Chapter 4

Okay, looks like the coast is clear

Jimmy took one last look at his moonlit surroundings, before sneaking away from the stone wall towards the house.

Or rather, towards the mansion. The three-story building towered over the 15 acre property, which was sprawling with hedges, lawn decorations, and time-tested stone walls. It looked and felt like one of those old, villainous hideouts from the movies. Which made Jimmy the secret agent trying to gain access to this lair.

Bond ... Jimmy Bond

The antique-style of the grounds belied the actual security of the property, however, which was a series of sophisticated electronic detection systems.

Electronic security which Jimmy was able to bypass, fortunately. Having been given the security layout well in advance, he was pretty confident he could hack into the system and shut it down piecemeal.

The best laid plans of mice and men, he cautioned himself. He had been on several missions already, and not all of them went smoothly.

Crossing the side lawn quickly, Jimmy hoped his black outfit prevented any window watchers from detecting him.

Once he was in the shadow of the looming house, he felt safe once again. He listened closely for sounds of movement, or snarling dogs.

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

Jimmy took his backpack off, and set it on the grass in front of one of the bushes. Tip toeing up to the window sill, he profiled his head against the outer wall, and slowly slid his face towards the side of the window. He had taught himself how to move slow enough that the eye couldn’t really detect it; although by the looks of the dark room inside, no one was there to see him anyways.

Jimmy’s intel had identified two male security guards living in the house, as well as the matriarch and her family. Based on the time of night, Jimmy expected only one guard to be awake, but that was enough to make him nervous.

The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice, he remembered.

And there was no doubt in Jimmy’s mind that a guard would shoot him on sight if he was found inside. They were protecting a very valuable person, after all.

Examining the window, Jimmy could tell that it was at least 50 years old, dating it to the post-war era.

Your fortune is not here. Try another, Jimmy thought. He gave a short chuckle at the memory of the fortune cookie he opened years ago. It was the simple things that pleased him.

Focusing back on his work, Jimmy quickly scanned the window, and found an outdated pressure alarm system. It would also go off if he broke the glass, or tried to open the window, as well.

Hmmmmm. He took out a flashlight and set it to its dimmest setting, then went to work finding the wiring which would trip the alarm.

Eureka! He thought, finding what he needed. Taking out his glass cutter, he suctioned it on the pane, and traced a circle on the glass. Since the system would detect any break in the glass, he was careful not to put too much weight behind his tool.

After a minute of scratching, Jimmy was able to pull the circular piece of glass away, which he promptly tossed into the bushes.

One in the hand is worth two in the bush

Deftly, like a cat, Jimmy grabbed onto the shutters and jumped up to the overhang of the window sill. It was only a couple inches deep, so he had to hold on tightly to the shutters to keep his balance. He also had to be careful he didn’t pull the shutters off.

So hold on loosely ... but don’t let go. If you cling too tightly...

Using his long arm, Jimmy was able to locate the wire was on the inside of the window. He took one of the alarm clamps out of his pocket, and snapped it on the wire.

Hold onto your butts...

When nothing happened, Jimmy knew that his device had succeeded once again. Finding the latch on the inside, Jimmy unlocked the window, and was able to open the left half of the window out. Grabbing his bag off the ground, Jimmy grabbed a hold of the bottom window sill, and silently rotated his body into the room, like a gymnast.

Jimmy was 6’ tall, but only 170 pounds. His lithe form made it easier to climb and move around undetected, although sometimes he was just too big to be an effective cat burglar.

Jimmy closed the window, and placed some tape on it so it wouldn’t be seen blowing in the wind. The last thing he wanted was for a guard to notice an open window, with no alarm going off.

Straight past the staircase, then the second door on the left, he recited. He knew the house’s layout pretty well.

Making his way down the hallway, Jimmy thought about the master of the house, and what would happen if he was caught by her-

Double, double toil and trouble!

There were stories that she could read your thoughts, and hypnotize you with a single glance. She could make you forget who you were, and control you like a puppet.

If I only had a brain, Jimmy thought.

Feeling a moment of sadness, Jimmy had to shake off the bad memories, and focus on the task at hand. Hearing no breathing or other sounds in the house, he crept along the hallway, trying to avoid the creaking floorboards by keeping towards the walls.

There were more than a few pictures on the wall, as if the hallway were an art gallery. Say what you will about the Garofalo’s, but they did have nice, albeit expensive, taste.

Jimmy found the study without any issue, but also found it locked. Checking under the door. He didn’t see any light.

Lights not on, so nobody’s home

Jimmy would normally use brute force to gain entry, but not when people were sleeping. Especially ... her.

Don’t, wake, mommy! He hummed.

Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from down the hallway. Opening one of the nearby doors quickly, Jimmy dashed inside, and tried to close the door. But when Jimmy heard the loud creaking floorboards coming closer, he decided not to close it entirely, for fear of alerting the person...

The creaking got louder, and whoever it was was big. Glancing around, Jimmy saw that he was in some sort of exercise room, with various machines and weights.

Ducking behind the door, Jimmy was hidden while one of the guards came into the room-

“Huh, thought I closed up in-”

ZZZZTTT

“Unh” the guard moaned, as the taser was applied to his neck. He dropped like a sack of potatoes onto the floor, unconscious.

Jimmy winced at the sound the big man made, and listened again for any sign of alert from the rest of the house.

When he felt it safe to proceed, he dragged the body further into the room, and pulled out a small vial and syringe.

“Night, night” he told the guard, before injecting him with a powerful tranquilizer.

Rummaging through his belongings, Jimmy found a set of keys that looked promising. Although he really didn’t want to, he relieved the guard of his sidearm, and placed it in his bag.

Knowing that time was of the essence, he went back to the locked door, and used the right key to get in.

Inside was a large wooden desk, with plenty of bookcases lining the walls. The carpet was thick and luxurious; it was plush enough that he could have slept on it.

And miles to go before I sleep...

Jimmy sat down at the desk, and turned on the computer stick. It was one of the newer versions which used a hologram for a screen, and it didn’t surprise him one bit. He noticed that on the wall directly across from him was a portrait of the matriarch, Miss Garofalo. She was dressed in a provocative dress, and staring down at Jimmy with cool, confident eyes.

The picture gave Jimmy the willies-

“Focus” he told himself. When the login screen came up, he rebooted the operating system in command mode, and typed in a few lines into the MS DOS format.

No matter how much things change, things stay the same.

It was a neat trick that worked on computers over 50 years ago, and somehow computer systems were still being built the same way as before.

Once he was logged in, Jimmy inserted the flash drive into the computer port, and started downloading the entire hard drive. It would only take a minute, and then he could be gone.

Be brief, be blunt, be gone, he told himself.

Once he got what he wanted, he put the drive in his pocket, and turned off the computer. Now he just needed to get out, and he was home free.

Jimmy smiled underneath his black mask. This intel was crucial to understanding what plans the enemy currently had in place, and which were still in development.

Jimmy closed the study room door, and quietly made his way down the hallway, when he heard footsteps coming from the grand staircase by the front entrance.

Freezing in place, Jimmy slowly retrieved the guard’s gun, and hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.

The footsteps stopped near the bottom of the stairs. Unfortunately, he would have to walk past it to get to the front room where he came in.

“Who dares enter my house, uninvited?” boomed a voice from the stairwell. Jimmy’s blood froze, and he realized that he was trapped by none other than Miss Garofalo herself.

Jimmy waited a few seconds more, then realized with panic that another guard was in the house. He had to leave now, or risk being shot. Jimmy peered around the corner, and saw that Miss Garofalo was still standing half a dozen steps above the ground floor.

In the moonlight that streamed through the large windows above, Jimmy saw that the family matriarch was still young, probably in her thirties, and wearing a sleek looking white kimono with a long train behind it.

She looked directly at him, her eyes piercing the darkness to find him. There was no escape now.

“Come to me, child“ she commanded in a sultry tone. It sounded as if his own mother were calling to him. It reminded him of a story he once read-

Come this way, honored Odysseus, great glory of the Achaians, and stay your ship, so that you can listen here to our singing; for no one else has ever sailed past this place in his black ship until he has listened to the honey-sweet voice that issues from our lips...

Miss Garofalo waited for Jimmy to come back to his senses, and once he did, he took a step forward.

She’s beautiful, Jimmy thought.

Her skin was pale in the moonlight, and flawless. Her platinum blonde, full-bodied hair cascaded around her head perfectly, as if she hadn’t been sleeping. Even from a distance, Jimmy could see the moonlight reflecting off the nightgown around her chest, showing off the ample bosom underneath. And yet, the nightgown was still form fitting enough for her waist and hips to show, as if it was designed for both comfort and style.

“That’s right, sweetie, come to me”, she sweetly spoke. She bade him to come closer with one of her smooth hands.

But Jimmy stopped after taking another step, looking around to see if there was any other danger. It was unlike him to step out of the shadows, and he felt vulnerable.

Placing one hand on the bannister, Miss Garofalo took a hold of her gown with the other and stepped down. Her bare leg stepped through the opening in her gown, affording Jimmy with a look at her long, soft leg. As she stepped down, her voluminous hair bounced with her.