Chapter 6

            The Cowboy was just a skip and a hop away from getting caught. This is the first time The Cowboy has ever made a mistake. In the past, no one even knew that The Cowboy had struck until the dishes had already been washed clean, wiped dry, stacked away and ready to use for next weeks family dinner. This time he had even made an appearance on the security cameras. Sloppy, this was very out of character for The Cowboy. So how had anyone discovered The Cowboy's face? Mike was full of cogitation. Oh well, who cares, right?

            Mike couldn’t believe his eyes. He watched the video feed from Zions’ again. Sure enough each time he played the clip it was The Cowboy in plain view even if it was for just a split second. Now Mike just left the video on freeze frame. There was no mistaking that same face that had been broadcasted all over the Elite Forces of Bank Security Users Allegiance of America or EFBSUA of America web page years ago. It was a smug yet humble face if that can be managed. There was a sudden knock at the door.

            “Phil, can you get that?” Mike shouted towards the hallway. He waited for Phil to reply but heard nothing. Sighing, Mike got up to answer the door himself. Jiminy Crickets! Mike almost fell out of his hairpiece at the shock of seeing who was standing at the door. He quickly regained his composer and cleared his throat.

            “Come in Commissioner Roberts. Are you working late or just in the neighborhood?” Mike asked nervously. It seemed weird that the Commissioner himself would come out to investigate a bank robbery. Mike was expecting some rookie cop to respond to the dispatch.

            “What is your name, son?” asked the Commissioner completely disregarding Mike’s question.

            “Zhang, Mike Zhang, sir.”

            “You’re doing exceptional work here." Commissioner Roberts remarked. Then he demanded, "I want to see the video of The Cowboy.”

            “Thank you, sir. Right this way, sir.” A baffled Mike led the way to the monitor room. How would Commissioner Roberts know how well Mike was working? He was merely a security guard for Brinks. Mike and other security workers like him were looked down upon by “real” police officers. A rent-a-cop as they sometimes called it. Mike didn’t mind being regarded as a low rent cop. It was just a job to get him through nursing college.

            The Commissioner stared at the still shot on the main screen. He had his hands clasped behind his back.

            “W-would you like me to play the video?” Mike asked.

            “No, no this is good.” Commissioner Roberts replied. Then he said more to himself, “Don’t worry Olivia. Cowboy, I’ll get you.”

            “What, sir?” Mike asked. Mike noticed that the Commissioner was wearing brand new white sneakers. They didn’t quite go with the suit he was wearing. That’s odd, Mike thought. The Commissioner turned around and Mike saw that he was wearing a sweatshirt under his suit jacket. Man, this guy really needs a stylist, Mike thought.

            “Oh I just said, ‘nice hue’.” Commissioner Roberts replied. “Can you make me a copy of this and I’ll get out of your way. I’m sure you’ve got yourself a busy night tonight.”

            Mike did as he the Commissioner requested and he left. Ten minutes later there was a knock on the door. Mike opened the door to find a street cop standing there.

            “I’m here for the security tape from Zion’s.” The officer stated.

            Mike just stared at the officer, puzzled. And where the hell is Phil?

 CD

Chapter 5

She ran into the night with no money. Not even a crumpled up one-dollar bill was in her pocket. And Olivia hated that. You rob banks to get money, Olivia thought to herself. Why did Steve get us out of there so soon? We probably had another three minutes until the Team got there. Paranoid bastard. All I needed was three minutes.

     She clenched her fists knowing they lost. She briefly wondered if the chicken was now lost too. Her thoughts now concentrated on not losing the last important thing. Her breath. I can’t lose that, Olivia told herself. Don’t get caught girl. Don’t get caught. Run. Run. Run.

     The walkie-talkie broke her concentration as it shouted into the night.

     "Olivia! Are you there!"

     Why is Steve using my real name? He’s not even whispering. Cheap-ass man couldn’t spend the extra cent to get us headsets. He’s not keeping cool. He did seem nervous at the vault. That fool will get us caught.

     Olivia ducked into a nearby alley, and crouched down into the shadows before answering back.

     "What?" she whispered into the walkie-talkie.

     "Change of plans," said Steve in a calm voice, "meet me at Young and Second."

     "What?!" Olivia shouted back, having a hard time whispering, "that’s a block away from the bank. Are you crazy?!"

     "No time to explain. Just do it," Steve said pausing, "trust me."

     Then the radio went silent.

     Olivia stayed in the shadows thinking. Steve never changes his plan. No matter what. Even if it means the execution of numerous cows. The plan was above everything else. Perhaps, he too, is thinking of the money we should have gotten. Maybe. Well, that’s the reason I’m going back.

     Olivia stood up and ran back towards the bank.

     She found Steve quickly at Young and Second. There was only one clear hiding spot. It was behind the pillars of a shoe store. The awfully designed architecture provided the coverage they needed for the moment. Steve was standing there calm as if at any moment there would not be any police.

     "Why are we here?" asked Olivia.

     "All part of the plan," answered Steve.

