I'm not doing well at all with this whole school/writing bit. ::sigh:: Anyway...
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Chapter Six
The Plan
Holmes had started on another of his damned chemistry experiments. He was very good at it, and had never actually blown anything up on accident, but it still made me nervous. I would always remember the day my lab partner mixed silver nitrate with hydrochloric acid and I spent the night in the ER, with the rest of Chem 201. I always took a walk when did those experiments.
I had decided that I had to try and talk Wes out of this heist. At the very least I could watch his back, and make sure he didn't turn up in a local morgue.
I stood across the street from the address Wes had given me. It was an ordinary looking house on Tooley Street, right across the Thames from the Tower of London. I pretended to rest in the shade of a building while I checked for followers, namely Holmes. It was a fairly hot day, especially with this stupid dress on.
I decided that no one had followed me and I crossed the street and rang the bell. The door was opened almost immediately by the man who had led the attack on me in the alley. "What do you want?" He sneered, obviously not recognizing me.
"To speak with Wes." I said condescendingly. The little man frowned but didn't move. "Look you little weasel," I snapped. " I want to talk with Wes and you can't stop me." I shoved past him. He started after me, but halted at the sound of Wes' voice.
"Aurora! I knew you'd come." He threw an arm around my shoulder. "This is gonna be great. We were just finalizing our plan." He led me upstairs, leaving Dog standing in the entrance hall like an idiot.
The inside of the house was far from ordinary. There were no furnishings anywhere on the lower floor. Upstairs there was a large room with a table and some chairs, every available surface was covered with blueprints or tools. I assume that there were some beds around here but I never saw them.
The only other occupant of the house, Aden "The Jackal" Scott was bent over a blueprint. His bright red (or blood-red as he liked to say) hair was the only distinctive feature about him. He was average height and build and his features were easily forgettable. He smiled viciously as we entered. He did pretty much everything viciously. "Hola, bienvendios Aurora. Or Onyx?" He said in a light Spanish accent. I groaned internally. He was from Montana.
"Onyx will do." I said calmly.
"Onyx, I am The Jackal. But my friends call me The." He chuckled again at his own joke.
"Okay, if you two are finished with the banter and pose, we need to go over this." Wes interrupted, waving a hand at the table. He unrolled a blueprint of the Tower.
"At nine, we meet and get ready. At ten we head across the river and station ourselves here." He pointed to a place right outside the Tower walls. "The guards check in with each other every fifteen minutes. The guard here checks in at exactly 9:15. At 9:16, we knock him out with one of these." Wes held out a container of six tranquilizer darts. I recognized them from another time we had used them. They would send an average sized man to sleep for about a half-hour.
"This entrance leads into a back staircase which is patrolled by another guard. The second dart is for him. Now, the Jewels are kept in a room that is partitioned by an iron cage. The Jewels are accessed through a door in the back of the room. That door leads into the back room. There should be two more guards in there. We take the door off its hinges and we're in. This should all take about five minutes. We have two minutes to load all the Jewels into those." Wes pointed to several trunks. One was open and I could see that they were lines with foam to protect the Jewels. "Two more minutes to get out of the Tower and we have about six minutes to get as far as we can."
"We'll be doing recon tonight. Onyx, you're our driver, we have a cab and horse ready to go. We'll walk over, and you'll drive up with Martin at exactly, the guy downstairs, and let him out here." He pointed across the street from the Tower's north wall. "We'll jump in and take the scenic route home."
I shook my head but didn't say anything. Dog/Martin picked this moment to interrupt. "S'cuse me, guv'nor. But th' Professor's here ta see ya."
I turned to see Professor Moriarty framed in the doorway. He didn't look like much of a criminal mastermind. He looked more like a walking skeleton, pale and emaciated. But his eyes glittered with intelligence and malevolence.
"Ah, the third member of our party has arrived I see." His voice was cold and silky, he reminded me of a serpent. He seemed to be cultivating that sort of image. "Do you think that she is up to it?" He asked Wes.
"Yes, she is." I snapped. Moriarty chuckled, pleased.
"Well then, if everything is in order, I look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning. The money will be delivered then. I trust only two cheques need to be made out." His way of asking if I expected a cut of the money.
"Yep." Wes nodded firmly.
Moriarty paused ever so slightly to glare at the Jackal. He matched him glare for glare. "But remember, if you are caught, there will be no connection between you and me. Understand?"
"Right, don't get caught. We'll remember that." The Jackal said smoothly.
"Sarcasm is not a good quality in a hired hand." Before Aden could reply, Moriarty had left. The old guy was quick.
"You heard him, Aden. Keep your mouth shut." Wes said sharply. The Jackal didn't say anything. He sat and began cleaning his gun.
"I should get back before I'm missed." I said. Wes walked with me to the door.
"The party starts at 8:00 tonight." He said on the doorstep.
"Look," I said after checking for listeners, "Are you sure you want to do this? I know this guy, he can help you lay low."
Wes shook his head, and my heart dropped. "Until when? Like I told you, I don't want to be exiled in the 19th century."
Looked like I would have to go through with this, if only to keep my partner in one piece. "I'm not in this for the money. I'm in this to keep my partner safe. Don't turn your back on him." I glanced at the ceiling to make my point. For once Wes didn't have a witty retort. He nodded, and to his surprise as much as mine, he hugged me.
"Bye." And I found myself on the doorstep as the sunset faded away.
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Question, comments, critisicms, complaints, can be directed to the review button there. Please?
