Alright I'm back with another chapter, this time, we see Niko, Packie, and Lester scout the jewelry store and plan a heist. Also, if you guys have time, could you look at another story of mine, it's called The City of Angels. It's a crossover of LA Noire and COD BO2, give it a look. Anyways, onto the story.

After successfully blowing Jay Norris's brain all over his keynote, Niko and Packie decided to meet up with Lester and work on step two, which was to find a place to rob. In order to achieve this, Niko and Packie met up at Lester's place, which happened to be garment factory.

"The fuck is this place?" Packie wondered.

"It's a garment factory." Lester explained, "I needed a job that didn't require me to do anything apart from, uh, paying taxes." He explained, opening the door to his office, allowing Niko and Packie to walk in.

"What do you got?" Niko asked, wanting to know a bank to rob.

"I something great for you, the Union Depository!" Lester responded.

"What?"

"You know they say you can't break into it." Packie informed.

"Hasn't been yet." Lester retorted.

"Look Lester, I owe some asshole a couple million dollars, I don't need to go crazy here." Niko responded.

"Which asshole?"

"Martin Madrazo."

"Well, he's not supposed to be very nice."

"Oh, we became fast friends we fucking met." Niko responded, earning a laugh from Packie, "So what do you think?"

"Well, let's see, either we hit a bank in the sticks or we hit a store." Lester suggested.

"I'd prefer a store but it needs to have a high payout."

"Well then, gems are the way to go." Lester responded, heading out the door, "Let's go to Vangelico, and buy ourselves an engagement ring."

Walking out of the office, they headed downstairs to Niko's car.

"Hey Lester, before we do this, do you have a crew?" Niko asked.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask that too." Packie added.

"I've been working with someone but he's too unpredictable."

"Just like marriage." Packie responded, earning a laugh from both Lester and Niko before they all got in the car and headed for Vagelico.

"Look before we get there, put on these glasses." Lester told Niko, handing them to him.

"I'm not blind, don't worry."

"They're fitted with a camera and radio relay." Lester informed, "I'm going to run the operation from the car, while you're in the store, getting what we need."

Stopping outside of the store, Niko got out and headed inside the store. Entering it, he saw that it was the type of store that rich men would go to if their trophy wives ever got mad at them for anything. As much as he wanted to mock American culture for the hundredth time, Niko had a job to do.

"You reading me?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay, we need shots of the security features, like the alarm, camera systems, ventilation." Lester informed, "The alarm keypad is on the left from when you came in, on the wall by the side door."

Activating the camera on the glasses, Niko looked and took a picture of the alarm keypad, managing to get the cameras and vents as well.

"Shot's come through, Camera: check, Alarm: check, Vents: check." Lester confirmed, "Good work, now speak to the assistant and see if we can find out something else."

Walking up to the assistant, Niko eyed the various jewels in the cases before speaking.

"Hello Miss." Niko told her, "I'm looking for something nice as a gift for my girlfriend." Niko lied.

"Sir, I'm sure we can help you." The assistant responded, "Tell me about her, what's her taste?"

"Well, she likes cheap stuff but I don't want to spend too much for something." Niko told her, "The most I'd pay for is ten grand."

"Our rings start at eight, pendants start at twelve."

"So are these built to last or am I just paying for the logo?" Niko joked.

"Ah, no, no, no, no." The assistant responded, "We use perfect clarity jewels, eighteen carat gold, nine fifty platinum." She informed, "Nothing but the best."

Alright, good to know." Niko responded, "I'm going to take a look around, maybe think about, and come back if I want it." Niko told her before heading for the exit.

"I understand, thank you sir." The assistant said, as NIko walked out the door.

"Alright get back here." Lester said through the relay.

Running back to his car, Niko hopped in and waited for more instructions.

"We good?"

"Almost, I need to get eyes on the roof and see where their ventilation come out." Lester informed.

"Let's try to find a way up, drive around a bit, Niko." Packie told him.

