Dog Tags

CHAPTER 74

THIS WAS NOTHING LIKE THE DETECTIVE SHOWS ON TV. Willie knew that was true, even though he didn’t watch anything on TV except sports. Because if detective shows were this boring, nobody would watch them, and they would be taken off the air.

Willie had been outside Chaplin’s home when he left in the morning, and had once again followed him to his office. As he had the day before, Chaplin spent the entire day there, not leaving until it was time to go home.

It was while following him home that Willie had an idea. He figured Andy would be pissed off, but that was something he was willing to risk. It’s not that he wasn’t okay with following Chaplin for weeks; it was a job and Willie was willing to do it. It’s just that it didn’t seem like it would accomplish anything.

Willie followed until he was comfortable that Chaplin was heading home, and then he pulled ahead of him. It was easy, because Chaplin was a slow and careful driver, something Willie would never be accused of.

He got to Chaplin’s house a full ten minutes ahead of him, and parked down the street. He ran on foot to the house, positioning himself at the end of the winding driveway. He made the assumption that Chaplin would park in the same place as he had the night before; if he didn’t, Willie would just abort the plan.

Willie waited for Chaplin to arrive. He wasn’t nervous; in fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he was nervous. Certainly it was before he went to prison. That experience had changed him in quite a few ways.

Chaplin pulled in and parked in the exact same place as the night before. When he got out of his car, Willie hit him in the temple with his right hand. He came from the side, which he wished he didn’t have to do, since he had never sucker-punched anyone like that in his life. But he couldn’t afford to be seen.

Chaplin literally did not know what hit him, and he was out cold before he reached the ground. Willie caught him before he landed, preventing his head from hitting the concrete.

Willie quickly looked through his pockets until he found his cell phone. He was going to leave it at that, but then made the decision to take his wallet as well. This way it would be possible that Chaplin might think this was a real robbery, and that getting the cell phone was not the goal.

Within two minutes, Willie was in his car and on the way to Andy’s. Knocking out Chaplin and getting his phone was the easy part; now he had to deal with Andy.