Even Angels Fall (23 page)

Tom slides in, revving the engine loudly and the noise reverberates off the damp, stone walls, echoing around the warehouse. He is eager to get going - to get this over and done with as soon as possible - as the anticipation is beginning to make him edgy when he needs to be calm and completely focused.

“So you know what to do?” Alex asks, gravely.

“Sure…” Liam’s answering tone is far more upbeat, “Three blasts of the horn mean all’s good, we open up and help you load the van as quickly as possible…”

“We should be an hour max, if we get held up or don’t make it back by half 11, wait for us at the flat…” Alex grabs a black gym bag from the driver’s side foot well and slams the van door, striding purposefully over to the waiting car before throwing himself into the passenger seat. With a quick nod, Darren climbs into the back and Tom floors the accelerator as they speed off into the night.

“I really don’t like this…” Nathan muses. There is nothing but silence as he and Liam stare out into the blackness, with the roar of the car engine fading into the distance.

“I know… But what else can we fucking do? How many times has Alex had our backs? How many times has he got us out of shit and put himself on the line for us? He’s never asked for any help, not before now so I say he’s earned it…” Liam snaps.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to help him mate, I want this fucking mess sorted too, but this could go badly wrong… have you even thought about that?”

“They’ll get the money…”

“Yeah, maybe… if they manage to get into the safe, past the shopkeeper and any customers that might be in there… then there’s the CCTV, plus a good chance there’ll be a panic button installed seen as money is kept on the premises. It isn’t that simple Liam, this is seriously fucking dangerous…”

“They’ll be fine…” He states again, with less certainty in his voice.

“Yeah, I fucking hope so… but they’ve got to get in and out of there as fast as they can. If there’s even a slight complication, it could all be over in a second. Then it won’t matter how much money Alex owes Marcus, because he’ll be too busy serving time for armed robbery to worry about paying his debts …” Nathan lights a cigarette and climbs back into the van, winding the window partially down as he rests his foot on the dashboard in front of him. Liam follows a minute or two later and quietly starts the engine, turning the heating up and rubbing his hands together as he stares at the clock in a suddenly nervous and pensive mood.

Alex is nervous too; nervous to the point of almost backing out. He has never done anything like this before. It is completely unknown territory and he hates going in blind, not knowing what to expect. The numerous scenarios he has imagined over and over in the last week all end in a variety of different ways. The one where everything goes perfectly to plan seems the most unlikely but then he always did have a nasty habit of preparing for the worst. Regardless of his doubts, they have come this far and there is no turning back now.

Tom and Darren sit in silence, reflecting quietly on the task they are about to undertake. The shop is getting closer and Alex stares down at the black holdall in his lap, the contents of which signify an act that he has been forced into. An act that makes him question who he is. He has never lived a straight life. Never quite walked on the right side of the track, but he isn’t entirely on the wrong side either.

He tries to be a good person, despite it being a constant struggle between knowing right from wrong and fighting to survive. He needs money to live and although drug dealing isn’t exactly a respectable profession, he has never really felt guilty about supplying. He has certainly never felt guilt like this before.

“We’re here…” Tom snaps Alex out of his internal self- loathing and back into the present moment.

“What time are we on?” Darren asks.

“It’s 10:45pm, they’ll be shutting up in the next 15 minutes so we need to move fast… Al? What do you reckon?”

Alex takes a deep breath and pulls his thoughts into focus. He doesn’t like being here, but it is happening now, and he just needs to get through it. He can live with regret… but he will never be weak.

“Get ready…” He unzips the holdall and throws them both a pair of gloves and a balaclava each, “We’ll wait until the last possible moment. Once were inside you two cover my back and I’ll go straight for the cash. I want this done fast, no hassle…”

“OK…”

“We’ll be right behind you mate…” Darren reassures him.

Tom reverses the car into an alleyway directly across from the shop and turns off the headlights, leaving the keys in the ignition. The street is deserted and eerily quiet as they sit and wait, counting down the seconds. They each hold a shot gun in their hands, but only Alex’s is loaded.

