Raymond was preparing to go to work. Grace watched television. She increased the volume. Raymond knew it was to catch his attention. He joined her on the couch.
She was watching the news, it was about the upcoming election.“As the race for the next mayor of Newland continues, the leading candidate that has been nicknamed ‘The Insurmountable Mount' has extended his lead in the poll with a noticeable……” a female newscaster read the news.
“The insurmountable Mountain, that was a wicked nick” Raymond smiled at Grace. Grace was a fan of Mayor Mount. Raymond was not political. He didn’t care about who should win.
“Wicked? That doesn’t sound nice. It’s dope. I told you that terrorist will never have a chance against my Mount”
Grace raised her eyebrows. She was happy with the poll. Raymond looked at her and smiled. He couldn’t understand why she was that happy. Mayor Mount didn’t even know she existed, he would never know. And here she was, having his back.
“Your Mount?” Raymond asked calmly. He didn’t feel good with that expression. He wanted her to make corrections.
“My Mount” Grace replied carelessly without thinking it through.
“No, that’s not what I mean” she quickly said after realizing what he was trying to insinuate. She smiled at him.
“No problem, it’s good to have competition” Raymond joked. He knew she didn’t mean it that way. He just wanted to pull her legs a little.
“Mount is in enough competition already. He is even old. He is a dad” Grace waved away and made a face like she had seen something disgusting.
“Don’t girls want dad” Raymond questioned incessantly. He stood up to be on his way.
“ Some girls, you say. Can we just stop talking about Mount and this mayorship or mayoral and talk about us” she pulled him back to sit. She looked serious. She must have had something on her mind she wanted him to hear. Raymond noticed that, but he ignored. He adjusted himself on the seat playfully.
“About us, I like that, very much” he winked and locked eyes with her. Grace tried not to smile but she couldn’t hold it back.
“Raymond,you know you are like an open book to me”
“And you are like a video show to me. An interesting one that I can watch you all day” he flashed his eyes to show he wanted to see much of her, clearly.
“Something has been bothering you from some days back” Grace was serious again.
“You or me?” Raymond asked jokingly. He was not taking her serious.
“You”
“So,what’s it?”
“Why don’t you tell us and stop keeping it to yourself” Grace rotated her hand to show she was referring to both of them.
Raymond heaved a sigh. Grace was right. Something had been bothering him recently but he didn’t want her to know. He was surprised to hear it from her. He thought he hid it so well. Now, he knew there was nothing he could keep from her. The best thing right now would be honesty.
“Yeah, ma'am. You are damn right. Some things were on my mind but I’m afraid I can’t share it with us” he said regretfully.
Grace scoffed. It seemed she was not satisfied with his answer.“I’m planning a surprise for you. You can not know about it. Are you cleared?” he leaned towards her with his lips protruded. He wanted to kiss her. She denied him and pushed back his head back to where it was before. She wasn’t cool with the idea but she definitely didn’t want to push further.
There was nothing else bothering Raymond than the grand wedding. The problem was that he had not found any possible or reasonable means he could try. All he had was just and empty hopes they were.
At work. Raymond could neither concentrate nor hold a conversation with his colleagues without swaying. After being disappointed by Jean the other day. He had decided not to share his personal problems with any of them again.
When he realized he could not gather needed concentration. He went to sit in his favorite corner where he could be alone to think of a probable solution to his unrealistic mission. He buried his head in his hands.
“Problem shared is problem solved, isn’t it?” Stan stood right in front of him. Raymond glanced at him. He would never share his personal problem at work again after his experience with Jean.
“I just want to rest, if that sounds like a problem to you” Raymond wished he would leave and he would just be alone.
“That doesn’t sound like a problem unless you were weakened by the thought of five hundred thousand dollars” Stan must have wanted to pique his interest. Raymond felt a great amount of anger towards Jean for not only stopping at insulting Grace but also broadcasting his situation.
“That was Jean, right. He told you everything?” Raymond's rage was clearly written on his face.
