The Job

“Don’t worry, about a ting...cause every little ting is gonna be alright” Charlie opened her eyes in a daze as she reached over to turn off her alarm notification.

“I said don’t worry, about a ting...cause every little ting, is gonna be al-“ Charlie pressed the stop button to turn off the alarm.

She sat up and slowly began to stretch her neck from left to right, then right to left. Up then down and rolled her shoulders back then forth. She paused for a moment, took a deep breath in, then exhaled. “Today is a good day,” she told herself as she put on her glasses and got out of bed. She grabbed a pen and her little black notebook and plopped herself down on a floor pillow in front of the sofa in the living space of her studio apartment. As she began to write down her daily affirmations as she did every morning, there was a knock at the door. She went to the door and looked through the peephole and saw the face of an unfamiliar man.

“Who is it,” she asked from behind the door.

“Jacken, from home security installation. I have an appointment scheduled at 8 am for this address, apartment 507...for...uh...Charlie Jones,” the man replied.

“Oh yes! One sec please” she replied as she got up and tossed her notebook and pen onto the kitchen counter. She threw on her oversized hoodie and closed the mirror partition to her bedroom. She rushed over to the door and undid the chain lock and the deadbolt lock. She opened the door, “Good morning, come in. I forgot I’d scheduled an appointment for today.”

“No worries ma’am, we’re still on schedule,” Jacken replied as he walked inside the apartment and placed his work bag on the floor next to the kitchen counter.

“Can I get you anything to drink? Water? Coffee?”

“No thank you, I’m ok,” he replied. “So, I understand that you’re to have the keypad alarm system installed along with the front door, window, and balcony sensors?”

“Yes that’s correct,” she replied.

“Great, cause that’s exactly what I got ya down for,” Jacken said as he reached down to grab his work bag. “Do you mind,” he asked as he motioned to the counter.

“Please, go ahead,” Charlie replied.

Jacken placed his bag on the counter and began to rummage through his things pulling out parts and pieces for the installation job. He dug a little deeper and pulled out a little black notebook. He fingered through the pages intently until he got to one page in particular. Pausing for a moment, he scanned the page thoroughly, then closed the notebook and placed it on the counter. “Now, first thing’s first...where do ya want the keypad installed,” he asked.

“Right here,” Charlie replied as she walked over to a spot on the wall in between the bedroom partition and the living room.

“That’s a good spot,” Jacken replied. “I’ll need about an hour, hour and a half and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Sure, take your time,” Charlie replied. “I’m in no rush.” She grabbed the notebook from the counter, opened the bedroom partition slightly, and sat on her bed. She looked out through the partition and could see Jacken leveling the keypad on the wall. She looked down at her notebook. “Now, where were we,” she thought to herself. She opened the notebook, but the content was unfamiliar, and the handwriting was not hers. She could not make any sense of the information written in scraggly, chicken-scratch letters. She realized she must’ve picked up the wrong little black notebook. After flipping through a few more pages she noticed that written on multiple pages were names and addresses followed by a number sequence and a dollar amount:

Latrice, 842 W First St, 4624 - $10k

Sonya, 751 Pinewater Dr, Apt 408, 5729 - $5k

Bianca, 3659 Braesweather Ln, 6975 - $7k

Annette, 225 Rice Ave, 4554 - $6k

“This must be his appointment book,” she thought to herself as she closed the notebook and got up from her bed. She made her way back around the partition. Jacken was mounting the keyboard onto the wall support plate. “Excuse—“ she started but there was a knock at the door.

“Charlieeee! It’s Sam! Open up!”

“Come in,” she replied. “It’s open!”

“Why is your door unlocked,” Sam questioned walking through the door. “You can’t do that when you’re...” Sam stopped when he noticed Jacken.

“I’m having an alarm system installed,” Charlie replied acknowledging Jacken’s presence. “He just got started not too long ago.” Charlie motioned her hand and signaled Sam to follow her to the bed. Sam followed. On the other side of the partition, they both sat down on the bed.

“I’m so glad you got an alarm system,” Sam relieved.

“Me too,” Charlie exhaled and thought “today is a good day.” She relaxed her body onto the bed. She raised her hand to her stomach and remembered she still had the notebook in her hand.

“What’s your affirmation for today,” Sam jokingly taunted while grabbing the notebook from Charlie’s hand.

“It’s his appointment book,” Charlie replied. “I accidentally picked it up.”

Sam opened the notebook and began to slowly flip through the pages. “I don’t see any dates in here,” Sam said. “Just names, addresses, and numbers.” Sam skimmed some more pages when Sam’s eyes skimmed across one name and address combo — “Charlie, 8216 North Ct, Apt 507, ____, $7k.” Sam turned to Charlie “Wait, you’re paying 7k? Seven thousand dollars for your alarm system?”

“What? No,” Charlie replied. “What are you talking about?”

“8216 North Ct is your address, Apt 507...” Sam replied.