“They’re pulling the shutters down, now’s our chance…” Alex pulls the balaclava over his head and with a determined resolve, he flings open the car door and races across the road as Darren and Tom follow immediately behind.

As they reach the entrance to the shop the manager is seconds away from locking the deadbolt when Alex boots the door with all his strength. The force of the blow sends the shop keeper flying backwards and toppling into a newspaper stand which crashes to the floor on top of him. A female employee starts to scream and the young male student behind the counter eyes the alarm, calculating whether or not he can reach it.

“Don’t fucking move…” Tom orders, calmly, as he cocks his gun and points it at the two of them. They both hold their hands up and the girl bursts into a hysterical fit of tears.

Darren deadbolts the door and pulls the last shutter down as Tom keeps watch; scanning the empty isles and checking for CCTV cameras while keeping the two terrified staff members in his line of sight. Alex grabs hold of the manager’s arm and pulls him to his feet, shoving him forward.

“Open the till… NOW…” He shouts.

The manager stumbles slightly as he makes his way behind the counter and with shaking hands, types in the code that opens the cash register.

“Fill it up…” Alex commands as he throws an empty bag at him.

The man does as he is told as quickly as he can without protest, then hands the bag full of money back to Alex. He snatches it away and throws it over to Darren, who is still keeping watch by the door.

“Now the safe…” The man shakes his head, looking dazed and uncertain, and Alex cocks his gun, pointing it closer to his face, “Don’t waste my fucking time, I know there’s more… in the office… move, now…”

Without further argument the manager staggers through the door to the right of the counter and into a tiny back room. Alex follows and waits in silence, watching the man’s every move as he clumsily types in a pin number on an electronic keypad and turns a dial on the front of the safe. It clicks open and Alex throws another bag at his feet.

“Fill it…” He demands.

The manager once again does as he is told, stuffing the neatly bound wads of cash into the empty holdall. Alex is running on pure adrenaline and he is elated that everything seems to be going to plan. He quickly glances over his shoulder, checking that Tom and Darren are still in position and that everything is OK on the shop floor. The woman employee has calmed down and she stands with her arms wrapped around her waist, crying quietly. The young man stands beside her, his free arm draped awkwardly over her tense shoulders and his other hand still in the air. The notion of being a hero was clearly forgotten as soon as Tom waved a shot gun in his face.

“Th… that’s it. That’s everything…” The manager stutters and he hands over the second, larger bag of money as his breath catches in his throat. He swallows hard, staring, wide eyed and fearful, and Alex is momentarily thrown off guard as he observes the man properly for the first time. He must be in his late 50’s, quite tall but with a slim, unassuming build. The weathered name tag pinned to his shirt reads ‘Bob’, his grey hair is thinning at the front and there is a wedding ring on his finger. He must have someone to go home to tonight. Someone he is no doubt hoping he will get to walk out of here and see again.

The overwhelming feeling of disgust that Alex has been suppressing all week, suddenly resurfaces, stronger than ever. This man is innocent. He doesn’t deserve this. All he did was come to work just like any other day, to earn an honest living and he has been threatened with his life. Threatened by Alex. This isn’t who he is, this isn’t what he is about, and he feels a sudden, uncontrollable urge to explain himself to Bob. To apologise for his actions and tell him that he has no other choice.

“Everything OK…?” Tom shouts, with an edge of concern in his voice.

Alex breaks away from his train of thought and slowly composes himself, trying to get back into the same cold, detached frame of mind that he was in before but he can feel his resolve slipping. ‘Pull it together’.

“Move…” He commands, trying to remain as threatening as possible. He gestures back through to the shop with his gun and Bob stumbles out of the office and over to his two terrified employees.

“We good to go…?” Alex shouts over his shoulder at Darren, who is peering through the window with one hand resting on the deadbolt.

“One second…”

“Don’t even think about moving, shouting, or pressing that alarm…” Tom threatens, as he marches the three of them to the back of the store and makes them face the wall with their hands on their heads.

Alex rocks back and forth impatiently as he waits for Darren to give the all clear and his inner turmoil from moments ago begins to subside as relief slowly creeps in. It is almost over; they have what they came for, now all they have to do is get back to the car and drive away.

