I got up late the next day and puttered around the apartment until the time was nearing for the meeting with Jensen. A feeling of optimism prevailed in my mind and I was hoping that we would come to a mutual agreement but the next few hours would tell for sure. I drove to the restaurant and felt somewhat sure that Jensen’s face would be about the same as it was a few years ago. When I walked in the door and looked at the people, there was no immediate recognition until a minute later when a smiling face looked at me. I walked over to his table and within seconds we felt a close bond that happens when people with a similar history meet up. We exchanged a few pleasantries and he told me that I looked older but pretty much the same. Jensen had a rugged look about him that comes from spending time in the joint while maintaining a façade that only inmates can accomplish. While eating, I asked about his activities and his response indicated that life had not been easy His level of employment skills were not high and most of the jobs he could get were low paying, menial types. At this time, he was not even working and received a small amount of money from the unemployment office which was due to run out in a month. He had thought about going back to school but didn’t think that his lack of discipline was conducive to serious study. Jensen had no direction in life and seemed to go wherever fate would direct him.
I told him about my job in the bakery, how boring it had become, and the difficulty of living on the meager wages it paid. Then I took a chance and disclosed some of the more minor deviant acts that brought in much needed cash while watching his face for any sign of disgust over my actions. Jensen interjected that he had also pulled a few minor jobs but hadn’t made much money from them. Believing that he was interested in hearing more, I revealed a few of the serious crimes but stopped short of telling him about the killings. He seemed very eager to have me continue and particularly wanted to know why I was telling him these usually secretive revelations. Feeling even more convinced that he was finding favor in my presentation, I presented a plan that could make us a lot of money but explained that it would take two people to pull off the job successfully. He seemed to understand how difficult a one man operation was and had a good familiarity with the steps needed to undertake a risky operation. I felt very comfortable with his acceptance of the situation and really thought that he was the right choice for an accomplice. He wanted to know what I had in mind for our first effort and was a little disappointed that nothing had been decided on yet. However, now that I had a reliable second man, it shouldn’t be long before a good opportunity presented itself to us and then we could spend some time on planning a professional job with very little risk involved.
As we parted, I told Jensen that he would be notified as soon as a good target was identified and that it usually doesn’t take very long for me to find one. He looked forward to seeing me again soon and was certain that we made a good team. Now that I had taken care of all the loose ends, it was time to get busy and find a lucrative business that would be fairly easy to rob. Having Jensen work with me made the job much easier since he could serve as a lookout and keep an eye on customers in case I had to go into a back room. The stark realization of how risky working alone was came to me at that moment and I felt a slight shudder run through my body. Sometimes my super confidence got the better of me and ended up by providing an invincible feeling that overcame common sense. I would have to watch for that flaw in the future or it could end up causing serious trouble for me. With two people on the job, I didn’t have to limit my selections to free standing or corner located businesses but could consider all options that were available. The best place was one that took in mostly cash and did a lot of business but finding such a place would not be that easy. I spent many days in the downtown and suburban mall areas looking for such a target and quickly excluded banks, large department stores and any place where a guard might be on duty. I did have some interest in a few small stores that cashed checks and made payday loans since it stood to reason that large amounts of cash were on hand. The problem with hitting them had to do with a large glass barrier between customers and clerks which was probably bullet proof. In order to successfully do the job, some way had to be found that let us inside the money room. We also had to find a way to cut off the alarm which would certainly be part of their operation.
The more I thought about these businesses the better they looked and robbing them would be taking back from greedy vultures who took advantage of people with little assets. I had been reading about these places and disliked them immensely because of their practices. When I robbed a place, at least it was from well to do people who took from those who could least afford it. We would be striking a blow for justice by stealing their cash and that brought out a sense of decency from me. All I had to do was figure out how to enter the building, deactivate the alarm, scoop up all the money and make the getaway without any problems arising. It was a tall order but I felt up to the challenge and would start developing a plan immediately. The next day, I went to two of the money stores and surveyed the area for escape routes, number of people walking by and entrances into the back of the building. One store was in a very familiar downtown area while the other was a little further out and located in a strip mall. I watched these places for two days and noticed how many customers walked in and the number of clerks on duty but what I couldn’t determine was how to gain entry inside through the back doors. It seemed that the easiest way to get in was to wait for a clerk to show up and accompany him in at gunpoint while Jensen kept anyone in front from leaving or calling for help. Once inside, I could put the gun to one of the clerks’ head and order him to disarm the alarm which would then give us time to obtain the cash and make a safe exit.
