In some American city, it was late at night and the city was silent. There were a few vehicles on the road and very few people on the sidewalk. With no noise of any kind, everything seemed to be at peace.

A minute later, there were police sirens. Two police vehicles, in high speed, were coming down the same road, headed to the same location.

At some distance was a large warehouse. In the upper portion of the warehouse, there was a little fire. The large window of the room was shattered as if busted with an attack.

In the room, a brown haired thirty-year-old man was handcuffed to a pipe, bleeding from the forehead. He seemed quite upset and as if he was waiting for someone. He heard footsteps approaching. Alert, he looked up.

A black haired man of the same age in white clothes was coming towards him. In his hand was a gun. He spoke:

“So Cornelius? We’re finally coming to

an end.”

“Listen Ashton,” Cornelius spoke looking up at him, “your rivalry is against me, keep women out of this.”

“Don’t worry, it will all end today.”

Cornelius looked at him with rage in his eyes. Ashton sat down and looked at him in the eye, speaking, “Our real faces have been exposed. To each other and to our crime partners. But, I’m not completely exposed yet.”

“Those three are harmless. You know that very well. They won’t harm anyone of us. But right now my wife is not safe. I want you to release her in exchange of what you want from me.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about that. She’ll be fine. Nicholas will take care of her.”

“He won’t. I don’t want any of those three near her.”

“Why? May I ask?”

“I don’t trust them,” Cornelius answered spontaneously.

“But you just said they are harmless.”

“Harmless to you and me. Not my wife.”

“Oh no,” Ashton replied standing up. “You’re wrong. You are so wrong. In fact you were always wrong. Your strategies had always failed. Do you agree with me?”

“I don’t want to argue about anything right now. Right now I just want my wife to be out of danger. And I’m willing to give you the location you are asking for.”

“Now you’re talking.”

Few minutes later, hanging up his cell phone, Ashton said, “The police shall be here any moment. You shall be arrested and locked up in a cell. If you want to escape and flee somehow, then feel free to do that. I won’t stop you.”

He stood up as he was sitting down and began to pace. He stopped and turned back to look at Cornelius who was looking at him with rage in his eyes. Ashton walked back towards him and said, “Nobody knows the truth about us. We both are cold blooded criminals but you’re the one who has been exposed.”

Cornelius turned his eyes away angrily feeling the pain in his arm. Ashton continued, “We had a challenge. Any one among us had to win. Am I right?”

Cornelius didn’t answer.

“And I think we know who it is,” Ashton spoke raising his voice, “we both know it. I won. I have you. I was a better and smarter criminal than you ever were.”

The sound of sirens intervened. Ashton said, “Oh, here we go. Best of luck partner.”

He left immediately without wasting another second.

Cornelius tried to break the handcuffs but it wasn’t easy, tired, he gave up.

I’m finished. He thought to himself, closing his eyes.

********

Six Months Ago

Nicholas Marty, a local but smart witted gangster was standing outside an apartment building. He was waiting for someone.

A fifty-year-old man showed up, saying to Nicholas, showing a photograph, “This is the car.”

Nicholas looked at the photo and said, “So this is the Ferrari you want me to steal?”

“Yes, now leave. No one should see you with me.”

“Can I ask again why?”

“Why what?” said the old man, confused.

“I mean to ask that why do you want me to steal this car?”

“It’s my own car.”

“I know, but why?”

“I want to collect the insurance money.”

“And the car? Do I have to bring it back to you?”

“Not the whole car. You’re going to bring me the parts of the car. Each and every part, so I can sell it.”

“I see.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your share. I promise.”

“Deal’s done. The address is the same you texted me before?”

“Yeah, the same.”

Forty eight hours later, Nicholas was sitting next to a guy working on the computer. They were in a secret room. The guy working on computer asked, “Could you tell me the car’s number again?”

Nicholas handed over the picture of the Ferrari. The computer guy typed the car’s number.

“So what do you want to know about it?,” he asked.

“I want to see who the real owner of this car is. The truth matters to me more than anything else.”

“Truth?”

“My client told me that the car belongs to him. I want to be sure that he isn’t lying. And if he’s lying, then I’m simply going to get out of this situation.”

The guy working on computer pulled up a picture of an unknown guy and said, “Here it is. He is the real owner.”

Nicholas looked at the face, angrily.

“That’s it, I knew he was lying.”

“What do you mean?”

“My client was asking me to steal this car, saying he wanted to collect the insurance money. But, he’s lying and this isn’t what it appeared to be.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Share with me the car owner’s number.”

“Okay.”

He highlighted something on the computer and showed it to Nicholas. Nicholas saved number on his cell phone. Out of curiosity, the computer guy asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to call this person and tell him that if his car gets stolen, then my client is responsible. And I will withdraw from this assignment.”

“Really? So despite being a thief, you like being honest?”

“No I never meant that. I never like being honest myself. But I do want others to be honest with me.”

