Life changing money

Life changing money

A find

We all have our day dreams, we all have our night dreams, these we have far less control of. It is only the very lucky few who do not wish that they could change at least some aspect of their lives. The chance to change mine came with some conditions, may be conditions that my profession has trained me to cope with but we will get to that later, I was on a routine observation job when I came across a suitcase that was heavy and did not seem connected with anything at all.

My task was to watch the back of a town house, staying in the shadows and observing what came and went through the back garden gate. This gate opened into a small lane, grass grew down the middle and the wheel tracks had formed ruts which were filled in with stone. Some of the properties had removed the rear fence to allow a car to be driven down the lane and into the back garden, the one I was watching did not have this, just a gate. The fence was solid paneling eight feet tall. The most solid and highest of all the fences. I already knew that the gate also had a sophisticated lock and alarm system. Far more sophisticated than you would expect from looking at the property itself. I was part of a small team assigned to watch and report only. No terms of engagement just watch and report. It was a small team, we worked as individuals only seeing another team member at change over times, reports were verbal through encrypted cell phones which had some strange properties; for example what ever number I dialed it went to the same person but their number changed all the time.

It was two in the morning, 02.00 hours and I was cold and bored, I had shinned up a neighbors scrubby tree and lodged myself in a fork, resting my back against the main trunk, this kept me clear of the lane in case a car came down and I could not be picked up in the head lights. I had flicked my line of sight from the gate to the entrance of the lane so I had warning as a car turned in, its headlights giving the approach away, I flattened myself against the tree feeling fortunate that I was about six feet above the road surface while the driver will be focused on the ruts and bumps in front of him. The car stopped 3 properties before the gate, the rear passenger side door opened a suitcase, an average looking travelers suitcase, was placed on the ground the door closed and the car reversed out of the lane and went off at speed in the direction it had come from. With the head light glare I could not read the number plate properly. The car was a new silver gray Jaguar saloon. The part of the plate I did get was AV12 but the rest was distorted by the angle I was looking from and the glare. I waited for nearly an hour but no one came to investigate the area or its new mystery, I was getting stiff and cramped in the tree, no lights showed at the backs of any of the properties that I could see, I eased myself down and waited in the lane, I drew my gun and waited some more, gently eased myself to the case and, after yet another cautious look around me I shone my small torch at the case, it looked a well used travel case with extending handle and those silly wheels on one end. The way it had been hurriedly put down suggested no booby trap that would be triggered if I lifted the case, so I gingerly picked it up, heavier than expected but not suggestive of lead lining. I carried the case back to my car, which was parked about two hundred meters from the lane entrance and put it in the boot before returning to my watching position.

The rest of the night passed with nothing to report, my relief came on duty at six, it was now getting light and he could not station himself in the lane but had a car parked opposite the entrance so he could see all the activity down the lane. I just walked past his car scratched my left ear in the arranged signal, scratching my right ear would have warned of nocturnal activity and he should check with control. I got into my own car, or at least into the car that was mine for this time and drove to my home, or at least to the place that was my home at this time. I drove past the house and parked in a supermarket car park, which was filling up with people who were grabbing things they needed on the way to work. I went in and made a few purchases, paying in cash. I stopped the read the notices which allowed me to see my car and any one else showing an interest in it. No one did. I walked home and made coffee before checking all the doors and windows, setting my own sophisticated alarms and going to bed. I slept well for eight hours and woke suddenly. I check my security, showered, fixed and eat breakfast. I walked past the super market, my car was still there and did not seem to be the object of any unwarranted interest so I spent an hour at the gym before another shower and walk back to the car. I went into the supermarket making a couple more buys and all the time watching for signs of interest in the car park. None showed up, so I drove the car back to my house parked across the road, took the suitcase inside and reset my alarms. Putting the case on the kitchen table I examined it with a magnifying glass, not finding any sign of anything worrying, I simply clicked the catches back and lifted the lid. It was not even locked.

Inside, under a sheet of cheap colored tissue paper were layer on layer of twenty pound notes. I used a kitchen knife to slide down the edge of the case and lift a stack out. No explosion of colored smoke no magic water dye. Nothing, just a five inch thick bundle of cash. I left the other layers and examined this stack, all used notes, no consecutive numbers and all looked genuine. I put this stack into my pocket, closed the case lid and took it as carefully as I could back to the car I then added a couple of plastic bin bags and put the lot back in the boot. I drove across town out into countryside, then along a narrow road where I would be able to see if I was followed. I pulled into a field entrance and undid the boot. Checked I was alone then took the case out and tipped all the money into the plastic sacks, wiped the case with a cloth that I had dipped in white spirit and left the case in the hedge. I drove on and round for miles, constantly checking to see if I had anyone too interested in me. Not a sign.

