by Glenn, Roy
He picked up the phone and called Ronnie and Jackie, asking them to meet him at his house at 2:00 that afternoon. Then he woke Mystique and told her that when Ronnie and Jackie arrived, she would have to leave so they could talk business. “I understand,” she said and headed for the shower. Although Travis never told Mystique what it was they did, and she never asked, she knew they were involved with Freeze. That was more than enough information for her.
When Ronnie and Jackie got to the house, Mystique politely excused herself and they proceeded to the business at hand. Travis started the conversation by talking about his desire to get out.
“When we got into this thing, I never planned on us still being at it two years later. I had a plan—we all did—a plan for what we were gonna do to set ourselves up so we could live comfortable for the rest of our lives. But all of us have gotten caught up in this lifestyle. Not that we’ve been flashy or no dumb shit like that, but we have been blowin’ this cash.”
With that said, he explained why he wanted to run a job so soon after the last one. “Last time we went out, we didn’t come away with the amount of money that we expected to. Don’t get me wrong, Ronnie. I’m not trying to call you out for the loss of money; I’m just stating a fact. What I’ve done is select a target that may present more of a risk than we’re usually willing to take, but it will bring us the dollar amounts that we need to get done with this lifestyle.”
Travis proceeded to lay out his plan to rob the armored truck outside the grocery store he’d been surveying while waiting to see Me’shelle. He had given some thought to the possibility that Me’shelle might be at the store during their robbery. He concluded that she was just there on Saturday night, so the possibility was slim.
“You want to rob a grocery store in the hood?” Jackie asked. “I don’t know, Travis. I shop there.”
“I do too, Travis. Isn’t that more risk than we wanna take?” Ronnie asked.
“No. We’re not going to rob the store or try to take the armored truck. This is basically a grab and run. Listen, at approximately 8:45 on Monday mornings, the armored truck arrives to pick up the cash from the weekend.”
“How much money?” Ronnie asked.
“I don’t know. But when the guy comes out he always has four bags full, two in each hand. So, his hands will be occupied. Police response time to the store is approximately three minutes.
“Now, this is going to be a two vehicle operation. Jackie, you’ll be in the lead vehicle, and it will be abandoned at the conclusion of the operation. Ronnie and I will be in the second vehicle, and that one will be used for the escape. The armored truck will have two occupants—one driver and the bagman. I’ve developed a profile on them, and I don’t believe they’ll take any actions that would jeopardize their lives.
“The bagman enters the store and approximately twenty minutes later, he will emerge with the bags. The truck is equipped with a cellular radio system that the driver will use to call for assistance in the event of a robbery attempt. We have to disable this system first.”
Travis opened the box that was sitting on the table and removed the device it contained. “This is a C-Guard Cellular Firewall. It’s a cellular jamming device made by an Israeli-based company, but I picked it up from my tech guy for a grand. The device is relatively simple. It broadcasts a junk signal that floods the cellular frequency or sets up fake signals. Either way, the system loses its signal and is out of range. The device transmits low power radio signals, which cut off communications between cellular handsets and the cellular base station.”
Travis placed a diagram of the front of the store on the table. “Jackie, approximately fifteen minutes prior to the armored truck’s arrival, you will position the vehicle adjacent to the front of the store. When the armored truck arrives and the bagman has exited the vehicle, you will activate the device and set up a fake signal so it appears to the driver that his communications are still active.
“Ronnie and I will position the second vehicle adjacent to the front of the store with a direct angle to the back of the truck. When the bagman emerges from the store, Jackie will exit her vehicle and move into position to cover the driver to prevent him from exiting the truck. Ronnie and I will exit our vehicle and make a rapid approach to the rear of the truck to confront the bagman. Ronnie will assume a cover position where he will be able to cover both me and Jackie. When both driver and bagman are covered, I will disarm the bagman and relieve him of the objective.
