by Joyce Nance
She glared at him.
He put his hands up. “Hey, don’t get mad at me. How do you think that shit gets here?”
Raina crossed her arms.
“I’m gonna help the potheads,” he said. “And, I’m gonna make a butt-load of money.”
Raina looked him in the eye. “I can’t stay here anymore, Shane. You don’t make any sense to me. I’d rather live in my van than have anything to do with you. I gotta go. Have a great life.”
Raina walked out the door.
Friday, March 1, 1996 5 PM
Jason kissed the pit bull puppy on the head before placing him at Shane’s feet. “Be a good boy, Buddy,” he said. “Daddy’ll be back in a couple of days.”
“Don’t worry man,” Shane said. “He’s in good hands. I’ll watch him like he’s my own.” He gave Buddy a playful tug on the ear.
Shane had agreed to puppy-sit while Jason went to Juarez, Mexico, for the weekend. Jason had asked Shane to join him on his trip but Shane declined. He said he was tied up.
6 PM
With Buddy resting comfortably in his lap, Shane made a phone call. A man with a slight southern accent answered.
Shane cleared his throat. “I’m callin’ about the TEC-9 handgun advertised in the paper. Is it still for sale?”
“Yes sir, it is,” the man replied.
“Could I come over and see it tonight?”
“You want to see the gun tonight? Hmm, I don’t know about that. I won’t be done with dinner ’til after 8:30.”
“Well, I pretty much need to buy it today,” Shane said, his voice cracking. “Could I come over after you’re done with your dinner?”
“You need to buy it today? Why’s that?”
“My brother’s in the Army and I’m buying it for him. He’s shipping out tomorrow night and I wanted to get it to him before he left.”
The man wanted to know where the brother was stationed and Shane said Fort Carson, Colorado. Shane told him his brother was in the Special Forces and had been looking for this type of gun for a while. The man said it seemed a little weird to need to buy a gun so fast.
“Oh yeah, I know what you mean, it does sound kinda weird,” Shane agreed, voice steadier. “It’s just that when I saw your ad in the paper, I called my brother right away and told him about it. He really wanted me to get it for him before he shipped out to Florida. If it makes you feel any better, I’m gonna bring my mother down with me when I meet you. She’ll vouch for my brother and me both.”
The man told Shane to hold on a minute while he consulted with his wife.
“I guess that sounds okay,” he said when he returned. “How ’bout I meet you down at the Dunkin' Donuts on Gibson at around 9:30? Does that work okay for you?
Shane put the puppy down and stood up. “I’ll be there,” he said.
“By the way, my name’s Adam Romero and I drive a four-by-four, extended-cab pickup truck. It’s red.”
“Good deal. I’m Mike Harmon and I drive a black sports car. I’ll be easy to spot. I’ve got long dark hair and my mom’ll be with me.”
7 PM
“Tell me again, why you have to have Jason’s black leather motorcycle jacket?” Esther questioned.
“I don’t wanna wear mine when we do the video thing,” Shane explained as he casually thumbed through the clothes in Jason’s closet. “I don’t want it connected with me.”
When he found what he was looking for, he pulled the jacket out and put it on. On impulse, he walked over to the full-length mirror in the bathroom and admired himself.
“Jason’s not going to miss it anyway,” Shane continued, changing to a sideways pose. “He’s out of town this weekend and I’m just gonna borrow it for a couple of hours and then give it right back. He’ll never even know it’s been gone.”
9:30 PM
Adam and his wife Beth Ann pulled into the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot a little early. Adam didn’t see anyone yet so he and his wife went into the doughnut shop and ordered coffee. Minutes later, a small black car rumbled into the parking lot. Adam spotted the long hair right away and figured this was the guy he had talked to earlier. He was quite the sight. Besides the hair, he had on a black biker jacket and was accompanied by an older, somewhat-plump woman. She was dressed a little strangely as well, wearing brown thigh-high street-walker-type boots.
Adam went outside alone and introduced himself.
