CHAPTER 8
As the glass doors of the store open I hear I small ping and the cool air from the store hits my face. I navigate my way to the hardware section of the store. I hum Eminem's song called Real Slim Shady as I look for a set of doorknobs so that I can replace the door which Harriet's team of lethal gorillas had reaped out. I mean was it really that hard to just pick the lock?
Shaking my head at the disapproving thought I selected the knob that seemed the most suitable for my taste and I made my way to the counter. I looked down at my pocket as I placed the knob on the counter.
"How much?" I asked the cashier without even glancing up
"That would be 800 dollars sir," I heard a familiar female voice.
In Surprise I looked up to see Amy smiling sweetly at me.
"But you wouldn't have had the need to ask me that if you had paid attention to the price tag," she laughed in a way that I couldn't help but laugh lightly myself.
"Well then I guess I'll keep that in mind for next time," I said while smiling.
"So you just came into the store to buy a doorknob only?" she asked
"Pretty much," I shrugged
"Well that's unacceptable," she folded her arms over her chest
"How come?" I couldn't help but ask
"You could have at least gotten yourself a soft drink or something," she said it as if it was that obvious.
"Oh?" was all I could say and before I could protest she went around the counter and she grabbed my hand and led me a few feet towards the cooler which had many canned drinks displayed for the taking.
"So what are you taking?" she looked at me expectantly
"Mh I don't know," I said while scratching the back of my head, "any suggestions."
"How about the coke?" she pointed at the said beverage
"Well then coke it is then," I smiled at her and looked at her with a special admiration as I looked at her eyes, I no longer saw the student who was trying to bed me but a pretty young lady. We must have stood while looking at each other, standing still for a while neither of us moving as if we were stuck in a trance. We were brought back to reality when someone spoke about us standing in their way.
"Oh sorry," Amy and I said in unison as we made our way back to the counter.
"Well the I guess I'll see you around," I smiled as I collected my doorknob and my coke.
"Can't wait," she said as she tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear.
I walked out of the store with a grin I didn't know I was holding. I approached the car and saw a clearly bored Harriet through the wind shield not that I paid her any attention at this point. I was still grinning when I slide into the driver's seat and started off heading down the road. I was humming and grinning like a ten year old on a Christmas morning.
"What's up with you?" Harriet asked
"What do you mean?" I countered
"You're more lively than usual"
"Oh nothing much," I shrugged
"Right…" she trailed off and silently watched the road.
We pulled up on my drive through and we got out. Going up the front porch I simply pushed the front door open since there was no doorknob to twist. Stepping into my living room I said, "Well at least the house is still intact." I looked around and found Rick and Dash sitting on the couch in front of the TV.
"Where's Aubrey?" Harriet asked from behind me
"Uh he's in the basement doing God knows what with his technological mind," Dash replied with his eyes still glued to the screen. I focused on the image on the screen and found that they were watching John Wick chapter one.
I whistled at the movie.
"Is it just starting?" I asked the two on the couch
"Yep," Rick replied.
I looked down at the new knob in my hand then decided the door could wait just a few hours. With that in mind I dropped myself on the couch right between Rick and Dash.
"That movie never gets old," Dash said. Rick and I both nodded in agreement.
"Alright better get to work," I said as I got off the couch and started off for the basement. So technically this is your average basement a bunch of mother's old junk as well as some of my father's. His name was Conrad Harper he was in the Marines, 5th battalion and he was damn good at his job, good man, good husband, good father too but his line of work had later led to his demise. He was out in Iraq on a seek and destroy mission but he never made it out. Died on the battlefield when I was twenty-five years old. I looked at the cardboard box that was sitting at the far end corner of the room, it held my father's belongings the things that were proof of his service to the nation. I frowned at the box but moved on to the dusty shelf that was on the right side of the room and I walked past Aubrey who seemed to have perched himself on the washing machine and he seemed to have placed something on top of it, it appeared to be a briefcase and I didn't dwell much on it either as I beelined straight for the old toolbox that I was looking for.
I blew away the dust that had accumulated in it's top and I hauled off the shelf and made my way for the front door where I was to be working on the door.
Thirty minutes later I was half done with my canned coked as well as the doorknob. I reached down for my drink and took another sip as I twisted one of the two final screws and l later finished it off. With a satisfied expression I gathered all the tools and placed them back into the toolbox. I lifted myself off the porch and returned to the basement to put back the toolbox when I got there Aubrey had been finished with what he was doing because he wasn't in the room but the briefcase was still on top of the washing machine.
Looking at it curiously I made a move to inspect the case. I looked over it's surface. This wasn't your typical briefcase, this one was metallic with latches that snapped the top of the case to the bottom thereby keeping it closed. I traced my fingers over the surface all the while contemplating on whether or not I should open it.
Letting curiosity take the best of me I snapped the latches open and lifted the top. My mouth was hanging wide open at the realization of what the briefcase was carrying. Closing the case, I carried it to the kitchen and placed it on the kitchen island.
"Harriet!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, the anger evident. It was only a matter of seconds before Harriet came rushing into the kitchen with her team following a few paces behind.
She took notice of the briefcase that was infront of me and stopped mid-step in her tracks.
"Why on Earth did you not tell me?" I asked furiously
"We didn't want you to get involved," she replied
"C'mon Harriet. Don't bullshit me," I said before taking in a few breaths. "Somethings are better left on the table for those who are helping you out you know."
"Look," she sighed as she run her fingers through her hair. "We didn't plan on coming here in the first place" she began and I crossed my arms urging her to go on and spill everything but before she could go on something broke through the living room window.
We all turned to got check it out when a another burst through the kitchen window and a metallic cylinder was rolling on the floor and even without properly checking it out we all knew what it was.
Smoke grenade and it set off releasing a pungent smoke in the room. I used my inner elbow to shield my nose but little did that do to help cover my eyes as the smoke mildly stung. It seemed Harriet and her team had already been on the move, I looked towards where I had placed the briefcase but it was no longer there. A few seconds later, the front door came falling out of its hinges.
"Shit. I just fixed that," I cursed under my breath as I saw the dark form holding a assault rifle entering the house cautiously while another came behind him to flank the left while a third one flanked the right. Similarly the kitchen door burst open but the hinges managed to hold the door in place. I quickly swiped a knife from the wooden knife block and ducked on one side of the counter as my blood boiled with anticipation of what was about to happen.