Chapter 8

"I was hoping you guys would help. Putting all those labels on is going to take a long time."

Betts said, "How are you going to mail them? Put them in a mail box? It will get full pretty soon."

"Some may go by post but there already are a lot of Purolator and other courier services. I figure we can put them into some boxes and get the company to just come by and pick them up before the people come to do their jobs in the morning."

Betts was nervous. She said, "I want to help. Tell me what to do."

"Who else is in?"

There were no shirkers.

My plan was simple. We would sneak out one week from tonight and ride to the warehouse district. I could see the alarm system as if it were in front of me. Opening a circular security lock had to be mastered as well as regular door and pad locks. There was a safe in the place and it was booby trapped. I wanted to get in there too.

The guys had to be very familiar with the area we were going to invade. As far as I knew none of them had a run in with the law. They would be nervous because not only were we trying to hurt the mob but we were doing something that was against the law.

We went to Canadian Tire and bought some padlocks and some door locks to practice on. The net had pictures of lock picks. Sam's dad had all sorts of odds and ends and it took a while before we had seven different picks. The rest tried to pick too but I was the only one that could do this. It was easier for me because I could see what was happening in the lock.

Like the crystals I got better the more I did this. I picked the locks to two old wrecks and then their ignitions. When this was all done Betts and I had to go home to get ready to go to the restaurant. The guys would pick locks for fun.

Jerry's dad owned a wrecking business. Usually he stayed away because his parents were drunks. There were always lots of locks there to play with. They had a safe too and as long as I took nothing he would see if we could practice on it.

Lillian said when we came in, "You two better hurry up. We have a reservation."

We both said, "Yes Mom," in unison and then laughed at each other. I took my clothes off and ran to the bathroom. Betts came out of her room dressed. She didn't want to go naked now I guess. She did give me the eye and I posed like a body builder. We showered together and came out together to meet June. She didn't say anything but she had to know we were naked together.

I dressed in my best duds and made sure I had my wallet and my good counterfeit money. It could not be distinguished from the real article except by the serial numbers. It made quite a lump because it was all in twenties. Most of the money I simply folded up and put in a different pocket.

Betts came to me to help her with her jewellery just like her mother got her father to work. Patricia did the same thing. When I finished she said in a whisper, "Do you love me?"

"Sure I do Patricia."

"You do more for Betts than me."

"She is a full fledged girlfriend. You are still at the junior level. You have to wait a few years."

"But I want it now."

Betts came close and held her sister. "I know what you mean sister. Some things take a long time. You think I am big but I have to wait for a lot more years just to vote."

"But I want..."

"We will talk later. Ok?"

Downstairs we were all inspected then Lillian said, "You have your money Wally?"

"Yes Ma'am," I said as I saluted.

"Then let's get going."

The restaurant was downtown and the traffic was as bad as usual. Bert let us out in front then found that there was a valet to take the car away. Bert was greeted in the restaurant as if he were the king. I hung back to the end of the line with a twenty folded in my hand. There was just enough time to shake the man's hand and say quietly, "I get the bill after and only me."

The man looked at Bert and said, "Certainly Sir."

My French was not up to reading the menu very well but the English under it was much easier to me. Their beef was supposed to be excellent or so the restaurant guide said. I was happy that my girls did not order burgers and fries. We had already gone over the menu on-line so we could make our choices quickly. The rest at out table were, I think, impressed with our speed.

The meal was good. Lillian said, "I like your choice of restaurants. Do you come here often."

"I always stop in here when I fly into Toronto."

Lillian burst out laughing and the rest of the patrons looked at her. "My daughter sure caught a gem."

"Perhaps I have done the catching."

When it looked like it was about time to leave, I excused myself and found our waiter. "I would like to pay our bill before my father chooses to do so."

The man did the total while I stayed out of sight then paid the bill with 15% tip. It was all done in cash and took up nearly half of my money.

Betts got up when I came back and said, "I have to go to the lady's room." Patricia got up quickly to do the same thing. Women always seemed to need help to go to the bathroom.

When Bert asked for the check, the waiter did not look at me but said, "Your check has been taken care of already."

Bert looked at me and I said, "It was my treat. Don't spoil it for me."

"Alright, this time."

I slept alone that night even though there was no school. It was not so much being in the same bed with Betts but with Patricia too. Eventually the parents were going to see things the way they really were.

We were busy the next week. Jerry was the first to pick a lock besides me and this encouraged the rest. Monday night I sneaked out of the house and went with Jerry to his father's yard. I had to defeat the burglar alarm and the other locks too. This area was dark and there were always people prowling at night.

