Chapter 3

Nick could still fondly remember when she had agreed to be cut upon and stitched up just so she could be able to impersonate a certaij museum manager and steal a silver plated dagger that was over a hundred years old and with over a hundred thousand dollars in the black market. They had stolen the dagger along with a painting and a small safe that they had lost as they escaped, but the mission had been a success and Valeria had taken four months and lots of money to completely heal without a scar. In her line of work, she didn't need a scar, infact she didn't need anything that could be memorable on her features, she had a smooth olive skin and a face that could very much impersonate about anyone, both male and female. And she did it with a trained grace and ease that didn't fail to marvel Nick. "Where are we headed now?" Valeria asked as Nick drove down the highway at average speed, the old Ford bumping and rocking as they drove. "San Jose" Pete replied. San Jose is one of the busiest cities in California and by far the costliest. Locating a house was the first feat and meeting with an agent at such short notice was the second. But fortunately, a desperate land lady was more than eager to lease out the flat for the year and elope with her new lover after her divorce with her husband who was twenty years older than her and had a fortune to his name. Nick drove into the relatively quiet semidetached house by 5:12pm and they all left the vehicle. He dragged out their luggages, a worn out expression on his face without the effort of faking it. Valeria brushed down her blonde wig and patted her knee length floral gown, she grabbed her handbag filled with all the baby things she couldn't name and retrieved her lipstick, adding one layer to her lips and smacking them habitually. She had padded her Tommy a few layers to give her the much needed mum look and it suited the occasion just fine. She was holding the baby boy with a smile on her face, Pete gave her a blank stare as he led her by the hand to the entrance of the building where a tall man sat by the desk beside the security post, a small chair barely fitting his frame. "Welcome to Harry's home" he said with a small smile. "Hello sir, I spoke with the agents earlier on" Pete started as he got to the man "I saw a house listed urgent on the site" he said as he fished out the online contract draft and presented to the large man. The man studied it for too long and then looked at the trio with interest. "Are you the ones that called earlier today?" He asked. "Same" Pete lied and nodded. "We came for my mother's funeral just yesterday and I'm not just ready to head back to South Dakota yet, I was hoping we could get a place here, just so I can be close to her even for a few weeks, we weren't on the best foot when she passed and I've been so troubled since ot heard the news and__" Valeria broke down in tears, sniffing and clutching Pete's arm as she rocked the baby. "Hey honey, it's okay, I'm sure she forgave you long ago" Pete cooed and gave a sheepish smile to the security man. "Erhmmmm....all you need to do is sign a few papers and you can get the keys from the janitor at once" the security man said, now uncomfortable with the display of emotions. Valeria still wiped at her eyes furiously, sniffing and rocking the baby. "Of course, I'm sorry for all this, it's still very fresh for us" Nick cut in as he moved from foot to foot, hurling the luggages. "Pardon our manners. My name is Chris Steven and this is my wife Sonia, and my brother in-law, Zach, he'll be staying with us for a while" Pete said and offered a handshake. The security smiled uncomfortably still took a few seconds to shake his hands, he then passed them a pen, Pete signed and handed back the paper, the security man also signed and tucked the document away, retrieving another and handing it to Pete again. Pete signed the second copy and the security instructed him to keep it and make photocopies. Valeria still struggled with tears as they received the key from the overweight janitor and made their way to the left of the building where the "FOR LEASE" sign was still left in the porch. Pete unlocked the wooden door and entered into the two bedroom apartment. The walls was painted a lime green, grey lined the ceiling and the corners, a new rug covered the floor, grey and plush. By the windows, a new looking Venetian blind hung, a vase on a side stool beside it, a 43" TV hung on the left wall and a cliche landscape portrait on the right. The white light bulb was bright and the grey couch was decent enough and Pete plopped down on it, deciding it was a decent house after all, worth the extra thousand dollars he'd planned to use at first. "Home" Nick said and laid on the couch, dumping the pistol on the center table and forgetting the luggages by the door. "I need a bloody shower" Valeria said as she all but ripped off her dress off before she entered the bedroom, leaving a trail of shoes and indereears as she went. "I'll speak with Mr Tom" Pete said as he looked at the baby who was still crying and tossing on the couch. __________________________________________________________________________ Showered, dressed and belly filled with takeouts, the trio sat