Around 9:30 p.m., a middle aged couple departed their neo-eclectic style mansion, wearing the most expensive outfits money could buy. The day before, they had received in the mail, two tickets to a symphony in Princeton. Thinking it was from a friend, they accepted without hesitation.
The couple climbed into a ice white Mercedes Benz. The Benz drove past a security van that was park across the street from their house. When the Benz was out of sight, the driver of the security van snorted loudly.
"Rich people are so stupid," muttered Will contemptuously, "too arrogant to believe they'd never get jacked."
"Well thank Christ rich folks are stupid," said Jonny, "then we wouldn't have anything to take from them."
The three men had decided to case Saddle River, a moneyed suburban town in New Jersey's Bergen County. It was a small town, but what it lacked in population, it made up for in income. To Will, it was like being a fat kid at an all you can eat buffet.
"Alright, let's go over this," said Will, "they have two Bull Mastiffs. Rome, I want you to take those two big steaks in the bag and toss them over the gate. I've injected them with enough Rezira to drop them within seconds. After that's done, Jonny, since you're the thinnest of us three, I want you to get in through the doggy door and disable the alarms. Then we'll go into their bedrooms. That's where all the goodies are. Let's get goin, but be discreet."
The three gentlemen got out the car pretending they were doing their nightly rounds. They looked like security guards, so no one would question what they were doing in the backyard.
Rome approached the gate where the dogs would be, while Will and Jonny went around the side. Will pulled out his walkie talkie and said, "Alright, Rome, we're in position. We're waiting on your signal."
Rome removed the steaks from the bag. Then, he whistled for the dogs. Moments, later, two large Bull Mastiffs came hurtling toward the gate, barking and snarling loudly. Reacting quickly, Rome threw the steaks over the gate and watched the two dogs tear at them voraciously. In a few moments, the dogs keeled over, heavily sedated. Rome got out his walkie talkie.
"Ok, you're clear to climb the gate," he muttered.
Will and Jonny climbed gate, and prowled, cat like amongst the lawn, Rome joining them a split second later. They trekked around the back and came to a stop at the door, where the doggy door was.
"Alright, Jonny," said Will, "do your stuff,"
Jonny got down on all fours and slithered on in. Will waited with baited breath, his sense of hearing becoming magnified as seconds transitioned to minutes. He could almost hear the beads of sweat rolling down Rome's forhead before he saw it.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jonny opened the door. Will and Rome entered, their flashlights at the ready.
Like Will had expected, the house was the epitome of hedonistic luxury. The living room was large and spacious, with marble polished walls on which artwork created by French Impressionists hung. On top of the stone fireplace mantle lay statues of fertility gods. Will knew that that meant.
"Poor bastard," he muttered. "Can't get his soldier to stand at attention. Just thinking about the prices on these statues gives me a woody. So many zeroes.
He pulled out a plastic bag and carefully placed the statues in it.
"Their most prized possessions will be in their bedrooms." said Will. "From there, we'll have to find the safe. Safe hiding places are either placed behind a painting or under the floor board. Being that the latter is usually more our thing, we're going with the portrait. From there I'll determine whether its padlocked, security PIN, or combination lock. Let's go. "
The three men walked past a rather large aquarium of exotic fish and up the iron spiral stairs. The master bedroom was located at the far end of the hallway. They slowly opened the door and looked around.
Will was less impressed with the bedroom than he was downstairs in the living room. The room seemed to fit its owners personality; bland. However, they did have a portrait hanging above their bed.
"Bingo" said Will, settling his flash light on the portrait, "Guarantee there's a safe behind that potrait."
He took off his shoes and climbed on top of the bed. He beckoned for Rome to follow suit and help him. Together, he and Rome took down the portrait, sure enough revealing large safe embedded in the wall. It had a combination lock.
"Damn," muttered Jonny, "What're we going to do?"
Without breaking a sweat, Will took out a medium sized tool box and pulled out a dial puller. He clamped the puller down on the dial and applied the M8 screws to grip it, before wounding in the M12 screws to pull the dial out. Then, he used the sliding hammer for pulling as well.
After a few minutes, Will undone the safe. He opened it and looked inside. Not only was there a considerable amount of money in the safe, but expensive jewelry with one ring alone being worth ten thousand dollars. They took the safe for everything and stuffed it in the bag.
"Let's get out of here," said Will.
The three men made their way back downstairs and crept out through the back door. They half walked, half jogged to the vehicle. When they got in, they sped off until they reached the getaway car over the next town.
"How much did we take?" asked Rome after Will finished counting the money at their hideout.
Will paused before saying. "A hundred and fifty Gs."
Jonny let out a whoop of excitement. Rome tried to remain stoic, but his upper twitched, but it gone seconds later.
"Fifty thousand each," said Will. "Now I noticed as we were driving, there was a jewelry store. We could easily walk away with 600 Gs. But we'll have to case it first. We'll go first thing tomorrow morning. Now if we're going to pull this job off, we're going to need better guns. We can't have a bullshit revolver, we're not robbing trains or chariots. We need to get a hold of some high powered guns to make those idiots sit up and take notice. Before we case the joint, we're going to go gun shopping. Then we're going to pick up some nice expensive suits."
"Suits?" repeated Rome, "what for?"
"To look presentable when we case the jewelry store," said Will, "we go in there looking all scruffy, wanting to buy a ring, that'll raise a red flag. So suits."
"Man, the only time I wear suits is at funerals," said Jonny, "it'll be nice to wear a suit for something else besides that for once."
"We'll talk more later," said Will, "until then, I'm going to rent a hotel. I'll be back here bright and early tomorrow morning."
He got up and left, leaving Jonny and Rome alone.
"What do you think of him?" asked Rome.
"Well I was thinking of taking him out after he bust my head open and what not," said Jonny, "but he redeemed himself by getting us some serious money. So I guess he's alright."
"He's a little bossy," said Rome, "but I'm willing to live with that. Like you said, he did get us some serious dough."
He raised up from his chair.
"Listen man, I haven't been home in two days," he said, "Listen, I'm going to head home before it gets too late. I'll catch you later."
"Alright my man," said Jonny, fist bumping Rome, "Be safe out there."
As Rome disappeared, Jonny looked around the shabby abandoned warehouse. I represented him the best. Abandoned, disorder and what not. No way he was staying in there by himself. After 10 minutes of contemplation, he prowled the streets, looking for a willing woman and motel.