The safe took time. I didn't need light. I just saw the notches inside and stopped where the bar would swing through all of them without hitting the sides. I found that being close was not good enough.

When I opened the door, Jerry said, "I don't believe it. You got by the alarm as easy as my dad then you open the safe as if you know the combination. How did you do it?"

"Picking locks is a knack. You are getting it too. The alarm is a piece of cake once the door to the box is opened. You just are under a time limit. Your father uses the numbers and I simply bypass the alarm. The safe is by feel. I don't think many people can do this but a few can. Let's go home now. We had our practice."

"You could break into banks and get millions."

I slipped into my bed but saw Patricia in there ahead of me. She was asleep. I changed in my pajamas and then carried the girl back to her own bed.

The next morning Betts came to me. "How did it go?"

I was sleepy but after I moved a bit I said, "Great. Everything worked fine."

"Good."

We bought thin gloves like the doctors used as well as black pants, shirts and shoes. I was the one to pay but the guys got a kick of being on the Mission Impossible team. We went to the warehouse district three times. We studied both buildings and I showed them the interior layout.

Twice we took a bus to Bay street. On a side street was Cosner Data Processing. The place looked difficult even to my normal eyesight. This place handled enough money that it would get lots of attention to their alarm system. I had seen all the internal details and the external too but it was good just to look at the building to get a feel for it. The feeling I got was dangerous.

Saturday night rolled around. All of us were nervous. Betts' parents saw this and asked what was wrong. They found out nothing except that we didn't want to talk about it.

The house was quiet at midnight and we slipped out of our rooms and went downstairs. We went outside this way and to the garage where we changed into our black clothing and then some white reflecting clothes in case we were stopped. We unlocked the bikes. The few tools we needed were in my pack. We walked the bikes a few houses then peddled to a shopping centre to wait for the rest.

Chuck apparently could not wait and he was there ahead of us. Ten and fifteen minutes later the other two arrived. They all had clothes that would look normal but we could still get stopped because of our age and the time.

Downtown, we waited a few minutes away in an alleyway to catch out breath. The reflective clothing went into a garbage bag and was put behind some bushes. Clear gloves went on our hands. We peddled off trying to act like this was just a night ride for kids.

We drove by the building. I looked inside to see if somebody had stayed over. It took a few minutes but I knew that it was now vacant. The guys held my bike out of the lights while I went to the door. I fumbled the job nearly a dozen times before I got it. It was not because it was a complicated lock but because I was too nervous. This time I had the numbers to press. I probably couldn't open the panel in time to deactivate the alarm otherwise.

I drew a breath of air and tried to relax. It took a minute but I opened the door quickly and pressed the numbers I had been given. There was no alarm but then again many only sounded at a call station.

I went outside and waved. The gang surged forward with Chuck and Jerry handling my bike between them. The bikes all came into the reception room and were stood up on their kickstands. I locked the door behind us and the guys just looked around in amazement. This was our first crime even if it was to fight people like Wendy's father.

I turned the lights on. This shocked the guys. "It's ok. There are no windows. They don't want people seeing in here. Betts the computer and the printer. Guys, let's find the disks and keep your gloves on no matter what."

We went to the mailing room and turned on more lights. Betts started the machinery she was briefed to learn.

There were seventeen different pornographic disks. Nadac said they were all illegal. I was not going to check them first. He could help us a lot more but we both knew we had to do this ourselves. The first disk was going to be mailed to the Prime Minster of Canada. He and the other politicians may get an erection but had to do something about this.

Currier bags were stuffed with disks and a sheet that was printed from a floppy disk. Nadac had set up a website in Russia. It would be closed soon and he made provisions for others to take its place. There was a password to get in and only those people we were sending the packages too would get in.

I tinkered with the computer to officially say that I tapped the machine for Nadac. He had already done so but I needed the practice.

"I am going to the back room now." Betts looked scared and so did the rest but they said nothing.

This room had its own secure lock and another alarm system. I picked the lock and punched in the number then went out and tried it again with my pick. I would not have been fast enough.

There was a large safe built into the floor. I had to use my back to move the desk then pick up a rug and then slide out a piece of granite that looked decorative. There was a tool for removing this in the closet luckily.

The safe opened easily. I was not so nervous now. I had to get down and really dig. There were large ledgers and a lot of small notebooks. There were a lot of CDs and DVDs of people that were caught doing something then blackmailed. Most of the time they were blackmailed into doing something very illegal. Another ledger actually had confessions of some of those that were trapped to further incriminate them.

