TLC Shots

C.A.J. Part 2

(9:00 PM, Sunday, Outside Winter Clay's house)

In his full black attire, Thorne crouched down behind a bush and watch the driveway. Just as the letter read, Winter and her husband pulled out and drove down the road to a charity function. It made him sick that he was about to rob them while they were off at a fundraiser for the less fortunate.

Still, not going through with it was not worth going to jail over.

He waited for the car to drive past the turn in the road and went to work. He traveled to the back door of the house and pulled out his lock-picking set. Before messing with the lock, he scanned the area for security cameras and alarms. Either the Clays were exceedingly talented at masking their security devices, or they were far to trust. Because Thorne couldn't spot one device that could catch an intruder.

His guilt rose, thinking what he was doing was so wrong. He shut up his conscious by thinking of all the things he could do with a hundred grand. He could get out of America, and travel to a country that was far more forgiving and understanding towards his line of work. He could be set for years, and not have to do another job for a long time.

Sighing, he crouched tweaked at the lock and worked with his tools until he heard the final click. He stood up and pushed on the door. To his surprise, the door would not budge. He checked the lock, and he was sure he'd positioned the tumblers in their correct spaces. Turning the handle, he found that it itself was not locked.

Part of the door was stuck. Of course, Thorne managed to pick the only busted door in the entire door to enter through. And seeing as how Thorne didn't know how to re-lock a door with his kit (if that was even possible), he had to continue his brake-in with that door.

Sure there was nothing on the other side of the door, he slammed into the door. The first try didn't succeed, so he tried again and again until the door gave way.

The moment he realized his mistake, he instantly regretted his decision. He found out there was second lock on the inside of the door. One of those old slide locks that always get stuck. What Thorne found even more irritating is that if the lock had been on the outside of the door, he probably wouldn't have been able to reach it.

Whoever was that tall, Thorne automatically didn't like them. It must have been Winter's husband, Jacin Clay. Ugh, people that tall drove Thorne up the wall. Mainly because they were taller than six feet, meaning they were taller than himself.

Before Thorne could say "At least it couldn't get any worse," he noticed the long crack in the door following the lock downwards. The door was pretty much busted, and would need to be replaced. So not only was he robbing the Clays, he was forcing them into going to Home Depot and purchasing a new door. Great.

Without dwelling on it too much, Thorne stepped in the house and did another check for cameras and forms of security. Again, there was nothing to be found. It was almost too easy to sneak through the house and find what he was sent to retrieve.

Eventually, he made it to the Clays' bedroom, and found the box shown in the picture his employer gave him. It was a black, wooden box, with silver carvings on the sides. Thorne had on his gloves, and let his curiosity get the best of him. His employer never said he couldn't glimpse at the contents of the box. Just that he had to deliver it tomorrow if he wanted his money.

He lifted the lid, and was enraptured by the contents of the box. It was a silver necklace with sapphires dangling from it. Beautiful craftsmanship with such intricate features. This artifact belonged in a museum, as it looked so old. The gems were so precisely cut, with such a gleam they acted as prisms, reflecting the moon light. Yet, the largest of the gems, the one attached to the center string, was ever so slightly out of place in it's metal plate.