“One down and one to go,”
Bryant said, glancing at the man bound and gagged in the back of the van.
Crispin nodded as he looked
for the house of their second target. Seeing it, he drove on past, turning the
corner and then dousing the headlights before driving down the alley behind it.
He parked three houses away and got out, waiting for Bryant to join him.
“You’re certain he’s unconscious,” he asked, getting an affirming nod from his
brother.
They made their way to the
rear of the small house where the second man lived. It was dark except for a
lighted window on the second floor. Crispin stepped to the side of the back
door, the hand holding the taser hanging loosely at his side. At his nod Bryant
pushed the doorbell. They could hear it chime and then moments later a
grumbled, ‘Who the hell…’ coming from the open upstairs window. Bryant moved
back just enough that if the man looked he’d see him but in shadows.
They heard the window open
and then the man leaned out slightly, looking down. “What do you want at this
hour?” he growled.
“It’s me, Peter,” Bryant
replied, using the name of a neighbor two doors down. “My damned circuit
breaker blew and I think it’s burned out. I was hoping you had some candles or
a flashlight. Mine’s dead, of course.”
“Hang on,” the man said with
a sigh. “Yeah candles I have. I’ll be right down.”
The back door opened a
couple of minutes later. The man took one look at Bryant and said, “Hey, you’re
not Peter. What the hell’s going on?” Before he could slam the door shut
Crispin stepped into view, pulling the trigger on the taser as he pressed it to
the man’s chest. Their prey convulsed and fell forward. Bryant caught him as
Crispin pocketed the taser and took out a short length of rope which he used to
bind the man’s hands after pulling them behind him. Then they checked the man’s
pockets for his keys. Crispin smiled in relief when they found them; he didn’t
relish the idea of going into the house to search. He closed the back
door with a gloved hand and then went to get the van.
Once the man was safely in
the back of the van, with his feet now tied as well, Bryant moved quickly to the
side of the house where the man’s car was parked. He pulled it out onto the
street and waited for Crispin. Then they returned to the first man’s house
where Bryant parked the car at the curb and then climbed into the van. Ten
minutes later they were on the highway heading home.
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