Another book had a list of all the children that were caught. It was possible though unlikely that Betts would be in here.

The notes were about what was on the disks. There was a lot of other valuables in the safe. Some were stacks of credit cards, ID cards, Driver's Licences for many provinces, states and even countries. There was more cash here than I had ever seen before. Luckily it was already in bags. Four of the seven bags had counterfeit currency and this I left.

There was an Uzi with two extra clips. A box with gemstones. A heavy cloth sack with a plastic sac inside. This inner sack containing smaller packets of cocaine.

I speed read some of the notes about blackmail and then put them to one side. They would have to go with us. The safe was put back in order but with a lot of articles left out. The room was straightened up and both the Uzi and the cocaine were left on the desk. I got my pack and filled it to capacity with what had to go.

I left the door open and the alarm deactivated. There was a broom in the hall closet and I went over the floor to hide my footprints. I would not care if I had size 12s.

The guys were busy and I pitched in to help. Canvas sacks were used to hold a large number of individual disks. Usually strong double walled cardboard boxes were used to ship thousands at a time.

Jerry said, "Did you get in?"

"Sure did."

"What did you find?"

"Our agreement Jerry!"

"Ya, I know. I was just curious."

I got everything in the safe that I chose to take. They thought it was all blackmail information and it was but I had the cash too. The police could see the stolen goods and return them. The guys would get some money to but if they got too much or too fast they there would be questions asked.

It was almost four when we were done. I looked through the door and saw that nobody was around. There was a locked courier box and our work for the night was put into this for pick up. The key for the box was in one of the desks.

I swept up all my tracks and then did the same for the rest. Even the toilet seat and handle was cleaned. To screw-up now was to court death. I cleaned up to the reception area and our bikes then the bikes went out. I worked backwards now removing tire marks or even mud that could have come from a bike tire. I left the broom just inside the door and locked the door one last time.

There was very little traffic at this time Sunday morning. I was always looking for trouble. We just missed a car for the security service that covered this area. It was legit but owned by one of Caputo's flunkies.

We made it to the place where we stashed our other clothes. We changed quickly and nobody stared at Betts. They were still too worried. Our black pants and shirts only went as far as a dumpster. The safest thing to do would be to wait until traffic picked up but none of us were supposed to be out.

We peddled to a church with a chain link fence. Our bikes were chained together and to the fence poles. We hid in the shadows until the right bus came by. I sat in a seat with Betts and my full pack was in the aisle.

"That was some party."

Betts got the idea and said, "We should have slept there too."

The guys tried to act but they were so bad it was better for them to be quiet. Sam was so nervous though that he could not shut up. We had to get off at a plaza or Sam would start to tell the driver what we actually did.

Once off, Chuck turned to Sam and punched him in the face. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

Sam was crying now like a baby. He was just not suited for this. It took ten minutes for Sam to quiet down. Chuck was still angry enough to beat the shit out of his friend. Betts lead the way and we crossed the street. At a public payphone we called for a taxi and one came in ten minutes.

I paid for the ride and gave money to the others in case they needed it. I said, "We can talk later. Not too early, I need my sleep."

Betts and I changed back into our pajamas and went back into the house. This time I kept my pack close.

I gave Betts a kiss and sent her off to bed then I did too.

There was nothing more to do. Nadac would make phone calls and arrange matters over the phone. I just had to see how I could put people's lives back together.

I got up at eleven with the alarm. A few minutes I got Betts up and we had a shower. When we got dressed and came down I saw Bert and Lillian sitting at the table. They didn't say anything when I said good morning.

Bert said, "Where were you last night?"

Oh shit, I had never considered this. I was thinking furiously but nothing was coming.

"I am waiting young man."

"I am sorry Sir, but I took Betts out. We layed down in the park and talked about our future. We did not even... do anything."

"You were gone all night."

"One night is hardly time enough. A lifetime may not be enough."

"I see that I am going to have to set some limits on you. It is one thing to have my daughter as... a girlfriend but you take her out into the night. Anything could happen to her. That to me shows that you are irresponsible."

"I try to act as grown up as possible. I also do my best to protect your daughter."

"When you two go out of the house in the future, you will tell us where you are going and when you will come back."

"That is suitable, Sir."

Betts cried now but it may have been in relief. I was going to refuse to answer them but this would hurt all of us more than a lie. I did not like to lie to these people.

Lillian gave us some breakfast but we talked very little. Betts and I went to my room. I lifted weights and she read a book but I don't think she turned any pages.

