Later that evening, Joe, Pete and Johnny showed up as planned. It was about eight at night and still technically daytime outside, but the sun was already past the horizon. I estimated we had thirty to forty-five minutes until it was dark enough to hit the PD. I also surmised that if there were still officers enforcing the law in the city, this would be the time they’d head out. The more aggressive looters and bandits tended to do their business during the evening hours.
Denise came through in epic fashion, as I knew she would. Ever since I dropped off the boys and drones at Mom’s, she had been simmering a roast. Her recipe called for dredging the roast in seasonings and flour then searing all sides of the roast in a hot pan with a little bit of oil. Next she places the roast in a pot to slow simmer with her homemade beef stock, cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and three bay leaves. She adds celery, potatoes, carrots and onions, then simmers them until the roast falls apart.
The roast is then pulled out discarding the bay leaves. She cuts the roast against the grain into two inch slabs and then shreds it and places the meat back in the pot. What you end up with is a thick, wonderful beef stew. Add a few dashes of hot sauce and a sprinkle of extra sharp cheddar cheese and there’s nothing better to warm your stomach or boost your stats in preparation for a major theft.
As everyone ate their meal, I shared what I knew of the PD layout and described my plan, which I affectionately called “operation doughnut shop smash and grab.” The PD was on the northwest corner of 5th and J streets. The front of the building was on Fifth Street. The PD’s fencing started at the end of the building and connected to the old house but didn’t encompass it. The house front was open to the street, as was any other normal house. Where the house’s driveway was, there was a large sliding gate. The house’s garage was detached from the house and sat well into the back lot and had a large covered carport. Between the carport and the PD, sat three forty foot storage containers. Past the house was about thirty more feet of fencing until the back fence of the lot.
The fencing around the PD was made from one inch square tubing that came to sharp points that pointed outwards towards the street. It was pretty much unscalable. On the other side of the back fence was a privately owned alleyway behind a nail salon. The salon owner had put up a secondary wooden fence along the PD’s back fence that ended at the automatic sliding gate. The PD’s fence ended at the old courthouse on the north side of the property. The PD fence had a walk-through gate. It was also connected to the old courthouse with another automatic sliding gate that paralleled the back gate. Between the house with the storage containers on the south, the wood fence on the west and the old court house to the north, the only way to clearly see the back lot and the back side of the PD building was through the fence at the front.
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This is where I identified the first problem. We planned on breaking into the house through its street entrance. But if there were officers in the back lot, we couldn't see them from that side. We needed someone at the front to keep watch and let everyone know if someone was there. Confirming I was the only one with sneak ability, that job fell to me. If anything went wrong, I would have to access the walk-through gate. The walk through gate lock was a non-electrical push button mechanism, which luckily I knew the code to. I didn’t think the PD had changed the code in thirty years. I wasn’t even sure anyone even knew how to change the code anymore.
We would park the vehicle, which was a big black and primer gray suburban Joe owns, in the alleyway behind the back fence. I would sneak around the courthouse side of the property and take up a position at the corner of the building where it met the fence. There were some bushes and palm trees in that corner of the building I could hide in. If there wasn’t anyone in the back lot, I would radio the team to break into the house. I would then enter through the walk through gate and meet them on the back side of the house by the containers. From there we would cut the locks off the containers and load everything up in the vehicle.
If there was anyone there, and they weren’t too close to that side of the property, the team would still break into the house as quietly as possible. If the officers heard or noticed anything, I would inform the team and take action. I would either engage the officers or try to draw them away somehow. If it turned out there were still a lot of officers in the lot or in the building, the team would cut and run. They would jump back into the suburban and take off. They would pick me up a couple blocks north as I snuck away from the other side of the property. It wasn’t the most efficient plan I’d come up with. However, without more information about the actual numbers of officers potentially there, we couldn’t plan otherwise.
With the plans set, the team finished their meal and collected their gear. I decided to leave the bow and quiver at the house. I didn’t want to kill any officers because they were all good men. So I only planned on taking my sword, my hammer, my knives, and my firearm. Joe left his shield and chose his AR-15, but kept his axe in the thong on his belt. The other two also left their melee weapons opting for firearms but were armed with knives or long daggers. Chad had given them his last three radios with earpieces and firm instructions to return them when the mission was over. The three completely understood and thanked him for allowing the use of them.
After saying goodbye to Denise, with a stern warning from her through worried eyes, to be careful, the team loaded into the suburban. Dog jumped into the back, and I got in the driver’s seat, as I was the only one that could drive at night without headlights. I fired up the suburban and headed towards the PD.