“That’s my address and apartment number,” Charlie said. “...and I’m definitely not paying seven thousand dollars.” Charlie sat up and leaned over towards Sam. She skimmed the page until she found her name. “Oh no,” she remarked. Charlie grabbed the book from Sam and made her way towards the living room. On the other side of the partition, Jacken was working on the keypad wires. “Excuse me,” Charlie interrupted. “How much is my total for today?”

“Ummm, how much did they tell ya when ya called,” Jacken replied.

“Two hundred dollars for everything,” Charlie replied.

“Ok, that’s what it costs, ma’am.”

“Ok.” Charlie walked back over to her bed. “It’s two-hundred dollars,” she retorted to Sam. “Those numbers must mean something else.”

“Well, six thousand eight hundred is a lot of something else,” Sam replied grabbing the book from Charlie’s hand and looked through a few more pages. “All of these appointments are ridiculously expensive.” Sam turned to the next page and began to read aloud “Ranita, four-thousand...Mel three-thousand...Jordin, six-thousand. You don’t think that’s weird,” Sam asked.

“I don’t really care,” Charlie replied. “Can you please put his notebook back on the counter and bring me mine?”

“Sure,” Sam got up and continued to read names and dollar amounts while walking towards the partition. On the other side of the divider, Jacken was nowhere in sight. “Hello,” Sam questioned scanning the room and seeing the door wide open. Sam walked over toward the door and looked up and down the hallway. The hallway was empty. Sam closed and locked the door. Sam walked over to the spot where the keypad was being installed. The wires were exposed, and the keypad was hanging from the wall. “Charlie, I think the guy left...but his bag is still here.” Sam began going through the bag as Charlie made her way from behind the bedroom partition and over to the kitchen counter.

“What’s going on,” Charlie questioned.

Sam pulled out a roll of duct tape and zip ties. “Call the police, now,” Sam demanded as pulling out $20,000 cash.

***30 minutes later***

“Thank you for calling the police,” Officer Hunter asserted. “Most people would’ve seen the money and kept it. Not even have bothered to call it in.”

“Sure,” Charlie obliged.

“What should we do now,” Sam asked. “What if he comes back looking for the money,” Sam asked.

“Oh, he won’t,” Officer Hunt replied. “Miss Charlie, I can have a couple of my guys patrol the area tonight. Keep an eye out, so you can get some sleep. I’m personally going to find him myself”

“Thank you,” Charlie replied.

“Thank your friend here,” Officer Hunt stated. “If it wasn’t for Sam coming over, I highly doubt the outcome would be the same. You wouldn’t have been here to tell the tale.” Officer Hunt picked the workbag up from the counter and made his way toward the door. Charlie sat on the couch as Sam walked over to let Officer Hunt out. “Here, take my card. I’m personally taking over this case so if you need anything, don’t hesitate to give me a call personally. My cell is on there too.”

“Thank you,” Sam replied letting Officer Hunt out and locking the door behind him. “I’ll stay with you tonight,” Sam offered.

“Thank you,” Charlie accepted.

* * * * * * *

Officer Hunt rode the elevator down to the lobby and walked out of the building entrance. Once he made his way to his patrol car, he opened the door and tossed the bag onto the passenger seat. In a momentary release of anger, he punched the steering wheel. He started the car, drove a few blocks south, and pulled into the back alley of an abandoned building. He parked the car and turned off the lights. A few moments later there was a knock at the rear passenger window. Officer Hunt unlocked the door and a man got into the backseat of the car.

“What the hell happened,” Officer Hunt questioned with an angry restraint.

“I’m sorry, her friend showed up and I panicked,” the man replied. I didn’t know she was having someone over.”

“That’s why we install the system first, then monitor, then move! Those are the steps! I’ve told you a hundred times! You’re sloppy Jacken, get it together!”

“Yes, I will...I promise.”

“You better, because you’re slowing down my profit. Now I gotta get another guy to go in there to finish the job that you messed up. I hired you to prep the merchandise...not make stupid mistakes! And why the hell would you bring my money to a job?!” Officer Hunt picked up the bag and slammed it down in the passenger seat. “Could you be any sloppier?!”

“Ummm...”

“What,” Officer Hunt demanded.

“I lost the notebook.”

Officer Hunt exhaled deeply. “You what,” he questioned.

“I don’t know,” Jacken replied. “It was there on the counter. I thought I picked it up, but it’s not it.”

“You lost the notebook...my notebook with all the jobs,” Officer Hunt replied.

“Yes, but I think it’s at the girl’s apartment. That’s where it is.”

“So, they’ve not only seen the money but they now have a record of all of your jobs too,” Officer Hunt questioned cautiously.

“Yes,” Jacken replied, “but I can get it back.”

“Finish the job,” Officer Hunt said calmly. “The girl and the notebook.”

“Ok,” Jacken replied.

“One week,” Officer Hunt stated. “The price just went up from seven thousand to ten. Don’t make me have to do this job myself.”