My plan seemed foolproof and all that remained was picking out which store to hit. The downtown one had many streets on which to disappear into traffic while the suburban store had fewer people in the area so that noticing us or identifying the car would be less of a problem. It was not an easy decision to make and I decided to phone Jensen and run the plan by him to see what he thought was best. I didn’t know how much credibility to give his input but it couldn’t hurt to have another opinion. I called Jensen and said we should meet and discuss the matter and we agreed to get together in two hours at a park. When I arrived, he was already waiting and it showed me how eager the man was to start the operation. We picked an isolated bench to sit on and I went over every aspect of the plan and waited to hear his reaction. He could hardly contain his excitement as the details were revealed and his response favored every aspect of the plan. When I asked him which store seemed easier to hit, Jensen was quiet for a few moments and went over the pros and cons of each location in his mind before suggesting that the downtown place seemed better due to its number of streets that could take us in any direction. I was already favoring that particular site since the main drawback to the mall store was in having a limited number of exits that police could block very quickly. The downtown store also did more business and would presumably have more cash on hand which became another deciding factor. With that matter settled, we now had to decide when to make the hit and the best time seemed to be late afternoon just before five. I had watched the store on both days and carefully noted that an evening shift clerk came to the back door at about two minutes to five. That would be the time when I would force him to let me in and gain access to the money. After completing the robbery, there would be a huge jumble of cars and people in the streets from workplaces emptying out, which had to help us with our escape.
We decided to commit the robbery in two days on a Thursday and I went over the plans again with Jensen, gave him a mask and said we’d talk again tomorrow. Now that everything was pretty much settled, I could relax and spend some time with Allison who should be returning home today. If this job went well, then enough cash should be on hand to last me for another six to eight months and make life as good as it gets. I went home and waited awhile before knocking on Allison’s door. It sounded like the shower was on so I waited impatiently
for her to open up and when she did, it was like heaven again. I didn’t realize how much her presence was missed although after a period of time with her, some quiet was needed. We spent that night in her apartment and didn’t even bother to eat out. Allison made some snacks from whatever she had available and that sufficed for the evening. We decided that on the next day, a ride out to the countryside would be nice where all there was to think about was each other. It sounded corny but kind of appealed to me and I wondered if domestication was starting to take hold of me. We did spend a peaceful, pleasant time together that day and I was almost sorry to see it end. Sometimes, I wondered what Allison would think of me if she knew about my career but that problem was trivial and relegated to the back of my mind so that it would not disrupt our lives right now.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Early on Thursday morning, Allison left for work and wouldn’t return until the next morning which fit in perfectly with my schedule. I had spoken to Jensen for a few minutes each day to remind him about our plans and he seemed well versed in their execution. He knew that I was bringing a pistol and thought it would be the ideal means of obtaining compliance from anyone in the store. He was going to pick me up around four and drive downtown where we would park about half a block from the store and avoid having the car noticed by anyone passing by. I had been through this procedure several times in the past and had a real comfortable feeling with the events that were about to happen even though something unpredictable could occur. Jensen seemed very cool and calm and looked like he could be counted on to conduct himself in a manner that was expected. The time was approaching for action and with the gun in my belt and all other equipment loaded in backpacks, we exited the car and walked to our separate positions. He moved to the front door while I walked around the back and waited for the evening shift clerk to show up. Within a few minutes, I could see a man approaching the back door and noticing that no one else was in the vicinity, quickly put on my mask and walked up behind him until the gun was thrust into his back. A little gasp of surprise came from his mouth as I told him to open up and disarm the alarm immediately. The man offered no resistance to my commands and within seconds we were both inside. He walked up to some sort of electric box and pulled a switch down while saying that the alarm was off. Even though there was no alarm sound, I had already figured that the security company would notice something was amiss and take some kind of action What I didn’t know was if they would phone first or call police immediately so the job had to be done extra fast.
I could see Jensen through the glass and pointed the gun at both clerks while ordering them to fill up the bags with every bit of cash. There was only one customer in front and he got down on the floor when told to by Jensen. The clerks obeyed and within a minute, both bags were chock full of greenbacks. I then ordered them to lie on the ground and not move for five minutes or else. For good measure, I kicked each of them in the side as a way of slowing down any reactions and made my way out the door and around to the car where Jensen was already waiting for me. He gunned the engine and we made several turns to put us out of the immediate area and then headed into traffic where leisure speed could be maintained that brought no attention to us. I could hear many sirens behind us and knew that either a silent alarm had been set off or the security company had called police. Now I was sorry that more kicks weren’t delivered to the clerks for being wise asses. Jensen was very good at driving and knew how to avoid any attention. Before long we were out of the downtown area and heading toward the suburbs far away from the scene of action. An hour later, when it seemed safe to head for my apartment, we pulled up to it and went inside with the bags to see what our efforts had produced. Counting the money took awhile because many of the bills were fifties and hundreds but about eighty minutes later we arrived at a grand total of sixteen thousand seven hundred dollars. I thought that the sum was breathtaking and Jensen was very impressed by it. We split it equally and after Jensen put his share in a bag, he left but not before we decided to keep in close touch since there was always more work to do in the future.
