Herdnan- Chapter Thirteen
The list was extremely detailed. He was in shock at how in depth the lion's findings were on the robber whose name was Meedim. He was looking at the file as he rode the bus through the darkness of the city.
The public transportation was wearing thin and he was starting to hate not having a normal car to drive. With the job he was on now, he knew that that wouldn't be for long.
After a while, he jumped off the bus and quickly made his way back to his house, running down the darkened sidewalks. Upon arriving at home, he let himself in and tossed the briefcase on his bed. He shouldered his nightlife duffle bag and was out the door again under five minutes.
He made his way back to the bus stop and waited for it to arrive. He turned and saw the long silver bus round the corner down the street and plug on its way towards him.
He grabbed the bus money out of his pocket, then picked up the briefcase from the ground as the city bus squealed to a halt at the stop. The doors opened and he looked up the stairs.
He stopped short as sitting in the driver's seat of the bus was Skreft. A wave of different emotions came over him right there, everything ranging from anger to excitement to frustration.
"Cymaenie?" Skreft asked clearly as perturbed to see him as was the other way around. "Hop on... I'll give you a free ride."
He wasn't sure what to do. He looked up in the bus and was grateful that it was empty. If need be, this time around he was fully armed. Using some caution, he boarded the bus and Skreft closed the doors behind him.
Cymaenie said not a word and meandered to the first seat so he had view of the other raccoon.
"Are you alright?" Skreft asked pulling the bus out onto the street again.
"With some luck... yes."
"I wasn't sure if I'd see you again after..."
"You mean after you drugged me and sent me on my merry way to near death?"
"What?"
"Don't play stupid with me. After the night I had last night you're just damn lucky that I don't kill you right where you sit."
"What are you talking about Cy?"
"I came down off your quote unquote 'tea' early in the morning to a wrecked car out in the middle of nowhere. Explain that to me."
"I had no idea. You got in your car and dropped me off at my apartment. I asked if you wanted to stay, but you said 'No'. I wasn't sure if you were alright to be driving and you said you were fine. What happened?"
Cymaenie looked at him. He seemed clearly oblivious to what had actually happened. He then got to thinking. If Skreft had set him up to be killed out in the middle of nowhere, how did he himself get back? Certainly he wouldn't have left himself out in the middle of nowhere without some sort of plan.
"I came to in my car wrecked at the bottom of a small ravine just off a bridge in the woods."
Skreft stopped the bus and looked at him. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine."
"I knew I shouldn't have let you go. I am so sorry. I..."
"Exactly what was in that tea you gave me?"
"Its just a concoction I made that relaxes your muscles a little and calms your nerves. Its not a date rape drug at all if that's what you're implying."
Cymaenie was still unsure of Skreft's sincerity, but for the time being decided to believe what he was saying.
"I guess that's why you would be riding the bus. Wow. I am so very sorry. I guess that the tea was a little too strong for you." He shook his head, and pressed on with his route.
It was quiet for a spell until he decided to change the subject. "So, what are you up to tonight then?"
"I've got some work I need to finish up."
"You've got to love being a raccoon sometimes. Love to be awake when the rest of the city sleeps. That's why I love the 'graveyard' shift on the bus. Or any shift at these hours. You can get a whole lot more done when you don't have to worry about the pressures and rush of the day."
Cymaenie nodded to this and looked out the window at the darkness rolling by.
"If you're interested..." Skreft said after another pause in the conversation. "My shift ends at four if you want to go get some coffee or a sandwich if you think you'll be free. It's up to you... my treat. It's the least I can do."
He couldn't almost believe the words that came out of his mouth as he said, "Sure. That sounds like fun."
"Great. The bus depot on 189th avenue at four then? There are a couple of places to eat at nearby."
"I'll be there."
"Great. I'll get you a bus pass too so you'll have a way home."
"Don't worry... I should have another set of wheels by then."
Skreft raised an eyebrow to this, but only said, "Alright. Even better. I'll get you one anyway just in case."
The rest of the bus ride was silent until Cymaenie's stop where upon Skreft let him off and said, "I'll see you a little later on then. Don't work too hard."
Cymaenie nodded and stepped off the bus where Skreft waved and motored off. He was roughly five blocks from his safe house, and once the bus was well enough down the street, he began jogging down the sidewalk towards it.
He arrived a short few minutes later and entered the large garage warehouse, closing the door securely behind him. He set his things aside and looked over the big black Chevy. He needed to do some work on it before he ventured out.
Next he snapped up a small tool box and carried it to the back of the truck. He flipped open the top and removed a flathead screw driver and quickly removed the bolts holding the license plate to the bumper. He cast this one aside, then went to a locker on the wall and opened it.
He flipped through a whole box of plates till he found one for a truck, then attached the new plate on the back. He then removed several bumper stickers that were littering the back tailgate of the truck.
He gave the new ride an inspection, checking all of the lights and fluids. Once satisfied, he opened his duffle and stripped his clothes off and slid on his tight shorts, followed by the rest of his gear.
He grabbed his backpack and the briefcase lastly, and then climbed into the truck. He started the Chevy up and pressed the door opener, backed out of the garage and closed the door.
Once the safe house was secure, he pulled out into the street and started heading off across town.
He stopped only once on his journey to fill the gas tank, and continued on his way across the city. He took the expressway north through downtown Herdnan, and farther north heading towards the more posh parts of town.
He soon found himself in an upscale neighborhood full of large houses, four car garages and perfectly mown laws. He intently looked at the houses as he passed, checking addresses.
