Chad Gaines parked his car in the car park of the small suburban shopping precinct. He was nervous as hell and wondering how the hell he had managed to get himself into this situation. He was a nice clean cut young man from a good background and he was about to commit his first crime. His mind was in turmoil and it was all he could do not to start the car and get the hell out of there. But he couldn't! He had already spent half the money he was going to earn for doing a burglary.
He was a student at a mid western university and like many students was always struggling financially. His parents had so far battled to help him through his course and he worked hard at any part time jobs he could get. Until last week he had managed but his father had become ill and would not be able to work for a month which meant things would be tight at home and he couldn't take any money from his parents for a while. It couldn't have happened at a worse time as his rent was due and he also needed some additional books for his course and he was flat broke.
Chad had met Dan Hooper three nights ago at the bar where he worked an evening shift. It had been a quiet night and they had chatted for a while and Chad's problem had come up. Dan had been very sympathetic and said he had been through a similar situation when he was younger, although you wouldn't know it now looking at his expensive suit and the 5 series BMW parked outside. Dan was a successful lawyer who specialized in divorce settlements and he had told Chad he occasionally needed someone to assist him with odd jobs that paid very well and Chad had said very quickly that he would do anything to earn money at the moment. He had been a little surprised when Dan had returned the following evening and at closing time suggested they go for coffee as he had a business proposition for Chad.
NO WAY! Had been Chad's reaction to Dan's suggestion he break into a house to retrieve some documents Dan needed for evidence for a case he was working on. However Dan was a very persuasive man and when he had dropped $500 cash on the table saying there would be another $500 on completion, Chad had weakened. A thousand dollars would solve his immediate problems and give him some breathing space.