"Hello Nadac. Did the courier service take the parcels?"

"They did at 8:47 this morning. The parcels will be delivered tomorrow but some will be today. The Attorney General of your province will get his package within an hour. The additional articles found in the safe were listed. Some references I found already in the police files."

"Do you have a revised estimate to when the police will raid the building?"

"Nothing important has changed. It should be between two and three hours after midday."

"Thanks Nadac. I just needed some reassurance. I had to lie to Bert and Lillian. I don't like to do that."

"The Aristis lie when it suits them too. They do make it more believable."

"It is not the quality of lying but the fact that I have done it."

"I understand this."

Nadac had to be telling me something and I could not read between the lines. It could be anything and I was too sleepy to think about it.

I went back altering crystals as I lifted weights and wondered how my life had got so complicated.

The website was starting to get hits. News must have spread. There were many more hits than disks we sent out. Many of the disks were already in transit too.

The guys started to phone and I invited them over to have a pizza. We had to go back downtown on the bus to get our bikes anyway. When the guys got here, I mentioned to Lillian that we were going out on the porch.

"That's fine Wally."

The porch was not a good place to talk. We kept our voices down and stayed close together.

Chuck asked, "Did you hear anything?"

"I think a task force of city police, the Ontario Provincial police and the RCMP are forming now. We have to get our bikes. Let's order the pizza later and get our bikes now. We might just go by the warehouse district but not too close."

Betts said, "What about our... restrictions?"

The guys looked at me. I guess I had to explain. "Our operation had another problem I had not seen. Betts' parents found us missing last night. Today they asked. We can't leave the house now without telling them of where we are going and when we are coming back."

Jerry said, "That is a real bummer. We're twelve not two."

"A lot of twelve year-olds are not very responsible."

"Neither are adults. Look at my parents. They drink all the time."

Sam was nursing his lip a few times already and I asked, "How are your injuries?"

"They hurt like hell."

"Sam, you do not know what that means. Your injuries hurt you. I told you guys many times that we have to think like a military unit not some preschoolers. You had a form of post combat stress. You will grow out of it or control it yourself if there is more to do."

"More! We hit them pretty hard."

"We hit the hand that made... that stuff. There are a lot more hands. You helped Betts and me as friends. There are not that many people that will risk their lives to help somebody else."

Chuck asked, "Since we got away, will you tell me what you found?"

"You are not supposed to ask. One day I will tell you. I smiled at them now and added, "The news will have a lot of interesting information."

I got a smile back and they seemed to relax.

Betts and the guys hurried to the school. I was going to call a taxi instead of the much slower bus. They would get picked up at this neutral location. They had orders to pick up more of our uniforms on the way back. This should keep them occupied with something they would find more mundane.

I had Nadac do the call for me. Lillian came from the laundry room and said to me, "Hi Wally. I just wanted to say I am sorry for what we had to do to you and Betts."

"You have the right to do that and in your eyes you have the reasons. When we are older that you will see that we will still be acting rationally and working with our emotions. It is a balancing act to be young. Our glands want us together but our minds fight hard to suppress our glands while still doing something that we both want."

"I understand Wally. I was young too. I don't understand it though. You are both more outgoing like an old married couple but still suffering like the young people you are."

"That is because Betts is so smart."

"I think you both are smart. Just don't think that you are always going to be smart enough. Life has a way of knocking us down every once in a while."

The guys were not soon enough to see the raid but they did see a ring of police cars that grew and grew. Not all were the same colour either.

Nadac provided me with a better view inside the building. Some men were in white suits and photographing anything and everything. The Uzi and the now open bag of cocaine got a lot of attention. It was a half hour later that the desk was moved but only after the prints from under the desk top were collected. The steel rod and even the granite were dusted just in case. The combination to the safe was on the net and a lot of important people were nearby to witness the opening.

The safe was dusted then opened. The contents were then photographed and the contents removed one piece at a time and put into tagged bags. The empty safe was then checked for prints.

The rest of the building had a lot of activity too. The computers had the isos of the present and past sessions of kiddy porn. The most important was a list of those that purchased the bulk disks. Nadac had amassed this information from many sources and conveniently provided the file for the police. Another file listed the address of the nearby building, thus establishing a valid link to obtain a search warrant. This building had information that would incriminate a lot of blackmailed starlets. This had to be provided so they could get the help they needed.

Another small safe had the records and a small amount of cocaine to keep the regulars coming back. The forced addiction of children and their parents featured prominently on the web page. A locksmith would have to open this and somebody else deal with the burglar alarms.

