The Job 2

Part 13: Cradles

"You can't be serious" said Cassie. "How has this happened again?"

"Calm down, he could still be alive" replied Milo.

"Definitely... in fact, I think I can see him breathing" said Danny.

"Someone go check on him" replied Ani, nudging Milo. "Milo... go."

"What? And get fingerprints all over him? Yeah, no thank you" said Milo. "I've already done that once already and I'd prefer to never have to do it again."

All four of them were still stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at an unconscious Charlie lying at the bottom below them. From where they were it was still unclear whether he was dead. The actual fall down the stairs could have killed him or it might have been the blow to the head he took when he came into contact with the big cypher thing. None of them really knew what to do, all you know what happened the last time something like this happened. The people involved left. In the space of under two weeks Milo and the others might have killed two of their classmates. Well, they definitely killed one but the second one was still to be determined. That's when Milo started thinking of what they should so in this new situation.

"Alright, no one touch anything" said Milo, starting to head downstairs slowly. "We can't have our fingerprints anywhere like last time."

"What about mine? I've been touching things all over this damn house" replied Danny, panicking.

"You're fine since you're actually friends with Charlie" said Milo. "Plus, it could work with what I have in mind."

"Where are you going?" Wondered Ani, biting her lip.

"Im going to check if he's actually dead or not" responded Milo, reaching Charlie's body.

"I don't know if it'd be worse if he was still alive or worse if he was dead" said Cassie, sighing and rolling her eyes.

"How would it be worse if he was still alive?" Questioned Danny, raising an eyebrow.

"Because he can live to tell the tale about how we technically broke in, pretty much admitted to killing Ryan and doing other illegal things, and then decided to assault him by pushing him down the stairs" responded Cassie like it was obvious.

"I didn't push him" clarified Danny, feeling guilty either way.

"Do you really think the jury is going to see it that way" replied Cassie, raising her eye brows quizzically.

"Alright, I think we're good" said Milo, pressing two of his fingers to Charlie's neck. "I think he's still with us."

"Oh thank god" replied Ani, all of them making their way downstairs now too. "So what now? Please say we can just apologise and then leave like nothing happened."

"Yeah we can probably apologise but something definitely happened here" said Milo, pursing his lips and glancing around at the damage. A couple broken bannister posts, some pictures knocked from the wall, and blood staining the white cypher and carpet. "We're going to have to come up with something else."

"Like what?" Replied Danny, swallowing hard.

"To be clear, I do have an idea but you guys can't always look to me for the solution" said Milo, smiling and seeing everyone staring at him. "What if something were to happen to me? What then? Who would come up with the plan if that happened?"

"Well is anything ever going to happen to you?" Replied Cassie, squinting.

"No but you get what I mean" said Milo, rolling his eyes.

"We do but can we have this conversation somewhere else" replied Ani, gesturing to everything around them. "What were you thinking?"

"Alright so, I suggest we make it look like a robbery gone wrong" said Milo, waiting for people's initial reactions but seeing they wanted more information. "Okay... we steal some stuff to make it look like the people breaking in still did what they came here to do, we take Charlie with us for now to make it seem like he was a witness to the people breaking in so they took him too, and finally we leave someone behind to help back up the story."