The Past Returned Chapter 11
Author's note: I had a real problem with this chapter. I found that I'm more comfortable writing character development than action scenes. But, I'm ok with the result. I know absolutely nothing about computer software and committing a robbery, which made writing this rather interesting.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Also, do not try this. First of all, it's wrong. Second of all, I highly doubt it would work.
Callie shivered as she zipped up her jacket and adjusted her shoulder bag. Although she had not been bothered by the chill when they had left the house, the temperature seemed to have dropped ten degrees in the last ten minutes.
The now whipped through the trees and tipped over a nearby garbage can with a crash. Callie jumped and then tried to look as nonchalant as her companions.
Vanessa had opted for loose fitting black clothes. She had just finished a meditation/calming breathing exercise that she claimed had cleared her head and allowed her to think and focus more clearly. It seemed to have worked. If not for her clothes, she could have looked like she was on her way to pickup a pizza.
Laura Hardy had disappeared. In her place was Laura Basden. Her blue eyes were intense and focused. All of her movements were methodical and precise. This was a strong and self-confident woman who was willing to relive her past returned to get her family back.
Callie just felt awkward and ridiculous and tried not to look nervous. Since she neither had made a living as an experienced thief nor possessed extensive knowledge of martial arts beyond basic self-defense, she could make herself useful by carrying the equipment.
They were in a park five blocks away from the bank. As children and teenagers, Callie and Vanessa had played soccer and Frisbee on the grass. Whenever she was feeling sad or depressed and wanted to be alone, Callie came to the fountain and put her feet in the water until she had mentally worked out what was bothering her. But that was no comfort now. The fountain was turned off at nighttime and the distorted shadows of playground equipment made the entire park rather spooky. Since there was always a few cars in the park parking lot, Vanessa's car did not look out of place. Although Callie would have wanted to park closer to the bank, Laura had insisted that it was better this way. The cops are going to look for cars making a gateway. Three women walking down the street a few blocks away won't attract as much attention.
Laura looked at the bench were Fenton said that he had sat and listened to her conversation with Jim. Soon, Fenton, she thought. I'll get you out of there soon. I never meant for this to happen. The moment for sentiment was past. It was time to go. Laura motioned to Callie and Vanessa and started walking in the direction of the bank. It was time to put her rusty skills to use and hope for the best.
Laura hugged the wall of the bank as she approached the camera that was pointed at the entrance with Callie and Vanessa right behind her. Taking a thin collapsible pole from Callie with a fingernail sized electronic on it, she reached up and attached it to the wire with a magnet. The camera briefly flickered and then froze, ensuring that the image of the deserted entrance to the bank would remain on any video monitors. She made sure to leave the hardware attached to the wire. Might as well let the cops know how it was done so they could tell Mr. Smith to buy a better security system. Besides, she didn't plan on doing this again.
Vanessa, Laura and Callie put on black gloves and masks before moving to the front door. Laura pried off the cover of the alarm code box with the screwdriver that Callie had passed her. It seemed to take her a very long time to manipulate the wires, but eventually the red light turned to green. Vanessa whipped out a can of spray black paint and painted the camera that was covering the inside door to the bank. Laura moved past her and attached a similar gadget to that camera wire. Except this time, all of the cameras in the bank were frozen. Laura and Callie headed for Mr. Smith's office while Vanessa went downstairs to the entrance of the bank vault.
"Hey, there are no cameras here," said Callie. "Wonder what he does in his spare time?!" she added sarcastically.
"Who knows," said Laura as she retrieved the bug and another small square black box-shaped object from under the desk where Vanessa had left it. "Great! This is still working. She turned the computer on and waited for it to warm up. Instead of entering the username password when she was prompted, she held the black box at next to the computer and the username and password flashed on the screen. Alright! Now I just need to disable the alarm code for the vault gates downstairs. She got to work with Callie looking over her shoulder.
"Stop!" said Callie. Laura looked up in annoyance. "If you do that, you'll be locked out of the system and the alarms will go off."
"No, I'm ok," said Laura calmly turning back to the computer screen, glad that she would almost be done.
"Uh-uh," persisted Callie emphatically. "That system's only been upgraded within the past few years."
Laura stood up and gestured toward the computer. "Go ahead," she said.
"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean…"
"Leave emotion out of it. Just do what you need to," said Laura Basden firmly. She walked to the window and looked out to give Callie some breathing room. Outside the "closed" neon sign of the 7-11 flickered erratically. The street was still deserted as the law-abiding citizens of Bayport were in bed.
