The next morning, Tim woke up feeling on top the world. Josephine’s innocence had given him a reason to smile and, more importantly, they had not argued at all. On the contrary, the new couple was happy.

They spent the day walking around in Manhattan, having so much fun that he completely forgot about everything else. He no longer worried about discovering the person behind Jitter’s murder and the burglary that he was about to commit. But Jon’s phone call in the early afternoon acted like a call to reality. He wanted to see him; due to his outburst the night before, they had not finished discussing their plan to break into Chester Bradford’s house. According to him, they still had a lot of details to go over.

Midnight found Tim in the same apartment building in Queens, but, this time, his friend’s door was open. He was standing a few feet behind the door frame. As soon as their gazes met, he put his hands together.

“Bra-vo,” he gave four sarcastic slaps. “Let’s have a round of applause for Mr. Shaw, ladies and gentlemen. He almost beat to death a tiny little man last night.”

“Good to see you too, Jonny.” Tim said with a faint smile, stepping into his friend’s apartment. “And I didn’t beat him to death. I just punched him a couple of times.”

“Dude, have you seen the size of your hands?” Jon inquired, his voice dripping with sarcasm as his friend closed the door behind him. “They’re as big as tennis rackets!”

“I had to know about his client.” Tim declared. “Can we stop talking about that? I thought we had a job to do.”

“Yeah, follow me.” Jon urged, turning his body to the left. “By the way, I have some pictures from inside the house.”

“How did you do that?” Tim got curious.

“I was there a couple of weeks ago.” Jon said, sauntering towards his kitchen. “I posed as a cable repairman. That’s how I learned that he’d be away until Wednesday. He told me.”

“Damn…” Tim whispered, standing over the kitchen table, looking down at the blueprint of the expensive mansion. “How many rooms does that house have?”

“First of all, it’s on Actors Colony Road. It’s got fourteen rooms.” Jon said with a mischievous smile on his face. “Let’s hope you don’t have to visit them all.”

“Why do you say that?” Tim asked, turning to him.

“You don’t have enough time.” Jon’s smile was wiped off his face. “First of all, we’re doing this tomorrow night. I’ll come pick you up at midnight. There’s a power gate outside; you’ll have to climb and jump over it. The house is rigged with sensors. I can deactivate them, but there’s a backup system. It takes a while for it to kick in, though. You have two minutes to get in, blow the safe and get your ass out of there. This is the main entrance.” He went on, pointing at the lower right corner of the blueprint. “It’s too exposed; we can’t use that. What we need…” He paused and then pointed at the upper right corner “... Is the back door. It’s more than thirty yards away from the road and it’s dark. It’s ideal.”

“What about the neighbors?” Tim had one more question.

“The closest house is fifty yards away. The bedroom balcony overlooks Bradford’s rear garden. You’ll have to be careful. I doubt the neighbors will be out on the balcony in the middle of February, though.”

“Alright,” Tim said with a sigh. “How do I get in?”

“The back door is made of glass.” Jon informed. “You’ve used laser glass cutters before, right?”

“Yeah,” Tim nodded. “So then what?”

“The safe is in his bedroom, right above his bed.” Jon attempted a steady tone. “That’s what worries me.”

“Why?”

“Rich people are weird, big Tim.” A long sigh escaped him, as he scratched his chin with his index finger. “Who knows; maybe he keeps documents there and keeps the money somewhere else.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, man.” Tim grumbled. “What about security outside?”

“There’s just one van patrolling the area. Rich folks don’t pay much for security these days.” Jon remarked. “We’ll wait for it to leave the neighborhood; then, we’re going to make our move.”

“Ok, last question.” Tim raised his tone, slightly. “How fast can cops get there?”

“The police station’s on the other side of town.” Jon’s smile reappeared. “It’s going to take them at least ten minutes to drive there. We’ll be long gone by then.”

“Good job.” Tim gave a satisfied nod.

“I’m a pro, dude.” Jon laughed. “I just can’t be in two places at the same time.”

“We’re really going to have to haul ass, if we want to avoid getting caught.” Tim said with a hint of skepticism in his voice. “How are we getting there?”

“I like your Impala.” Jon winked at him. “But my Chevy is just as quick. It’s got an 8-litre V10.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Tim concluded.

“It’s a great plan.” Jon corrected him. “See? It didn’t take that long. You could have stayed here last night, instead of storming out like that. You wouldn’t have to drive here all the way from Manhattan again.”

“Trust me.” Tim said with a sigh. “I couldn’t.”

“Well, one thing’s for certain.” Jon used a raised index finger. “You scared the shit out of Kirkland. He was shaking after you left.”

“Who would want to take out a sixty-year old professor, Jonny?” Tim spoke with actual frustration in his voice. “Who would pay someone fifty grand to kill him?”

“Fifty?” Jon’s gruff voice turned into a high-pitched shriek . “Kirkland got paid two hundred thousand to take out an Arab oil tycoon last year. Look, I don’t know who paid him to kill that professor, but whoever it was, she wasn’t rich.”

“I’m done speculating, but thanks for the tip, man.” Tim gave him an appraising look, high-fiving him.

“No problem.” Jon winked at him once more. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”