Trucks came to take away the evidence but the guys got home first.

I went onto the porch and Chuck excitedly said, "You should have seen it. There were more cops than I ever saw before. I wish I had binoculars to see them. I thought they would just start taking everything out and go in a few hours but they stayed as if they found something very important."

Sam said through his damaged lip, "The security cars were all there too. I am sure that G... that guy knows what happened and is shaking in his boots."

"Shhhh, not so loud." I had not explained this to them before. It was time for it to be faced. "He may be shaking in fear but he did not get to where he was by hiding in a closet. He is angry as hell. He is going to think that some of his people ratted out on him. He is also worried that a lot of people will talk and implicate him. He liked to fuck kids so they know at least his face."

"What's he going to do?"

I said nothing and let them come up with their own answer.

Betts said, "What is going to happen to Wendy's father?"

"He looks to be very rich but he is not that high in the organisation. He will most likely be arrested. He will claim to be innocent. There should be enough evidence to put him into jail. He can run too but then someone will find him and he will die. Another possibility is that he kills himself now or somebody does it for him. He can't talk then. It all depends on how trustworthy the guy is seen to be."

Sam said, "I didn't think people would get killed."

"I said all along that we could get killed. Think of all the kids that had their lives ruined. We put a stop to it and stopped these guys from trapping more young people. If a few bad guys die, it is still a good price to save the rest."

"What is going to happen to the kids... the ones on the DVDs. Some we know."

Chuck hit Sam in the arm now and Sam hung his head."

"So you guys took some samples?" They didn't answer. That shit is really illegal. If somebody finds it then it may tie us to what happened. Saving even one can kill all of us. Is it really worth it to watch that sort of thing?"

Sam looked down and shook his head.

"You guys, gather up the disks. I want all of you there to see them destroyed. If you want some smut then we can buy some legal stuff."

They didn't look happy. "As for the stars to those movies, well I do not know. They may get threatened to remain quiet but they are still a weak link. I don't know how desperate Caputo is or will be. Once I do then we can guess what he will do."

The guys went home after they ate their fill of pizza. We had got back to being just kids. The television was turned on and we watched sports. Betts stayed with us as a sign of solidarity though she did like baseball.

Later, I slipped out and used a taxi to get near the church we had stashed the bikes at. My bike was not expensive and that may have been a reason it was still there.

I peddled home instead of going to the warehouses. I had a better picture in my mind anyway. When I passed a camera store I stopped and went in. This was an upscale establishment and I looked through their supply of binoculars.

Nadac fed me information about optics and I looked for a good pair. Infrared looked good but had little magnification. The ones with the largest lenses gathered the most light and were clearer. They were also heavier. The magnification power was important but it was hard to find something if you were able to see the nose hairs on a guy. A zoom action was the best. You could see a wide field and then move in. The higher the magnification the more a small shake in the hands was noticed. There were some new models out with image stabilisation that was in some high end cameras.

Nobody came over to help me so I just turned to go. I had enough to buy at least the infrared unit they had but now they would not get my business.

On the way home I searched on the net in my mind for a mail order company that could supply what I wanted. My army of four needed some equipment even though I did not need as much. It would make them feel more like an army if they trained together too.

Something was nagging at me and I pulled over to the side of the street and tried to fish it out the information. It was not like before when Nadac tried to hide data from me. This is what my mind was hiding from me. It had to do with friends. It was when I put in the fact that I may not be here, as in on earth, that I got onto the right track. I was going to leave one day. I wanted a family and this may mean Betts. She may not be the right person though. I wanted friends with me and this meant the guys along with Betts.

I didn't want to go to some world with only some aliens around even if they were like us. I had a flash of one of the Tomma women getting hold of Sam. They were aggressive and almost exactly opposite to the Aristis women. They could take Sam and make him do what they wanted. He would be like a pet to them unless he got toughened up and toughened up a lot. That was something we all could use and it would draw us together the way a uniform would.

The trip home was spent forming my army or as they liked to be called my 'Mission Impossible Team'.

The game had not ended by the time I got home. I sat with them for a while and in a quiet period I said, "We have to train more."

Betts said, "Doing what?"

"I think we should take judo."

She and the guys looked at me. I could see that they thought this an odd thing to say.

"I am ordering some equipment that a military would love to get. Chuck mentioned binoculars today. I want a pair for lowlight and infrared. Another pair can be used in the daytime. This has to have zoom and image stabilisation.