“LET’S GO…” Darren lifts the deadbolt and kicks open the door, swinging the holdall he is carrying over his shoulder as he darts out of the shop and across the road. Tom follows just seconds later, backing away with his gun still pointed at the three cowering shop workers before he turns and runs at the very last moment.

Clutching the shotgun and the bag full of money in his right hand, Alex stops in front of the counter and trashes a large flower stand, throwing it over so that the mess blocks the path to the panic alarm. As an afterthought, he quickly grabs a bouquet of roses from the floor and sprints out across the road which is thankfully still deserted. As Tom pulls up alongside him, barely slowing down, Alex dives into the passenger seat and removes his balaclava.

“Nice flowers…” Darren comments, dryly.

“A little something for my girl…”

“We’re they on offer?” Tom can barely contain the humour in his voice.

“As a matter of fact they were…” Alex smirks, and as they drive out onto the ring road further away from the scene, the tension ebbs away and all three of them burst into laughter, elated, thrilled and above all relieved that they have managed to pull it off. Alex rests his head back and closes his eyes, exhaling slowly. They did it.

The car horn beeps three times and Nathan and Liam exchange a look of surprise. They slide open the warehouse door and Tom swerves past them, parking up in the same corner of the room where the car was hidden less than an hour before.

“That was quick…” Nathan states as Alex throws him the bags of money, “Everything go OK?”

“It was almost too easy…” He smiles.

“Nate, give me a hand with this…” Nathan throws the money into the back of the van before helping Darren re-cover the car with the dust sheets. They push a few large crates and cardboard boxes in front to partially hide it from view - not that anyone will have access to the warehouse - but it is better to be safe than sorry.

“Holy shit…!” Liam exclaims, loudly. He is crouched in front of the two open bags, holding a wad of cash in each hand, “How much did you get?!”

“It’s enough…” Alex states, “As soon as I get that fucker paid off the better…”

“We should get going…” Darren states and Liam tosses him the keys as Nathan jumps into the back of the van. Before Tom can join him, Alex holds his arm out and turns towards him.

“Thank you…” He nods, sincerely, and Tom grasps his shoulder supportively.

“No worries mate…”

They are quiet on the drive back to the flat, all of them reflective and lost in their own thoughts. Liam is eager to know what happened and is dying to ask but instead he keeps quiet. It is clear even to him that it isn’t the right time. Alex rubs his eyes, feeling suddenly exhausted. It has been a long, draining night and he just wants to get home and back to normality. Back to Abbey. It feels like he hasn’t seen her in so long and he is anxious to be alone with her again. Her innocence, along with her ability to make him feel like everything is going to be OK, is exactly what he needs right now. He smiles down at the bunch of flowers at his feet as he thinks about surprising her, but his pleasant thoughts are quickly interrupted as the image of Bob returning home to his worried wife, springs unwelcome into his mind.

“What time is it?” Abbey asks, nervously.

“About 5 minutes since you last asked…”

“How can you be so calm?!”

“I’m not calm…!” Lucy protests, her voice a little higher than usual, “But I’m trying to keep a lid on it… at least one of us is!”

“Sorry…” Abbey sighs. She stands from the sofa and starts pacing from the far wall to the balcony and back again, over and over.

“You know that rug is pretty expensive, I don’t think Alex and Tom would appreciate you wearing a hole in it…”

“What’s taking them so long?”

“Abs, it’s only just gone midnight, I’m sure they’ll be back soon…”

“I need another drink…”Abbey grabs her glass from the coffee table and makes her way to the kitchen. She opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of wine, filling her glass to the top while battling with her shaking hands. She can barely function she is so worried and there is no way can she sit still and wait patiently like Lucy. Normally her ‘what will be, will be’ attitude is endearing, but it certainly isn’t helping her right now.

“Any word…?” Sophie looks even paler than usual.

“No, nothing yet…” Alex had filled Abbey in on the details of the raid the night before, albeit reluctantly, as he obviously knew how much she would worry. It seemed like a relatively solid, well thought out plan at the time but now with the clock ticking away she isn’t quite as convinced as she had been.