The guy with the long hair extended his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m Mike and this is my mom.”
Mike and his mother seemed friendly enough. They thanked Adam over and over for agreeing to meet with them.
Adam opened the passenger-side door of his truck and picked up a hard black camera case. “Here it is,” he said. “I keep my guns cleaned, oiled, and secure.” He unlocked the case with a key.
“Nice,” Mike said, looking inside, smiling.
“Yeah, it’s alright,” Adam said. He lifted the gun out of the case and as soon as he did, the woman became excited. She grabbed it and held it up to eye-level, studying it.
“How many bullets fit in the clip?” she asked.
“That one holds twenty,” Adam replied. “I have another one that holds thirty-two.” He got the sense by the awkward way she held the gun that she hadn’t been around firearms much, but for whatever reason, she seemed intrigued by the TEC-9.
Mike's eyebrows drew together and his jaw muscle tightened as he grabbed the pistol from her, examining it himself. “Is any ammo included?” he asked.
Adam hesitated. “No, but I can throw in a couple of ammo clips with the deal if you want ’em.”
“You can? That’s very cool. Hey, do you know what version this one is?”
“Huh?”
“What version is this gun?” Mike turned the gun over in his hands. “Is it the long one or the short one?”
“It’s the shorter model, if that’s what you mean.” Adam knew enough about this type of gun to know there were two different models of the TEC-9; one with a four-inch barrel and this one, which was a two-inch barrel. The TEC-9 also had the capacity to hold up to either a 50-round box magazine or a 72-round drum magazine. The number represented how many bullets could be fired without reloading.
Mike told Adam he was going out of town later that night or first thing in the morning and mentioned again that he wanted to purchase the gun for his brother. He explained that his brother had fired a TEC-9 at one point and liked it. His brother had been looking to buy a gun like this for some time.
Mike peered into the barrel. “Has this pistol ever jammed on you?”
“No,” Adam said, “it hasn’t, but I’ve only used it for target practice and only a couple of times. For the amount I’ve used it, I’ve never had any trouble, jamming or otherwise.”
“Have you ever tried using your long magazine?”
“Nope. I haven’t fooled around with it much. I’m sure it works fine though.”
“Yeah, it probably does. It looks like you took real good care of it.”
“My dad always said, ’Take care of your equipment and your equipment will take care of you.’”
Mike gave Adam a weak smile. “What’s your price, sir?” he asked.
Adam looked him in the eye. “Three hundred bucks.”
“Okay,” Mike said, no argument.
“You got that much with you?”
“Yeah, that’s not a problem.” Mike reached into his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out a handful of tens and twenties. “It’s all there. Go ahead and count it,” Mike said and held the money out. In the exchange, Adam accidentally dropped the bills on the pavement and glanced around to see if anyone was watching him. It occurred to him that exchanging money in a parking lot might look like he was doing something illegal. Fortunately, no one was paying any attention.
After the money exchange, Adam signaled for his wife to join him at his vehicle and they drove off, leaving Shane and Esther standing alone in the parking lot.
10 PM
> Pueblo, Colorado
Club TLQ had smoking hot disco music and a big dance floor. Crystal found it impossible to get John to dance but that didn’t mean she ever stopped trying. She loved a night out and if she couldn’t dance with her man then she would dance with whomever was willing. Tonight, her best friend Belinda and her husband Ed joined them. Ed was a good dancer, which let John off the hook.
John had his own agenda. He spent his time playing darts, hustling fellow patrons for a shot of whiskey a game. After a few hours of darts, John was knee-walking drunk.
10:30 PM
In the car, in the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot, Shane said, “Hey, we gotta few hours to kill before we go do the video place. We oughta try this bad boy out right now.” He held up the TEC-9 case.
A cold wind ruffled Esther’s hair. She had her window fully open, wanting the breeze. The excitement of buying the gun had already worn off and her mind was elsewhere. She watched an animated conversation between a man and a woman inside the doughnut shop. The man resembled John.
