1-8. He Who Pays The Piper Calls The Tune

He slid his little blue VW Bug into the icy parking spot beside the black stretch limo. It was 4:00 AM and a quick scan showed the darkened lot was deserted. The lights in this area of the lot were all out. The uniformed driver stepped out of the limo and held the back door open for him, gesturing him discreetly inside. He checked the time quickly on his wrist watch before getting in. He had to get to work in a couple hours and was already dressed in his crisp, freshly pressed, blue uniform with the patches on his shoulder, indicating that he was a Correctional Officer. It was a short half hour drive from this parking lot to the prison where he worked. He had plenty of time. Slipping into the warm limo, he noted the huge stack of cash piled next to the diminutive form seated in front of him. "Play your cards right, and most of it will be yours." commented the Weasel casually. "You'll be able to pay off your house mortgage, and look after that pretty wife, and those three kids of yours in style." "What do you want me to do?" The Weasel laid out the plan and divided the money into two piles. One was for the CO and the other for anyone the CO needed to pay for their cooperation. Let me know if there are any snags or if you need more money. Any future contact is to be kept to a bare minimum, only in the event of an emergency, as a precaution. If all goes well, the next time I see you will be to give you the rest of your money as a final payment. "Any questions?" The Weasel stared at him intently. "Who are you? Why do you want to do this to her?" "She's a leftie, that's all you need to know. If you cooperate you will be well-paid. If not, I'll find someone else who's a little more motivated." said the Weasel, gritting his teeth. "You might want to keep in mind that job security isn't what it used to be, you could be out of a job pretty quickly in the current market." There was a threatening undertone to the Weasels' voice as he made this statement. He turned the plan over in his mind as he drove into the prison gates. The money had been secured in the spare tire wheel well in the trunk of his car. He needed to take some time to think this through. He had to be set to go in a week, but really didn't think the plan was going to work. Mainly because it didn't make sense and was unlikely to make sense to the Prison Brass either, when they investigated the Target as a result of his activities. Even if things didn't work out, he had half the money, and that alone would get him quite far ahead. A good chunk of his mortgage would be paid off and he didn't have to worry about this guy going after him or his family because he had co-operated whether the plan worked or not. After all, it wasn't his plan, he was just doing what he was paid to do. At least he hoped that's how things were going to play out. This guy was clearly unstable ... . Revised 2007.08.11