“That’s not fair, Mr. Nicholas.”

“I don’t care.”

Nicholas offered his hand and said, “Okay, thanks for your help. I better leave now.”

“No problem. See you.”

They shook hands.

********

The same night at some distance, Billy Boone, a dark haired adult and Kennedy Brown, blonde, were sitting on a couch and watching television in their garage, lazily drinking.

They heard the garage’s shutter open. Kennedy called out, “Who is it?”

There was no response. Kennedy yelled, “Who is there?”

“Don’t worry,” Billy said calmly. “It must be him, Nicky.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Nicholas appeared before them as he had just entered inside.

“So, what have you two done today?”

“I fixed my bike,” Billy replied.

“And I helped him out,” Kennedy added.

Nicholas asked sarcastically, “Oh and that is your biggest achievement so far?”

They didn’t answer and continued watching television.

“Why are you guys so lazy? You never work. How many times have I told you that if you want to succeed and proceed with life then you must think big?” an irritated Nicholas said.

“Alright, alright,” Kennedy replied, “now move out of the way.”

Nicholas was annoyed and sat on the couch. Seeing the laziness of his partners, he figured they needed a serious scolding. He was about to begin but realised that it was useless to do so at the moment.

A minute later, Nicholas finally stood up and said, “You guys need to step it up. You two have a lot of potential and you’re just wasting it. Work hard guys, think big.”

He left, leaving the two criminals in deep thoughts.

********

At a five-star restaurant, Cornelius Collins was seated alone on a table for two. He was wearing a black tuxedo and waiting for someone.

Minutes later as Ashton Flair showed up, wearing the same, Cornelius stood up and offered his hand. Ashton raised his hand and shut his eyes as if refusing to shake hands with him.

“There’s no need.”

Cornelius, however, asked him politely to sit down. Seated face to face, Ashton began, “Let’s talk business. I’m not here to waste my time.”

Cornelius didn’t reply but listened to him carefully. Ashton continued, “We need to carry out a heist. We shall help from others. They might get their share but as far as we both are concerned, only one of us is going to get his share.”

“And the one who stays alive,” Cornelius added, “will be the one who get it.”

“Indeed. Anyway, first we are going to work on my plan. If my plan succeeds then the second plan shall also be mine. But if my first plan fails then we shall move to…”

“Plan B,” Cornelius finished the sentence. “And plan B means my plan. My target of robbery.”

“Yes… So in the next few months, we are going to be millionaires.”

“Wrong. There’s no ‘we’ since only one of us is going to survive. I’m talking about the two of us. And secondly, your plan is worth million dollar but my plan is…”

Cornelius stopped speaking. Ashton waited for him to complete his sentence.

“Billion dollar worth it,” Cornelius said in a low voice.

Ashton was impressed.

“So, who are you seeking help from?”

“Nicholas, he and his partners are going to make our work easier.”

“Can they do it?”

“They’re not as skilled as we are but they are resourceful and experienced. And best of all, they’ll die trying to finish what is assigned to them.”

Two Weeks Later

Nicholas was outside the garage, washing his car. Billy was washing his own bike. Stopping, Nicholas asked Billy, “Hey, where is Kennedy?”

“He’s out. Probably gone to get some drinks.”

“Oh, we need to talk.”

Billy asked, “Ok, what is it that you want to talk about?”

“Let Kennedy come first. He also needs to be a part of the discussion.”

“Give me a clue. He’ll take a while.”

“No, we’ll wait.”

An hour later, in Nicholas’ house, Billy and Kennedy were seated. Nicholas began talking to them.

“Alright boys, listen to me now. There’s a friend of mine, Cornelius. He has an offer. And to make that work we all will have to work together.”

“Cornelius?” Kennedy interrupted. “Is he the guy who worked with us in the

casino robbery?”

“Yes,” Nicholas replied. “And by the way, that wasn’t his plan. Anyway, what he is offering now is a simple heist that can make us millionaires. Together we’ll be millionaires if we give him a

fourth share.”

“Hang on,” Billy spoke in between, “tell me how many guys are working on this and how many are getting the share.”

“Five. Nicholas has a partner, Ashton Flair. He is the real deal, the man with the plan. But I’ll talk to them that we will only help if all three of us get an equal share.”

“Good,” Billy remarked.

“So tell us about this heist,” Kennedy added.

“Well I don’t know the exact target and their plan either. We just need to fix a day with them and then hear everything out. You guys tell me when I should call them.”

“Call them today,” Kennedy suggested.

“No! Not today,” Billy intervened. “Call them tomorrow.”

“Alright! I will. They want to come here.”

“No problem,” Billy commented. “Just call them and then let’s see if their plan is really worth it.”

“Yeah,” Kennedy agreed. “And if not, don’t stop us from turning them down.”

“Okay,” Nicholas said finally and dialled Cornelius’ number.

to be continued...