Driving around the general area, the three eventually found some construction by the store.

"Hey look at that." Packie said, pointing at it."

"If they're remodeling it, I can probably get up there." Niko observed.

"I'll come too." Packie said, climbing out the car and going up the stairs with Niko.

Making their way up, Niko and Packie that the place was empty, like people just gave up and left the construction area. Eventually, the two were able to access the roof of Vangelico through a ladder and waited for further instructions.

"What now Lester, me and Packie are on the roof."

"I need to know where the air coming out of Vangelico originates." Lester told Niko, "There should be a air unit above the store."

Making their way over to a storage area on the roof and climbing the ladder to get to the top, Niko and Packie stood on it as Niko took a picture of the air unit.

"Okay shot came through, you can come down know.

Making their way back, Niko and Packie entered their car and left quickly before anyone noticed them and called the cops.

"Alright, here are your glasses." Niko told Lester, handing them to him.

"Let's go back to the garment factory, I called ahead and had my crew start setting up information."

"So, what did you see?" Packie asked.

"Nothing that'll cause undue complications." Lester responded.

"Yeah, it looked simple." Niko agreed, "All we got are security cameras, a alarm system, and a security guard who wouldn't want to die for some rich assholes."

"Good. The alarm system's linked to the door lock." Lester informed, "We'll get a good window if someone talented hacks it."

"What else?"

"Well, the more valuable merchandise is in the cabinets by the cash register, and since the glass isn't bulletproof, you could smash it to get the jewels but they'll be safe at night."

"So, it's going to be a day heist?" Packie asked.

"Right." Lester confirmed, "Once we melt down the gold, re-cut the rocks, that's an okay score."

"Yeah, too bad we can't go in at night, those vents looked promising." Niko joked.

"We might be able to flip it the other way."

"How?"

"Wait, till we get back."

"Oh yeah, about the crew." Niko said.

"I'm listening."

"There's this guy, I met, his name's Luis, I bet he could help us out." Niko said before turning to Packie, "Hey, remember that guy at that diamond deal, the one with the white jacket?"

"Yeah, that him?" Packie asked.

Niko nodded.

"I thought you had a fucking grudge against him Niko?"

"I did but we cleared shit up and now we help each other sometimes." Niko responded.

"That's doesn't sound like you, you're the type of chump to shoot a guy when he messes with you."

"Yeah, I know but maybe something changed in me, I'm not sure." Niko told him before turning back to Lester, "So what do you think?"

"I don't work with amateurs." Lester replied bluntly.

"Hey, this guy saved my ass more than once, so I feel that he doesn't deserve that title." Niko spot back, "Even if he is one, he has the making for a fucking pro."

Arriving back at the garment factory, the trio went back to the offices, grabbing the photos from a worker before setting it up on a planning board.

"Alright, here we go, there's two ways I see us doing this." Lester told the two hitmen, "We go in smart or we go in loud and dumb. Remember the vents? If we're going to be smart, we pump a little knockout gas through the air system then hit the cabinets when everyone's out."

"Mmhmm." Niko observed.

"You'll have to source the gas of course, but crowd control won't slow you down, and that may improve the take." Lester informed, "The cover will be pest control, so no one will question anything when you go in with gas masks, but that means you'll need a pest control van though."

"Alright, what about the other way?" Packie asked.

"Well, if you go in loud and dumb, you'll need to be good with people and have some carbines with you as well, but we can't risk buying them and getting them traced. Instead we got to steal some in circulation." Lester told them, "Anyways, a hacker can disable the cameras but the amount of time depends on their ability with the alarm being on the same window and the exit strategy will be more or less the same for both options. The driver you'll pick will, of course, source some bikes. You'll come out of the store, and make your way through the new subway tunnel they're digging off the Del Perro freeway. You lose the cops in there, and meet a truck in the LS river."

"Alright, Luis is on getaway, he's good on a bike, any objections?" Niko told the two, who didn't say anything.