I drove to another place that was my home when I wanted it to be and put the bags of cash in a safe place under the garage floor and well hidden. I went back to the place that was my home for the duration of this job, fixed a meal and some sandwiches. By now it was getting towards time for my next shift and my present employers were not known to tolerate lateness, nor were my present co-workers. I returned to my watching of the back entrance, the day shift had signaled no activity and my special mobile phone had stayed silent. The night was long and lonely but that was good giving me time to think out what to do about the cash, I had not even counted it but knew it was enough for me to leave the employment of the drug baron who kept me in cars and homes at the moment. The trick was that I had to leave his employment without arousing any sort of suspicion. And drug barons are the most suspicious race of beings on this planet, they have to be to survive in their chosen trade. I also had to make sure I stayed off the radar of the serious crime squad, they had to be aware of the rivalry between my boss and the guys who’s house the team were watching. For all I knew they were watching the watchers and that meant me, although I was certain no one had followed me and if the case had a tracker I had driven far enough to ensure they had to use vehicles to follow it. So I was happy enough no one knew I had the cash but also the guys who dropped it off must know by now that the intended recipient had been robbed. The odd thing that stuck in my mind was that they obviously expected the case to be collected before daylight, or some wandering kids would have made off with it, yet I had watched all the time and no one even came into the lane. Had they got the wrong lane? The wrong date? Or had something else gone wrong, was the cash hot and had to be dumped? That did not seem likely as random numbers, genuine notes and no tracing system that I could find. So why was it left and why no flack about it and what should I do now? All questions that needed lots of thought. It was my weekend off, even the criminal staff have regular hours these days, so I had time.

I assumed that I was being watched or at least monitored by my boss and so all my activities are done with that in mind, I returned to my home of the moment and acted as if settling down to sleep and a weekend of rest and recovery. After a four hour sleep I showered dressed and left out through the back door, I left the blinds drawn and the newspaper sticking from the letter box. My back door is sheltered from any prying eyes and is one reason I chose this place. I did not leave by the pathway but via a short trip across a couple of neighboring gardens, these were all hard working folk who I knew would be out at this time of day, I then left the area on foot, caught a bus to within a couple of miles of the cash and walked. I was certain I had not been followed or tracked in any way- my mobile phones were all left behind. I went past the house crossed the road and came back the opposite side, no sign of anything to bother me, so I went in and locked the door behind me. The house was dark and completely silent I checked for traces of any surreptitious activity, other than my own, and went upstairs. The back bed room contained the usual single bed and wardrobe but this was a wardrobe which I had altered quite a lot. The floor lifted out revealing just a space. The floor boards responded to pressure in certain places and a section of these came up. By pulling a cord that was just laying in the dust I got what I had come for, my real passport and all the usual ID stuff. I went to the garage and recovered one of the money sacks, this was packed, bag and all, into a cardboard postage box, sealed and addressed to a friend in France. I put a completely fictitious return address and marked it paper of no value. The address of my friend was not their actual home or even business address but a place that could be used with relative safety. The package was carried under my arm with my overcoat spread so that it was not obvious what I was carrying, I caught a bus and a train to near the fictitious senders address and posted the parcel getting a proof of posting, this would later be scanned and sent by e mail to my friend. The second bag would be sent in a similar way but with different addresses. I went back to my home of the moment and went back in by the same route as I left. I opened the blinds and acted as if just woken, the a/phone light was flashing, the system recorded date and time of call it was only an hour ago and from deputy boss, I am too far down this particular food chain to get a call from the boss. I called and left the coded response message. He called back and wanted to know where the hell I had been, I said asleep and he seemed to accept this, but needed me to return to the house we had been watching and to take my gun, he claimed that a lot of activity was occurring but exactly what that meant was not explained and I was to meet him there.