“Once the objective has been secured, Jackie and I will move to the escape vehicle, and we will drive by and pickup Ronnie. The whole operation should take less than a minute.”
Travis took out a map of the area surrounding the store and handed it to Jackie. “What’s this for?” Jackie asked.
“It a map of the area,” Travis replied and sat down next to Jackie.
“I know that. What you giving this to me for, is what I’m asking.”
“I’ve decided to delegate parts of the operational control of all future jobs to the two of you. You may be able to see or better anticipate issues than I can. But all of the contingency planning that results from that delegation are subject to my review and approval, and I will integrate them into the larger plan.”
“I think that’s a good idea, Travis,” Ronnie said. “What part of the job am I responsible for?”
“You primary responsibility is the safety of the participants. From your cover position, you are in the best place to see and anticipate issues that arise during the operation, like customers attempting to enter and exit the store, police involvement, stuff like that.”
“What do you mean by police involvement? The way I see it, the way you got the job planned, the driver won’t be able to call for assistance. Even if somebody calls the cops during the job, we should still have enough time get away before police response time.”
“True, but suppose a cop car just happens to roll into the parking lot to pick up some fresh donuts or something. In that case, what will you do from your cover position to maintain the safety of the participants and the security of the objective?”
“I understand,” Ronnie said, smiling. Travis thought that giving them, especially Ronnie, a more active roll in the planning stages of the job would not only give Ronnie a much needed boost of confidence, but they would be better able to anticipate issues.
“Now, you both have your assignments. I expect a report of any contingencies in two hours,” Travis announced.
“Two hours! How about we get back to you with our contingency plans in a couple of days? That will give us time to go over the whole job,” Jackie offered.
“No. We haven’t got that kind of time.”
“Why is that?” Ronnie asked. “When you planning on runnin’ this job?”
“Tomorrow morning. We meet here at 7:45 sharp. Any questions?”
Neither Ronnie nor Jackie said a word. They had complete confidence in Travis and trusted his judgment as well as his planning skills.
“Good. Let’s get to it then. Who got some weed?” Travis asked, remembering that Mystique had smoked up all of his.
“I do,” Jackie said.
“Then we’ll reconvene at Jackie’s house in two hours.”
In two hours, they met at Jackie’s house. In the time that Travis gave them, Jackie had worked out three possible escape routes complete with scenarios for why each was the proper course of action. Ronnie was also hard at work. As Travis had asked, Ronnie had planned for customers attempting to enter and exit the store, what to do if anyone came into the field of operation. As for police involvement, his plan was simple. “If a cop car just happens to roll into the parking lot to pick up some fresh donuts or something, we’ll just have to kill the muthafucka.”
Travis wasn’t happy about that option. In all the robberies that they had run, they never killed anybody. But it was something that was inevitable. He could only hope it wouldn’t come to that.
“Is everybody satisfied with the
plan?” Travis asked.
“I think we’ve covered all the bases,” Jackie said.
“Like the white boys on Wall Street used to say, I think we’ve got all our ducks in a row,” Ronnie said in his best white boy imitation.
“Good, then we meet here at 7:45 sharp.”
Chapter Nine
On Monday morning, Me’shelle got out of bed at 6:30, put on her spandex workout clothes and hit the treadmill for her usual five-mile run. While she was running, she thought about what Bruce had said to her the day before. How you gonna live with yourself when I’m dead?
Naturally, she was concerned about her brother, but she was more concerned about Brandy. Bruce could take care of himself; he always had. Brandy, on the other hand, was just child and not accustomed to dealing with the type of people that her father came in contact with. Lost in her thoughts for Brandy’s safety, Me’shelle stumbled and pulled a muscle in her thigh.
She turned off the treadmill and limped to the phone. She planned to say that she would be a little late for work because the injury was causing her to move slowly. Instead, she decided that she desperately needed a mental health day. She called the school and told them that she would be in the next day if she was feeling better. Me’shelle knew she had to do something to get Brandy out of that situation, so she left the possibility open for another day off if she needed to take it.
