Termination Clause

Part 4

Jimmy dragged the unconscious man several yards to the secluded area beside a nearby dumpster.  He would need to work quickly, for someone was sure to have heard some of the ruckus he'd just caused outside; the car alarm was still whining off in the distance.  This guy would live, but it was unlikely he would talk about what had just happened.  He reached inside James' pocket and pulled from it a wallet and several crumpled receipts.  Tossing the receipts on the ground, he pocketed the wallet and took off in a jog back towards the apartment complex.

When he reached the building, he clambered back up the fire escape and through the broken window of 3A.  The television set and stove were still on, and fish was scattered out the doorway into the hall.  He turned the stove off and picked up the shells he left behind on the floor.  Two of his shots had gone through the walls and the third made it through the hole where the window had been.

Glancing around, Jimmy noticed a steel curtain rod which he used to dig into the bullet holes left in the drywall.  His pistol was made by an associate of Uncle Lucas and had no document trail, but Jimmy was not keen on leaving behind any substantial evidence.  He continued widening the holes in the wall in case any rifling patterns might have been left there.  A bullet fragment was in the second hole, he pocketed it just in case.  His last objective was to locate some money.

His targets always had cash stored away in their homes; it was just a matter of finding where.  He searched in the cabinets and drawers, inside the sofa, behind furniture, under the mattress, and even the loose tile inside the bathroom.  Each of these places turned up nothing besides a few bugs and perhaps a nickel or two.  Jimmy searched again, this time opening the case on the television, tearing open a few pillows, and looking inside the linings of a few large coats.  Still nothing.

He was becoming frustrated as he paced across the bedroom floor when he noticed a small tear in one end of the mattress.  Opening the hole wider with a knife from the kitchen, a small sliver of green caught his eye.  Jackpot!

Jimmy cut open the mattress, revealing a payload of crumpled bills and several folded stacks of cash.  He emptied the contents of a nearby briefcase onto the floor and began filling it with the money.

He tossed the remaining few bills into the case and shut it.  One final look around assured him that he had left no identifiable traces behind as he headed towards the door.

Approaching footsteps and two excitedly chattering voices floated through the doorway.  Jimmy spun around abruptly and ran to the rear window before whoever was coming would see him.  He tossed the case out the window and followed it down the fire escape.  Uncle Lucas pulled up to the curb just as screams erupted from the window of 3A.  Jimmy entered the car, and they sped off around the corner before the people in the apartment reached the window.