in one of the two bedrooms, the largest which housed a queen-size bed, a dresser and a small TV on the wall, the window looking out a small garden that was apparently ill maintained or maybe dying in the summer heat out of ill maintenance still. Pete had a love for flowers, red roses particularly - as cliche as that might sound - and he hated when they didn't tend to them properly. He also hated being kept waiting and that was exactly what his contractor was doing to him, keeping him waiting and wasting his bloody time. The baby now laid in a small got by the bed, red faced and still clutching Valeria's priced beads in his wet hands, having cried himself to sleep. "I'll need us to be careful from now, no more falling out of character" Pete said as he looked at his close knit gang. Nick was a natural blonde with a crow cut and freckles he didn't quite grow out of since highschool. At thirty three, he looked way younger for his age, with dark brown eyes, full brows, thin lips and just shy of 5'6ft. He was the tech guy of the gang, the handy guy and the third wheel whenever they needed him to be, aside being a member of the trio for eleven years, having an account stacked with dollar bills, gold bars and a garage of stolen cars worth billions in dollar, Nick had an air of ease about him, making him the perfect distraction and the quickest of the three. Valeria, a lady of thirty seven years, 5'8ft, brunette, with square chin, plump lips that were always painted red, ample cleavege, legs the envy of runway models and a lithe body that made her an object of lust for their targets and clients. She was the "serpent" of the gang as Pete fondly called her, a skilled seductress, a pickpocket from six years of age, a retired hooker, an ex lawyer and owner of a death certificate. She was virtually none existent, none in the gang knew her past, only that she was good at whatever she had to do, seducing pot beliied men, shooting at 8ft away and disguising as a teenage school girl. Valeria was a chameleon and an asset of the gang. The brain and brawn of the gang was Pete, his 6'2ft kept him steady on the ground, his bald head, goatee and tan skin have him the scary look he tried most times to cloak. At thirty one and the youngest of the trio, Pete was the first member of the gang and now the leader of the trio, he thought the deals, said the when, where and how and most times assigned roles and duties while the operations went on, Pete thought on the escape and most importantly he shared the spoils - equally. He was a resigned Navy Officer and an ex convict at nineteen. Now he owned two yachts, a jet, eight cars, a chopper and a vault stacked with dollar bills. The trio were wealthy, all they had to do was launder their loot and venture off to some isolated island and live their dream lives. Laundering was the problem, it couldn't be clean no matter how hard they tried and with the various criminal records they had, their wanted status in various countries and a couple of fall outs with "colleagues" over the years, the trio had wealth they couldn't tamper with unless they wanted over a hundred years in prison. This was the job that would fix all that, and that was enough reason to make them ensure it works. They had been approached by Tommy just as they finished they job in Toronto, the money still untouched as a matter of fact and they barely had enough rest before plotting how to kidnap the child and set the next job in motion. The requirements were pretty simple and it involved them first taking the baby and then ensuring their disguise as a couple and a brother-in-law tagging along worked for as long as Tommy needed to finalize his own needs and of course launder their loot. While, Pete would like to think that the world had been easier for criminals many years ago. They didn't have to think about trackers and any such technology that could easily find a vehicle or anything from states apart. He could safely assume that in the early 40s, all you had to say was steal a car - or a horse as the case maybe - and you were in the clear, get it some some village and sell o off as yours. Now, in the 21st century, stealing as an Herculean task with the invention of barb wires and face locks and finger prints and RGC models and many such theft prove methods that made stealing as difficult as it was to then market out what you stole. Now, they had a loot stacked somewhere that was absolutely no good to them unless they could make them look like actual legal properties, they couldn't ride it because that would be unnecessary attention and then they couldn't sell it either because whoever was rich enough to afford such cars and jets and yacht was certainly going to want to make sure that he didn't have the FBI down his neck once he took it out to dinner. Pete did have connections, but in his life and line of business, his contacts were more like him, criminals, thieves and assasins and he knew if he sought help from one of them then he would definitely be scammed and conned too. It was either let the loot go to waste, risk selling them and face jail or wait for an opportunity just like the one they had to present itself. And just at the nick of time, it had and Pete had grabbed it with both hands.