I was very pleased with the total of that job. With my share of the take added to my other stash I now had over seventeen thousand dollars which, with prudent spending, could last me for at least six months. By that time, our daring escapade would have been forgotten and plans could be made for the next sortie. Life was really enjoyable and it made me really remember why living in America was so great. This truly was a land of opportunity that benefitted those who took the initiative to achieve success. Now that I had plenty of dough, there had to be some way to reward myself for these last few endeavors and it seemed only right that Allison should help me choose how to do it. She wouldn’t be home until morning so I decided to stay in and relax by watching television including the news and hear about our daring feat. When the news did come on, it must have been a slow day for reporters because the robbery was the first story and of course, everything about it was exaggerated including the amount of money taken. My suspicious mind formulated that the clerks had taken some cash that we didn’t know about and said the robbers got it. Well, I couldn’t blame them for being innovative at the very time that they could get away with that kind of action. I suppose that there’s enough for everyone and no use in me being a glutton and wanting it all when other people had to live too.
While I hate to admit it, sometimes a touch of nostalgia comes over me and my mother comes to mind. I had very little contact with her during the last few months and felt that if anything was really wrong, she would call me. At this moment, I wanted to hear her voice but as soon as she answered the phone, my inclination was to make it as brief a conversation as possible before she unloaded her life story on me. She was doing fine, had a new boyfriend and continued to work. I gave her a brief synopsis of my activities without mentioning my lack of employment, and she seemed to be pleased with how my life was progressing. There was never very much to say to her as my maternal feelings had not increased and I was sure that she didn’t want too much involvement with me. I never did repay her for whatever sum of money she gave me when we lived together but the thought was in my mind and it would be done sometime. After talking to my mother, the sentimentality left me and I was free to resume more important things which had to do with my personal interests. After all, I came first and if looking out for my interests waned over time, then who else would care about me? In my world, everyone else came in at a remote second place while the universe revolved around me. Some people might think that my view was selfish but the hell with all of them; I’m the only one supporting me.
I had been having a very relaxing time over the past few days and seeing Allison when she was home. The news story about the robbery had just about vanished as more sensational events unfolded. Other than the police keeping an open file on all crimes that I had been involved with, they became an invisible series of acts that no one remembered. I was not too surprised when the phone rang and Jensen said “hello” and proceeded to chitchat with me for a few minutes before saying that he had acquired a revolver from an acquaintance that would come in handy on future jobs. At first, I was a little resistant to having another weapon present during heists but quickly realized that he really had no way to prevent people from bolting if we were in a similar situation as the last one. Jensen did not seem like someone who was trigger happy and I let him know that obtaining a gun was an act of resourceful thinking. My attitude pleased him and his next question had to do with returning to business although I had no such plans for at least six months. Apparently, Jensen had to pay off some huge gambling debts and was already low on funds for living expenses. This was an unexpected snag since gambling was not something that an addicted person could give up easily and if his habit was severe, it could lead to unpleasant consequences. I asked him to tell me about the extent of his betting and his response about how minor it was gave out an uncomfortable feeling that just didn’t sit well. I hadn’t been aware of this problem and did not want to have
an accomplice who had an uncontrollable behavior which others had an interest in. I told Jensen that we would talk later and hung up. The next few hours were spent in deep thought about this situation and how to resolve it.
I could only come up with one plausible solution and that was for Jensen to give up gambling or he would be given up by me. I liked the way he worked with me but the burden of his habit was much more risky than having him as an ally. I probably had made a mistake by bringing him in to the scheme without checking to see if he had any unwanted traits and now, breaking up with him would allow a loose end to bring me down. If Jensen started trying his hand alone at jobs and was caught, there was a very high probability that he would offer me up to the authorities as Cal had done. The difference now was in the severity of my crimes and the certainty of a life in prison sentence or worse. We had to meet quickly and have a discussion about this matter before everything good was shattered right before my eyes. If he did not give up the gambling and threatened to work alone or with a new person, then I would have to act decisively and eliminate the snag. If it should come to that, I would have no problem in whacking him because when it came to my survival, nothing could stand in the way. I phoned Jensen that evening and said it was time for a meeting to discuss our next move and his quick agreement showed me how desperate his situation was at this time We would meet at the usual restaurant for dinner and exchange ideas concerning future matters although his present status was much more of a concern. Everything had to be settled quickly since this was no time for putting matters on the back burner.
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