Free One Night by Oliver Clarke

was blotted out as the sound of its engine echoed off the walls and filled the narrow space.

Chapter Fourteen
     
    Reynolds was gone from the doorstep when Danny and Joel got back to the house. That much was a relief but Joel knew he’d be waiting inside, smiling that smug smile of his. He didn’t know if he’d made the right decision but now he had he would stick to it. He’d do the job for Danny, help him out of his hole, and then never work with Reynolds again.
    Danny led him down a hallway and into the house’s living room. There were three people in it and they stopped talking when Joel walked in. Joel registered Reynolds out of the corner of his eye and ignored him. He recognised the two other men. One was a Scot named Paterson who was almost as good behind the wheel as the Swede Johansson. Paterson was ex-army and handy in a fight as well being an expert driver. Johansson, on the other hand, only worked as a wheelman. That told Joel something about what they were going to be doing, he just wasn't sure what yet.
    The other man was Fuller. He was a planner, the brains behind the job. His role would be to give them the minute by minute breakdown of what needed to be done when. His presence in the room gave Joel confidence. He'd worked a couple of Fuller's jobs before and knew that he was meticulous in his planning. No element was ever missed, no eventuality left unanticipated.
    The man came across as a bag of nerves but Joel knew this was only because he was constantly fretting over every detail. Fuller knew that the lives of the men executing his plans depended on them being absolutely correct. He took that responsibility very seriously.
    Fuller wouldn't go along for the job which meant it was a three man operation. Joel, Reynolds and Paterson. It could have been better but it could also have been a lot worse. As long as the boxer didn't lose it again of course.
    He nodded to Paterson and Fuller and sat on one of a couple of dining chairs that someone had placed next to the wall. Danny sat next to him.
    Fuller pulled himself out of the threadbare armchair he was sitting in and started to talk.
    He laid out the plan in detail over the course of about half an hour. As Joel saw it the headlines were simple.
    They were targeting Matt Parker, a drug dealer who had the West End market pretty much sewn up and was doing very nicely out of it. The proceeds of his crimes had bought him a huge house out of the city in the Hertfordshire countryside. That was their target. The house had on-site security, a rolling shift that meant there were always a guard around. The guards were supplied by a security firm made up of ex-military guys so they weren't the belly scratching old men or tattooed and muscled losers you saw in your local supermarket.
    Fuller had obtained an engineer code which would disable the house's security systems. Once they were and the guard was restrained, Reynolds would deal with the house's owner and his wife. They had a kid but he was away at boarding school so wouldn't be there to get in the way. Joel's job was to crack and empty the dealer's safe. A source had told the anonymous backer of the job that the dealer was about to make a million pound deal and that the funds for it would be sitting there for the taking.
    “Definitely just the one guard?” said Joel when Fuller had finished. “If it was me and I had that much cash laying around the house I’d want a bit of extra security.”
    Fuller shook his head. “The deal is very hush hush. Parker thinks no-one knows about it but you don’t get to be as successful as he is without a healthy dose of paranoia. This is the biggest score he’s ever made and he is terrified that someone is going to find out about it. The last thing he wants to do is draw attention to himself and blow the deal. He isn’t going to do a single thing that changes his routine.”
    “Okay,” said Joel. “I just don’t want us to roll up there and find he’s got his own army