He spotted the house he was to hit, but continued farther down the street. The houses thinned out more than they already were on their massive plots of property.
He slowed the truck down and dropped the transfer case into four-high, then killing the headlights, he looked around. Making sure that the coast was clear and all windows were dark, he whipped a u-turn and headed back to the house he was to hit.
At what was Meedim's property he ventured the truck over the curb and sidewalk and into the yard and drove into his back yard. As he neared the house, he killed the engine and coasting, pulled the Blazer up behind the house.
He looked out the windows to make sure that the house was still asleep, and then carefully opened the door. He slid out and closed the truck door so it was still slightly ajar.
He slipped on his backpack and scoped the house over. He peered inside looking for an alarm. He was quite surprised not to see one. Even though the neighborhood was more towards the ritzy side, there still had to be crime.
Still, he wasn't one for taking great risks, so he began walking around the house to scope out his entrance possibilities. On the side wall was a white ivy ladder.
Granted, as tacky as it was, it was still a way up. He found his footing in one of the openings, and began scaling the flimsy construction upwards. He pulled himself onto the roof and looked around.
He started slinking along, checking each window as he passed. He stopped when he came upon a bathroom window. He looked it over and nodded to himself as he concurred about his way inside the house.
He looked over the lock, and noted that it was smooth, clearly to be tamper proof. Not letting this even deter him for a minute, he reached into one of his pouches and pulled out an industrial glass cutting tool.
He ground the blade into the edge of the pane, and slowly began cutting through the glass. As he made a hole big enough for his paw to get through, he hooked the edge of the blade in the glass and pushed the loose piece of glass outwards.
He caught it in his free paw and carefully set this on the roof. He replaced his tool and unlocked the window. He slid the pane up and crawled through the small opening. He closed it behind him, and listened to the inside of the house.
He took a step forward when he heard the pad of footsteps coming down the hall. He looked around the bathroom, and spotted the tub and shower. He drew the curtain to the window so the hole wasn't visible and moving as fast as he could silently, headed for the tub. He stepped in and lay down behind the curtain and ceased movement.
He heard the door open and someone stumble in yawning. He dared not even so much as breathe as the toilet seat clapped up and someone start urinating into the bowl.
The piss seemed to take forever to Cymaenie, but he soon finished, flushed and left the bathroom. He didn't move for five minutes afterwards. Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he rose from the tub and slid out and walked to the bathroom door. He pressed an ear against it and listened.
Nothing. Just silence. He twisted the door knob slowly and opened the door to a hallway. Still silence. He paused as he heard a sound akin to that of a down shifting semi. A snore.
He exited the bathroom and slid down the hallway. There was a room to his left with the door open and the soft glow of a computer's screen saver dancing about. He passed this by and headed for the bedroom.
Upon approaching, he cautiously opened the door to the room, his keen eyes scoping out the darkness within. He entered the room and glided across the floor searching the room over. He spent under a minute in the room, his trained eyes scoping out the room for sure tell signs of hidden plunder.
He found nothing of intrinsic interest, and left continuing to sneak down the hallway. He wound down the curved stairs and looked around the foyer. He headed through the kitchen and into a back den where a small safe lay in the middle of the floor.
Cymaenie looked around the room and slid off his pack and pulled out the folder he had been given and opened it, flipping through to the cataloged list of what was taken.
It was the same safe. He looked around and spotted the other pilfered items... an old cutlass, a few folders filled with papers and a lidded cardboard box. He carefully looked over the documented list of what was taken and quickly set to recovering all of the items and stacking them on the top of the safe.
After making sure that the safe itself was not tampered with, he slid through the house and to the dining room where a sliding glass door was giving view to the backyard patio, swimming pool and the truck.
He nodded, and headed back through the den heading for the garage. He unlocked and opened the door and quickly scoped the large three car space out. He spotted a hand truck and snagged it and brought it back into the den. He wedged the foot under the safe and hoisted the whole stack back onto it. He began wheeling it through the house and to the sliding door.
He unlocked it and slid the door open and froze as a shrieking alarm went off, flooding the backyard with light.
"Fuck!" Cymaenie said. He still wasted not a moment and pulled the cart through the open door and ran it to the Chevy. He dropped the tail gate and quickly tossed everything inside and looked over the safe.
He wheeled the cart so the handle rested on the edge of the door and using all of his might and muscle, slid the safe up the makeshift ramp and into the truck. Once it was inside, he kicked the cart aside and slammed the gate shut.
The lights inside were being turned on, but he didn't stop his fluid motion even for a minute. He ran around to the driver's door, flung it open, started the truck and dropped the trans into drive.
He slammed his door shut and put his foot into the accelerator. All four wheels dug into the grass as he lurched ahead. He drove forth, smashing through a wooden fence into the neighbor's yard and kept going, tearing up the lawns.
After another wooden fence, he power slid the truck through the third yard and headed back for the street. He turned the wheel, laying rubber onto the quiet street. Here, he dropped the transfer case back to two wheel drive and sunk the pedal, roaring loudly down the street.
He shot through a stop sign and kept going, staying on back streets to avoid the police he knew were en route to the house he left. He heard the sirens faintly now, and kept going, hauling ass through the suburb now beginning to make his way back to a main road.
At the light, he stopped for the red and scoped the four lane street in either direction. The light turned green and he calmly motored out and headed in the opposite direction of the sirens. He looked at his watch and began making his way through Herdnan's dark streets to the safe house to offload his recovered goods until he could bring them back to the rightful owner in the morning.