3 Back-up Plans

"Madam, why don't you give me a moment and I will see what I can do?"

Zu, the jewelry shop attendant smiled at her, but there were already beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Of course," Ingrid said flashing her teeth at him. "I will just wait here… with the handsome gentleman." She paused and leaned in collusively, "Do you think he likes his women natural?"

He nodded blindly then disappeared further inside the store.

As he left, the other customer came round to meet Ingrid.

It was Alph, one of the main goons that hung around Zephyr.

When she and Marya met with Zephyr and his gang to solidify their plans, they had decided that Ingrid should have backup when she pulled off the job. Just in case things went awry.

"Not everyone is going to want to hand off jewels to a pretty girl," Zephyr had said, even though she had begged to differ.

She had been the one to come up with the idea of posing as a rich customer rather than them faking an attack on the shop. The plan was to find a way to corner Zu, the attendant, at the back of the store and raid the jewelry stash.

She had seen the merit of Zephyr's point and accepted his offer to send one of his boys.

According to their plan, Alph was supposed to come into the store after her, posing as a businessman. That way if anything went wrong, Ingrid would be covered.

Alph was usually always wearing a sleeveless riga no matter the weather as if he had his own internal temperature defied the city's weather. Today, however, he was wearing a smart suit brown suit with a woven necktie. His hair, usually cropped low had been gelled flat. His impossibly large muscles still made him stand out, but if anything, he looked like a thug that had money which, in Ingrid's opinion, described half the politicians in the city.

"Marya," he said as if in explanation of his dressing.

He pulled out a reefer from his pocket and fitted it between his lips.

Ingrid shook her head. "Very classy."

He shrugged. "I'm bored. And I couldn't afford the rich man's pipe."

He lit the blunt then took a draw. "I hate my women natural."

"Right," she said switching her weight to the other leg.

"Kafi's on lookout down the street."

Kafi was another member of Zephyr's gang, one she thoroughly disliked. The boy couldn't keep his hands himself and it always felt like he was about to burst or something. Zephyr had recruited him a year ago from wherever he found his people.

Despite not liking him, Ingrid had initially expected that sleazy Kafi would have played the role of the businessman while Alph would remain outside on guard. She couldn't picture the redhead as a reliable lookout. The boy hated being put in a secondary role. What could Kafi actually do if they needed to call him in? He was typically doped up by this time of the day if he wasn't actively receiving attention from Zephyr.

She liked to think of the skinny redhead as a cup of guam. Sticky and smooth, but at the end of the day, didn't do you any good and on the wrong day, brought out the wrong side of you. Whatever you would say about Zephyr, at least he made you want to trust him. Sometimes. Kafi, on the other hand, made you want to push him off a cliff and then go wash your hands.

"The attendant is taking too long," Alph said, after all of seven minutes.

"He's supposed to retrieve the money from a safe in the inner room. It could take a little while."

"I don't care," Alph said. "This suit is uncomfortable." He dropped the blunt on the dark wood of the floor and pulled out his gun from a concealed pocket.

"Have you lost it?' Ingrid said, stamping off the blunt with the base of her heel. But he was already following down the path Zu had taken to the back.

He cocked his head at her and motioned for her to go ahead of him. Ingrid wanted to say something about how she did not take orders from him, but she bit her tongue and stepped past him.