Featured image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
Slim and Giant were standing outside of a Marshal Fields the cab driver had known. They were waiting for dispatch to send a cab and loaded down with shopping bags.
We still need those garment and laundry bags” Slim said into the air.
Will have to be another trip” Giant responded. “Can’t really carry anymore.”
I know” said Slim. “I just didn’t want you to forget. You do realize I was buying for two people and have fewer bags don’t you?”
I like nice clothes” snapped Giant.
Slim shook his head.
What!” snapped Giant. “I am who I am!”
In a softer voice Slim responded “Not for the duration of this mission you aren’t. Old timer was right. Your habits are widely known. It will make you easier to find. Lover, you have to be someone else for the next few weeks.”
I can’t. I’m not going to breath my last in a K-Mart outfit” uttered Giant with a bit more control.
If we follow Old Timer’s advice, neither of us will breath our last on this one” Slim offered.
You’re buying all his shit!” Giant spat.
He’s been at this game almost as long as we have been alive. You’ve been able to keep your bad shopping habit because you’ve always had the company doing everything for you. Neither of us has much of an idea about how to survive in the wild. Make no mistake, it looks like a city, but it is the wild for us. Every Internet connected surveillance system and credit card transaction is another tap dance in the mine field. I do hope for the love of God you weren’t looking at your retirement account when I woke up this morning” Slim finished.
No I wasn’t!” spat back Giant.
Slim responded with a cold and piercing look. Giant didn’t waver. Finally Slim softly uttered “Your unquenchable thirst for money is going to get us all killed.”
Giant was on the defensive and spoke a bit louder than he should have “I like nice things so sue me!”
Lawyers aren’t much use in this line of work lover” whispered Slim. “Besides, our payday is coming.”
How so?” asked Giant.
We left one bag back at the storage locker. He intended that to be a rally point. If he doesn’t make it, the contents of the locker are ours, not to mention whatever is left in the courier bag.”
Are you planning on fulfilling the contract?” asked Giant a bit shocked.
It’s not on my list of things to do, no” responded Giant. “We have to see this through. Couldn’t survive on our own on a bet. You haven’t figured Old Timer out, have you?”
Giant simply had that blank stare which is pretty common for him.
This is his last hurrah. Either he completes the mission and disappears or he doesn’t make it. No other outcomes for him. We just have to get far enough to get clean. Maybe that is the same place, maybe it is not. If it is not, we can ask Pretty Little Thing to transfer some of those accounts she is consolidating into accounts for us and continue on. Old Timer might just do it if we ask him” Slim pondered.
Yeah Right!” retorted Giant.
Lover, I dearly care about you, but you are dumber than a box of rocks. Old Timer doesn’t care about cash. You hear him speak but you do not listen. He asked for the account consolidation to find out which ones they knew about. He knows he can’t touch that money safely, just like your retirement account.”
And what if they know about all of his accounts?” asked Giant, still not buying the logic.
Slim leaned over like he was going to kiss Giant but whispered in his ear “he carries more in that courier pouch than the net worth of all our retirement accounts. That’s what he considers operational funds. He knew something like this was in his future long ago and saved for it. There is no way they know about everything. I bet he has little pouches of untraceable diamonds stashed around the world along with some gold ingots.”
After straightening up Slim continued “Lover, you’re a bellhop trying to get tip from the guy who owns the city block where the hotel is located. He’s trying to show you how to run the hotel and you’re pestering him for a fiver.”
The cab arrived and they got in. Giant was at least smart enough to keep his mouth shut on the way to the hotel. Slim told the cabbie he would give him an extra $20 to wait while they dumped this stuff in the room, they needed to find a K-Mart or some other place with reasonably priced garment bags. He said his had climbed it’s last flight of stairs when he got to this hotel. Giant mostly fumed. Probably more about having to go to a K-Mart than being dressed down by Slim. They often had disagreements, but, Stretch and Slim needed a small muscular guy to toss around as well as climb through ventilation ducts and as tough as Giant was, even with the other two defending him, he had is ass kicked more than once. They were very good at sneaking. Less good at killing someone who was trying to kill them from the shadows. In fact, they had never done it.
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