Short Story – The Perfect Plan

I decided to try the #BlogBattle. I took a short story that I wrote a while ago and changed it to fit the theme.

 

The Perfect Plan

Mickey was the kind of guy who would do anything for the thrill and adrenaline. So, when Larry came to him with his plan, he knew right away that he had to be in on it. The only real issue was being able to find the right guys to get the job done. He turned his chair towards the big window in his office that looks out over the whole factory. Although he pretends he has forgotten, he will never forget the fact that he started out on the line before cheating and backstabbing his way to the top. You would think this great accomplishment would be enough to satisfy him, but nothing was ever enough for Mickey.

Larry wasn’t as accomplished as his pal Mickey. He had only made it to a supervisor on the line which suited him well because it meant that he had a sense of power over other people. He had always been a second in command kind of guy, and that was alright with him, but the fact that he had his own group of people to torment excited him. It was the reason he got out of bed some mornings.

When Mickey finally decided who could be trusted enough for this brilliant plan, he assembled the crew together in his office. He closed the blinds and turned down the lighting a little. He was a sucker for setting the mood. They all sat around the conference table ready to hear the details. Larry laid out everything and began to divvy out jobs to the men. Mickey may have been the leader of the operation, but Larry was definitely the ideas guy. He wouldn’t dare step in when Larry was on a roll.

They all knew what to do and left the office as if they had only gone there for work-related things. Larry stayed behind for a minute to question whether or not those men could be trusted with such an endeavor. Mickey assured him that he had thought it through carefully and these were the best men to do the job. This put Larry’s mind at ease.

That night the men gathered behind the local bank dressed in all black to blend in with the shadows. Larry’s cousin had left the back door open and gone home hours ago. All the men had to do was go inside quietly and make their way to the vault. They were already armed with the combination. In a matter of a couple hours, they had already filled the van more than halfway.

Everything was going according to plan. It was going so well that they didn’t notice that Larry and Mickey weren’t anywhere to be found. None of them saw it coming when the police arrived just as they were loading the last batch of money into the tiny crevices that were left in the van. In all of the commotion, no one seemed to notice that the two leaders were not among the men being put in the back of the police cars.

Some would say that the whole plan was a bust. At least that is what the reporters kept saying. All of the money in the bank vault had been returned, and the men had been put in jail even before they could drive away with the spoils of the whole operation. That is what made the whole plan brilliant. No one even noticed the missing item from the safe security box 2774.

Mickey and Larry waited for several months before they set up a buyer for such an exquisite and unique item. By that point, they had managed to talk their ways out of having any connection to the crime and were feeling quite confident in the fact that they had gotten away with it.

A meeting was planned in a secure place away from CCTV cameras. They may have been confident, but they weren’t stupid. Larry showed up first with nothing but the feeling of wanting to get the whole thing over with as soon as possible. So far his plan had gone so well, but he knew that it could all end badly in just a moment. Mickey showed up with the small box tucked into the breast pocket of his average priced suit. He yearned to spend the money on expensive things like a new suit or sports car. Larry had warned him that it would just make them look suspicious.

Without saying a word, the two men took their positions in the glow of the street light. Larry looked down the right side of the street and Mickey looked down the left. Neither of them expected the buyer to come up behind them. The man in a long black trench coat cleared his throat loudly which made Larry and Mickey jump. The mysterious man stood in the shadow and spoke very little. He held up a briefcase in front of them. The clicking of the latches almost seemed to echo in the darkness. The top sprung open revealing large bundles of cash. Mickey and Larry were both struck speechless with their eyes glued to the financial freedom in front of them. When the briefcase was snapped closed faster than it has been opened, it snapped Mickey and Larry back to reality.

Larry nodded and Mickey reached into his left breast pocket and pulled out the small box. He opened the box slowly and there it was. The world’s tiniest working solid gold harp. The man in the trench coat reached out with one finger and strummed creating the most beautiful sound that any of them had ever heard. Mickey had been so excited and paranoid, that he never even thought to see it is worked.

Larry reached for the briefcase but froze when the mystery buyer’s trench coat came open just enough for his police badge to reflect the street light. At that moment, he knew he shouldn’t have used Craigslist to find a buyer for the harp.