The Job

Chapter 4

Monday morning came too early for Shaeffer's liking. He hit the snooze button twice before he finally rolled out of bed. "Jesus Christ," he said. Shaeffer sat on the edge of the bed as he slowly moved and tried to feel like a human being again. He smelled the coffee brewing in the kitchen. At least something went goddamn right today. A good omen first thing in the morning? Now that was a good sign. Shaeffer laughed. He was grasping at straws. Looking for a good sign of a good omen? Jesus. Shaeffer shook his head in disgust.

Shaeffer finally raised himself from the bed and headed for the shower. He got out, dried off, and got dressed. All that was left was to wait for Grogan's text saying he was in place.

Shaeffer hated the goddamn texting. It felt too much like leaving a written trail behind. Grogan was way ahead of him technology wise. Texting was easier according to Grogan - just type it out. That was a big part of Shaeffer's problem. He couldn't type. Another point in Grogan's favor, like he was so fond of pointing out, was the fact that they used prepaid throwaway cellphones picked up from the dollar store - virtually untraceable. Sometimes Grogan and Shaeffer switched phones almost daily if things got hinky. Shaeffer still didn't buy it. He was turning into a grumpy old man.

Grogan texted a couple minutes after 7 a.m. "I'm here." was all the text said.

That was another thing Grogan always brought up. You were just as careful on the text messages as you were on the phone. You would never say "I just took out the guard at the bank,"on the phone, so why would you text it? Shaeffer had to admit Grogan had a point.

Shaeffer went into the kitchen and grabbed himself a mug of the coffee. At least Michelle had got him drinking good coffee made with a commercial grade coffeemaker on a timer. Shaeffer had to admit it made a difference.

He went back into the living room with the coffee. He was surprised to see another text from Grogan already waiting for him. "Just pulled in."

Jesus, that Jones worked some early hours. Then again, that was why you started surveillance before you needed to - to cover shit like this. Better surprised on the surveillance than on the day of the job.

Shaeffer finished getting dressed and got ready to leave. Shit, he was planning to have a leisurely coffee. The hell with that now. He gulped the last of the coffee down and headed out the door.

He called Grogan. "Heading out."

"Still here, Can't tell if he's settled in or not."

Shaeffer was surprised Grogan didn't give him any shit over the short call. Hell, it would have taken Shaeffer a good ten minutes to text that message. Smartphones? Shit. If they were so goddamn smart, why couldn't they just figure out what the hell he wanted to say and send it their own goddamn selves? But no, they just wanted to laugh at Shaeffer spending ten minutes typing it out, squinting at the keypad, and cursing as he re-typed, erased, and re- and re- and retyped out a simple two word message. Smart-ass phones was more like it.

"Like we said, he's probably got a shitload to do after the weekend. Money drops and routine maintenance."

"Ok. I'm about 20 minutes out. Give him a flat tire if he tries to pull out before then." 

Grogan just hung up. Shaeffer shook his head, knowing he knew better. Sometimes humor was wasted on that monolith.

He went through a drive through Mickey D's and got a couple coffees, plus an extra cup in case he was there longer than expected. Nothing like tailing a guy when you gotta take a pee and you're crossing your legs like a nun at a stag party. Shaeffer settled in the parking lot, where he could turn either way depending on what the guy did.