Me’shelle got her heat wrap and went back to bed. She lay there thinking, ignoring the pain as best she could as she considered her options to save Brandy. After about an hour, the pain in her leg became more intense. She could no longer ignore it. She got up and paddled her way to the medicine cabinet. When Me’shelle grabbed the empty bottle of Motrin, she realized that she had forgotten to get some more when she was at the grocery store. Probably too busy thinking about that fine ass Travis Burns, she thought.
Slowly and painfully, Me’shelle got her leather coat and prepared to go to the grocery store to get some Motrin to ease her pain. Maybe Travis will be doing some early morning shopping.
That same morning at 7:45 sharp, Jackie and Ronnie arrived at Travis’s place in two stolen cars. Jackie drove an old Toyota Tercell, and Ronnie was in a Ford Galaxy 500 that would be used as the escape vehicle. The night before, Jackie had also stolen an Infinity Q45 and parked it on the escape route.
They knocked on the door. Travis came out right away and they proceeded to the grocery store. They arrived at the store and assumed their positions adjacent to the front of the store, waiting for the armored truck to arrive.
“Sound check. Mr. White?”
“Check, one, check two.”
“Acknowledged. Mr. Green?”
“Sound check, one, two.”
“Acknowledged. Time check,” Travis said.
“Eight-thirty,” Jackie replied.
“Eight-thirty, check,” Ronnie said.
“Acknowledged. Weapons check,” Travis said.
“One pump shotgun, two nine millers, check,” Jackie said.
“One AK-47, two nine millimeters checked and ready,” Ronnie said.
“Acknowledged. Equipment check,” Travis said.
At that point, Jackie turned on the C-Guard. “C-Guard engaged,” she said.
Ronnie took out a cell phone and checked the screen for a signal. “Signal at one hundred percent.” He tried to make a call. “Call cannot be completed.”
“Acknowledged. Maintain operational silence,” Travis said and they waited.
At 8:45, the armored truck turned into the lot and parked in front of the store in perfect position. The bagman exited the vehicle and went into the store. Once again, Jackie engaged the jamming device. “C-Guard engaged,” Jackie said.
“Acknowledged,” Travis shot back. From that point, they waited. Minutes seemed to pass like hours as they sat patiently waiting for the bagman to reemerge from the store. Then, all at once, Travis’s heart began to pound as he watched a red Honda Civic pull into the lot and park two cars down from Jackie. He looked on in horror as Me’shelle got out of the car and limped gingerly pasted Jackie’s car.
“Damn she’s fine,” Jackie said.
“Maintain operational silence,” Travis said nervously.
“Acknowledged.”
Travis became excited at the sight of Me’shelle in spandex and black leather, but his excitement turned once again to horror at the thought of what could happen. What if something went wrong or she came out of the store while they were taking the objective? Travis couldn’t take the risk of anything happening that would place Me’shelle in danger.
“Abort!” Travis said frantically.
“What?” Ronnie turned to Travis. “What you mean abort?”
“Repeat your traffic, Mr. Blue,” Jackie said.
“Abort! Abort!”
“Acknowledged, Mr. Blue. I’ll meet you at the drop-off point,” Jackie said as she started up the Toyota and exited the lot.
“What’s wrong, Travis?” Ronnie asked as he started up the car.
“I got a bad feeling about this. We need to abort,” Travis said to Ronnie.
“What kind of feeling? You see a cop or something?”
“It just doesn’t feel right, Ronnie, okay?” Travis screamed.
“Okay, okay, chill the fuck out, Travis. We out of here.”
As Ronnie left the parking lot, Travis looked back at the store and saw Me’shelle come out, talking to the bagman. This confirmed his greatest fear and provided justification for his actions. Ronnie and Travis drove in silence to the drop-off point where Jackie was waiting in the Q45. Once they abandoned the Ford, Jackie drove to Murray’s house to drop the car and pick up some money. Jackie and Ronnie remained outside while Travis went in to make the transaction.
