“Worried yet?” a male voice snarled down the phone.
“What’s happening? What have you done to her??” Jimmy shouted.
“Come to Loco’s bar tonight and we’ll tell you,” said a second voice. “Seven, tonight.”
A click was heard as they put the receiver down and the phone went dead. They had found him.
He went immediately round to Biff’s house. His best mate Biff had known Jimmy all his life and, unlike the rest, still respected him for the person he really was.
‘BUT THEY’VE GOT SASHA!’ he screamed at Biff.
“It’s okay, calm down. Are you sure about all of this?” Biff said.
“OF COURSE I’M SURE Jimmy bawled at him, getting more annoyed by the minute. ‘Where did you say? Loco’s?” asked Biff.
“Yes. I’m so scared, Biff. 1 just want her back!” moaned Jimmy, calming down a little.
“Calm down, organize your thoughts and BE CALM!” Biff said.
,TICK~ TICK, TICK,’ repeated the clock at Loco’s, ‘TICK, TICK, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING.’
At that moment a man walked in through the door, eyeing the people around him. His eyes rested on Jimmy who was fidgeting nervously alongside Biff. Jimmy looked up as the man walked over towards them. He was short and squat and foreign-looking. He was wearing an expensive looking suit, uncommon in the area which Loco’s bar was in. He wasn’t a very good undercover criminal as most people were surprised to see someone so rich in the area and this made him suspicious to begin with.
‘Well, at last 1 meet the master criminal himself,” the man said.
‘What have you done with her?” asked Jimmy quietly.
“She’s fine, if you can help us. 1 need a loan for some .... er, back payments of ours and 1 was wondering if you could help,” the man said.
“You know that 1 haven’t got any money,” Jimmy said.
“I’m not asking you to give us money out of your own back pocket, I’m asking you to get us some,” said the man calmly.
“Jimmy’s not getting into that rubbish again. He won’t do theft,” stated Biff firmly.
“He will for Sasha,” said the man to Biff. He turned back to Jimmy. I happen to have come across a warehouse in the East End where a large amount of Lloyds TSB are storing their ‘small’ money whilst the merger is still going on. 1 was wondering if you could pop in one night and get me some, as you’re so good with money!” he said smugly.
“No!” said Biff.
I will,” said Jimmy to both men.
“Good then. Here’s the plan of the warehouse. The robbery will take place in two nights’ time. If you’re not ready by then we will kill Sasha,” said the man.
‘Who are you?” said Jimmy. “Be there in three days at 3:35 and I’ll make sure Sasha’s all fight, and before you think about killing me now, if 1 don’t return back ‘home’ the boys will make sure you never see Sasha again.” With that the man stood up and calmly walked out of the Bar.
“Help me,” said Jimmy sadly.
“Okay,” said Biff.
The next two days were spent in thinking up the plan. The two men went down to the warehouse the first night and watched how the security worked.
To get to the warehouse there was a path and at either end was a hut. Both huts had a security guard in and one security guard would always be on duty. Every two minutes one of them would radio to the other to come out and keep watch.
All Jimmy and Biff had to do was to wait until the security guard nearest the street went in and then go in and tie him up. They would take his pass and his radio and wait until the other one radioed through to go out. They would reply “Okay” and then spend one minute walking down the path, then turn around and walk slowly back.
When they radioed for the other to come out it would look as if two workers had come out of the building. They would then turn around and go back, appearing to have forgotten something, only then they would use the pass to get in, all in ‘correct order’ to the guard’s mind.
Before then, all Jimmy and Biff had to do was to buy two green overalls so that they looked like two workers.
Two nights later everything went basically to plan.
The cold sweat ran down his face as he ran across the street. The two of them looked just like the workers from the warehouse. Jimmy’s stomach turned over as he thought about what he was about to do.
I can’t do this,” Jimmy whispered to Biff.
“You’ll do what you think’s best,” replied Biff wisely.
The two of them managed to tie up the first security guard and then get to the gates past the other guard. But when the second security guard noticed that the two ‘workers’ were having trouble using their pass he phoned the police.
As the sirens blared and people gathered round, Jimmy and Biff’s lives had been tamed upside down. On the prison radio, a report was heard of a young girl’s body being found in Jimmy’s flat and now the police were charging him with Sasha’s murder, Grievous Bodily Harm to the guard and Breaking and Entering, although not Burglary, because they had only just got through the gates when the police had arrived.
So, as Jimmy and Biff stood in the dock, what would they be found Guilty or Not Guilty?
By Angela Santos