Callie got to work. Five minutes later she looked up. "I took care of that security system," she said without any trace of pride. "But there is another one giving me trouble."
Laura leaned over Callie's shoulder. She was impressed with Callie's work and put a hand on her shoulder. If it wasn't for Callie, she would have made a serious mistake a little while ago. She smiled and tapped out a few more keystrokes and the downstairs gate opened as Callie looked amazedly at her. "You didn't think Frank got his skills from nowhere do you?" she inquired cockily with a raised eyebrow. She looked so much like her dark-haired son at that moment that Callie couldn't respond.
Vanessa was waiting at the bottom of the stairs glancing impatiently at her watch. It had been a good 20 minutes since they had started the break in process and ten minutes since she had been waiting here. But to her, those thirty minutes seemed like thirty hours. No wonder Frank and Joe can solve mysteries she mused all they have to do is show up afterwards and very calmly solve the crime with a little bit of thinking that a kindergartener could manage. It's the criminal who has to put in ALL the hard work of breaking in beforehand. She was on a roll. First, I have to wear this dorky outfit. Secondly, I have to sneak around and practically glue myself against a rough brick wall. And then, I almost drop the spray paint can and get paint all over myself. Imagine how that would have been! Compared to this, graphing design is a piece of cake! A soft buzz interrupted her thoughts and filled the narrow space, indicating that the gate was now open.
Vanessa pushed the gate open and very slowly entered the vault. Although there was no light in the room, the safe deposit boxes gleamed with a silver metallic light and energy. The stale air and small space reminded her of an ancient cave more than a modern building. From her pocket, she took out a penlight. The boxes were numbered 200-700 and each box was clearly marked. Box #341 was on the left hand side and about waist high from the floor.
Taking a tube of liquid nitrogen that Callie had given her earlier, Vanessa bent poured it onto the safe deposit box. While she waited for it to take effect, she sprayed some of the other boxes for good measure as well. She took a look at all of the safe deposit boxes and looked down at the tube in her hand. She wondered if she had time to figure out which safety deposit box was her aunt's. She knew there was a diamond ring in there. The richest family in Bayport must keep their valuables locked up too… Oops, the nitrogen was working. Taking the screwdriver, she gingerly poked at the door and was rewarded when it came completely off the hinges. Leaving the damaged door and empty tube on the floor, she took out the safety deposit box with both hands.
BRING! BRING! BRING!
Vanessa saw the doors ten feet away start to automatically shut. Putting the heavy metal box in the crook of her left elbow, she ran for them and squeezed through. At the foot of the stairs a gate was starting to crash down from the ceiling as she rolled under it, came back to her feet and started going up the stairs as the jewelry within the box rattled. Her aikido instructor would be very proud that she had managed to keep a hold of the box this entire time.
She met Callie and Laura at the top of the stairs as they emerged from Mr. Smith's office. She looked at the slightly reckless and maniacal looks in their eyes and knew that look was reflected in her own. Even though they couldn't see each other's mouths, they grinned at each other as they ran across the marble floor. They ignored the teller's booths and the red velvet ropes that formed the lines that customers would occupy the next morning and headed for the best exit.
All three women ran into the concrete stairwell and up to the third floor. Emerging from the stairwell, they ran to the window overlooking a side street that had a fire escape outside it.
As soon as Callie threw a chair through the window, a second alarm went off. Scrambling through the window, Laura climbed out on the fire escape and started going up with Callie and Vanessa following her. As she reached the roof, Callie opened her shoulder bag and passed the equipment to Vanessa and Laura and pulled out her own set of ropes. She then put the safe deposit box in her shoulder bag and all three women rappelled down the wall of the bank into the back alley. Leaving the ropes tossing in the wind, the three women slipped into an adjoining alley at a right angle to the bank and emerged two streets away. They turned the corner of that street and headed back to the park as police sirens sounded from across town. The notion on the blueprints said there is a two minute response time after the alarm is tripped, Laura thought. We were out in a minute and forty five seconds. Not bad for an old lady!
"That was fun!" exclaimed Vanessa gleefully as she put the safe-deposit box on the kitchen table a half an hour later. "And it was so easy too! If the alarm hadn't gone off I could have found my aunt's diamond ring. "
"Fun!" hissed Callie. "Have you lost your mind?"
"Vanessa's right, I haven't had this much fun in years," Laura broke in fervently. "That was a lot more satisfying than making oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies and taking out the trash."