She turned her attention back to Shane. “What’re you talking about?”
“Let’s go get some bullets and shoot this thing. I wanna see how it feels. The shotgun’s in the back. We can try that one out too.”
Esther frowned and shook her head. Nearby, a metal cable clanged against a rusty metal pipe. Her head pounded.
“I don’t want to go anywhere right now. I need to lie down, take a break. I’ve got a migraine or something.” She rubbed her forehead. “You go.”
“No, you gotta go,” Shane said with an authoritative tone. “You need to know how to shoot ’em, too,” He leaned towards her. “Just in case.”
“In case what?”
“In case people start shooting at us and I need help.” Shane was sort of smiling when he said these words, but sort of not. “I need you to know what you’re doing.”
Esther didn’t understand. Why did she need to practice shooting? She had no plans to shoot anyone. Shooting practice might be fun at some point in the future, but not now. Too loud.
“I really don’t want to,” she said
“We’re going.” Shane gave her a playful slug her on the shoulder. Esther did not smile. “We gotta go to Walmart first and get some ammo,” he said.
Esther stared straight ahead.
He gave her a look and started the car.
On the trip to Walmart, Esther leaned her head against the window to feel its coolness. For relief. What have I gotten myself into? she thought. Seems like when he gets something in his head, there’s no stopping him.
When they got to Walmart, the store was almost empty. There was one clerk in the sporting goods section, no other customers in sight.
Shane picked out a fifty round box of 9mm shells, plus two boxes of ammo for the shotgun. He said he wanted one box of the regular buckshot and then another box of slugs in case he needed more impact. Esther did not ask him what he meant by that.
When all the ammunition was completely bagged, Esther paid. In less than fifteen minutes they were back in the car driving east on Interstate 40.
11:30 PM
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“This thing shoots sweet,” Shane said.
Esther cupped her hand over one ear. “Can’t hear you,” she said.
“I said,” Shane screamed, holding the TEC-9 over his head with one hand. “This fucking gun rocks.”
Esther nodded. Her assignment was to practice with the shotgun. Shane loaded the ammo for her and explained how to hold and shoot the gun. Wanting to get it over with, she pumped it once and pulled the trigger.
Blam.
The shotgun flew out of her hands and landed on the ground. She stared at it. She never expected it to have that much kick.
“Try it again,” Shane said, laughing. “Brace yourself this time.”
Esther did as she was told. She picked up the gun and braced her legs against a nearby cedar tree. I don’t want to do this, she told herself. She clutched the grip as tight as she could and pulled the trigger again.
Blam.
This time the kick drove her backwards, slamming her against the tree. She teetered sideways, struggling to stay on her feet.
Shane smirked.
“Shut up,” Esther said, lowering her eyes. “I didn’t want to do this shit anyway.”
There was a pretty good-sized hole in the ground next to where she stood. It had been Shane’s idea that they shoot their guns into the dirt to lessen the chance of drawing attention to themselves.
“Ha. That fucker has a mind of its own.”
Shane returned his attention to the TEC-9.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
“I could do this all day but I don’t want to waste my bullets,” he said.
Esther put the shotgun down on a nearby boulder.
Shane turned to her. “What?”
“I’m not messing around with this anymore. It about knocked me out. Give me the one you got. Let me try that one.”
Shane looked over his shoulder to check for passers-by. They were positioned behind a chain-link fence next to a ridge and were pretty isolated. It was maybe a half a mile off I-40, on a back road near a very noisy cement plant. He did see a house up the hill, a few blocks away, but even if anyone did hear the gun shots, he doubted they would be able to place the location of the sounds.
He handed her the pistol. “Okay, but you probably are going to like this one.”
Turned out she did like the TEC-9. It was heavy but it felt better in her hands and had almost no kick whatsoever. She thought it much more suited for a smaller female like herself.
Shane picked up the shotgun, spread his legs to steady himself, then pumped and fired three times into the dirt. He looked at the shotgun in his hands and then at the large holes in the ground and nodded in approval.