“No, no. Not Jean. I overheard everything when it came out of your own mouth” Stan seemed very sure of what he was saying.
“What if I say I don’t want to talk about it?” Raymond dismissed him by looking away from him. He didn’t need to talk about it with anybody.
“I will take my leave” Stan was leaving but he stopped after taking few steps away from him. Raymond was worried, Stan would also be getting on his nerves. He waited to see Stan intended action.
“What if I say I know how you can get the money?” Stan chuckled. He must be joking. Raymond ignored him in the hope that he would leave if he didn’t get his attention.
“Have you ever heard about Jailbreaker?” Stan continued despite Raymond's rudeness.
Raymond had heard about Jailbreaker so many times. He was a popular criminal. Rumors were he had been sentenced to jail over a hundred times and he could get out anytime he wanted. That was the story behind his name, the Jailbreaker.
Raymond couldn’t understand how the Jailbreaker could be a solution to his problem. This wasn’t a matter of going to jail.
“What has he gotten to do with this?” Raymond asked without interest.
“To get money, you need a job. And the Jailbreaker is the only employer I know that pays such amount you seek” Stan bent towards him. He seemed serious with what he was saying.
Raymond thought about it. The Jailbreaker did not look like he was rich enough to own that amount of money talk less of paying it out.
“Employer? The Jailbreaker runs an automobile company?” Raymond was expecting a negative answer. The jailbreaker had never been involved in automobiles. Raymond only wanted Stan to spit out more details about him.
“He runs a company but it is definitely not automobile” Stan was amused. He chuckled. He must have realized the reason why Raymond mentioned automobile.
“So what does he do?” Raymond was still unsatisfied with his answer.
“The story will be sweeter from the horse's mouth” it seemed Stan wanted to put him in suspense. And he knew well Raymond didn’t like being put in the dark.
“You are taking me to him?” Raymond couldn’t hide his surprise. He was excited as well but not knowing the nature of the job was still a cloud on his mind.
“The jail breaker was open to all,to everyone”
“Stan, there is something wrong that is still very unclear to me” Raymond could not give up trying to be cleared. He felt if he pressed further, Stan might be pressured to say what he wanted to hear.
“If you are worried about the nature of the job. Let your mind be at rest. It is something you can do. Easy task” Stan snapped his finger.
“So, why are you not working for him, if it could fetch a lot of money?”
“I had worked for him once. The job isn’t a job you do everytime. It requires a high level of determination. Like yours right now” Stan explained reluctantly.
“ If this is armed robbery or kidnapping. I can’t do them” Raymond spoke slowly with fear. He could never do those. Grace wouldn’t like it.
“Whoa. No. Just see yourself as a freelancer. You feel better, right?”
After work, Raymond went with Stan to where they would meet the Jailbreaker.
All along, Raymond didn’t feel good about it. Something that could pay that much couldn’t be legit.Stan didn’t seem to be lying when he said it was nothing like robbery or kidnapping. It wouldn’t hurt checking it out.They got to a bar which Stan identified to be the Jailbreaker's base. The bar itself looked poor to Raymond but he couldn’t back out. He was already standing there.
They entered the bar. The Jailbreaker needed no introduction. Raymond had not met him before but he recognized him instantly.
He had his own lounge that was filled with girls in bikinis, lingeries and all sorts. They were all over him like bees surrounding their queen. No one would appear so flaunting except the one that could pay such a hefty amount.
They were stopped by some bodyguards when they walked over to the lounge. They frisked them before they were allowed to see him.
The Jailbreaker greeted Stan like an acquaintance. They shook hands stylishly. Raymond didn’t need to worry about that. He already told him he had once worked for him.
The music was so loud that they had to scream before they could be hard. Stan moved close to him and whispered some words into his ears.
The Jailbreaker dismissed all the girls. Like it was time to discuss business. Stan sat beside him and signaled to Raymond to come over.
