* * *
My earpiece crackled to life as I sat there in my camouflage, perched on the roof of the warehouse.
“See anything?” Ranger asked.
I peered through the scope of my rifle. “Dust kicking up in the distance. They’re finally here.”
“Good. If the come ready to transact, maybe I won’t charge them for the six minutes they’ve made us wait.”
I caught their SUV coming down the road. “Nice vehicle they’re in. Maybe ask for the pink slips.”
Ranger barked with laughter. “You and those pink slips.”
I shifted a bit with the wind, listening as it rustled through the trees. “Can’t ever have enough pink slips. That’s practically my side hustle.”
“You mean the half-a-mil you make every year isn’t enough?”
I clocked the SUV as it came to a halt in the middle of the warehouses’ abandoned gravel parking lot. “Not for these rifles, it isn’t. Also, heads up. They’ve parked.”
“Thanks, I’ll take it from here.”
Watching those two men scramble to get out of the vehicle brought a smile to my face. Good. At least they knew they were fucked. The two men threw the back doors of the SUV open, carrying two duffle bags a piece, no doubt stacked with the money they owed us.
I heard that TrackingPoint XS1 rifle calling my name as the two men disappeared inside.
“They’re in,” I murmured as I recalibrated my position.
“Got eyes on them. Hang tight,” Ranger murmured before he cleared his throat. “Gentlemen. You got what I need?”
I loved being the lookout. There was no better spot in the world than sitting in a place that made people feel as if they were alone. The fear in men’s eyes before they encountered us fueled some of the best dreams I’d ever had in my life. Watching them scramble like two little kids in trouble with Mommy Dear filled me with an unmistakable amount of pride. My rifle glistened in the rays of sun allowed through the heavy treetop canopies that had overgrown around the warehouse. A relic from another time, completely forgotten by society.
It was still my most impressive donation to the crew, to this day.
I heard the unzipping of the duffle bags while Ranger murmured to himself. No doubt, counting the money right in front of them in order to make sure it was all there. Every time he surpassed another million, my skin prickled. Goosebumps of satisfaction flushed its way across my skin, and I couldn’t wait for that money to hit my account.
I had so many plans for this particular stack of funds.
“Good,” Ranger said, “follow me.”
That was my cue, and I silenced my footsteps as I scrambled along the roof of the warehouse. Silence was my friend, and darkness, my shroud. I moved nimbly over the concavities of the caved-in roof, leaping toward safety before I perched my rifle on my shoulder.
I peered over the edge of the rooftop and watched as Ranger led the two men toward the navy-blue hatchback car the two of us had jumped in to get to our final destination.
“No bikes?” one of the guys joked as he started chuckling.
I didn’t have to be down there to witness the look Ranger shot the man, and it shut him up right in his tracks.
“Here,” Ranger said as he popped the trunk, “take it and go. You’ve got five minutes before my partner starts blowing out your tires.”
“Partner?” one of the guys asked.
And when Ranger pointed up at me, I aimed down my sights at both of the men.
Before popping off a bullet in between their bodies.
“Holy shit,” one of the guys hissed.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” the other guy said as he started scrambling.
