the walls, with extra sheets and duvets. Okay, so it isn't quite like home, but it would do, and in any event, I'd slept in some really bad, flea ridden holes in my youth, mostly barns, when harvesting crops for pocket money and saving for college books. Ten minutes later I'm asleep.

    I woke to a kiss on my forehead and the God given aroma of coffee and bacon sizzling on the stove, along with eggs, beans, biscuits, pancakes and maple syrup.

    "It's a wonderfully crisp morning, honey."

    "You're not going to jump my bones then?" I replied.

     "I married you, Randy Rasputin, so you're my man, and I love you. However, if I say you'll jump my bones, then you'll jolly well jump my bones. In any case, did you want me to?"

     "Hell no! You're too much for any man." I smiled, then noticed her faked frown. I needed to shower, shave, then change into clean clothes, but there were none. I'd forgotten to sort that out.

    "There." she said, throwing me fresh attire. "At least someone knows how to look after her man, even if he can't do so himself. I got your things ready while you men were fretting. Don't worry, the girls and I sorted the other boys out too." She smiled, then allowed me to quickly shower. The other fellows had been up for ages and looked as fresh as daises. As usual, I'm last to eat.

    "Damn!" I exclaimed, "We forgot the rubber...." She stopped me again.

    "Raza put them in his truck. Look. I know you're keen to look around. You men can get that out of your system, then you're going to take a walk with 'me' around the lake, got that?" I nodded my compliance.

    "Got him well trained, Sheila," remarked Mary, smiling, winking in my direction.

    "The men are our lions, and we women are the lion tamers." replied Sheila, smiling. The room's in uproar, but the laughter is just a little too much for me and I felt I needed to get away from the women.

    I nodded at Ben and the boys to follow me outside so that we could inspect the works, but I needn't have been concerned everything we needed is there, ready. We strolled about inspecting what we had that was going to make us rich, and I wondered if it were better to export the acid to Switzerland and reconstitute the gold there. It was all really a bit of an anticlimax. I gave a shrug, then realised we should unload the acid, then the girls could leave to get to their next assignment. Mary had said she would drive back with Ben and Alice to bring down the last two trucks. I gazed about the workshops and smiled. I had to agree, the women really could organise a piss-up in a brewery; they'd done a great job.

    The workshops were perfect. Everything needed to electrically reform the gold from the acid is laid on, including the neutralising agent. We turned our gaze to the trucks, when Ben noticed something odd.

    "Y'all better cum and look at this," said he, looking drawn. He pointed to the scrawl on the side of one of the tankers. On one side is painted with tar from the girls grease pots. 'BITCH'. The words were a foot tall and well spaced. Raza gazed down, then took a closer look.

    "Thaz ain't the eend of it." He pointed to the stop valves. "Thems yunguns gone loosed out all tha gold onta tha road." he said, scratching the back of his head.

    "It's not that bad, Raza. We still have two tankers full of gold. You're now only a measly billionaire instead of a multi-trillionaire." We returned to the house to inform the girls what we'd found.

    "Y'all mean," said Mary, "thas only git a coupla billion dollars each ta shop at Victoria's Secret? Bummer!

                                                                               THE END