Raymond looked at the Jailbreaker more closely. His looks was enough a reason to put him behind the bars. He made up his mind quickly that nothing would come out of this meeting.
Raymond sat quietly beside Stan. He wouldn’t want to annoy the Jailbreaker. He had made the mistake of coming here already.The Jailbreaker raised up his middle finger. Raymond wondered who he was trying to insult by that. The music volume decreased and they could hear themselves easily.
“So who have you been working with before? You look Texan, the new Cowboys” the Jailbreaker asked Raymond. Raymond didn’t know he was referring to him. He was not himself.
“You bring a mute?” the Jailbreaker asked Stan with a disappointing face.
“No, he’s not. He is just new to the business. He doesn’t really what it isall about?” Stan was very relaxed. He didn’t seem scare of this man that looked so criminal.
“How do you know he is not some agents or working for the Feds” the Jailbreaker looked scared. He looked at Stan like he had done something seriously dangerous.
“Ray is not a cop. We have been working together for years” Stan laughed ridiculously. He must be mocking the Jailbreaker who was scared.
“So, why didn’t you tell him about it?” the Jailbreaker relaxed. He lit a cigar and puffed.
“It might sound too good to be true from me” Stan responded while locking eyes with Raymond. Raymond wished they would just talk talk without involving but it seemed it was not going to be like that.
“So, Ray man. We are freelancers. Our clients are criminals, rich criminals. They have committed some petty crimes and will be sent to jail. So we become them, get their face, their fingerprints and we go to prison in their place. You can go think about it and come back” the Jailbreaker explained briefly “if you have any questions, you can ask Stan because I am not opportuned with enough time now” he dismissed them rudely.
“That was quite a complete and concise brief” Stan shook hands with him and they left.
Raymond was very surprised to hear such a thing. It was the first time in his life to hear this. Stan was right. It was unbelievable but not good.
There were thousands of questions he wanted to ask but that would be if he wanted to go further with this. He surely needed to think about this.
Mayor Mount stood there in front of his closet with his arms akimbo. He was clueless about what to wear.There were aides who used to dress him up for official outings but this was a personal mission. He had to choose on his own and his wouldn’t help.Finally, he chose a suit randomly and was in another situation of selecting the right tie.He heard footsteps as someone walked in behind him.“If you have come to warn me about time then I am extraordinarily late” he spoke without looking back. He was very sure of who had entered. It was Brittany, his wife. There was no one who could have come in like that.“And why is that?” Brittany replied him with a question.“Because you are more of a late comer than I am” he turned around and pulled her close. He rained her face with kisses.“I am not
“Not something that bad. She lives with her boyfriend” the specialist brought out a piece of paper. He seemed to be reading from it.“Is that all?” Brittany asked like that did not sound like a big deal to her.“They are not married. Lots of premarital sex” the specialist checked the piece of paper. He moaned weakly before reading that out. He must have made a list in there previously.“How's that a problem?” Brittany was definitely not bothered by all that.“And they can not be classified as a bourgeoisie. They are not even in the middle class” he read from the paper again.“ That still didn’t sound like a problem” Brittany seemed ready to hear all what he had to read.“It is a problem. She might introduce Tracy to some unhealthy foods” the specialist folded back the piece of paper and pocketed. He opened a file he brought with him.“She d
Todd waited in front of the orphanage. He was waiting for Mr. Cypher. He had made a lot of findings about his schedules before making the decision of meeting him here. The children's home would be the best place to seek hisopponent. Definitely, he would be dying to find a way around that.Lately,all his efforts have been proving abortive. Todd felt he could use him. Talking someone like that into funding him would be very easy, a piece of cake.Before Todd would have started doubting if Mr. Cypher would show up. His convoy of cars arrived. Todd checked his wristwatch. Mr. Cypher was a bit late.Todd moved closer to the car. He could not get much closer to his car as he wanted due to the heavy security details that were all over the place. He stood aloof. He would just need to be patience.Mr. Cypher's voice was audible as one of the security officers opened his car door. He was reprimanding his aide loudly.“I have spent much than for this not to work