Esther flinched at every round. “Let’s get out of here,” she said.
“Yup, we better. We’ve been here too long.”
They jumped back into the car and drove to Shane’s apartment. Shane left the engine running, dashed inside and stowed the TEC-9 and shotgun in a duffel bag in the back of his closet. He grabbed the two unloaded BB guns from his nightstand and sprinted back out.
Saturday, March 2, 1996 1:50 AM
CLOSING
Empty trash
Collect receipts
Change tape
Turn lights off
Lock doors
Almost all of Hollywood Video's closing procedures were done prior to locking the doors. The employees weren’t required to do the checklist in order, they just needed to make sure they didn’t miss anything.
While the manager, Mylinh, secured the doors, Sheila changed the tape. She took Tape #1 out of the recorder and placed it in the filing cabinet. She then took out a new tape, marked it as Tape #2, put it into the VCR and pressed “record.” The numbers corresponded to the dates of March 1st and 2nd . Because they had a multi-camera sequential storage system, all the cameras recorded onto one video tape at the same time.
1:50 AM
The black Pontiac Fiero pulled into the parking lot of the Hollywood Video store on San Mateo Boulevard just as one of the employees locked the front door. The “OPEN/CLOSED” sign had already been flipped to “CLOSED.” Shane looked at Esther and frowned.
The store was supposed to stay open until 2AM. It was only 1:50 AM but the interior lights had already been dimmed and no customers appeared to be in the store.
“What do you want to do?’ Esther asked.
“Let me think for a minute.”
Shane and Esther watched the employees clean the store and shut things down.
“Plan?” Esther asked, eyebrows going up.
“Jowanda’s here, and I know she likes me,” he said with a wink. “I’m gonna go see if I can’t get her to let us in.”
He knew Jowanda from the Hollywood Video on Central where she used to work, which happened to be the store where he
rented the majority of his videos.
“Do you see her?” Esther asked.
“Yeah, she’s in the back. She’ll come up front when she sees me.” He opened the car door. “I’m gonna go try and get in.”
The two had arrived ready for a robbery — BB guns, gloves, duct tape. Shane wasn’t exactly sure how many people would be working, so he brought two extra rolls of tape, just in case. He carried them in the side pocket of his jacket.
The plan was to: go in, tie the kids up, take the money and leave. This was the way they had done it at Mac’s Steak in the Rough, so the thought was that, once you have something that works, keep it.
Shane told Esther he liked the particulars of this Hollywood Video. It took in lots of cash, especially on weekends, and it was isolated. Nearby businesses closed by 9 PM at the latest, and there was no security guard inside.
But first they had to get in.
Shane walked up to the front door and pulled hard. Locked. One of the employees, a skinny white chick he didn’t know, walked towards him. He flashed a big smile, motioning for her to open the door.
The employee shook her head and pointed to the closed sign. Shane’s smile disappeared.
***
The store closed early because Hollywood Video ran their clocks fifteen minutes fast. A fast clock cleared customers out quicker. Once the customers were gone, the employees could finish their business and go home.
Jowanda usually locked the front door but tonight Sheila did. Sheila, a cashier, worked Friday nights along with Mylinh, the night manager, Zach, a key holder and stocker, and Jowanda, another cashier. Because Jowanda and Sheila attended high school all day and then worked a seven hour shift, they were anxious to get off work.
Mylinh was in the back room counting cash and Zach was sweeping the floor when Sheila saw a guy jump out of a sports car and run up to the door.
She saw someone else in the car too but couldn’t make out much about them other than that they wore glasses. She couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman. Whoever that person was, they did not get out of the car. The person that did get out, a man, was over six feet tall, with shoulder-length bushy blackish hair, and facial hair — a mustache and part of a beard.
Sheila was about a foot away when the man yanked on the door with both hands, scaring her. When he discovered the door would not open, he asked Sheila to let him in.