I sat in the passenger seat of the delivery van sipping my coffee and watching the minutes tick by on my watch. A car drove by and pulled into a parking lot down the street.
A voice in my headset spoke, "That's him. That's the guy we're waiting for."
I took another sip of my coffee before I spoke, "Everybody hold on. I want him to get settled into his morning routine before we move."
I watched this building for eight weeks, making notes of the arrivals and departures. I noted when each employee came and left. I took note of employees who had a habit of coming in late and which ones left early.
This was a much easier job than anything we've done before. It required much greater precision from my crew, but I wasn't worried. We are a professional robbery crew. I use the word professional because my men and I bring a high degree of discipline and skill to the job We came together six years ago and under my leadership the five of us were a well-coordinated team who specialized mostly in jewelry stores and banks. We were also a well-equipped team, with the latest in electronics and assault weapons.
Our usual targets were getting harder and harder to hit. There were more guards, more weapons, and a lot more anti-theft measures to overcome. This job had no guards, no weapons, and only crude anti theft measures. The only problem was the people. In a usual scenario my crew would only be dealing with ten to fifteen people at the most. This job was different. It was a small hi-tech company named Micro-Fab inc. that produced high-end memory microchips, very expensive microchips. They were so valuable that Micro-Fab never shipped very many chips in one truck, in case the truck was hijacked. Six trucks would arrive at three o'clock in the afternoon, the last Tuesday of every month, to pickup their loads. Each truck carried a load that was the size of a small suitcase, but worth over six hundred thousand dollars apiece. That totaled three point six million dollars combined.
The company had two entrances to the building and forty-three employees. I looked at the notepad on my lap. I made a note of each employee as they arrived and knew that one was still unaccounted for, so I waited.
"Here comes a truck," Came a voice on my headset.
I looked at the truck and checked it off the list on my notepad, "OK give this guy time to get inside. Everybody do a last minute equipment check. We move in five minutes.
I sat back in my seat and sipped my coffee as I ran through our attack plan. This was to be a takeover robbery. My tech guy will disable the phone line where it connects to the building, and then enter the building and secure it's employees by threat of force.
I looked at my watch and took my last sip of coffee, "OK gentlemen, it's party time. Get into your positions."
I nodded to my driver and he drove our delivery van down the street and into the Micro-Fab INC parking lot. He parked it along the curb in front of the lobby entrance.
A voice came over my headset, "The phones are down, I repeat, the phones are down and the buzz box is on."
The buzz box is a cell-phone jamming device. With it turned on no cell-phone will be able to work within a twelve hundred foot radius.
That was the last thing that had to be done before we went in, "OK everyone we are a go. Entry team, move in."
Three of my men entered the back door wearing ski masks and carrying assault rifles. My driver and I, also wearing ski masks, entered the front. I carried a nine-millimeter pistol and my driver carried an Uzi. We quickly rounded up the office staff and escorted them toward the production floor. When we walked out to the production area I saw one of my men pointing his weapon at a woman who was standing in front of him. The rest of the workers were seated on the floor in a tight group. As the office staff joined the rest of the workers, I turned my attention to the woman.
She was typical of many of the floor workers that you see these small high-tech companies. She was tall and thin with a pleasing shape. It was easy to se that she was pretty hot in her younger years but as she approached her mid thirties time was beginning to catch up with her. I noticed that her blond hair was bleached, and her fake nails had little designs painted on them. She was still dressing to attract men, but it's my guess that she likes to tease them until they make a pass at her, and then turn them down flat by showing off her wedding ring. The feature that really got my attention was her green eyes. They were beautiful even as she stood there in defiance of the gun pointed at her.
I looked at my man and asked, "What's the problem?"
"This one won't sit down."
I knew just what to do to make her sit. I would attack her insecurity about her looks. I would give her a healthy dose of humiliation, "So, this little muffin won't sit down with the rest of her friends? What's the matter sweetheart, are you somehow better than they are? Are you some princess who never sits with the peasants?" "No, it's not..." The woman suddenly felt very subconscious and looked to her co-workers who were all looking at her." She turned back to me with anger in her pretty green eyes, "My husband is a cop. If you hurt any of us, he and the department will track you all down."
I let out a chuckle, "I can see what a good job they're doing so far." I reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head up close to mine, "This is how it is going to work my little muffin. You are going to get over there with your co-workers and sit down. If you do that, you will have an amazing story to tell over dinner tonight. If you don't," I kissed her on her cheek, "There will be no dinner for you."
I let go of her hair and pointed to her co-workers, "Go."
She looked at me one more time; instead of seeing anger in her eyes I saw something else. I didn't know what it was at the time, but it was not anger. She turned and walked over to her co-workers and with one last look at me she sat down.
I sent two of my crew to open the storage area that held the chips. After five minutes I heard a voice in my headset, "Boss, there not here!"
"Get back out here," I replied.
I grabbed the company's founder and president and lifted him off the floor, "Where are they?" I asked him.
He did not reply.
"Where are they?" I asked again, this time pointing my pistol at his face."
My men returned from the storage area.
I pushed the company president toward my men and they grabbed him, "Hold on to him," I looked back at the rest of the employees and gave them my standard speech, "If you all cooperate with us and do as you are told, I give you my word that you will not be harmed in any way. However, if you do not do as you are told, my men will shoot you. Now, are we all clear about this?"
I scanned the group and nobody seemed eager to resist.
I turned to the president once more and asked, "Where are the chips?"
The president stuttered for a moment, "Th... they're in my office."
I looked at the two men holding him, "Make him show you where they are."
