The Heist WC:299

The Heist
WC 299

The kid was standing near the warehouse dock.

“They went that way.” The kid pointed.

“Who went what way?”

“The guys you’re looking for.”

Officer Duncan wasn't looking for anyone.

“How old are you, son?”

“Twelve.”

“It’s midnight. Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s your name?”

“Tommy.”

“Does your mother know you are out this late?”

“My mother’s dead.”

Officer Duncan couldn’t help but feel sorry for the kid.

“And your father?”

“He’s passed out drunk.”

Officer Duncan sat down on the loading dock.

“Tommy, pull up a seat and tell me what’s going on.”

The story poured out of the boy.

Some older kids were going to rob this electronics warehouse. They’d give him fifty dollars if he would be their lookout. He needed the money, so he agreed to do it.

“I heard a car…your car… pull into the front parking lot, and I saw lights. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew I didn’t want to be part of a robbery, so I warned them that someone was coming.

“What did they do?”

“They jumped in their car and drove off that way, like I told you, sir,” he said, pointing again.

Officer Duncan believed the boy and almost handed him a twenty.

“Go on home, Tommy.”

Tommy disappeared into the night on his bike.

The cop pulled away.

Tommy reappeared. He went up the ramp with the cart he had stashed by the side of the building and finished what he had started.

He attached the loaded trailer to the bike and rode off toward the drop point.

That’s when he heard the sirens on Officer Duncan’s patrol car.

As Tommy pulled over, he tried to think of a way to talk himself out of what was about to happen.