I parked a hundred meters from the lane entrance and walked down the pavement, scanning all the parked cars, the day shift were there and deputy boss all in one car. I slid into the back seat just as deputy boss finished a phone call. I was brought up to speed, during the morning there had been a big commotion in a front room of the house, glass was broken and shouting and some dull thumping sounds heard but since then nothing no one had came in or gone out, the sound amplifying gear had not picked up anything of use, so we had to go in a see what was going on. Since this was the stronghold of a rival gang, this was not a straight forward task. You do not walk up ring the door bell and say you want to know what the hell they are doing, when the guy may recognize you and blow your head off just for being there. Two men watched the front while day shift and myself went down the lane to the back, going in with too many people would be a mistake, you are easier to see coming and you get in each others line of fire. I shinned up my tree and looked over the fence, a fresh bag of something was dumped by the back door but no sign of life. The car was reversed down the lane and roped to the gate. The moment they drove off pulling the gate down we rushed in and immediately separated left and right diving for the house wall just under window height, nothing came at us from the house. This was getting weird, these boys were not known for being careless. We counted 5 then I kicked in the back door, day shift rushed in, the door opened far to easy not even locked. The house was quiet, too quiet. No sound of movement no radio nothing. We stayed still poised, alert and listening. I moved to the door from kitchen to hall, it was open and I could see down the length of a dingy corridor. Some shopping plastic bags were laying near the front door. There were doors leading off the hall were all open, the stairs were covered with a very old worn carpet, odd the things that stick in the mind but I thought that was originally same carpet that my parents had on their stairs. Still no sound, I moved slowly down the hall and looked in the first door, keeping low all I could see was the back of a leather three seat sofa, still no movement or sound, so I went into the room. The lights were on, the curtains tight closed. On the sofa were a couple of males, about thirty years old both had black hair and wore leather jackets with tight blue jeans and both were very dead. Neither had shoes on but both had automatics in their right hands these now hung loosely pointing at the floor, Both had been shot at close range in the back of the head. Quick sniff at guns, without touching them, indicated neither had been fired recently. We left them and moved to the other down stair room. Another body, this time an older woman, fully clothed in skirt, sweater and she had her shoes on. She had been shot in the face so we could not tell much about her looks, up stairs were another two dead men both shot in the back of the head. There were also the plug leads as used for lap tops but no lap tops. Clear signs of a clear out but they were the only evidence of any activity, other than killing. But when were they killed and how did, who ever did this, get out while the team were watching.? I began to smell a set up with day shift and I as fall guys. The look on his face told me he had same idea. We went down stairs fast and headed for back door as we hurried down the hall he brushed against a cupboard door; it opened and there were steps going down a single light bulb hung over the steps, may be our multiple killer was a very patient person and was waiting down those steps. We stayed silent I was already wearing very thin surgical gloves and I reached in and flicked the light switch off. We waited Nothing. I put the light back on and again we waited. I led the way down the steps and saw a door leading off to the right. It led to a tunnel that was surprisingly well made with proper roof supports and lighting, it had everything. It was straight and we could see that it was empty. We kept as quiet as we could and slowly eased our way down to a door at the end. No sound at all. I turned the door knob and pushed the door open a little, no squeak, no lock, it just slid open into an empty cellar This was absolutely bare no junk, nothing. A stair case led up to yet another wooden door. Day shift took the lead this time creeping slowly up the stairs testing each movement for noise. The door opened easy, again not locked, we found our selves in an empty house that was 3 down the lane. To exactly the property that the suit case had been left outside. I said nothing but now understood that who ever was intended to collect the case had been delayed and when they found the case gone they had come through the tunnel and eliminated those they thought responsible. My thought now centered on the question of are they still around looking for the cash or do they think the dead people had already passed it up the chain before they became dead? I was also puzzled by this tunnel, the doors each end were not locked or hidden in any way so the dead people must have known about it, so the killer must have been on their side, at least until they started shooting. This means they would know the cash not gone up the food chain. The tunnel did explain how the watchers did not see any one leaving, they were watching one house, they may have noticed some one going out the front door of another house but not recorded it or made any observation about who it was. Day shift and I left through that same front door and surprised the rest of the team by coming up behind them. Reports of what we had seen were passed to the boss while we drove away.

I have often thought that sometimes the best plan of action is to do nothing and that is what I did now, I waited. I was paid off for the observation job and left the house and car used in that, these cleaned and disposed of by the permanent members of the gang. I went back to my roll as occasional help contacted via particular cell number only. They did not follow me or ask where I was and I did not track them, both sides in this know that such nosiness gets you a unwanted reputation as a possible grass. Or gets you dead.

After a few months of casual body guarding jobs, a day here a week there, I dyed my hair put on a pair of glasses added a half inch layer of padding in my right shoe, put on a business suit, picked up the passport that was in a genuine name, not mine but genuine one. I cleaned out the house and car of anything and everything that could be used to trace me and left in the dark of a December late evening. I caught the train into London and the the tube to Heathrow. I had booked the flight to Sweden, from there I caught a train to France. I had kept a small apartment in Lille for many years, the space was limited but it did have a lock up garage. I had a French registered car and was now back to my usual appearance, I drove down to my friend. A new chapter in life. Life changing money