How I Live Now - 29. Day 48

Day 48

Well, I legitimately faked being sick today. My job at Organico is getting in the way, and I’m pretty sure the boss is not very pleased. Either way, I can't take tomorrow off, but I've been drafted to work on Saturday afternoon. However, it should be okay since the heist will be in the morning. I'm just back from scoping out that mansion with Matias. Well, maybe the word mansion is a strong word. I'm not going to lie; the house looks pretty big from the outside. There is a large wall around the front of the property, meaning we'll need to climb over. Plus, I'm certain I saw a dog roaming the grounds. Matias believes I just saw things, but I'm going to turn up tomorrow prepared regardless. I was thinking of some meat laced with sleeping pills. Surely, it's enough to put a dog to sleep but not kill it.

Approaching the house from the back might be difficult. There is a sloping hill from the rear, and the house has a large raised deck on supports. It's not precisely viable to climb up onto the deck without a lot of effort. The place seems to have all the shiny security alarms, cameras outside, and large gates to keep intruders out. It might be difficult to go unnoticed; the street backing up to the house is private with three other homes on it. So, everyone might know one another, and if we don't blend in, people realize we don't live in one of those houses. Thankfully, there is a bit of a hill overlooking the home in the mountains. It's in that posh part of the city called Zillow Hills, where people with money live. Matias said some celebrities live in the mountains. Real estate in that part of the city is pretty pricey, according to Matias. And I can see why… all those rich assholes live the highlife there.

From the vantage point, we could make out everything. We had a clear view of the front door, the garage, the yard, and most of the street approaching the home. Just to verify the information already in our possession, we staked out from the hillside and watched the family, getting a sense of their routine. Breaking out the binoculars, we waited to see what the family did. It sounds weird when I phrase it this way. It makes me feel kinda dirty for spying on someone, but it needed to be done. The husband left around 7:30 AM in a white BMW. I'll admit, being up that early wasn't easy for me. I drank three cans of Monster Energy. It was the only thing keeping me awake. Caffeinated drinks can be beneficial sometimes.

At 7:55 AM, a boy about 13/14-years old came out with a skateboard tucked under his arm. He unlocked the large Land Rover Evoque parked by the entrance, opened the back door of the SUV, and placed the skateboard in the footwell. The kid ran back to the house and came out with his backpack, dropped it into the backseat, and shut the door. Standing in the middle of the driveway, he removed his cellphone, glanced at it, and slumped. Whatever he looked at… well… it didn't look like it was the most pleasant thing in the world. From what I could make out, he was pretty attractive. I'd reckon he'd be a winning contestant for girls in the broken heart's competition in the few years. He had brown hair, was tanned, slender, and rocked nice clothes. He looked like a hipster. If those are even a thing anymore. Joined by a young girl, perhaps about my age, she took the front passenger side, and the boy rounded the car, crawled in behind the driver seat, and shut the door. Their mom, who I assumed, locked up the house, and after she completed this mundane activity, they all drove off in the car. The gates shut automatically, and everything afterward fell silent.

We decided to grab some breakfast figuring all the family left the house. We did notice the garbage collection truck making its rounds in the neighborhood. Though I don't think they'd be out gathering the trash on a Saturday. We found this lovely little café on Zillow Boulevard that made breakfast all day. We loaded up on bacon, hash browns, beans along with the mushrooms, sausages, and eggs. It was heaven in my mouth. We stayed longer than we should have done. After all, there was a stakeout to be conducted. Traipsing back up into the Zillow Hills, we resumed our position in the bushes at the top of the ridge. Watching forever, the family eventually returned with the SUV; the car rushed up the home's driveway, but instead of the family exiting the vehicle, the mother dashed from the Land Rover and to the front door. While she went inside, I scanned over the car. Nobody seemed to be inside, and I could hear the engine still running. It made me wonder… had something happened? I tried dismissing the question, but it was clear to see that the mother was in a bit of a frenzy. When the mother sprinted back to the SUV, she had a sports bag with her. Getting in the vehicle, she drove out and sped down the street. We were confused by the events. Yet, we figured it wasn't our business to pry. Tomorrow is still on, but we’ll proceed with caution.

We contemplated whether it would be a good idea to inform Salvatore about the odd behavior, though we decided against it. Matias disappeared late into the evening; the hunger was starting to get to us. It had been a few hours, and nobody had come home. I felt exposed on the hillside. I kept thinking– 'what if they know about me?'

Thankfully the notions dissipated when Matias returned with some food for us to eat. I'll admit, scoping out the house made me feel like a cop. I don't know how they do it, but I'd die from boredom. You just hang around for hours doing absolutely nothing, and it's not like you can do much else. You have to be watching the coming and going of these people. It's interesting at first, but then you begin to see how mundane life can get without signing up and going to the academy.

Night fell, and I was shivering.

“Here…” Matias whispered.

Taking off his jacket, Matias tossed it over me. Crawling across, he nestled up by me. Draping his arm over my back while rubbing in circular motions, he peered at me. It was wild. We were going to go through with the robbery. Somehow with everything going on, we found a second to still bond.

Two cars returned just after 11 PM, and though it was difficult to make out the color of the vehicles in the dark, I was sure they were the families. Confirming my decision, four people got out of the vehicles. The father went and unlocked the door, and the sister and mother went and helped the teenage boy from the front passenger seat of the SUV. He was hunched over, and with the help, they walked him toward the house. There was some running back and forth to the car, but then the outside fell silent. We decided to split not long after that, feeling somewhat anxious about our plan tomorrow.

I'm going to hit the hay in a few minutes. I've been thinking all evening all evening about what could have happened. Nothing too serious, I hope. We have some idea of the layout and the plan. If we got separated, we'd regroup at the food stall where Matias tossed the drink at that creep. There is an alley next to the food van, so Matias thought that would be a place we both know. Well, that is about the sum of it. Let's hope the invasion goes okay in the morning. The family is usually out early. They all seem to have hobbies. The father goes golfing, the mother brings the son to some robotics club, and the daughter spends time with her boyfriend. The scout surely is throughout. Following the family around like that is creepy, but who am I to judge. I’ll be invading their privacy tomorrow too.

Talk soon,

Kyle