The Heist

1. The Heist

The scene inside Leno's Jewelry would seem normal to an outsider; customers being shown certain items that they requested to try out, employees walking around with smiles on their faces per policy. The overall aura inside was calm. Nothing out of the ordinary. If their security had been more strict, they might have noticed the same three cars going down the street in a continuous loop on their large monitors, or the same customers walking in and out of the store consistently for the past fifteen minutes.

Down the block from the seemingly normal Leno's Jewelry, a dark Ford Focus sat idle, the occupants inside staring at a computer screen placed in the passenger's lap. The screen seemed like random numbers to the man sat in the driver's seat. To Miles Harris, it was more than random numbers. Those random numbers were fooling the security guards, who hadn't been paying much attention to their screens in the first place.

Miles continued to stare at the flashes across his computer, keeping watch for any commotion in or around the building. Nothing yet.

"How long is this going to take?" Connor sat behind the wheel, tapping his knee impatiently.

"If it takes them any longer, this is a lost cause."

The plan was simple: get inside the store, knock everyone out with the anesthesia, grab whatever looked expensive, and get the hell out of dodge. So far, Miles hadn't gotten the all clear that the crucial part of the plan was acted out. He assumed that Brooks and Winston were still shimmying their way through the conveniently large air vents running through the jewelry store, trying not to make too much noise and give themselves away. They would still need to make sure any other security guards were taken out after the anesthesia was planted. Maybe that was what they were doing first. If it was, that wouldn't be part of the plan, which they had agreed to stick to.

The static from the boys' walkies startled both of them into focus. Finally, Connor thought and picked his up as he listened for Brooks or Winston's voice.

"Okay. Got it. Just give it some time to spread throughout the whole place." Winston's voice was muffled from his respirator. He wasn't stupid enough to take it off just to give the confirmation.

"It's about damn time," Connor grumbled in response. Miles kept his eyes locked on his computer screen and pulled up the feed from the security cameras. His view hadn't been tampered with, of course. The guards in the security room were still sitting lazily in their chairs, glancing up every once in a while to check for any funny business. Miles almost felt bad for them; they never got any excitement. Oh, how exciting this would be for them now.

Another crackle of static. "We're heading back to the exit now."

Winston clipped his walkie back onto the waistband of his jeans. They still had plenty of room to move through the vents so it wasn't hard to get where they needed to be. Within a few minutes, the two made it out. Brooks dropped down first with the strap of a duffel bag swinging over his shoulder. He looked around the foyer of the store; everyone inside that had originally been standing now lay unconscious on the cold marble floor.

"It worked. We're in."

"Alright, perfect." Miles typed a few things into the computer. "You may have gotten inside, but we're not done yet. I've cut the security system. Grab whatever you can and let's go."

Brooks clipped his walkie onto his jeans and adjusted the duffel bag so he could unzip it. He had just started to walk to the register when he heard the sound of glass breaking. At first, he was stunned, but immediately relieved when he saw Winston smashing the booths to take almost everything inside.

The cash register had quite a good amount of cash inside but it didn't compare to the amount of expensive jewelry that soon filled both of their bags. They weren't too concerned about looking at the prices. As long as it was in the bag, it was valuable.