     "Plan?!" snapped Olivia, "this is not part of the plan. Neither was leaving the bank without money! And where is the chicken? I thought we said no killing."

     "I never said that."

     "Whatever. But what are we doing here? You’re going to get us caught? We need to meet at the rendezvous point in- "

     "I told you. Part of the plan."

     Steve then reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver gun. He aimed it at Olivia.

     "What are you doing?" asked Olivia, trying to remain calm.

     "The plan," said Steve.

     "You’re not making sense. This is not part of the plan."

     "Toots, did I forget to tell you?."

     Steve cocked back the hammer.

     "You are the biggest part of the plan. Be proud."

     "Steve, no!" begged Olivia.

     "If it’s any consolation to you, this is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you."

     Olivia stood there trembling. She shook her head slightly, trying to make sense of the situation, while gathering what words she could to stop Steve.

     "Please, Steve, don’t-"

     "On second thought, this is will probably hurt you more."

     "No, Steve, I love-"

     The gun fired ending the conversation. Olivia’s body fell back against the pillar. She looked at Steve with a lost look in her eye, and then off into the distant, where she thought she saw the chicken crossing the street. Then her body fell to the floor. And her world went black.

     Steve placed Olivia’s body onto this shoulders, and walked quickly towards Zions Bank.

ftf

Chapter 4

     The vault was surrounded by four feet thick stainless steel walls. Fortunately for Steve and Olivia the door was only made of copper and the lock was an old fashion dial combination.

     "Hey toots, hand me the c-four explosive, aye?"

     "Are you kidding me? I can pick that combination with my eyes closed. We don’t need the explosives." Olivia snorted. Amateur, she thought.

     "All right then hot shot. Get to work." Steve said.

     "How much time we got?" Olivia asked.

     "Time doesn’t start until we crack this baby open. They got some sensors on the door and it alerts the security company if the door is opened when it’s not supposed to be. I figure we got two minutes to grab what we can and get the hell out before those idiots get here."

     Olivia handed Steve her knapsack full of c-four and went to work on the dial. She turned it clockwise and listened for the click. She moved it slowly. Click. It stopped at twenty-three. She then turned it in the opposite direction and listened carefully. Steve stood to the left and watched her intently.

     "Alpha Bet 1, come in, over." A voice crackled inside the walkie-talkie.

     "This is Alpha Bet 1. What is it, over?" Steve spoke into the walkie-talkie. He backed out of range from Olivia.

     "We’ve got a problem. Abort Operation Penny Hen. I repeat abort, over."

     "What seems to be the problem? Lambda Chop, over."

     "I think they are on to us. The Team has gone radio silent. The last thing I heard before they went radio silent was the word chicken, over."

     Crap! Steve thought out loud in his head. Damn them, The Team. Steve shivered as he said the name in his head. How is that possible? There is no way they were on to Penny Hen. Were there other motion sensors He and Olivia had overlooked? He looked at Olivia suspiciously. Never trust a broad with a tattoo of Tweety bird. Steve shakes his head.

     "Olivia! We’ve got to get out of here!" Steve said sternly.

     "I almost have it." Olivia said softly as she was doing the final spin of the dial.

     Steve grabbed her arm and head towards the front.

     "Hey! What are you do-?" Olivia tried to say.

     "I’ll grab the chicken!" Steve interrupted her. He threw her knapsack at her.

     "Hey! Watch it buddy! Do you know how much c-four is contained in that bag? What the hell is going on?" Olivia demanded.

     Steve didn’t reply. He grabbed Penny who was passed out next to the guard and the three of them walked out the bank doors. It was dark and chilly outside. They were to meet Lambda Chops at the rendezvous point in an hour. Steve went left and Olivia went right. Steve’s eyes were constantly observing his surrounding. There was nothing that seemed out of place except for a bum across the street that had made the front steps of the Stony Bin his bed for the night.

     For some reason Steve felt that the bum did not belong there. Then he noticed something strange. The bum’s feet were sticking out of his dirty blanket and he was wearing brand new sneakers. Even in the dark he could see that the bum had sunglasses on. Steve didn’t have a good feeling about it. He decided against crossing the street to his car. The bum started to stir. Steve stopped and turn into the other direction.

     "Alpha Bet 2, this is Alpha Bet 1. Come in, over." Steve whispered into his walkie-talkie.

     "Alpha Bet 2, over." Olivia answered.

     "I’ve got company. Pick me up at Park Six at," Steve looked at his watch. It was 7:48, "Twenty hundred hours, over." He finished. That’ll give him enough time to walk there. Steve casually turned his head to where the bum was. The bum was now gone. Shit! Where did he go? Steve had to get out of there quick!

     "Copy, over." Steve heard Olivia say as he started to run towards the park. Well, at least he’ll have dinner tonight, Steve thought as he looked at the chicken he held in his left arm.

