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THE NEXT WEEK WAS HARD on Jim. He hadn’t planned on meeting someone like Peggy, much less falling in love with her. He decided he would still complete the mission and follow the plan to the letter. That had always worked in the past. But he also made a major decision, major in the sense that this would be his last mission. A life of revenge no longer seemed as important to him now.
Monday evening was spent going over his list and finalizing the plan. He needed a timer. A slow search of the apartment revealed quite a collection of items that led him to think that Michael was probably, although harmless, a little bit of a troublemaker in his youth. The bottom drawer of a dresser had a box of firecrackers taped to the back ? not the small ones, but the ones called cherry bombs, which were basically tiny incendiary devices. Remembering his own teen years, he thought to himself that a boy lighting one and flushing it down a toilet had disabled many a restroom. He wondered if they would work, as they had to be at least eight years old.
He put one of the firecrackers and a box of matches in his pocket, planning on testing them at his first opportunity. The next challenge was to find an easy way to the roof. He needed to find a location where he could observe Mr. Bob’s house without being seen. He went outside near the shed and looked for a ladder or other easy route to the roof. He could not find any.
A skylight on the backside of the apartment was seen but rejected as an option worthy of any choice. He decided there must be a way to the roof through an opening in the ceiling. He climbed the stairs to the apartment and searched each of the four rooms with no luck. Then he had an inspiration of no small dimension — the closet. Sure enough the bedroom closet had a trapdoor near the back. Below the trapdoor was a built in ladder. Now aren’t I the smart one, he thought.
He climbed up and pushed open the door. It was darker than he thought it would be, and he went back down to get his flashlight then to retrace his steps. He quickly located the light switch, which turned on the two small lights, one at each end of the building. At one time the area had obviously been used for storage. A catwalk about five feet wide had been put in place to use for storing boxes.
He walked the length of the catwalk. It ran east to west with an air vent on each end of the building. He moved a large box under the vent on Mr. Bob’s side. Climbing up on the box, he could see the entire front of Mr. Bob’s house. He adjusted the louver in the vent. It seemed easy enough to remove and replace. He needed to check one more thing but thought he had found his observation point. He would wait until dark to make his final check.
About 9:00 p.m. he climbed the stairs to the attic and turned on the light. After coming back down he put on his jacket and began to walk towards the school. Halfway up the hill, he turned and looked back. He saw what he was afraid of ? he could see the light glow from the vent. That meant anytime he was in the attic after dark, he must switch the lights off. Otherwise, everything had to be completed before dark, which might not be a bad idea.
He continued to walk up the hill until he came to the school and looked for the right location for his timer. He quickly found the ideal place. He could create all the smoke he wanted with very little damage. One more check and he would be ready.
To prevent causing any undue suspicion, he would wait a couple of days and find out what he needed to know without anyone realizing what he was up to, regardless of their position within the Mr. Bob empire. For his plan to work he needed to know how long it would take for the Volunteer Fire Department to respond to a call. He only had a window of opportunity of thirty minutes, one way or the other. He needed the noise of a fire truck’s siren to help cover the noise of the shot, though he would muffle it with a plastic Coke bottle stuffed with steel wool. He decided to initiate discreet inquiries first.
This evening he would test the firecracker and decide on a route into town. He put on his leather boots. He walked south on West Main’s sidewalk past the new library and courthouse, turned east on McKinney Street, which crossed the railroad tracks near what looked like a hardware store. He followed the tracks south until he came to a pulpwood yard, about a city block long and well used. He continued down the tracks crossing Boardtown Road until he came upon what looked like the town’s sewage plant. He walked another mile or so on the tracks. Heavy woods were on both sides of the tracks. The area looked as if no one had been around for months.
He searched his pocket for the firecracker and matches. After looking up and down the tracks and seeing no one, he placed the firecracker on one of the cross ties and lit it. The fuse sprung to life immediately. Five seconds later a large bang told him they were still good.
As he headed home he searched for a safe place to hide a package for a few days with little chance of discovery. When he got to the sewage plant he saw what he thought would be the perfect place. Years ago someone had stacked a large pile of used lumber. About twenty feet from the tracks, almost completely overgrown with weeds and brush. He looked down the tracks towards town, about seventy-five feet away was Boardtown Road. He only needed to determine how long it would take him to walk the distance to his apartment.
When he arrived in front of the post office, he was pleased to see it only took twenty-six minutes from the pile of lumber. Not bad.
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