Day 207 - Repeat Offenders - Chapter 5.3 - (1017 words)

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REPEAT OFFENDERS

By Wayne Webb

CHAPTER 5.3

They were in the vault and had the jewels again, this time though the police were kept at by the sight of Ivan patrolling the main room with a gun, occasionally picking up a hostage, walking them to the door and frightening the living daylights out of them with a gun to the back of their heads, in plain view of the police outside.


The phone rang inside the bank and Ivan did a credible job of concealing any semblance of reason when asking for negotiable demands in exchange for the hostages. He negotiated a hostage exchange program, that would keep the communication flowing between the police and him over the next few hours, by which time the device will have been activated and this will have all gone away.


“What does he think will happen? Does he think he's coming with us?” Brian was asking Michael as they opened the box and removed the jewels to place in a bag, which went into Mike's pocket.


“I don't know. Maybe he just wants to show that he's not as bad as we painted him to be, you know taking one for the team.”


Brian shook his head. “Conceptually this is the same as death for him, he will cease to exist and there will be no memory to have of this event. This version of him will just be gone. Poof. Like that.” he snapped his fingers illustrating his point.


“We can't take him with us, that would be...” Michael did not want to finish his line of thought


“No, no, emphatically no we cannot.” Brian pulled at his own hair, and then he took a couple of breaths. “Are we good, can we go?”


“You don't think they're going to just let you walk out of here with those diamonds now do you?” Harold had been listening the whole time and he was intrigued by the calm demeanour and the lack of care these erstwhile but doomed bank robbers had. Surely they sounded sane enough, but the plan they had was madness unless they had some huge magic trick up their sleeves.


“Walk out of here? No, we were never here.” Michael afforded himself a little laugh and he shoved Harold into the back corner of the vault room and outside the field of the device that Brian was ready to activate. “How far away is he?” and then he put his head out into the corridor to see where Ivan was.


Ivan spotted Mike's head poking through the door and he yelled out “Are we ready? Are we good to go?” And then started walking towards the vault, at a quick pace, leaving the third hostage he was negotiating over just standing by the door. As Ivan walked away the woman stared after him and then bolted through the bank doors in relative speed and silence.


“Shit he does want to go, now now! How far does it need?”


“Let's go.” Brian flicked his wrist up and started fiddling with the buttons and was ready to send them back without the rapidly approaching Ivan. He activated the all important switch and reset the anomaly machine and anything within the field's radius.


Monday 10:34 a.m. April 17^th


This was the first time they left someone behind and so when they came back to the calibration point it was different. Two out of the three men flicked out of existence and Ivan the only that remained in place and not tethered to an anomaly, stayed static but lying on the floor barely conscious and groggily coming to as the other two me blinked into existence and brought the contents of their anomaly back with them.


Ivan moved exactly as he did the last time they went through this, and he had an even disavantage in that all three of them were now put off in some way by their circumstances. He spoke again at the same time and with the same words as before. “What the fuck man?” he slurred his words and had trouble staying upright. Michael stood over him and looked him up and down. He took the time to choose his words, trying to recall what he said, why he said it the first time around.


“You were going to shoot Brains here. We can't have that Ivan.”


“Who the fuck is that?” Ivan spat as he talked, saliva flicking about through his concussed state.


“You don't know who Brains is? You did the first time around? What the fuck is going on Brains?” Mike wheeled on his partner in crime to see why things had changed, things should not have changed, that was part of the expected behaviours and the advantages of this kind of time travel. Brian though was staring open mouthed and when Michael followed his gaze to the object of his shock, he too was stunned into silent staring.


“How did you do that?” Harold White, the Bank Manager was standing in the room with them, within the radius of the anomaly field he had been brought along. He was staring around the room trying to understand that he had been inside the smallish and very secure vault room of the bank and now he was inside a giant warehouse space with high ceilings and all sorts of technical equipment, blinking lights and readouts that spoke to the technology on display that had effected this 'magic trick'.


As Mike had hurried Brian to take action before Ivan, their over enthusiastic partner, had got near to them, he somehow clicked that from their conversation proximity was an issue for this escape plan whatever it was. He had the quickest of thoughts flash through his mind, if he got close and could see the trick for what it was then he would have information of use to his clients, information he could use to make money, to avoid retribution and maybe just to have a win in the bank for later, a favour done is a favour owed after all.