“What if the client get a death sentence?” Raymond asked Stan at work. After they left the bar where they met the jail breaker the other day, lots of questions had been popping in his head. He just want everything answered. If he was pleased, he might consider the offer.Stan didn’t say anything. He quirked a smile. He looked away like he didn’t hear the question, but it was obvious he heard him“There’s no answer for that” Raymond said sadly in disappointment. He needed an answer badly and fast because there were more questions to come. A lot of questions in stock for when he would be at work. Now at work, the man he hoped would provide him with answer seemed not ready to answer his questions. He was downcast.“I thought you were not interested. The way you kept acting reluctantly and unconcerned yesterday. I don’t expect you to come asking questions today” Stan replied him. That didn’t sound like the
Raymond was nervous as he sat on the comfortable couch in Mayor Mount living room. Grace cringed at his sidebe Mayor Mount's personal assistant.What Raymond found hard to understand was how his girlfriend felt about everything that was happening. He couldn’t tell if she was happy or not.Brittany came to join them. She asked some of their countless maids that seemed to be in every corner of the house to bring them juice.The juice was good for a juice and very chilled. It was those kind of juice you could use to express your love to your spouse. The expression would be reciprocated and likely turn out to be an unforgettable experience.Raymond and Grace kept exchanging glances as they drank. Raymond knew she definitely want to be touched in a way that could lead to an intense make-out.That couldn’t be done here, she should understand. They would save it till when they were back at home.Brittany broke the silence immediately as
Grace had woken up very early. She was enthusiastic. She had called Brittany and gave her words. She would do it. She claimed it wasn't for the money but she felt connected to Tracy who seemed helpless to her. Anyway, she would take the money because there was no one who wouldn't take it.Raymond watched her as she prepared with zeal. It seemed he couldn't understand how Grace became so serious and felt she needed to be dutiful to the mayor's family, some people she just met not long ago.Grace dressed very formally, she should. She would be in the midst of students and teachers. She thought how awkward it would be today. It would be like babysitting shy Tracy. Tracy did not seem like a kind of girl who had a lot of friends.Finally she was ready to leave. Reyes would come to pick her. Brittany had promised."Going back to middle school?" Raymond spilled seeing her ready. He must have found it hard to take in."Not as a student, t
Three weeks later, Todd and Mr Cypher's aide, Karl, sat in a van parked right in front of Newland elite group of schools. A girl who was a student of the school was with them.She laid on her back. Todd filled a syringe with some solution. He gauged it and injected the girl. He took another syringe filled it and injected her again."What is your name?" Todd asked the girl slowly.The girl's eyes glowed like she was in rage. She groaned painfully."Mint" she responded without blinking her glowing eyes."Mint, you will go to this class and hug the teacher in front of that class" Todd handed a piece of paper to the girl. "Right now" he added.Todd opened the door of the van. The girl got down and walked hurriedly into the school." So,what's all this" Karl who had just been watching broke the silence. Todd ignored him and arranged the area where the girl had left."I thought you ears were working when Mr. Cypher said I
Raymond had gotten home a while ago. He expected to meet Grace at home but she wasn't. He waited with the hope that she would arrive soon.It had almost been an hour and she was still to come. Raymond became worried. He made a call to her cell phone. It rang for some time and went to a voicemail."Hi, this is Grace, you wanna talk to me. And you are not Ray, say whatever you have to say after the beep, but if this is Ray. Don't say anything. That is a warning" Grace's voice narrated on the phone speaker. A beep followed.Raymond smiled. He dropped the call. He waited again to no avail. Grace used to always have his phone on her. Something must have happened.He made a call to Brittany. It also went to her voicemail."Is Grace with you, I have called but I couldn't get through. I am very worried, please" Raymond talked to the voicemail.He was really missing Grace but whatever it was that had happened, he believed he had to remain calm.