.·´¨`·»¦«·Kerowyn·»¦«·´¨`·.
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Chapter Six
The Plan
Holmes had started on another of his damned chemistry experiments. He was very good at it, and had never actually blown anything up on accident, but it still made me nervous. I would always remember the day my lab partner mixed silver nitrate with hydrochloric acid and I spent the night in the ER, with the rest of Chem 201. I always took a walk when did those experiments.
I had decided that I had to try and talk Wes out of this heist. At the very least I could watch his back, and make sure he didn't turn up in a local morgue.
I stood across the street from the address Wes had given me. It was an ordinary looking house on Tooley Street, right across the Thames from the Tower of London. I pretended to rest in the shade of a building while I checked for followers, namely Holmes. It was a fairly hot day, especially with this stupid dress on.
I decided that no one had followed me and I crossed the street and rang the bell. The door was opened almost immediately by the man who had led the attack on me in the alley. "What do you want?" He sneered, obviously not recognizing me.
"To speak with Wes." I said condescendingly. The little man frowned but didn't move. "Look you little weasel," I snapped. " I want to talk with Wes and you can't stop me." I shoved past him. He started after me, but halted at the sound of Wes' voice.
"Aurora! I knew you'd come." He threw an arm around my shoulder. "This is gonna be great. We were just finalizing our plan." He led me upstairs, leaving Dog standing in the entrance hall like an idiot.
The inside of the house was far from ordinary. There were no furnishings anywhere on the lower floor. Upstairs there was a large room with a table and some chairs, every available surface was covered with blueprints or tools. I assume that there were some beds around here but I never saw them.
The only other occupant of the house, Aden "The Jackal" Scott was bent over a blueprint. His bright red (or blood-red as he liked to say) hair was the only distinctive feature about him. He was average height and build and his features were easily forgettable. He smiled viciously as we entered. He did pretty much everything viciously. "Hola, bienvendios Aurora. Or Onyx?" He said in a light Spanish accent. I groaned internally. He was from Montana.
"Onyx will do." I said calmly.
"Onyx, I am The Jackal. But my friends call me The." He chuckled again at his own joke.
"Okay, if you two are finished with the banter and pose, we need to go over this." Wes interrupted, waving a hand at the table. He unrolled a blueprint of the Tower.
"At nine, we meet and get ready. At ten we head across the river and station ourselves here." He pointed to a place right outside the Tower walls. "The guards check in with each other every fifteen minutes. The guard here checks in at exactly 9:15. At 9:16, we knock him out with one of these." Wes held out a container of six tranquilizer darts. I recognized them from another time we had used them. They would send an average sized man to sleep for about a half-hour.
"This entrance leads into a back staircase which is patrolled by another guard. The second dart is for him. Now, the Jewels are kept in a room that is partitioned by an iron cage. The Jewels are accessed through a door in the back of the room. That door leads into the back room. There should be two more guards in there. We take the door off its hinges and we're in. This should all take about five minutes. We have two minutes to load all the Jewels into those." Wes pointed to several trunks. One was open and I could see that they were lines with foam to protect the Jewels. "Two more minutes to get out of the Tower and we have about six minutes to get as far as we can."
"We'll be doing recon tonight. Onyx, you're our driver, we have a cab and horse ready to go. We'll walk over, and you'll drive up with Martin at exactly, the guy downstairs, and let him out here." He pointed across the street from the Tower's north wall. "We'll jump in and take the scenic route home."
I shook my head but didn't say anything. Dog/Martin picked this moment to interrupt. "S'cuse me, guv'nor. But th' Professor's here ta see ya."
I turned to see Professor Moriarty framed in the doorway. He didn't look like much of a criminal mastermind. He looked more like a walking skeleton, pale and emaciated. But his eyes glittered with intelligence and malevolence.
"Ah, the third member of our party has arrived I see." His voice was cold and silky, he reminded me of a serpent. He seemed to be cultivating that sort of image. "Do you think that she is up to it?" He asked Wes.
"Yes, she is." I snapped. Moriarty chuckled, pleased.
"Well then, if everything is in order, I look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning. The money will be delivered then. I trust only two cheques need to be made out." His way of asking if I expected a cut of the money.
"Yep." Wes nodded firmly.
Moriarty paused ever so slightly to glare at the Jackal. He matched him glare for glare. "But remember, if you are caught, there will be no connection between you and me. Understand?"
"Right, don't get caught. We'll remember that." The Jackal said smoothly.
"Sarcasm is not a good quality in a hired hand." Before Aden could reply, Moriarty had left. The old guy was quick.
"You heard him, Aden. Keep your mouth shut." Wes said sharply. The Jackal didn't say anything. He sat and began cleaning his gun.
"I should get back before I'm missed." I said. Wes walked with me to the door.
"The party starts at 8:00 tonight." He said on the doorstep.
"Look," I said after checking for listeners, "Are you sure you want to do this? I know this guy, he can help you lay low."
Wes shook his head, and my heart dropped. "Until when? Like I told you, I don't want to be exiled in the 19th century."
Looked like I would have to go through with this, if only to keep my partner in one piece. "I'm not in this for the money. I'm in this to keep my partner safe. Don't turn your back on him." I glanced at the ceiling to make my point. For once Wes didn't have a witty retort. He nodded, and to his surprise as much as mine, he hugged me.
"Bye." And I found myself on the doorstep as the sunset faded away.
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Question, comments, critisicms, complaints, can be directed to the review button there. Please?
.·´¨`·»¦«·Kerowyn·»¦«·´¨`·.