"Alright, if he's who you say he is, I'm not fucking stopping you." Packie replied, "He just better not pull any shit though."

"I agree." Lester added before turning back to the planning board, "So, how do you want this?" Lester asked, "You want to run in the front door, or try to play it smart."

"Hey Niko, let's do this like our bank job in LC, come on." Packie told his friend, hoping that he could persuade him.

"Packie, that job went bad anyway." Niko reminded him, "That guy, Michael, got shot then we had to fight through a fucking army of LCPD officers and NOOSE teams. I don't want to go through that again."

"I knew a guy named Michael as well, he's decomposing in North Yankton right now." Lester piped in before turning back to the matter at hand, "So what will it be?"

"I'm going in smart."

"I see you've grown cautious, not the men I read in my reports." Lester mused, "Okay, select your personnel, keep in mind that the better they are, the bigger their cut." He told him, handing Niko a list of crewmates and their skills."

"I want this guy." Niko said, handing Lester a picture of the driver.

"Eddie Toh. Well you can count on him to get you out of a spot." Lester chuckled, placing his picture under the position of 'Driver', "Anyways, all we need is a gunman and hacker."

"I'll be the dumb muscle." Packie volunteered.

"Okay, all need is a hacker." Niko said, looking through his choices.

"Oh shit, pick her, pick her!" Packie exclaimed when Niko stopped to look at a hacker named 'Paige Harris'.

"Packie, she's never going to go out with you." Lester chided.

"Hey, at least I can fucking dream, right?" Packie replied.

"Am I missing something here?" Niko asked, looking confused.

"A few months ago, when we did a score stealing some gold bars from a small bank, Packie and Paige were on the job, and I guess Packie must have gotten the love bug when she saved him from getting caught." Lester explained, before turning back to him, "You that was only for the job, right?"

"Maybe, maybe she has a thing for me." Packie replied with a smirk on his face.

"Anyway…" Niko spoke, getting their attention back, "Is she good?"

"Yeah, one of the best out there." Lester confirmed.

"Alright, she's on the team." Niko said, handing her picture over to Lester, who put it under the position of 'Hacker'.

"That look good to you?" Lester asked.

"Yeah, it's fine." Niko replied.

"Great I'll do some research on a pest control van and knockout gas, and I'll let you know when the, uh, 'unpredictable' guy gets the stuff for us."

"You sounded like you didn't trust him." Niko remarked.

"Well, for one thing, it's more than one guy and secondly, even though they're silent psychopaths that wouldn't care if they killed someone's grandma, they're great at their job when you tell them what to do." Lester explained, "Alright, I'll call you when everything's ready but you'll need to pitch it to the guys."

"What, why?" Niko asked.

"You're not a hit man anymore, you're the boss now." Lester responded coolly, before turning away.

Leaving the room, Niko and Packie headed downstairs and out the door.

"So, how do you feel Niko boy?"

"It seems like a good plan, but I need to get Luis on board as well." Niko replied, pulling out his phone.

"Alright man, fill your boy in and I'll see at the meet up." Packie responded, turning around and walking in the other direction.

Dialing Luis's number, Niko waited a few seconds before he picked up.

"Yo N, what's going on bro?" Luis answered.

"Hey listen, I got to get hold of the money for the house and I have a crew ready for, you can guess, right?"

"Oh shit, we're doing that?!" Luis asked, understanding what Niko implied.

"Yes, I know, it's not ideal but it's probably the only way we can pay off the Mexican asshole."

"Alright, I'm in, so we doing it now?"

"Not yet, we still got to wait until we have the entire stuff ready, so sit tight, my friend Lester is going to fill you in with the details." Niko told him, before hanging up.

Walking back to his car, Niko felt that he had one more trial to do before the burden that was his debt would be lifted. However, little did he know that it would only cause more problems?

Alright, that's it people, check back next time for the Jewelry Store Job. It'll be good. Also check out my crossover story, please? Lt-RexCole, out: 3.