Whatever it Takes
The window slid open pretty easy, much to his surprise. It didn’t take a lot of force at all to pry the lock. Whoever designed it should have been fired.
His skinny build fit nicely through the opening as he fell to the ground without causing much of a noise. Once inside he found it odd that security was lax at this place. It held all of the most treasured books in all the world in it.
He strolled down each aisle looking for the most expensive books he had on the list to bring back to his boss. It included the Canterbury Tales, the Gutenberg Bible, the Bay Psalm Book, among others.
There had been other failed attempts to steal these magnificent written works. But the thieves had always been caught. He looked around to see if any cameras were installed but didn’t see any. He wondered how these guys got caught.
The time on the clock read 4:27 AM and he knew he had a couple of hours before anyone would start showing up for work. He was making good time and got most of the books on the list. He just had to find a way to break through the last three cases which held the remaining one he was sent to retrieve.
He searched all around the case for some sort of security system or alarm or anything that would alert the authorities. Nothing. He pulled out his glass cutter and went to work. The machine zipped right through the pane like a flamethrower through ice. He snatched the book from the case and threw it in his backpack.
This continued through the next two books and he was done getting what he came for in just under an hour. He began counting the money he was going to get from his boss for a job well done.
He sauntered his way back to the window he broke in to escape from. When he got to the window, he noticed it was boarded up. How the hell did that happen, he thought. Was this the right window or was he hallucinating?
No biggie, he would just find and break out of another window. He walked a few feet over to the next window. This one didn’t budge. He whipped out the glass cutter and started to count the money in his head. However, the window didn’t break or crack or anything.
He looked at the cutter with astonishment, how could it not cut? This works every single time without fail. Maybe this window was different from the others.
Three other windows were tried to no avail. He began to panic and ran around frantically trying every door and even looked for a secret escape he had heard about from his boss. Nothing worked as he picked up his phone to call his boss and explain what was happening.
An angry voice answered as he told the boss the pickle, he was in. The boss instructed him to do whatever it took to get out of there ASAP. He didn’t care what they entailed, and the burglar knew what he meant.
He came up with a plan that he believed was his best shot to get out of there. But it couldn’t be executed until workers started coming in. He picked up the crowbar he had in his, bag ready to put it to good use since he couldn’t break out.
Fifteen minutes later, he heard some shuffling around in other parts of the library. He looked at his watch to see the library would open soon. He felt someone coming towards where he was and thought, ok, get ready.
The door opened but nobody came through. He positioned himself behind the door with weapon in hand. He raised his hands up behind his head like a baseball player waiting to wallop the next pitch.
The burglar heard a noise, jumped out and swung at thin air. He looked around and found nobody there. A voice came over the intercom, ‘We have the place surrounded, put down the weapon and come up slowly with your hands up.’
He stepped out into the doorway with his weapon in hand. A little red dot appeared on his chest as he saw a policeman pointing a gun at his torso. The burglar dropped the weapon and complied with their instructions.
Two cops rushed in to slap the cuffs on him as another man came out from behind the policemen. He bent down on one knee and said, “Hello Frank,” taking a puff from his cigar. “Didn’t I tell you to do whatever it took to escape?”
