The Heist

Chapter 16 (@red-writes-stuff)

We both step out, and I head to the right just as Jake instructed. I walk past the food trucks and come to the parking lot. I turn around to see Jake is no longer behind me. I scan the area looking for him, but he's nowhere to be found. I walk a little further into the parking lot and crouch down between two cars so that I'm not in plain view of everyone. After a few moments, I can feel the panic start to set in, and I wonder if Jake has been captured. The horn beeps on one of the cars, further down causing me to jump. I look back towards the festival and see Jake walking towards the parking lot and straight for the car that just beeped. I get up and quickly walk in the same direction, meeting him at the car.

"What happened? I thought they found you?" I ask.

"I had to go get our bags."

He unlocks the car, and we quickly get in and make our way through the parking lot and away from the festival. Once we are on the freeway, I breathe a sigh of relief. After a long, awkward silence, Jake grabs my hand and squeezes it. "I have a plan, but you're going to have to trust me."

"Care to share?"

"Not yet, that's why I said you'll have to trust me."

"I trust you, Jake. I've never doubted you before, and I don't plan on starting now."

After an hour or so on the road, Jake pulls into a small convenience store. He turns to me, "I hate to ask this, but do you have any money? We need a few things." I nod and pull out the wad of cash I took when we left. He gives me a questioning look. "Do I even want to know?" He asks.

"I keep cash hidden away for emergencies. I figured this would be considered an emergency." I start to get out of the car, and he stops me.

"No, you stay here. I'll go in and get what we need." He says, and I hand him the money.

After a few moments, Jake comes back with a bag full of stuff. He reaches in the bag, pulls out a burner phone, and hands it to me. "How much do you trust this lawyer of yours?"

"Jake, I trust him with my life."

"That's good enough for me. From this point on, he is the only one you are to contact. When the time comes, you will need to reach out to him and let him know what's going on. Only give him basic details. He only needs to know enough to keep us from running into more trouble. You understand?" I nod, and he continues. "We can't trust anyone from the FBI right now. Master is a very powerful man with a lot of powerful people working for him. He may not have the whole FBI in his back pocket, but I can assure you Michaels isn't the only rat. We're almost there, but we are going to have to ditch the car pretty soon. We will go the rest of the way on foot. It's not far, I promise."

After another half an hour, we approach a motel. Jake parks in the back and tells me not to leave anything behind. After gathering our things, we walk down the road a little way and slip into a narrow alleyway. After going through a maze of alleys, we end up at a small road at the edge of a dense forest. "This way," Jake says, grabbing my head and leading me into the forest. We've been walking for quite some time, and the sun is now starting to set. I'm beginning to wonder if we are just walking in circles when we suddenly reach a clearing and, on the other side, is a small house.

"We wait until it is completely dark, and then we make our way to the house. My buddy James lives there, and he is going to help us carry out our plan."

Sure enough, once it is completely dark, Jake takes my hand and leads me out of the forest. We quickly make our way to the house, and before we reach the back door, it opens, and a tall, lanky man stands in the doorway, motioning for us to come in.

"Thank you so much for letting us come on such short notice," Jake says.

"No problem, we both have the same goal. It's time we put an end to master. Come on, I'll show you to the guest room." He walks off down the hall, and we follow. "The shower is down the hall. We will talk once you two have a chance to freshen up." He walks out, closing the door behind him.

"Ok, now would be a good time to tell me your plan," I tell Jake.

"James works for master but he's been trying to find a way to bring him down for years. He's the last person anyone would suspect would flip so he can get inside his house and get the information we need to do just that. Even though Michaels is a dirty agent, we do still have a deal in writing that says we get to go free if we bring him down, and with Christopher's help, they will have to honor that agreement."

The door bursts open, and James runs in. "They're here." He whispers and reaches down, pulling the rug off the floor, revealing a hidden door. He opens it and motions for us to climb down the stairs. I look at Jake for some kind of reassurance. Jake does not seem disturbed by this in the least, so I follow him down the stairs. James throws our bags down to us.

From this hiding spot, we can hear everything that is happening. There is a knock on the door.

"Michaels, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting a visit."

"Jake and that bitch he's with made a deal to help the FBI capture master and we can't let that happen."

"Of course not! Are you sure? I never thought Jake would be one to flip."

"I was there when the deal was made. One of our guys followed them for a little bit, but they lost them. They seemed to be headed this way. I thought maybe he might take a chance and stop by here."

"No, I haven't seen him. Now that I know what he's done, I know what I have to do if he does show up."

"It's not that I don't trust you, but do you mind if I look around just to make sure?"

"No, not at all come in."

They continue talking, and their voices get louder. I hear their footsteps and the floor creaks above us. I start to panic, knowing they are in the room. Jake moves closer to me and puts his finger over my mouth to keep me quiet. I try to control my breathing to keep from being heard.

"Really, you're checking the closet?" I hear James say.

"You never can be too sure." Michaels laughs.

"Well, I hate to rush you out, but now that you're convinced, I do have somewhere I need to be."

We hear them leave the room, and I start to breathe a little easier.