Day 297 - Phobia

 PHOBIA

Prompt - Phobia : Research some common phobias, choose one, and write about it

Jake smiled when he thought about all the hard work the others had put in to make his job so simple.  He knew he had to be quick, but could do so calmly, with the knowledge that all possible obstacles had already been removed.  Now inside, there were only a few more steps to carry out, and they had about twenty million Euros worth of jewellery to take away.

Gerry had done all the research, all the planning, so that they knew, in great detail, the physical layout of the shop, the set up of the security systems, and the habits of the staff.  Working with George, their IT whizz, had identified which day of the week, and point in the month, that would give them the maximum haul for the minimum of effort.  And risk.  On the day itself Geraldine and Jim, who none of the staff had seen before, went in to buy an engagement ring.  They wanted one anyway, so buying one provided perfect cover and reduced any chance of suspicion.  While Jim paid his fiancé planted the tiny device that George had designed.  

Then it was down to timing.  And to Jake.  George and Gerry were in a car, parked anonymously about eighty metres from the back entrance.  As soon as Jake approached the rear door he heard the locks click.  He pulled it open, and closed it behind him immediately, while pressing the button on the transmitter in his pocket.  The locks clicked shut again.  George had arranged for the short interruptions to look like system glitches.  And, more importantly for Jake, for the alarm to be briefly disabled each time.

He donned the infrared glasses, and turned on the little 'torch' on his wrist, giving him enough 'light' to see his way along the corridor without anything seeping out through windows.  Past a couple of cupboards, and the staff kitchen, and he was at the door of the strong room.  Another click of the button, and the lock thunked open.  Push in, push to, click the button.  He was locked in.  George had it all covered.  

Using the torch he quickly found the drawer he was looking for.  They had decided that, for speed, they would only hit the one, so it had to be home to the best collection in the shop.  Quite how Gerry had worked out which was which Jake wasn't sure, but he had been impressed so far so he had no doubts his target was the right one.  Another press in his pocket and a whirring sound eased the drawer open.  Jake shone the torch inside.  And froze.

Back in the car Gerry was swiftly feeling impatient.  In the plan the drawer had opened, Jake had lifted the contents into the commodious pockets of his specially made jacket, and sent the signal for George to re-secure the drawer, all within thirty seconds.   But almost a minute had passed and nothing.  He suddenly realised the one flaw in his plan.  If anything had happened to Jake they had no way of contacting him.  No phone was to be taken in, and the tiny device in his pocket did no more than send a signal for George to operate the next step in the sequence.  If anything had gone wrong (how could it?) they had no way of knowing what it was.  He looked at George who was now breathing deeply, unsure what to do next.  Then the signal came.  And, only a second after, another one.  

George looked at Gerry expectantly, hoping he had some explanation.  But all he could say was "Get on with it.  Maybe he was a bit slow asking for the drawer to lock, and now he's at the door."  Gerry hoped his makeshift explanation was the right one.  George did the necessary.

Another signal, George locked the door to the strong room.  He hoped Jake had got out.  Another click - surely quicker than expected? - and he'd unlocked the back door.  They watched as Jake's figure emerged from the shadows and ran off in the opposite direction.  He hadn't clicked to ask for the door to be locked, so George looked at Gerry.  "Lock the bloody thing!  then let's go."  

George put the control box back into his backpack, and they climbed out of the car.  It had been stolen, and could safely be picked up by the police in the morning.  They walked back to their own car, on the CCTV-free route they'd devised, and drove back to the meeting point.  And waited.

Jake turned up about twenty five minutes late.  He looked pale.  Before Gerry was able to ask Jake blurted out "I didn't get it."

"What?!  Why not?  What went wrong?"

"Me.  Arachnophobia."

"What?  What are you on about?"

"A spider.  In the drawer.  Fucking huge thing.  I can't... I just can't go near them, they terrify me.  I'm still sweating.  I had to sit in the car until the shakes stopped."  His face testified to his genuine fear.

Gerry looked at George.  George looked at Gerry.  They thought they'd thought of everything.

"Oh fuck" said Gerry.