It was Friday night; the rain beat down as Dave headed for the taxi. He climbed in and moved off driving into the night. He hated working the night shift on a Friday night, but he needed the cash. However there were one or two perks to the night shift on a Friday night that made the job all the more worthwhile.
Dave had been driving a taxi for a number of years and was fairly good at selecting which fare to pick up. After driving past a few people, he had carefully selected a potential fare. Pulling in as he was flagged down he released the locks allowing the young couple to climb in. After giving the address they wanted Dave drove on taking the most direct route he could given the unusually high volume of traffic on the road.
As Dave drove he always liked to keep an eye on the fares in the back, especially the young ladies. Although happily married with two kids he still liked to admire the young ladies who used his taxi, one of the few perks of his job. The mirror was carefully positioned to give him an uninterrupted view of the whole seat behind him. While useful for eying up his fares it also helped him to ensure his safety while on the night shift.
Continuing on his route Dave glanced behind him, the couple were unusually quiet for this time on a Friday night. As he turned the next corner the couple began to kiss, this was more like it he thought. The pair were locked in an extremely passionate kiss, Dave was wondering what would happen next. He wasn't left wondering for long, he turned the next corner,
"Can you pull over mate? She is feeling a little ill," said a voice from the back of the taxi.
Not wanting to have to clean his taxi so early in the shift Dave obliged, pulling over at the curb he noted the fare was at £8.50, not bad for the first job of the night. The girl climbed out and stood at the side of the cab her partner followed. As Dave turned to see that she was OK the pair ran off into the park across the street.
He couldn't believe it, after being so careful about who to pick up he had been left out of pocket. He got on to the radio and let control know what had happened and a warning was quickly passed on to the other drivers. Dave knew it wasn't worth chasing them, he knew too many colleagues who had given chase and then woken up in hospital.
Feeling like an idiot for falling for the oldest scam in the book Dave cleared the metre and headed back to town. He collected a couple of easy fares, they didn't earn him big money but at least he was getting paid. Still feeling a little uneasy about his earlier lost money he continued to hunt for 'safe' fares those who would definitely pay for their journey.
After working for four hours he stopped off at his favourite all night café. This would be one of several visits he would make during the night. He sat in his usual place and ordered his usual 9pm snack, a pint sized cup of coffee and a bacon sandwich. He was served by Michelle, a young 19 year old student making a little extra cash before heading out on the town.