“What was up with that?” Jackie asked Ronnie.
“I don’t know. One minute he was cool, and the next thing he’s hollerin’ ‘abort!’ like he lost his damn mind. Then he got all quiet. I don’t know what’s up with Travis,” Ronnie said.
“Maybe he saw something,” Jackie said.
“Maybe he’s losing his nerve.”
“Maybe, but whatever it is, we gonna have to watch Travis,” Jackie said. “’Cause I never seen him act like that.”
“I have. Saturday night at the party. You didn’t notice how he really wasn’t into it?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think nothing of it, ’cause when I came out of the room, he was fuckin’ the shit out Mystique,” Jackie said and laughed as Travis came out of the house.
“Yo, look, I’m sorry about what happened. I just got a really bad feeling, that’s all. It won’t happen again,” Travis said, but in the back of his mind he knew different.
It’s time to find a way to make it out the game.
Chapter Ten
At 9:30 p.m., Bruce Lawrence parked his car across the street from The Spot and turned off the engine. The Spot was a private club run by a guy named Rocky, who also dealt for Chilly. It was the kind of place where ballers, wanna-be ballers, thugs, low-rent gangsters and those hangers-on who just wanted to be down hung out. Chilly had told Bruce to meet him there at 10:00, but when Bruce arrived, he saw Chilly’s car already parked down the street.
Bruce had known Chilly for years, and Chilly liked or at best felt sorry for Bruce. This gave Bruce the advantage of being able to go directly to Chilly for product instead of having to deal with his more ruthless underlings.
He sat there for a while wondering what he was going to do. As usual, he didn’t have all of Chilly’s money.
After he gathered his courage, Bruce got out of his car and went inside. The place was jammed, and the music was loud. Bruce made his way through the crowd, looking for Chilly without success. Finally, he decided to ask somebody where Chilly was. “He’s in the back. In Rocky’s office, waitin’ for you.”
That was the worst.
Bruce felt like he had a better chance of leaving alive if he talked to Chilly with a lot of people around. He’d seen peo
ple go in the office and not come out. Bruce began to think that maybe Me’shelle was right. Maybe he should go home, get Natalie and Brandy and leave the city until things cooled out. He could take the money he had and go down south to Columbia, flip that money and come back when he had all that he owed Chilly.
He turned around, headed for the door and walked right into Derrick Washington, Chilly’s top lieutenant.
“Bruce, my man!” Derrick hollered over the music. “You’re goin’ the wrong way. Chilly’s in the back. Come on.”
Bruce followed Derrick as they made their way through the crowd, cursing all the way. Derrick opened the door to the office and stepped aside to let Bruce go in. This is not good, Bruce thought as he looked around the room filled with everybody he didn’t want to see and one other man he had never seen before. Rocky was seated behind the desk and Chilly was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk, with a young lady standing behind him.
Chilly was talking to the stranger, who sat quietly listening and nodding his head. The man looked like he didn’t belong there nor did he want to be there, and Bruce could tell that he was scared. Suddenly, the man got up and started for the door. Just before he reached Bruce, Chilly called out to him. “Jake!”
The man stopped and turned to face Chilly.
“It’s been six months, Jake. I need to start seeing some results. You understand me, Jake?”
The scared man nodded his head.
“I didn’t hear you, Jake. Do you understand what I’m sayin’, Jake?”
“Yes, Chilly, I understand you perfectly,” the scared man answered and rushed quickly past Bruce and out the door.
All eyes were now on Bruce and Derrick. “Look what I found tryin’ to make it out the door,” Derrick said.
Chilly looked up and smiled when he saw Bruce standing there. He whispered something to the young lady and she left the room. When she closed the door behind her, Chilly motioned for Bruce to come forward. “What’s up, Bruce? Come here and have a seat.”
