Charlie Malone didn’t have to tunnel between the sewer and the bank vault. The Water Authority had done it for him.

That was the genius of the thing. Charlie was doing his dissertation on the architecture of New York City sewer tunnels when he learned the interesting fact that this particular building had its own tunnel to the now-abandoned sewer line. It was for a now-defunct utility purpose, and created long before the bank made its home in the building, but it still existed, with only a brick wall to separate vault from tunnel. No one else knew. Why would they?

Charlie’s father was a mason. Charlie had worked for his dad during the summers in high school. Chiseling out the appropriate number of bricks and mortaring them back into place was child’s play.

He carefully divested himself of his coveralls, only to reveal a second pair underneath. A plastic shower cap prevented any hairs’ being left as evidence, and surgical gloves prohibited fingerprints. Goggles protected even a stray eyelash from escaping.

The money was in a fire-walled cabinet. Charlie wasn’t interested in people’s jewelry and documents that might be left in the safe deposit boxes. Just the cash, please—enough to pay off his student loans and pay back the money his parents (who really couldn’t afford it) had lent him for a car. Besides, the cash was insured, so who was the victim? A multi-billion dollar corporation? Charlie laughed at the thought. He was taking a specific amount and leaving the rest. Not enough to be noticed right away. Not even enough extra to go out to dinner. Only what he needed.

Charlie finished counting and closed his briefcase. This was easy. Too easy, he thought. He could never do it again, Charlie reminded himself. Once in a lifetime. He took one last look around the vault and headed for the hole in the wall.

The goggles limited his peripheral vision. He hit the edge of the bricks with the side of his face, hard. The goggles banged sideways across the bridge of his nose, breaking it in one blinding flash. Wincing, he stepped more carefully through the hole and sank down to the concrete floor for a moment. The pain was severe, but he was home free. He just had to brick up the wall and get to an emergency room. He’d tell the doctors he ran into a doorframe.

Then Charlie looked down and noticed the trail of blood leading down his coveralls, over the wall and into the vault…

Perfect.

Copyright 2006 Amy Frushour Kelly. All rights reserved.
Reproduction by any means prohibited without prior written consent.