CD

Chapter 3

“I hate egg salad,” Phil thought as he took a huge bite out of his limp sandwich, then turned back toward his video console at the Brinks Security office.  He munched on the mouthful for a few seconds before chasing it down with some Coke, wishing to God he had a job that’d let him have a beer on his break.  But nooooo; Brinks was ‘the best security money could buy’, catering to wealthy private citizens and banks alik—

 The blinking red light on his console shook him out of his silent ranting.

 “Hey, Mike?” Phil mumbled.

 His supervisor looked up from his own console, bored and probably wishing he could have a beer, too.

 “Mike, there’s… uh… there’s a red light at the Zions on Young and Third.”

 “Video?”

 “Yeah, motion tracker at the door set it off, then nothing.”

 “Power outage?”

 “Rest of the grid reports a-okay.”

 A moment of silence passed.

 “Check the last part of the video feed.  I’ll get the guard on the horn.”

 “I just did but… well… Okay, it looks like… a uh… a chicken has broken into the bank.”

 Mike gave him a look typically seen on alligators just before they eat their young.

 “I’m not fooling, man.  There’s a damn chicken walking around the main floor, then it just cuts out.”

 “Patch me in.”

 Phil slapped his video feed over to Mike’s console, prompting a moment of confusion, then some chuckling, followed by a bit of hunger, and, finally, irritation.

 “Okay, whoever’s on duty there better have a damn good explanation.”  He thumbed his headset on. “Zions Young Third, Zions Young Third.  Please answer.”

 Static.

 He repeated the request, then looked over to Phil, who put the bank lobby’s video log on display and began to rewind.

 “Zions Young Third, we’re seeing… we’re seeing POULTRY on our monitors.  I don’t care if you’re in the can or not, please answer.”

 “Mike!”

 The supervisor moved over to Phil’s console, watching the playback from four lobby cameras blurring backwards at high speed. One minute there was nothing, then a chicken—

“No, wait!  Stop and go back four times speed…  There!” 

Sure enough, a backlit figure was crouched by the opened main doors.  The chicken wandered out of his hands, a guard hobbled into view and chased the animal, then the figure stood up and jimmied open the gates before stepping into the room.

“How’d he get past the door alarm?”

 “Doesn’t matter, now.  Pause.  Shuttle back ten seconds.  ‘K, ten more frames… get him in the light.  Okay… show me that face, pretty boy…

Mike froze, then burst out in laughter before thumbing on his headset.

 “Thelma, patch me in to the SLCPD dispatch”

“What’s so funny, Mike?”

“The Cowboy has returned,” he said with a smirk.  “And I’ll need the cavalry, ASAP.”

LS

Chapter 2

Two days past and everything was ready.  Steve sat in his car across the street from Zions, watching the final few stragglers exit the bank.  A teller walked the last customer, an elderly women, more than likely a widowed grandmother, out and locked the door behind her.  About half an hour later the employees left, the lights turned off, except for the red security ones which turned the bank into a monochromatic painting.  Steve patiently waited for nightfall, watched the guard on duty, following his routine.  It seemed like the sun wouldn’t set, but when it did, it fell as fast as a fat man upon a donut.  Night draped the world in shadow. 

“Olivia, you there?” Steve said into a walkie-talkie.

“I’m here.  Are we good?”

“All clear.  I’ll meet you inside.”  Steve turned the knob on the small black rectangle, a little red light on the corner dimmed out, and put it in his pocket.  He opened the car door, his body, clothed in black, blended in the night.  The road was bare, all the stores and office buildings closed for the day.  He crossed the street and lowered himself in front of the door.  He quickly picked the lock, the guard at the other end of the bank oblivious. 

Steve pulled a chicken out of his jacket, a small one of course, and let opening the door let it inside.  He shut the door and waited.  A few moments later he heard the confusion within, the guard had come upon the chicken as it waddled about.  Steve could hear the man chasing the little animal in raw pursuit, the scrambling.  The man must have fallen, over easy, for a loud crash erupted. 

Steve slipped inside and saw the guard on the floor, chairs knocked over and papers all over the place.  The little chick was still running, its wings flapping but to no prevail.  Steve quickly ran up to the guard and, reaching inside his jacket again, pulled a plastic blue hued clear water gun out.  He squirted in the guards face, the liquid fell between his lips.  The guards face twisted and turned, the spraying continued, he fought and withered on the floor, until finally he passed out.  Steve put the gun back in his jacket. 

“What was in that?” Olivia asked from behind.

“Pit sweat.”

“Oh God.”

“You got the alarms I presume,” Steve’s eyebrows raised.

“Of course.  I cut the phones too,” she pointed behind her were a door has been left open.  It leads into a small room were the fuse box lies, as well as the security monitors and controls.  “We’re safe.”

“Good job, toots.  Well, let’s get this over with.”

       “Toots?”

 
       “Would you prefer brod?  Baby?  Oh, how about Miss Imawhore?

       “Toots is fine.”

       “Alright then… toots.  Let’s get going.”

       Steve saw the chicken come out from behind a filing cabinet and run to the guard, sniff, and fall over unconscious.  

            “Oh God,” Olivia said again.  She led the way towards the back, the vault awaiting them.        

DD